I recently accompanied a good friend on a fly-in backpack mountain goat hunt, and spent 9 days out in the field, which reinforced a few things to me. I thought I’d share, but also note how some of these lessons learned were so much more blunt or extreme given the conditions compared to my home state of MT. Between base and spike camps, existing out in the weather was a challenge. The normal solution of “start a fire” was simply not in play.
Planned Gear List: https://lighterpack.com/r/5hmjc6
Biggest takeaways:
SEAK is beyond my comprehension in wetness, active precipitation, the atmosphere/humidity, misting, and of course the brush. The wet spongy ground reminded me of Scotland’s peat during the rain.
Clothing:
SG cirque jacket - very, very good for this wet environment. Not quite as warm as a full Grumman down puffy for me, but worked decently in its place. I soaked that jacket daily and wore it dry multiple times. I continue to enjoy the Sitka ambient, which dries well, in the 100 weight hoody, but it’s far too warm sometimes. I thrashed that thing through brush on the pack out and it’s still kicking. I think their latest mapped 75 version with some fleece will be extremely hard to beat.
I also had 1 pair of actual hunting pants (SG DH lites) I wore under rain pants for the only sunny day, which was okay. The venting was nice in the sun.
Merino/Syn - I took boot top aerowool FL bottoms and wore rubber over those for the hike in. They were totally compromised and never dried after. I had zip off P118 kuiu bottoms I wore 24/7 after that, which worked well, and dried at night. I used synthetic SG Avro hoodies throughout and these also dried well at night when worn.
Down - SG Grumman bottoms for pants were amazing to help add warmth when needed, and very light. I left the jacket in basecamp and used it a lot under a rain shell there.
Rain gear- rubber grundens, chugach TR bottoms, arctyrex beta AR goretex pro top. Hiking done in the rubbers, which really sucked. Soaked inside from sweat, but needed robust gear for hikes in/out due to the incredibly thick brush, climbing over rocks, etc. I just wore baselayer bottoms under my Kuiu breathable rain pants while hunting and at basecamp, which worked excellent. Neither my pants/jacket that was breathable got overwhelmed and leaky, and I pushed them both pretty hard. I think I’d still take rubber gear into a basecamp, but would lean towards drying these burlier 4L type rain sets like the Omen series if doing it again.
Boots - once they are wet, they stay that way, and no sun/wind could overcome it, even in synthetics. I took Crispi briksda mtn SFs and they worked fine, apart from the rands completely separating (common theme, I’ve had 4 pairs do this now). “ Synthetic dries quicker” wasn’t really an applicable factor to this kind of hunt.
Weapon: a full action cover to guard from debris, direct moisture and brush is a really good idea. Having a really compact/short setup was also needed, as a 24” barrel was a liability in the alders.
Sleep System: SG chilkoot 15F mummy bag, xlite pad, outfitter provided 4 season 3p tent. I wouldn’t depend on the outfitter for shelter again, I’d take my own so I knew the shelter well, venting, setup in dark, footprint needed etc. Weight too - this tent was sturdy but 8.25lb, a rock in the wind. After a first hike and setting spike camp in the mist, my mummy bag was used to dry me out a bit overnight. But we had to repack and move further onto another mountain. The moisture on my bag shell from pushing it out of the inner bag ended up compromising my treated down when recompressed into my back. The whole next day after setting another spike camp I was soaked and tent bound, pushing moisture into down that was clumping enough I could see through the bag shell quite easily. Days later I’d regain loft, but this was a man obvious reminder treated or not, a synthetic bag would have been a better system to use. It did work, but temps were 40F or so for lowest. Using my clothing system to overheat inside my compromised bag and try and move moisture out was doable.
Tarps: covering common areas between tents is really nice to permit being outside in rain to cook and relax. Not something I’d normally prioritize but for a wet area, this is a huge deal. A tarp to lay meat out on is very useful - but easy to cut, we nicked one up pretty good boning the goat. Tyvek ground sheets might be better suited for this use.
Elec: I took both audio books to listen to and digital books to read. Managing my phone settings and using battery packs I was able to really stretch things out. I found when tent bound, just plain reading a book on my phone and listening to the rain was quite enjoyable. Didn’t even tap into podcasts and audio books.
Trek poles: BD alpine carbon corks are on another level from anything I’ve tried in stiffness, dampening, and especially flex in the bottom section. I’ve tried other lower grade BD trail series stuff, argali, and these are FAR and away a better product in my use.
Water carrying: interesting issue I would not have anticipated. My buddy used 3 UL Nalgenes. 2 were grabbed out of his packs bottle holder on the way in…..I took 1 UL Nalgene and a 3L hydropak seeker bag. An extra couple ounces for a platy bag is good backup. I should note my bottle didn’t come out of my K4 bottle holder.
Packs: expedition style hunts with larger bags end up either pushing bags out from your sides, out away from your back, up above your head, or all 3. One always valued having a frame/pack that isn’t wider than me for getting through brush, and this proved useful here. I took an Exo K4 7200 and would do it again, packing camp and half a goat left me impressed with this system. I used the dry bag liner and that really helped along with individual dry sacks. The suspension and outer bag got pretty soaked, but I did get it dry on a sunny day.
Food/cook: being able to get warm bone broth, ramen, etc in your system when holed up trying to dry yourself is really helpful.
Planned Gear List: https://lighterpack.com/r/5hmjc6
Biggest takeaways:
- In such a wet environment, how you dry yourself without fire is sleep system, and if staying mobile, synthetic is important for that resistance to failure, both in clothing and sleep bag/quilt.
- I backpack hunt a lot for 2-5 days: besides more food for longer duration, sustainment in the field doesn’t require a ton more extra gear apart from different duty gloves, rain gear, etc tailored to the hunt.
- Syn vs leather boots in these kind of environments doesn’t appear to be a super huge deal. Wet is wet.
- I get cold easy and knew that going in, so having puffy pants and warmer layers for static glassing times or using my shell in the wind became imperative. Knowing that about myself helped make the hunt a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.
- Although simple, the pocket rocket deluxe is more bulletproof than all other stoves I’ve tried.
- Active insulating mid layers continue to be a staple in my kit that replaces typical grid fleece.
SEAK is beyond my comprehension in wetness, active precipitation, the atmosphere/humidity, misting, and of course the brush. The wet spongy ground reminded me of Scotland’s peat during the rain.
Clothing:
SG cirque jacket - very, very good for this wet environment. Not quite as warm as a full Grumman down puffy for me, but worked decently in its place. I soaked that jacket daily and wore it dry multiple times. I continue to enjoy the Sitka ambient, which dries well, in the 100 weight hoody, but it’s far too warm sometimes. I thrashed that thing through brush on the pack out and it’s still kicking. I think their latest mapped 75 version with some fleece will be extremely hard to beat.
I also had 1 pair of actual hunting pants (SG DH lites) I wore under rain pants for the only sunny day, which was okay. The venting was nice in the sun.
Merino/Syn - I took boot top aerowool FL bottoms and wore rubber over those for the hike in. They were totally compromised and never dried after. I had zip off P118 kuiu bottoms I wore 24/7 after that, which worked well, and dried at night. I used synthetic SG Avro hoodies throughout and these also dried well at night when worn.
Down - SG Grumman bottoms for pants were amazing to help add warmth when needed, and very light. I left the jacket in basecamp and used it a lot under a rain shell there.
Rain gear- rubber grundens, chugach TR bottoms, arctyrex beta AR goretex pro top. Hiking done in the rubbers, which really sucked. Soaked inside from sweat, but needed robust gear for hikes in/out due to the incredibly thick brush, climbing over rocks, etc. I just wore baselayer bottoms under my Kuiu breathable rain pants while hunting and at basecamp, which worked excellent. Neither my pants/jacket that was breathable got overwhelmed and leaky, and I pushed them both pretty hard. I think I’d still take rubber gear into a basecamp, but would lean towards drying these burlier 4L type rain sets like the Omen series if doing it again.
Boots - once they are wet, they stay that way, and no sun/wind could overcome it, even in synthetics. I took Crispi briksda mtn SFs and they worked fine, apart from the rands completely separating (common theme, I’ve had 4 pairs do this now). “ Synthetic dries quicker” wasn’t really an applicable factor to this kind of hunt.
Weapon: a full action cover to guard from debris, direct moisture and brush is a really good idea. Having a really compact/short setup was also needed, as a 24” barrel was a liability in the alders.
Sleep System: SG chilkoot 15F mummy bag, xlite pad, outfitter provided 4 season 3p tent. I wouldn’t depend on the outfitter for shelter again, I’d take my own so I knew the shelter well, venting, setup in dark, footprint needed etc. Weight too - this tent was sturdy but 8.25lb, a rock in the wind. After a first hike and setting spike camp in the mist, my mummy bag was used to dry me out a bit overnight. But we had to repack and move further onto another mountain. The moisture on my bag shell from pushing it out of the inner bag ended up compromising my treated down when recompressed into my back. The whole next day after setting another spike camp I was soaked and tent bound, pushing moisture into down that was clumping enough I could see through the bag shell quite easily. Days later I’d regain loft, but this was a man obvious reminder treated or not, a synthetic bag would have been a better system to use. It did work, but temps were 40F or so for lowest. Using my clothing system to overheat inside my compromised bag and try and move moisture out was doable.
Tarps: covering common areas between tents is really nice to permit being outside in rain to cook and relax. Not something I’d normally prioritize but for a wet area, this is a huge deal. A tarp to lay meat out on is very useful - but easy to cut, we nicked one up pretty good boning the goat. Tyvek ground sheets might be better suited for this use.
Elec: I took both audio books to listen to and digital books to read. Managing my phone settings and using battery packs I was able to really stretch things out. I found when tent bound, just plain reading a book on my phone and listening to the rain was quite enjoyable. Didn’t even tap into podcasts and audio books.
Trek poles: BD alpine carbon corks are on another level from anything I’ve tried in stiffness, dampening, and especially flex in the bottom section. I’ve tried other lower grade BD trail series stuff, argali, and these are FAR and away a better product in my use.
Water carrying: interesting issue I would not have anticipated. My buddy used 3 UL Nalgenes. 2 were grabbed out of his packs bottle holder on the way in…..I took 1 UL Nalgene and a 3L hydropak seeker bag. An extra couple ounces for a platy bag is good backup. I should note my bottle didn’t come out of my K4 bottle holder.
Packs: expedition style hunts with larger bags end up either pushing bags out from your sides, out away from your back, up above your head, or all 3. One always valued having a frame/pack that isn’t wider than me for getting through brush, and this proved useful here. I took an Exo K4 7200 and would do it again, packing camp and half a goat left me impressed with this system. I used the dry bag liner and that really helped along with individual dry sacks. The suspension and outer bag got pretty soaked, but I did get it dry on a sunny day.
Food/cook: being able to get warm bone broth, ramen, etc in your system when holed up trying to dry yourself is really helpful.
