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Showing posts with label bedroll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bedroll. Show all posts

Friday, 4 August 2017

My bedroll kit

My bedroll kit



Having a bedroll is very traditional way of camping and in fact can be used on its own.
A bedroll can be as big as you want sometimes containing a small mattress and pillow or as small as you want sometimes only containing a blanket.  There is no wrong way to do it.
To me a bedroll is your shelter kit.  Everything you need to set up camp should be in your bedroll.


My bedroll contains. From top to bottom
Two tent poles
Underwear  (socks, underwear, shirt, vest, bra)
Military poncho
Cotton blanket
Wool blanket
Military poncho 


This set up is based of my needs and built on my past experiences and tested.
Improvements  that I see would be;
 a small tarp  -  to either replace  or add to the kit
a hammock   -  this would increase the functionality of his kit. St Lucia is a mountainous island and so more often than not natural land is not flat making sleeping on the ground a great task though not impossible
better straps  - I  use two belts to secure my bedroll and latch it to my bag using cordage . Dedicated straps that could possible also be used carry it without the bag as well as being used along with my lbe.

My kit for camp when I thought i was going for two weeks. Pouch on the extreme right contains all accessories for my uniforms. Every cadet should have one as it keeps you from forgetting pieces of your uniform and getting booked. LBE suspenders and belt were worn to camp all pouches are on the inside except canteens.

 Tested out for SLCC annual cadet camp 2017. 
Instead staying on camp full time I could only stay the weekends and night. it safe to say whenever I'm not at work i was on camp. having a bedroll let customize my bag to the different periods of time spent on camp. that along with my canteen, mess kit and uniform were the constants of my pack. 




pro and cons of having a bedroll 




Cons


  • external to your pack
  • gets big and bulky real quick
  • packing up requires a lot of space
  • some skill in knots is needed


Pros


  • saves time when packing
  • easy to use as soon as possible
  • completely customisable
  • can be carried without a pack or with LBE
  • external from your pack


Tips for making a good bedroll


  • will there be rain, mud and anything to protect your stuff from the elements
  • is comfort an issue
  • what type of shelter do you plan on making
  • what size do you want your bedroll
  • where are you going to mount it.
  • test it at home before use


Leave a comment if your enjoyed it.
Share with your friends.
And remember survival is not a choice but a right earned at birth.



Be the Wolf!





Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Kit Rundown

Today we will be talking about different kits that are out there. Why? Because it up to you to decide what you need so that you will build the most effective kit or kits to full fill your needs. At the end of this I will leave like to different YouTube videos so you can better understand these kits.

Bug Out Bag (B.O.B)
Firstly the most talked about bag. The Bug Out Bag aka the B.O.B.  This is usually a 72 hour bag it should contain everything from food to gear you need to survive. We will be talking about the contents in another post. Just know that it is a bag meant for the worst case scenario. So you take the bag and go with nothing else. Basically a standalone kit ready for all your survival needs on your way.


Every Day Carry (E.D.C)
Next the most talked about stuff. Every Day Carry or EDC. This is all the things that you carry with you on a daily basis whether it’s for survival or whatever. Girls we know about the brush and the makeup and for guys the wallet with your drinking money. So your phone, wallet, your purse are all your EDC. In the context of this block maybe a switch knife, a pocket multi tool, etc. so in the case of this blog its your take everywhere survival kit.


E.D.C Bag
For those of you who carry a bag with you, this is for you. So everything you carry in your bag on a daily basis. Personally I carry my medical kit/clean kit, a pack of ramen, water bottle, carabina, waterproof bag and my school books. Oh and my laptop. So your everyday carry that goes in your bag. Please note do not full your Jan sport to the brim you want to leave space for anything you might accumulate for the day. So once again in this case your take everywhere survival kit.



E.D.C Vehicle
This is your Every Day Carry that you carry in your vehicle. It will be relatively larger and more diverse than the other EDC due to the fact that you are not the one carrying it and there is more space for you to store gear.  so in lamest terms a survival kit just  case stuff goes wrong and you have access to your vehicle.



The basis I have with all EDC gear is that it’s only useful if you carry it. Like going to buy KFC without having money on you. Yea you could be rich but you won’t get the four piece meal with air as payment.


Get Home Bag
Get Home Bag is the bag you carry if you are going quite a distance from your base camp or home. It’s a 24 hour bag with survival capabilities.



Survival Kit
This is exactly what it sounds like a relatively small kit in which you have everything you need to survive if you lose everything but that kit. Some people use an altoids tin some a butt bag and others a pocket organizer. The point is a small kit that you can carry with you anywhere and everywhere.

  

Basecamp Bag
This is a bag in which holds everything a person or group needs for shelter. I usually use this with my father when we go camping for more than a week. A perfect example is cadet summer camp which is two weeks. This kit focuses on shelter it’s not usually something you carry it is more for something that you put on a vehicle.

Camp Bag
Your camp bag is basically the bag you use when going on group camps. So Cadets, Boy Scouts, etc.  I think it will most likely be your biggest bag since we tend to carry supplies for comfort since our basic needs will be met.



Tactical kit
Tactical Kit is more for persons with military background. It follows the military line system. It’s the 2nd line (yep we will go over the line system later). It’s your chest rig or webbing. You’re loading bearing equipment (LBE). For those of you with no military background, its somewhere between what you carry on your person and your backpack. For example a chest rig is basically a heavy duty vest you can attach pouches to carry gear.

  

Dog Pack
The “Dog pack” is completely optional and I want to make it clear that when a disaster strikes pets are usually not allowed in most emergency shelters unless it’s like you’re seeing eye dog or any animal that used for person with disabilities. Honestly pets are usually forgotten in an emergency so a dog pack is the bag that your dog carries with all its supplies. I think dogs are great in an emergency situation because they can carry a lot of weight and pull a lot of weight (although you do need to get them accustom to it after all no dog who has never carried a bag in their life will just let put a bag on it). Please note that for dogs the bags are usually vest like so don’t go thinking it’s a legit bag, dog have their special bags.



SAS Survival kit
Now we have the kit that has its own book the SAS survival kit. One of the best survival books that I have read in my short time on this earth was the “SAS Survival guide”. In this book the author highlights a how to build this kit. Note that this is a military style kit and you can modify the bag and contents as long as they do the job.

        

Disaster kits
These are kits that everyone should have whether it’s for a hurricane, tsunami, earthquake or any natural disaster that your area is prone to. What makes this different to a normal survival kit is that you are fully prepared for the world to go on as usual. Meaning you carry things like passport, important documents, money and anything else that will make life easier to rebuild if you lose everything as well essential survival items and food just in case you are trapped somewhere or need to travel to get to a safe zone. In this bag you should carry some tools like a pry bar or chain cutters you know just in case. You never know what could happen in a disaster. I will go over these kits in further detail later.


Chuck Box
By far my favorite thing in this world is food that is why having a Chuck Box is essential to camping. Yes camping people. This is not a kit that you want to carry when you are trying to survive in the bush. It’s a kit for car camping, camping and all around wherever you don’t have to carry it camping. It’s a box that contains everything you need or cooking. That would be a camping stove, emergency gas, pots and pans, eating utensils, etc. it’s basically a micro kitchen.


Bedroll
The ‘Bedroll’ is your personal shelter kit that you attach to the bottom of your bag so that it doesn’t take up room in the main pocket of your bag. A tarp is usually the outer layer so that is waterproof. For example it could contain the tarp, wool blanket and hammock and straps or cordage. You could switch the wool blanket with a sleeping bag or add it if you want. So you roll it together, tie it properly and attach it to your bag.


We will go in detail on how to build each of these kits and videos on each but for now here are some links to good YouTube videos to get you started.

B.O.B

E.D.C

E.D.C Bag

E.D.C Vehicle

Get Home Bag

Survival Kit

Basecamp Bag

Tactical kit
Dog pack

Disaster kits
Chuck box
Bedroll

I hope you noticed that these are all just different configurations of survival kits. the amount or type of gear and even who carries and where you take it to gives it a new name.

If there are any kits you want to go over leave it in the comments and I’ll write up on it.

Leave a comment if your enjoyed it.
Share with your friends.

And remember survival is not a choice but a right earned at birth.

Be the Wolf!