Clothing:
- No need for the Uncomphagre vest AND the Super Down puffy. Choose one or the other.
- Shouldn't need 2 pairs of thermal bottoms and the Kenai zip-offs. I would toss one of the thermal bottoms.
Gear:
- Don't bring the hatchet, just the saw. If you can afford the weight, make it a Wyoming saw with both a bone and wood blade, but ditch the cheesy carrying pouch.
- Taking both the bow and the rifle is going to add up quick. If you are hiking a good distance from the dropoff to your camp (especially up some nasty terrain) that could get heavy quick. Pounds=miles so hopefully you can get away with your plan of only a 3-4 mile hike from the dropoff.
- Add a packet of citric acid meat preservative to your kill kit in case you down an animal early in the hunt. This will help it from spoiling.
- Don't need a head lamp AND a flashlight, lose one.
- Radio (i'm guessing this is a 2-way radio) is illegal to hunt with in AK.
- Eno Pro Fly Tarp - I would personally go bigger, like the Pro Fly XL tarp if its not too late.
- Spare lithium batteries - Meekins might let you get away with it, but unless the batteries are installed in the equipment, you can't fly with spare lithium batteries. Just go for the regular ni-cad batteries, you are only out there 9 days.
- Fuel canisters - Again, call Meekins to make sure they will let you fly with Jetboil canisters
Food:
- Brown sugar oatmeal packets - you can do better than that!
- Dinner - Mountain House - you talked about getting the most cal/oz, but MH are fairly ineffective in this category. Look at their labels and you will see they don't pack much punch in the calories department. The Beef Stew only has 190 calories (others can get up to about 290 cal/serving)! You can boost this by bringing a small bottle of olive oil to squirt into the MH. Olive oil has 250 calories per ounce, the highest of any food. In fact 1 oz of olive oil has as many calories as most MH meals (per serving). Also check out Heather's Choice backpacking food out of Anchorage. For about $6 more per meal you can get a far superior product (smoked salmon chowder, dark chocolate chili, tomatillo rancheros...) and support a local Alaskan company. For the extra $50 total for 9 days, you will be eating like kings compared to MH.
As somebody else mentioned, where's the GPS or paper maps?
I'd bring a contractor trash bag to submerge the meat in a creek if it gets hot during the day.
bring a 3' x 3' piece of tyvek or similar material to help with the field dressing process. It gives you somewhere to set the meat on the ground without contaminating it and it weighs next to nothing.
Don't be surprised if you run into some no-seeums on your trip (mosquitos should be gone by then). A uber lightweight head net might be worth it.
I usually bring one the small bottles of hand sanitizer.
Meekins will do you good, they are a solid outfit.
Other than that you guys should be good to go. Have a hell of a time and enjoy every minute of it, Alaska is a special place!
- No need for the Uncomphagre vest AND the Super Down puffy. Choose one or the other.
- Shouldn't need 2 pairs of thermal bottoms and the Kenai zip-offs. I would toss one of the thermal bottoms.
Gear:
- Don't bring the hatchet, just the saw. If you can afford the weight, make it a Wyoming saw with both a bone and wood blade, but ditch the cheesy carrying pouch.
- Taking both the bow and the rifle is going to add up quick. If you are hiking a good distance from the dropoff to your camp (especially up some nasty terrain) that could get heavy quick. Pounds=miles so hopefully you can get away with your plan of only a 3-4 mile hike from the dropoff.
- Add a packet of citric acid meat preservative to your kill kit in case you down an animal early in the hunt. This will help it from spoiling.
- Don't need a head lamp AND a flashlight, lose one.
- Radio (i'm guessing this is a 2-way radio) is illegal to hunt with in AK.
- Eno Pro Fly Tarp - I would personally go bigger, like the Pro Fly XL tarp if its not too late.
- Spare lithium batteries - Meekins might let you get away with it, but unless the batteries are installed in the equipment, you can't fly with spare lithium batteries. Just go for the regular ni-cad batteries, you are only out there 9 days.
- Fuel canisters - Again, call Meekins to make sure they will let you fly with Jetboil canisters
Food:
- Brown sugar oatmeal packets - you can do better than that!
- Dinner - Mountain House - you talked about getting the most cal/oz, but MH are fairly ineffective in this category. Look at their labels and you will see they don't pack much punch in the calories department. The Beef Stew only has 190 calories (others can get up to about 290 cal/serving)! You can boost this by bringing a small bottle of olive oil to squirt into the MH. Olive oil has 250 calories per ounce, the highest of any food. In fact 1 oz of olive oil has as many calories as most MH meals (per serving). Also check out Heather's Choice backpacking food out of Anchorage. For about $6 more per meal you can get a far superior product (smoked salmon chowder, dark chocolate chili, tomatillo rancheros...) and support a local Alaskan company. For the extra $50 total for 9 days, you will be eating like kings compared to MH.
As somebody else mentioned, where's the GPS or paper maps?
I'd bring a contractor trash bag to submerge the meat in a creek if it gets hot during the day.
bring a 3' x 3' piece of tyvek or similar material to help with the field dressing process. It gives you somewhere to set the meat on the ground without contaminating it and it weighs next to nothing.
Don't be surprised if you run into some no-seeums on your trip (mosquitos should be gone by then). A uber lightweight head net might be worth it.
I usually bring one the small bottles of hand sanitizer.
Meekins will do you good, they are a solid outfit.
Other than that you guys should be good to go. Have a hell of a time and enjoy every minute of it, Alaska is a special place!
