backpack hunting... need advice

[dog812]

I normally stay in my wall tent, have all the luxuries. But this year I am doing a fly in hunt and have a couple easy questions.
I am kinda stuck with some of the gear I have due to money.
But I am wondering how do you guys keep everything organized in your packs. Do you use dry bags, cuben fiber stuff sacks, etc?
I have a waterproof eberlestock j34 and a rain cover, but just wondering what you guys do.. Worth the money? Or just zip lock bag everything.

 

[muleman]

I have a combination of mesh and silicon nylon ditty bags. I put all my food into ziplocks. Quart for the individual meal and all meals, for the day, in a gallon. All the ziplocks are labeled for meal and day.

If money is an issue, don't make it drag you down. A lot of game is harvested without the perfect kit. Being in the field far more important than the bags your gear is organized in.

 

[dog812]

Yeah I usually spend about a month per year hunting, but never done a strictly backpack hunt in the middle of no where, so just trying to see what everyone does for organization..
And if it's worth it to buy stuff sacks or just use zip locks....
I usually just use zip locks as well

 

[Flying Squirrel]

I'm a ziploc guy too. I used to backpack in the Montana wilderness for work. May to October for 5 years, and I always put my tent and down sleeping bag in a garbage bag, squeezed the air out, and then put that in a stuff sack. Everything else was neatly compartmentalized into zip locs that ranged in size. If it started to dump rain I had no worries. If I had to cross a raging creek and fell in, no worries. Plus, as you eat up your food, those zip locs become trash bags. Also helps to keep the smell down in griz country.
I'll take persistence, effort and luck over gear any day. Good luck!

 

[TJ]

Check out Walmart sporting goods they have some pretty inexpensive stuff sacks that I've been using for quite a while.
Only $9.97 And as mentioned Zip-locks are great for food organization.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Outdoor-Recreation-Group-Set-of-3-Ultimate-Dry-Sacks/10928125

 

[neverquit]

I don't think there's a wrong answer. Amazon also has a few cheap multi size dry bag sets.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001A...ds=dry+bag&dpPl=1&dpID=41Q2i-UbWgL&ref=plSrch I've been using these exclusively on backpack hunts for a few years now. They have held up great

 

[tttoadman]

ditto on the ziplok bags. I have a handfull of 4L and 10L rolltop dry bags to throw stuff in. I made it just fine without all that stuff. If you don't mess with any of that, stuff your sleeping bag, clothes, rain gear and food in garbage bags and cram it in there. Just make sure you have a big dry bag to haul that boned out meat in.

The fly in crowd can be comprised of guys who sit around and talk about how much they spent on gear. You won't hear them, because you will be out hunting while they sit in camp.

 

[Ironmerganser]

Yep...I was in your boat last year. I have a couple dry bags, but zip locks do work great. I put spare clothes in a dry bag, but everything else is in zip locks.

 

[Mtnboy]

I use a dry bag for my sleeping bag, a Stone Glacier camp bag for random little things (Spot, multi tool, spare batteries etc) and everything else just goes in my pack.

 

[dog812]

Well i caved .. i did wind up purchasing 1 big compression dry bag. I wanted to make sure my sleeping bag was dry ... I went with the Sea to summit Event 30L .. its pretty awesome. This has my sleeping bag and a bunch of clothes squished in there..

View attachment 25269

 

[charvey9]

I use a set of Kifaru pullouts for most of the large items. A few smaller Cuben Fiber pouches for the smaller items, electronics, and batteries. 1 rolltop dry bag for my food. A large Kifaru compression sack for my sleeping bag, pad, and tent.

Check out some of the options from Mountain Laurel Designs and Zpacks for cuben fiber bags and pouches.

Although nothing wrong with Ziplock bags either if you are on a budget.