Bino Harness Essentials/Emergency Kit

[WyoWild]

Occasionally while I am hunting (especially while archery hunting) I will drop my backpack while on a stalk. A few times that stalk has turned into an extended outing and have had to find my way back to my pack in the dark.

Got me thinking I should carry a few survival essentials in my bino harness. Trying to keep it to a minimum as I have full first aid, water purification etc in my main backpack. But just in case I ever got separated from my pack wanted to give myself a chance to make it thru a night out

Here is what I came up with:

-Pocket Knife (good steel, could use to make kindling & clean an animal)
-Fenix mini LED flashlight (takes 1 AAA battery)
-Hand warmers
-Nitrile gloves
-Mini first aid kit (gauze pad, band-aid, ibuprofen & benadryl)
-Lighter & fire starter
-Toilet paper
-12ft of 3mm accessory cord (not sure if this will make the cut vs just keeping in my pack)

Everything together weights 6.9oz

Thoughts? Would love to hear what others carry or ideas.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I carry binoculars, wind checker and Copenhagen. I'll never be away from my pack overnight.

 

[WyoWild]

I carry binoculars, wind checker and Copenhagen. I'll never be away from my pack overnight.

Well Copenhagen is of no use to me. Might as well use that space/weight in my harness for essentials I'll be carrying anyway.

 

[NXTZ]

I’ve had the same thought, and have been playing around in the off season to add some “oh sh*t” stuff to my harness. I’ve got a lighter, super glue (instead of gauze, bandages) and some silver nitrate to for minor cuts, a few allergy and anti heartburn meds, tp, scalpel blade, couple water purification tablets and an emergency blanket (don’t love it in the harness, but if I get hurt and separated from my pack could be nice).

I’ve considered adding a tourniquet also-friend of a friend stuck himself BAD with a broadhead (actually had to hit the SOS button). *I have a spot x and no way in hell will I carry that brick on my chest, but I’m working on a way to have it seemlessly go from pack to person if I drop my pack.

 

[WyoWild]

I’ve had the same thought, and have been playing around in the off season to add some “oh sh*t” stuff to my harness. I’ve got a lighter, super glue (instead of gauze, bandages) and some silver nitrate to for minor cuts, a few allergy and anti heartburn meds, tp, scalpel blade, couple water purification tablets and an emergency blanket (don’t love it in the harness, but if I get hurt and separated from my pack could be nice).

I’ve considered adding a tourniquet also-friend of a friend stuck himself BAD with a broadhead (actually had to hit the SOS button). *I have a spot x and no way in hell will I carry that brick on my chest, but I’m working on a way to have it seemlessly go from pack to person if I drop my pack.

Good thoughts. I have some water treatment tabs but they require 4hrs to treat water and I would not have a water bottle. Thought about adding a 1 gallon ziplock but figured since this would hopefully be a short term situation I could just go without water until morning or just drink it and take the risk. I have some stout 3mm cord which could double as a tourniquet and I agree that is probably worth having quickly accessible because you may not have time to go digging thru your pack if cut badly.

I have an in-reach in my pack but may look at a small side pocket to add this to my harness too. Thanks for the input.

 

[Backyard]

Never drop your pack. And if you’re going to have a bino pack big enough carry all the “essentials”, then eliminate the pack all together.


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[WyoWild]

Never drop your pack. And if you’re going to have a bino pack big enough carry all the “essentials”, then eliminate the pack all together.


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Part of my dilemma currently is I am carrying a larger pack with a meat shelf, which when loaded with my day gear can be cumbersome when moving thru the timber stalking elk. A happy medium might be moving to a smaller daypack for archery allowing me to move more quickly and quietly. Then if I get something down (rare with my bow) then I can hike back to the truck to retrieve my load hauler.

 

[NXTZ]

Part of my dilemma currently is I am carrying a larger pack with a meat shelf, which when loaded with my day gear can be cumbersome when moving thru the timber stalking elk. A happy medium might be moving to a smaller daypack for archery allowing me to move more quickly and quietly. Then if I get something down (rare with my bow) then I can hike back to the truck to retrieve my load hauler.

FWIW, I was/am in the same boat. I ended up getting a smaller pack for day stuff (95% of the time I’ll be day hunting and the big boy packs get annoying in the trees). Now having said that, the good idea fairy has been hovering around my mind, and my thought process was to have the emergency stuff readily available/always on me.

I do try to never drop my pack, and the extras in the bino harness are admittedly me packing my fears. I figured if I was going to suffer the bino harness, I may as well keep the odds and ends and oh sh*t stuff in there…and after typing this out I weighed it and the whole thing is around 4lbs. Hmmm….

 

[atmat]

Mine includes: high-calorie snack, petzel e+lite (with emergency whistle), compass, signal mirror, spare bullet, aqua tabs, emergency blanket, knife, mini sharpener, tourniquet, Bic mini, zip stitch, small amount of quickclot.

I’m not trying to survive long-term without my pack. I just wanna give myself a shot if I’m 300 yards away and something happened.

 

[Backyard]

Part of my dilemma currently is I am carrying a larger pack with a meat shelf, which when loaded with my day gear can be cumbersome when moving thru the timber stalking elk. A happy medium might be moving to a smaller daypack for archery allowing me to move more quickly and quietly. Then if I get something down (rare with my bow) then I can hike back to the truck to retrieve my load hauler.

Kuiu 3500 or similar that can be cinched down small, yet still carry out a load in the event of.


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[180ls1]

Add a Mylar blanket and replace that knife with a Gerber LST, $20 and only 1oz. I may ditch the gloves and use an ultra lite headlamp instead as well.

 

[madcalfe]

my bino harness consist of 3 extra shells, nitrile gloves, lighter, zoleo, cell phone, hunting license/tags, a small roll of electrical tape, benchmade knife, and a bear banger pen with 3 shells.

and honestly if your dropping your pack on a stalk how hard is it to pull out your phone and put a pin on whatever you use for mapping.

 

[WyoWild]

my bino harness consist of 3 extra shells, nitrile gloves, lighter, zoleo, cell phone, hunting license/tags, a small roll of electrical tape, benchmade knife, and a bear banger pen with 3 shells.

and honestly if your dropping your pack on a stalk how hard is it to pull out your phone and put a pin on whatever you use for mapping.

That is what I usually do just drop a pin at the site. But electronics can fail & last year I did this and in the heat of the moment forgot to mark the location.

 

[WyoWild]

Add a Mylar blanket and replace that knife with a Gerber LST, $20 and only 1oz. I may ditch the gloves and use an ultra lite headlamp instead as well.

Gerber LST looks like a great superlite option. The knife in the photo is a benchmade bug-out that I found while hunting and is only around 2oz but if buying a knife for this purpose I'd be inclined to go with that lil Gerber.