Up next in 10
In today's video, we're taking on the 14-pound "survival kit" challenge, demonstrating essential "survival skills" in a nature preserve. This video covers practical "survival gear" and showcases elements of "bushcraft" for effective "preparedness". Stay prepared, and keep wandering. 🔥🌲
Mountainsmith EVO 20L (20% Off Site Wide Until Dec. 31st) :
https://bit.ly/45e2PF4
Craig Caudill:
https://bit.ly/4qk7Fc0
Stay Ready Outdoors:
https://bit.ly/4sbtoon
USGI Industries Poncho:
https://amzn.to/49avc8n
Prepared Wanderer AMAZON STORE:
https://bit.ly/3Jjs1iO
Prepared Wanderer Patches and Stickers:
https://thepreparedwanderer.bigcartel.com
Prepared Wanderer WEBSITE:
https://preparedwanderer.com
Prepared Wanderer FACEBOOK GROUP:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1835005976546722
Prepared Wanderer INSTAGRAM:
prepared_wanderer
#prepper #bushcraft #survival
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
In today's video, we're going to be
0:01
taking the 14 lb survival pack
0:04
challenge.
0:06
Stick around.
0:08
[Music]
0:25
All right. So, I'm out um at a local uh
0:29
nature preserve that I come out to and I
0:31
hike and I film at and um just trying to
0:35
get out of the house for a little bit
0:37
today. Uh the holidays are starting up
0:40
and I've been kind of cooped up and this
0:42
is really one one of the nicer days that
0:44
we've had. No moisture, uh mid30s.
0:49
So, I was watching uh a short video on
0:52
Instagram by Craig Codddle. Now, if you
0:55
don't know who Craig Codddle is, he is a
0:57
uh a author, tracker, uh a teacher,
1:02
survival instructor, very well um
1:05
thought of in the community, very well
1:07
respected. I respect him. I like his
1:11
content. I think what he has to say, it
1:13
makes a lot of sense. He just had a
1:16
little short Instagram post about um
1:18
pairing down your gear and that we all
1:21
carry a little bit too much. And I'm
1:23
certainly guilty of that. And of course,
1:25
you know, you get into this whole
1:26
survival bushcraft thing. You kind of go
1:29
down rabbit holes and you try different
1:30
stuff and, you know, you see somebody
1:32
with all their cool gear and then you
1:34
want it, you add it to your pack. But it
1:36
really depends on what you're doing, of
1:38
course. um for I think what Craig was
1:43
discussing or what he was talking about
1:45
was that as a uh dayhiker
1:49
uh someone who's just going out into the
1:52
woods uh for the afternoon um you don't
1:55
need to carry a ton of gear to get you
1:58
through um a bad situation and that
2:00
could be a possible overnight. Now, of
2:02
course, you can carry tents and sleeping
2:04
bags and, you know, bags of food and
2:06
stoves and all this equipment, but um
2:09
the reality is you don't need that much.
2:12
And his challenge was pair down your
2:15
pack. Um get it down below 14 lbs. Uh he
2:20
showed what he carried in his. So, I
2:22
thought this would be a great
2:22
opportunity to replicate kind of what he
2:24
did and discuss it because I thought it
2:27
was a great post and I just wanted to
2:28
share that information. And I'll be
2:30
having links down below to Craig's
2:32
website and his school. Um, I'll also
2:35
have links, of course, to some of the
2:37
gear that I'm going to be showing
2:39
because people love gear and so do I.
2:42
So, let's find a spot to sit down and go
2:47
through the sub4 lb survival pack
2:51
challenge. Now, the first thing we need
2:53
to uh talk about is being prepared. uh
2:57
what you wear, you have to be dressed
2:59
for the environment. And Craig made that
3:01
point and it's a very good point and
3:02
it's a point that is not driven home
3:04
enough. Today, like I said, it's mid30s,
3:08
sun is shining, uh there's no wind, so
3:11
I'm wearing a um Patagonia soft shell
3:16
jacket. Um it's doing a fantastic job of
3:18
cutting the wind. Um if I do get any
3:20
kind of drizzle or rain, it will keep me
3:22
dry. But underneath I'm wearing a wool
3:25
shirt and that is my warming layer. And
3:29
then I'm wearing nylon pants
3:33
and rubber boots. Uh that way it keeps
3:35
my feet dry and my lower legs dry. And
3:38
then the other thing that you want to
3:40
think about too is what you carry with
3:42
you. So there are going to be items that
3:43
you have to have on you besides what's
3:46
in the pack. You don't want to rely just
3:48
what's in the backpack. So, I always
3:51
carry with me when I'm hiking or out
3:54
camping, I always carry a ferro rod on
3:56
me. And this is attached to my belt loop
3:59
and goes in my pocket. And I think this
4:01
is uh this is one of the Swedish fire
4:05
steels,
4:07
but that's just on a lanyard that I
4:08
made. And that goes in my pocket. Other
4:11
thing that I like to have with me always
4:13
is a lighter. And these exotac sleeves
4:18
uh is a great way to store lighter in
4:20
your pocket. That way it protects it and
4:23
it doesn't discharge when it's in your
4:25
pocket, but having a backup flame is a
4:28
great idea. And then the other thing is
4:30
you want some type of backup blade. And
4:34
I'm going to show you the knife I'm
4:35
going to be carrying in this pack for
4:36
emergencies, but I always want some kind
4:38
of pocket knife on me. And one thing
4:39
that I carry um when I camp and I hike
4:42
is my Ranger Grip. This is from Vtorox.
4:45
It's a really capable
4:47
pocket knife because of course it has a
4:49
large main blade, but it also has a saw,
4:52
um, screwdrivers, can openers, all that
4:54
kind of stuff. But it's nice size and,
4:57
um, it's easy to work with in your
4:59
hands. And then I have it on a belt
5:02
sheath that I carry it because it's kind
5:04
of large.
5:12
So, the pack I'm carrying is from
5:14
Mountainsmith. It's from their new EVO
5:16
line. It's the 20 L Zeo. Uh, it's a very
5:20
lightweight pack, and it's really kind
5:22
of built, I think, around the whole
5:25
lightweight backpacking community.
5:27
You'll notice that it has this harness
5:29
system. This is the same harness system
5:31
that they use on the Evo Day lumbumber
5:33
lumbar pack, which I did a review on
5:36
earlier this year. Um, it's the same.
5:39
But also, what's really nice about this
5:40
harness system, as you can see, it is
5:42
very ergonomic and it has built-in
5:45
elastic pockets, which gives me a place
5:47
to put my equipment. So, the first thing
5:49
we're going to look at for the equipment
5:52
that uh Craig was discussing in his
5:54
video is, of course, you want your
5:56
compass. Um, I prefer a sighting compass
5:59
like this. Um, this is what I'm used to
6:02
using when I was in search and rescue. I
6:04
think they work very well. Of course,
6:06
any kind of compass that you know how to
6:07
use is that's the other item that Craig
6:10
showed was a tourniquet. And we all know
6:13
tourniquets are great pieces of gear to
6:15
have in an emergency. This is from Snake
6:17
Staff. This is their EDC one. Um, from
6:21
my understanding, this has gotten a lot
6:23
of good reviews. People seem to like it.
6:25
Seems to work very well. Um, and when
6:28
they go online, they sell out very
6:30
quickly. I got mine from Stay Ready
6:31
Outdoors, so I'll have a link down below
6:33
for that. but it fits very nicely
6:36
in this pocket on the shoulder strap.
6:41
Now, if you notice, the uh sternum strap
6:43
has a whistle built into it. So, that's
6:45
part of my system as well. I don't have
6:47
to carry an extra whistle.
6:49
All right, here's the Mountain Smmith
6:51
pack, the Evo. Really cool pack. Um,
6:53
Cordura construction. It has elastic
6:56
water bottle pockets on the sides. It
6:59
has bungee system on the front here so
7:03
you can slip stuff in. It is a roll top
7:06
so there is no zipper.
7:08
Another bottle pocket back there. And
7:11
then you can see has a really nice kind
7:15
of corrugated
7:17
uh soft material for ventilation and
7:20
padding. And then you of course got
7:21
these awesome shoulder straps that um
7:24
have pockets built into it. very
7:26
comfortable pack to carry and to hike
7:28
with. It is hydration compatible. So, if
7:32
you are used to carrying hydration
7:34
bladders, you of course can carry one of
7:36
those in here. And does have a waist
7:40
strap or belt that you can use if you
7:43
choose to. So, of course, we have a
7:46
water bottle. Um, I prefer a stainless
7:49
steel single wall. That way, I can boil
7:51
water in it if I want to. Uh, this is
7:54
something I got a while ago from a buddy
7:55
of mine at SOS Outdoors. I don't think
7:58
his company is in business anymore, but
8:00
it's just an inexpensive uh, stainless
8:02
steel water bottle, but I also like the
8:05
narrow profile of it, so it fits in
8:06
water bottle pockets perfectly.
8:09
And you can see I've used it a little
8:11
bit on the fire and it does a good job.
8:14
On the other side, I carry another uh,
8:17
stainless steel water bottle. This is a
8:20
kind of a cheap one. Um, I don't even
8:22
sure if it's stainless steel. It's
8:23
probably It may be aluminum. I don't
8:25
know. I haven't checked it yet, but it's
8:27
very lightweight. Um, it has a drink cap
8:29
on it. And, um, I found this cup uh,
8:34
that fits the bottom of it. And I
8:35
actually found this at uh, Walmart in a
8:39
cooking set that came with um, a coffee
8:42
grinder set. And uh, it fit perfectly on
8:45
this water on this water bottle. So,
8:48
kind of a happy
8:50
mistake, but uh a metal cup of some sort
8:54
is fantastic for boiling water, of
8:56
course. On the outside of the bag, I
8:58
have my sit pad. Now, this is from Tough
9:00
Possum Gear. I've shown this a million
9:03
times on my videos, and um what I've
9:06
done is I've done a mod to mine that a
9:09
lot of guys do to their sip pads from
9:11
Tough Possum is I've actually cut down
9:14
the interior pad and cut it in half.
9:16
That way the whole thing folds. And then
9:18
I've run shock cord on the outside here.
9:21
That helps keep it together.
9:26
And then if I want to utilize that, I
9:28
just pull this cord open and I got a sip
9:31
pad. Now Craig showed, you know, he
9:33
carries the same one. He carries a sip
9:35
pad from Tuft Possum. And he was
9:36
actually showing this as a signaling
9:38
device and that's very true because the
9:40
tough possum pad has the blaze orange on
9:42
one side and it's very visible from a
9:45
distance. So you can use that as your
9:47
signaling device, but also it can keep
9:49
your butt warm and dry. And I'm going to
9:51
sit on it right now.
9:55
Top pocket out here on the outside of
9:58
the pack. I have another tough possum
10:00
pouch. This is my kind of my first aid
10:02
kit. Um really nothing extensive. It's
10:05
just kind of boooo stuff, but I also
10:07
have lip balm. I have uh uh cleanup
10:10
wipes and um of course some items for
10:15
when it's warmer. I've got my tick key.
10:19
There's some insect repellent. There's
10:20
some uh actually sunscreen in here.
10:23
There's all a variety of different items
10:26
and of course some nitro exam gloves.
10:29
So, just a variety of items,
10:36
but you don't need a huge uh first aid
10:38
kit when you're out and about. Sometimes
10:41
just treating your boo boos and things
10:44
like that is all you really need.
10:46
Craig talked about is having some type
10:49
of fire kit uh on in his pack. And this
10:53
is um one of the organizers that I got
10:55
from Expedition. And it holds my ferro
11:00
rod.
11:03
It holds a lighter
11:08
that I've wrapped in duct tape.
11:18
Has my pocket fire bellows.
11:23
And then I have a buck sharpening steel.
11:26
That's just like a little uh
11:27
diamondcoated
11:30
sharpening steel, very lightweight.
11:33
And on this side, I've got a couple
11:35
pieces of fatwood. And then I have this
11:38
really cool little saw um from Lester
11:42
River Bushcraft. He actually builds
11:44
these and it just takes a Irwin wood and
11:47
metal saw blade, but it folds in this
11:50
nice little kidex plastic handle. And
11:53
then on the end of it, he has one of his
11:55
fire cords. So, or fire lanyards. So, if
11:59
you cut this open, there is fire
12:00
starting material on the inside and you
12:02
can get a fire going.
12:07
And then on the inside here, I have a
12:08
tin.
12:14
This is an Altoids tin that has some
12:18
fire making material. These are some
12:20
man-made tinders uh from Black and White
12:23
Fire Starter. And then I have
12:26
this little device here. This is from
12:30
Uber Libend. But this little fire wick
12:33
is really cool because you can light
12:34
this on the end there and get a flame
12:38
going and then get that underneath your
12:39
tinder bundle and then when you're done,
12:41
you just snuff it out and that way you
12:43
can keep reusing it. And then of course
12:45
it's refillable with this twine. So,
12:47
it's a nice little uh match kind of
12:49
device.
12:51
And then I've got some birch bark in
12:52
there and a couple other things. I think
12:54
there's some also some char cloth at the
12:56
bottom. So, this is my little fire tin.
12:58
Undo that and then roll this out. And
13:01
then that really is nice. Roll top packs
13:04
are kind of cool because you can expand
13:05
them to carry a lot more if you need to.
13:08
All right, let's look on the inside
13:10
here. So,
13:12
water purification is super important.
13:15
Um, the Sawyer Mini with the plunger and
13:18
a couple of water bags, uh, is a great
13:22
way to disinfect water pretty quickly or
13:25
to filter it, I should say. And, um, the
13:28
Sawyer is a very proven system. So, I
13:31
just keep mine in this bag. That way,
13:34
the the contents don't get damaged when
13:36
it's rumaging around in my bag.
13:39
We talked about knives. Um, a good
13:41
lightweight option for a knife, of
13:43
course, is a Mora. Um, I have a lot of
13:45
knives and um, there are ones that I I
13:48
prefer better, but the Mora Companion
13:52
is probably my all-around favorite Mora
13:56
knife.
13:58
And this is actually a new one that I've
14:01
gotten recently. So, I just threw this
14:03
in my pack, but I have another one that
14:05
I've used a lot. And, um, it's a very
14:08
comfortable handle. It's a very capable
14:10
knife. Of course, you can do a lot of
14:13
game cleaning, fish cleaning with it.
14:15
Uh, but, you know, shaving
14:19
wood down to start a fire. It does a
14:21
really fantastic job. So, this is my
14:23
poncho kit that I've kind of put
14:25
together. And what I've done is I've put
14:27
it in this bag. Um, but I have 50 ft of
14:30
Atwood 550 cord. Atwood is my preferred
14:34
brand. I will have a link down below to
14:36
their website if you're interested in
14:38
getting some Atwood cordage, but this is
14:40
just their standard 550. So, that's
14:43
enough to make a ridge line for my
14:46
poncho.
14:48
And then here is my rain poncho. This is
14:50
from USGI Industries. I've shown this in
14:53
other videos of how I set it up and um
14:56
I'll cut in some video so you guys can
14:57
kind of see that. But it is a a great
15:00
rain layer to keep me dry, but it's also
15:03
big enough that I could actually sleep
15:04
underneath that thing no problem. And it
15:07
doesn't really weigh that much. And it's
15:09
probably one of the better rain punches
15:12
I've found that's not military issue.
15:15
Another item is some uh 55gallon drum
15:18
liners. Of course, you can do a lot with
15:20
these. You can turn these into uh a
15:23
makeshift sleeping bag. You can fill
15:24
them with leaves and sleep on top of
15:27
them. uh you can cover your gear with
15:29
it. And then a new piece of gear that
15:32
I'm actually going to be testing out
15:33
here this year that I got from Atwood is
15:36
this new um this is their uh
15:38
Parapocalypse survival cord, but it's
15:41
the light version. So, this is 50 ft.
15:44
But look how thin this is and it weighs
15:47
hardly anything. But if you look right
15:49
there, it has all that stuff built into
15:52
the center of it. So, it has a waxed
15:54
jute interior. It has fishing line and
15:58
it has a uh fire starter and it's Kevlar
16:02
cord. So, it's cut resistant and heat
16:04
resistant. So, it's a very tough cord,
16:06
but it's a survival cord that has
16:08
multiple uses. And if you compare it to
16:11
50 ft of standard paracord, look at that
16:15
big difference.
16:17
And
16:19
it has a 200lb test. So, this may be
16:22
just enough uh for my shelter system.
16:25
And I can get rid of that regular 550
16:28
cord or keep both. And um I've got some
16:30
options, but a very lightweight option.
16:33
Cool stuff.
16:35
And then one thing that um Craig did not
16:38
list on his list that I've added to
16:40
mine, and I think it's uh particularly
16:42
important, especially right now with the
16:45
weather. Um it's winter time, is a
16:48
warming layer. This is a wie jacket that
16:50
I got from Who's this made by? Oh, yeah.
16:54
This is from Zer Foxtrot makes really
16:58
nice uh wie jackets. I think they're the
17:00
better ones in the market. There's a lot
17:01
of them. Um but I really like theirs.
17:03
I've had mine for quite a while. But
17:05
this is a very nice lightweight um
17:08
option to insulate you.
17:25
And then the last item in the pack is
17:27
some kind of uh food item. So Craig was
17:31
talking about, you know, uh protein bars
17:33
and um also carrying electrolyte
17:36
packets. So I have my preferred brand. I
17:38
have liquid IVs for my electrolyte
17:40
packets. I have uh mini cliff bars and I
17:43
have honey stinger
17:45
um
17:47
salted caramel
17:49
protein bars. Uh you know, you don't
17:52
need a lot of food for an overnight
17:54
situation, that's for sure. So, you
17:56
don't have to have a ton of food, but at
17:57
least having some is going to get you by
18:00
and uh give you some calories, give you
18:03
some energy, and then electrolyte t.
18:24
All right. So, that's it. That is all
18:25
that's in this pack. Now, I weighed this
18:27
thing before I left the house today. And
18:30
um like Craig was saying, you know, try
18:32
to get it under 14 lbs. This pack dry
18:35
weight without water added um shown as
18:38
is
18:40
just a little over 8 lbs. Like 8 8 1/2,
18:44
let's say 8 and 12 lb. So, I think
18:46
that's fantastic. An 8 and 12 lb pack is
18:48
very manageable. Um I've been hiking out
18:51
here with it today. It's been very
18:52
comfortable. Um, it has all I need for
18:56
an emergency situation, but it's not too
18:59
much stuff. I'm not carrying a huge
19:01
bugout bag. Um, I don't need that for a
19:04
hike. And if I'm going out with my
19:06
family or exploring a new area, this is
19:09
something I can throw in the back of my
19:11
vehicle, grab it, throw it on, and hit
19:14
the trail and feel confident with the
19:16
equipment that I have on me, but also
19:19
what's in this bag. All right, if you
19:21
guys like this kind of content, do me a
19:23
favor. Hit that like button, subscribe,
19:26
leave me a comment down below, tell me
19:29
uh maybe some of the things you would
19:30
add or subtract from this pack or maybe
19:32
what you have in yours. And as always,
19:34
thank you so much for watching and we
19:36
will see you next time on the Prepared
19:37
Wanderer.
Arts & Entertainment