Getting ready.

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With both packs open, empty, and my gear ready... mostly...  I decided to pack a full readiness pack.  The goal, really, is to have two days worth of needs, at full speed.  Water, fire, food, gear, clothing, plus backup and minor redundancy.  It seems so easy, as a notion.  The practical is something different.  What do you really need and want for two days?  Now, what of that will fit in a pack you can carry?  More, where are you going?  If in a desert, or where there is no easy potable water source, water will take up both a lot of space and your weight limit.  I could do two days, as is, on two gallons of water.  I would prefer three gallons, I could get by with a gallon and an half.  Where I will be going, I can gather water on the way.  A canteen and a larger bladder to start out, which I need to utilize.  Drink every fifteen minutes, really.  Just a sip.  Altitude and the arid nature hereabouts, plus the effort.  And, yes, I do.

Some things are easy to pack.  Clothing is easy.  For two days, I do want several shirts, several underwear, several socks, and extra pair of pants and a pair of shorts.  As much of that synthetic, silk, or wool as possible.  Synthetic shirts and shorts, and even wool, wash and dry fairly quickly.  Still, a cotton shirt is fine for around camp.  I can keep it dry, for now.  Plus rain gear... a pancho, and even rain pants if it hits really hard.  Very easy.  I have too much, to be honest.  It's really what I might take for even a four to ten day trek, since most of it is easily washed and dries overnight.  One drybag for clean, another compacted in there for diry, clothes.  That allows me to keep one set of clothes clean for when I come out of the bush.  My first submarine shift taught me that, then burn events reminded me.  Actually, on sub duty, I kept two sets of civvies clean, pressed, and in an airtight.

Food, fire, water and water treatment are easy, since I know where I am going and what to expect.  I pretty much keep my cooking kit together, with most of my fire starting gear in that.  I also have a secondary pack of fire starting gear separately, and in a place that is easier to retrieve.  Food is not my first plan.  A fire may be.  And yet, this will always vary.  Food has to vary, as it is eaten, at least to a degree.  Water will vary.  More or less depending on location.  But there is a baseline.  And the filter will go with in any situation, unless I am doing just a several hour hike on a path I absolutely know.  I am looking forward to the dehydrator to open food options.

As to the rest?  Well... even with the above, I am having to consider how, and where, to pack some items.  What is needed, or could be needed, quickly?  What, order do I need or want items?  What might be required right on the trail, during the hike?  Wet weather gear needs to be handy, water too one way or another, a few items for shelter if absolutely needed, snacks would be good, eventually a map and compass will be necessary.  The pack I have is excellent for keeping a pretty solid variety of items at very easy readiness.  But the pack is... well... stupid.  It has easy access spots, I just have to figure out how to use them.

It isn't even as easy as that.  Even if I don't need the stove ready, do I really want that in with the rest of the gear?  Just how much of a pounding can it take?  What about the fuel bottle(s), will they spill?  So, even if I know what I want available, is that easy to keep at the ready, with what else that is fragile and needs to be separate?  Oh... I'll figure it out.  Some of it on the minor trail I am using, some of it just playing in the back yard, some of it from watching vids, reading, and speaking with other campers and hikers. 

I have the tent, bag, a few adds for those, clothes, and weather gear sorted.  Now I have to figure out food, water, and sundry.  I am about half way through packing, as I see it.  More like 70 to 80 percent by volume, but what remains will need tedious care and considered attention.  Still, I am enjoying the process.  And, in time, I will have it down to an art.  Perhaps creating a list, cutting the list up by pack area, accounting for variables such as weather, season, water availability, and possibly altitude.  Hmm... I'd like to have another minor pack arrangement.

The idea, or my notion, is to pack in like I am moving in... find a main camp and set that up... then explore around it with just a day pack, in as many directions as possible, with enough gear that I could overnight away from the main camp if all else failed.  Spend three or four days in an area, learning what I can, then moving on.  I am not even sure where, around here, that is completely possible.  Don't want to trespass, don't want to be on official park grounds, looking more for simple public lands.  Not even sure who to ask about it, perhaps rangers... if there is some distrust there.  Not that you can trust a dusty trail tramp either.  While I lack full trust in rangers, I am not... hmm... antagonistic either.  Not bitter, just not fully trusting.  I hold both sides at a bit of a distance.  I'll figure it out.

I just wish I could get it all together, so as to weigh it all.  Too much and I might back some things off.  If really wanted/needed (as I see things), I might have to look for lighter options.  Just sharing some outdoorsy thoughts, thinking things through, and... mind mapping.  Later.