{"id":23836,"date":"2015-03-03T18:43:58","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T01:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=23836"},"modified":"2017-01-01T19:02:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T02:02:45","slug":"whats-in-my-bag-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/whats-in-my-bag-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in My Bag? – Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

I work in the subalpine regions of Washington state studying high elevation amphibians. \u00a0My work schedule is usually 5 days on in the backcountry, 2 days off in town to resupply and catch up on email.<\/em><\/p>\n

On any given work trip into the backcountry I\u2019ll walk up to 20 miles per day, visit up to 50 wetlands, and carry 10 extra pounds of research gear. \u00a0Over the past several years the amount of research gear that I\u2019m required to carry has increased, driving down the weight and number of other things in my backpack.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s in my bag:<\/p>\n

\"heron\"<\/a>
\nBag\/Backpack:
\nHyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Porter Pack, $310<\/a>\u00a0– It fits me well and its weight is reasonable at 33 oz. It’s waterproof and white so you can see down inside.<\/p>\n

Sleeping items:
\nA homemade down quilt, comparable to Nunatak Arc Specialist, $479<\/a>.
\nA homemade shelter, comparable to Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Tarp, $120<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Serenity Shelter, $145<\/a>.
\nThermarest Neo-Air Small, $110<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0I have had a few small holes in it over four years, but they were patched easily with Gorilla Tape<\/a>.
\nMSR Groundhog Stakes, $16 for 6<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooking items:
\nEvernew 1.3 L Titanium pot, $60<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0I\u2019ve met folks who have used this pot for 20 years. Just be sure to get the version which is NOT non-stick. The plain titanium will last much longer.
\nVargo Titanium Spork, $12<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Short enough tines to not loose all your liquid when used as a spoon.
\nSuper Cat Stove, Free or $2<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0The lightest stove on earth. Make your own at home in five minutes.
\nDenatured alcohol for the stove in an old soda bottle.
\nStuffsack for food, $10<\/a>
\nLiteTrail NyloBarrier Odor Proof Bag, $5 for 3 –\u00a0Food goes in here, then in the stuff sack, which prevents rodents and bears from being too interested in my pack.
\nAquamira Bottle, $20<\/a> with Sawyer Mini filter, $17<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0The most convenient way I\u2019ve found to filter water in the backcountry. Get the Sawyer filter though, the one that comes with the bottle is awful.<\/p>\n

Clothing items:
\nArc\u2019teryx Phase SL T-shirt, $46<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Not all polyfiber shirts are created equal. This is one of the only ones I\u2019ve ever used which actually moves sweat away from my skin.
\nGramicci Men’s Rocket Dry G Pants, $36<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Simple, light, quick-drying pants. No gimmicks.
\nDarn Tough Socks 1\/4 Ultralight, $13<\/a>\u00a0– This company will replace your socks when you wear holes in them.
\nIbex Hooded Indie Wool Shirt, $80<\/a>
\nPatagonia Capilene 3 Long Undies, $55<\/a>
\nFeathered Friends Daybreak Jacket, $240<\/a>
\nArc\u2019teryx Squamish Hoody, $150<\/a>\u00a0– This windbreaker is my favorite clothing item. \u00a0I wear it for sun and bug protection. \u00a0When working with amphibians, we do not use sunscreen or bug repellent and instead must cover up our skin. \u00a0I wear this, long pants, and a head-net for bug and sun protection.
\nHeadnet, $15<\/a>\u00a0– You can probably find this cheaper off-line.<\/p>\n

Small items
\nLeica 10×25 BCA Binoculars, $500<\/a>\u00a0– The lightest, quality binoculars I have found.
\nSuunto Core Watch, $233<\/a>\u00a0– Combine this with a topo map for dead simple navigation.
\nBelomo Triplet Loupe, $35<\/a>\u00a0– The best-quality cheap loupe.
\nRite-in-Rain Notebook, $8<\/a>\u00a0– We use larger versions of these for work. Personal notes go in this one.
\nZebralight 52W Headlamp, $64<\/a>
\nPlatypus 2L Soft Bottle, $10<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0I try to never carry more than .75 L of water, but when I need to, I use this.
\nAquamira Chlorine Dioxide Drops, $13<\/a>\u00a0– A backup to my water filter, repackaged in smaller drip bottles.
\nWhistle, $1<\/a>
\nSuunto \u00a0M-3 Compass, $25<\/a>\u00a0– Adjustable declination is my guilty pleasure.
\nBic Lighter $1
\nLeatherman Squirt PS4, $30<\/a>
\nKiss My Face Sunscreen, $7<\/a>\u00a0– Used occasionally on my nose.
\nCanon S100 Camera, $400<\/a> –\u00a0I have had three of these. It’s my favorite camera. \u00a0The most current version is the S120.
\nSkilcraft Pencil, $27 for 6<\/a>\u00a0– My favorite pencil. It’s very hard to find though. \u00a0The steel lead sleeve fully retracts into pencil body to avoid breaking the tip or punching holes in your clothes\/pack\/body.
\nSkilcraft Ballpoint Pen, $13 for 12<\/a>
\nMaps printed from CalTopo.com, Free<\/a>\u00a0– A free alternative to topo map software. No account necessary. The advanced features are there if you need them but don\u2019t get in the way.<\/p>\n

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I work in the subalpine regions of Washington state studying high elevation amphibians. \u00a0My work schedule is usually 5 days …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3,2303],"tags":[2305],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23836"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28011,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23836\/revisions\/28011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}