Packin' it!
Original post
Sooooo......
Normally, I'm a light tramper. Well, my gear is at least. :P
However, I'm moving towards working only 6 months of the year, hopefully as of 2017.
And as such, I plan on spending EXTENDED periods in the backcountry. I'm not talking TA. I'm talking hitting track after track. I'm talking weeks in Fiordland and other regions.
So, my pack requirements are about to change DRASTICALLY.
I haven't bought a large pack, except a secondhand Tatonka for $20, in..... well, ever actually.
5 months meandering through the jungles and towns of SE Asia, all I had was a 34L Osprey.
I have a Hunter's Element pack, about 45L I think, but seriously, it's crap. The collar has ripped, and buckles are breaking. Terrible pack as far as durability goes.
So suggestions for large capacity, durable yet hopefully not weighing a tonne, preferably comfortable packs would be greatly appreciated.
I do not care what it costs. I'm going to be living out of it for 6 months at a time. Even one or two thousand is peanuts considering it'll basically be my home. Actually, I'll be living out of it all year round. When not hitting the tracks I'll be working as an extended-tour guide.
Cheers in advance for your suggestions and thoughts. :)
37 comments
Second the leghold trap & some thin steel wire & d shackle to secure it round a tree instead of hammer & staples. 550g to get you a feed of meat most nights. Bit of tinfoil or white plastic smeared now&then with some oil saturated with cinamon tied to tree behind it.
All sounds both intriguing and promising.
But no, the bow won't end up on Trade Me. I said I'm not currently a bow hunter. Didn't say I was a newbie archer.... ;)
Before targeting possum, I need to be SHOWN the difference between healthy and TB-infected possum lungs. Not photos, descriptions, or YouTube videos. Physically, with my own two eyes, see and compare the difference. I may have a TB vaccination, but I'm quite sure it's not aimed at possum-spread bovine TB.
Possum is DELICIOUS! And if I can survive/thrive whilst simultaneously culling those little mofo's, then great!
But I need to be fairly certain they're healthy first.
To be able to cut down on food if you are not taking a rifle, a modern light weight leg hold trap, like madpom says, can provide plenty of possums for food. A fish hook & length of twine can be used to catch eels or just a bob or gaff hook if you know how to catch them these ways. (both possums and eels are good eating! I've used these methods to supplement food supplies on trips of up to 3 weeks duration in my younger days) I'll admit to not living like that since 2013 when two of us did a trip harking back to how we sometimes did things in the 70's & 80's and lived on possums as our main food for 7 or 8 days of a 10 day trip.
If coastal you can likely get shell fish and a wider variety of fish thaneels. When in southern Fiordland we would get paua, crays, greenbone, blue cod, mussels & kina with no or minimal equipment (knife, twine, hook, 2 prong spear head & maybe gloves. Assume you know about edible seaweed, puha and watercress? Caution; parts of Fiordland don't have possums or that was the case when I lived there in the early 1980's. You may need to check to find out if they have colonised the areas you intend to visit if you are going to adopt the trapping idea.
Thanks guys. Fiordland is just an example of one place I want to spend extended time in. If Milford Track is even remotely indicative of other Fiordland regions, I'll be eating trout at least. :)
The true objective is to develop skills that allow me to spend extended lengths away from civilisation anywhere in NZ. This will take years. But that's ok; I relish the challenge and sense of true adventure!
tb mainly appears in the armpits of possums. Lesions grow which eventually become pussy & weeping in the infectious stage of the disease. The tb in this puss is viable outside the body for a day or so - so the main vector of transmission between them is cobtact with this through fighting, mating or den-sharing. Transmission between possums is not via lrsions in the lungs & saliva/spray as with human tb. Can't recal the figures but 90-odd percent of infected possums (the early stages of infection) can't be diagnosed with the naked eye. Bovine tb can infect humans - but we are not a primary host and it is less likely to infect / develop in a human host than human tb.
Like every other meat good cookIng is your protection. You're more at risk skinnung / butchering them that eating well cooked.
Ensure your bow meets the permit requirements:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/hunting/permits-and-licences/bow-and-cross-bow-hunting/
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| Forum | Gear talk |
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| Started by | Kreig |
| On | 30 October 2016 |
| Replies | 36 |
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