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I go over tips and tricks of setting up a backpack for long-term survival, camping or bushcrafting.
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0:00
Hey guys, back out in the woods today and I wanted to do a video today to show you guys
0:08
how I set up my backpacks for wilderness survival, bushcraft, camping, bug out, whatever you
0:16
want to call it or however you want to use it. This is how I set up my bags and there's a lot of do's and don'ts that I want to go over
0:24
so stick around, it's going to be a cool video. Now the first thing that you always want to have or I always want to have in my backpack
1:02
when I go out in the woods is I want a way of hanging my backpack and getting it off
1:10
the ground. Because right now I've got it sitting on the ground and if the ground is damp like it is
1:15
right now, that's going to be a problem, it's going to get my pack dirty, it could get the
1:20
contents wet but what I like to do is I like to carry these in all my bags and this little
1:28
toggle rope that I put together basically is about a 3 foot long cord, it's got knots
1:36
every 5 to 6 inches and on the end I've got a heavy duty carabiner that's at least rated
1:44
to 100 pounds. What I'm going to do is I'm going to wrap this around the tree, this is going to come
1:50
back and it's going to create a place to hang my pack, let me show you
2:01
So obviously this is a thinner tree so it's not too big of a deal, I don't have to use
2:06
the whole thing but that's why you have it 3 feet in case you get into bigger trees you
2:11
can wrap around those. But you put the carabiner on the closest knot that you can get to the tree and then what's
2:20
going to happen is I'm going to take my pack and lift it and hang it from the carabiner
2:35
Now I've got a way of keeping my pack off the ground but I can also get into it a lot
2:42
easier I don't have to bend over, I can have it at a height that I can work comfortably
2:47
with and I can see where everything is at. So what I want to do is I'm going to get this thing unloaded and I'm going to show you how
2:54
I load a backpack of this size. So I've got all the gear laid out, this is typically what I bring on a trip with this
3:07
kind of weather. So we're in January, it's like 35-36 degrees today so I've got my cold weather sleeping
3:14
gear and I've got typically what I would pack in my backpack of this size for a 2-3 day trip
3:22
And what I want to do is I want to show you not specifically what I carry, I'm not going
3:28
to be talking about the gear in depth, I want to show you how I pack things in specific
3:33
bags and how I load them into the pack because that's really important when you're setting
3:37
up a new bag, right? You've just bought this new backpack, you get it home, you've got all this cool gear
3:42
that you've been buying and now you're trying to figure out what the heck do I do with it
3:47
You obviously just don't dump it in your backpack and head out in the woods
3:51
There is a better method for going through this stuff and keeping it organized and having
3:56
it packed correctly so it's easy to find and it's comfortable while you're wearing
4:02
the bag. So what I like to do is I like to pack my gear into sub-loads and what I mean by that
4:09
is I'm packing gear like gear, gear that is similar into packages that I can easily get
4:17
to in my backpack. If you take all this stuff and just dump it in, it's going to be a mess and it's going
4:23
to be hard to find. So by packing it into individual bags that I can easily identify with similar like items
4:32
in that bag, it's much easier for me when I get to camp and I'm setting up and it also
4:36
makes it easier if I'm setting up in the dark, if it's raining, if I'm cold, if I'm tired
4:43
this all helps in setting up camp quickly and easily. So what I like to do is have everything organized in these different bags and then I pack them
4:54
in a certain order into my backpack so that when I get to camp I know exactly where everything
4:59
is at and they come out in a logical order of how I set things up
5:04
And the way I set things up is my shelter is typically the first thing that I want to
5:09
set up when I get to camp. So just going through this stuff briefly, one thing I like to do is I like to have my
5:17
bivvy bag and my sleeping pad together. So the sleeping pad is actually inserted into the bivvy bag and then I roll those two together
5:27
that way the bivvy bag protects my sleeping pad from puncture. It's all together already, the only thing I have to do is unzip that bivvy bag, throw
5:35
my sleeping bag into it and I'm ready to go. And what I've done is with this one I'm actually using these new straps from Modal
5:44
These are their Infinity Gear straps. These things are awesome. It's a rubber gear strap that stretches and then you just run it through the metal loop
5:55
and then hook it and then it stays and it grips. And it is so easy to set these things up
6:04
If you guys have any experience with traditional nylon straps, they are a pain in the butt
6:10
Modal just came out with these, I love these things. Just a really great way of keeping rolled up gear organized
6:17
So this goes on the outside of my bag just because it fits perfectly there and I'll show
6:22
you that as I'm loading. I like to keep my tarp in a bag that I can get to and then inside this bag is my tent
6:31
stakes, my guy lines, and my ridge lines. So the entire shelter system is in one bag, easy to work with
6:40
This is my, I think it's a 9x9 tarp from Helikon-Tek in the woodland camo
6:47
So this is altogether my shelter. Of course my cook pot in a bag, but with cook pots you always want to make sure you're utilizing
7:00
that space that's inside the pot. And in here I keep a little scrub pad and a washcloth that I can actually clean my pot with
7:14
I've got my stove and then I've got my fuel. And this all nests inside the pot so now there's no wasted space
7:26
So this container is my cook kit. Along with the cook kit you're going to have some kitchen items that you need to have with
7:33
you and you're going to need food. I like to keep everything in a dry bag
7:36
That way when I'm done cooking at the end of the day I can hang this from a tree if
7:42
I'm in bear country or if I have raccoons or something in the area
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It's going to keep my food safe and it's going to keep the odor down
7:50
So I keep my food items in this bag and I've just got a sampling of a few things
7:56
So dehydrated meals but I also keep all my kitchen stuff in one bag
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I've got my spork and my folding bowl. I've got my insulated mug and then I've got some coffee and some different little condiments
8:20
that I carry with me to spice up my food. And then I've even got a coffee filter and a drip filter to make a whole coffee
8:29
So everything is in this bag together. A lot of my stuff is camo
8:38
That's just because I prefer it that way. You can certainly color code your bags so different colors for different items
8:47
So this is my kitchen bag. This is a smaller dry bag
8:52
This actually has a t-shirt and socks so this is my change of clothes
8:57
One thing you really need to be aware of when you're packing for trips is don't bring too
9:02
much clothes. You really don't need that much stuff. I mean I know guys that bring like a change of underwear for every day
9:09
You need a couple pairs of socks so you have dry socks the next day, a couple t-shirts
9:14
and then maybe a warm layer and that's all you're going to need
9:19
Another organization item that I like to have is what I call my possibles pouch or
9:25
my survival pouch. This has all of the small little items that I would carry to start fire
9:35
There's a way of sharpening my knife. So there's also water purification tablets
9:41
So it's all those little tiny things that I don't want floating around my bag
9:45
I want them in an organized pouch and I love these Maxpedition pouches because they have
9:52
organizers that lays everything out so you can see it very easily and it has a good grab
9:59
handle on it. My headlamp, I always keep it in a small nylon pouch
10:07
This is like a cell nylon. That way it just keeps it protected and keeps the strap from getting tangled on stuff and
10:15
I always know that by this size pouch, this is my headlamp
10:21
Toiletry items, I like to keep them in a simple, clear bag that I can see into
10:26
That way I can see the contents and I know if I need to refill stuff. I don't bring a lot of toiletries with me
10:32
Toothpaste, toothbrush, contacts, some various medications and some solution for my eyes
10:37
and that's about it. You don't need a lot of stuff for a two or three day trip
10:45
First aid kit in a nice, brightly colored, identifiable pouch. Really important
10:55
Toilet paper, I always keep it in a plastic bag that I can see into
11:00
That way I can see how much I have left and it keeps it dry and it's a big bag so it's
11:06
easily accessible. So when I'm doing my business, I can reach in there, grab what I need to, and put it away
11:14
And I keep that with a plastic trowel so I can dig a cat hole
11:21
Another thing I like to bring in my backcountry bag is a small grill
11:26
I do a lot of cooking over a campfire and having a grill really makes camping a little
11:36
bit more enjoyable. So I have my folding grill and it gets pretty grungy when you're cooking meat and stuff
11:43
on it. So what I've done is I always keep mine in this Tyvek bag
11:48
I got this at the post office. These things are great. They don't tear, they don't rip
11:56
They keep the contents of the grill inside the bag so my backpack does not get dirty
12:02
or filthy with all the gunk on there. And of course the last thing that I carry is my sleeping bag
12:10
This is the cold weather bag from the military, the army sleep system
12:16
And what I do is I always get a nice compression sack for my sleeping bags
12:21
If you don't have one, I highly suggest you do that because sleeping bags, especially
12:25
winter sleeping bags, are going to take up so much room in your backpack that a good
12:29
compression sack is going to manage that size by compressing the contents into a smaller size
12:40
Now what I want to do is I want to show you how I load all this stuff into this backpack
12:45
because this is a very typical bucket style backpack where everything is going to be sitting
12:52
on top of each other. And you want to be thinking about how you're going to load this where a lot of the bulkier
12:58
heavier items are at the bottom and the smaller, lighter things are towards the top
13:03
But also you want to be thinking about the order things go in if you can organize that way
13:10
So obviously the first item that's going to go in here is the biggest, bulkiest thing
13:14
that I have and that's my sleeping system. So that goes in here and then I shove it in and I turn it so it's laying down so it's
13:28
not sitting up, it's laying down so it's covering the width of the pack. That way I have a nice stable base while I'm loading my backpack
13:38
Now next thing I'm probably going to go for is my food bags
13:43
I'm not going to be accessing the kitchen food stuff right away so those can go down
13:50
on top of that. I squish them down. Before I get too carried away, I take my grill and I'm going to shove that towards the back
14:01
against the back of the backpack. Now this backpack has a rigid frame back so I'm not going to feel the contents of the
14:09
bag against my back so it's protected. So the grill goes down there
14:14
Then what I'm going to do is I'm going to use my cook kit because that's not something
14:21
that I need quick access to. Then I'm going to put my tarp towards the top and then the very top of this I'm going
14:35
to put my fleece shirt because this is something I'm probably going to grab if I'm on the trail
14:40
and I get cold and I want to add an extra layer. I can open up the bag, take this out, put it on so I don't keep this in a bag
14:48
I keep this rolled up at the top and that kind of keeps everything compressed
14:54
So you can see shirt's on the top, tarp is the next layer so when I get to camp I open
15:01
this up, I got my shirt, I pull my tarp out, everything is in here
15:06
This is the first thing that I'm setting up in my camp
15:10
Once the tarp's done, I'm going to take this blue tarp that I have everything on, that's
15:15
typically on the outside of my bag, that's going underneath my tarp so I can start putting
15:20
gear down. That's when I take out my bivvy bag and my sleeping bag and I start setting up my shelter area
15:30
So what we do is we want to make sure whatever backpack you use you get everything nice and
15:38
tightened down when you're loading. There's a reason they put all these straps and cords because it helps manage the load
15:48
keeps it from flopping around so everything is tight in there. Now I've got all this little stuff, where does that go
15:56
Well, most hiking backpacks of this size have a top pocket
16:05
And on my pack I have all the little things that I need to get to when I get to camp in
16:12
my top pocket. So I've got my possibles pouch, toilet paper, first aid kit, toiletries, then I've got my
16:32
headlamp, I've got a small lantern that I carry, my trowel
16:53
Everything is in the top lid of this backpack, all that little stuff is not floating around
16:58
in the main body of my backpack. Ok, now I've got a couple things left, water bottles
17:03
I like backpacks that have water bottle pockets on the outside, I don't like my water bottles
17:08
on the inside of my pack. I don't always use a hydration bladder, I've had issues with them, but if I have to carry
17:15
a lot of extra water I will take a bladder, but typically I take bottles and then I treat
17:21
the water before it goes in the bottle either with tabs or a small filtration system like
17:25
a Sawyer. So on this Marine Corps pack it's got a nice deep water bottle pocket and what I like to
17:35
do is, a little trick, is to run your compression strap through the handle of the water bottle
17:45
that way you do not lose it because you think you've got stuff secured but when you start
17:51
walking and hiking things will come loose and they can fall out
17:55
So on this side I've got my water bottle, flip the pack around, this pack is designed
18:04
to carry long things so I've got my silky saw, it goes down this panel and then I run
18:13
it all the way down to the pocket below it and then I put a string or a lanyard on the
18:21
end of my saw, that way I can run it through another compression strap as a way of dummy
18:30
cording it to the pack so if it does come loose for whatever reason I don't lose it
18:35
while I'm on the trail. Now my knife, I would typically carry this on my belt but maybe with this hip belt on
18:44
this pack I may not be able to do that so sometimes what I do is I will actually either
18:51
put this inside the pack or if I have a good clip system like on this knife, I can run
19:00
that through a compression strap, lock that down and that's going to be on the outside
19:06
of the pack easy for me to get to but it's secure enough that I'm not going to lose it
19:11
And the last thing I do is here is my sleep pad in my divvy sack, that goes on the outside
19:19
of the bag because it fits perfectly there, it helps put the weight towards the bottom
19:31
of the pack. You notice I don't put this underneath the lid at the top, I don't want the top of my
19:38
pack overly heavy, I don't want it overly tall. That's a mistake I see a lot of people do is they start loading stuff up on top of their
19:46
packs, they strap things to the top of their packs and now the pack is very tall and heavy
19:51
at the top and it makes it unwieldy. I like everything low, center of gravity so that's why I put my sleep system at the very
19:59
bottom of my bag. One thing that I really want to stress when you're setting up a backpack, and I see this
20:06
all the time and it just drives me crazy to no end, don't put so much stuff on the outside
20:11
of your bag. If you have to hang things off of your bag, extra pouches and pockets, things dangling
20:21
one it's noisy, two there's a good chance you're going to lose those things because
20:25
they're going to get caught on branches and be pulled off of your pack and it's just silly
20:31
So what you really need to do is you need to buy the bag that is going to fit the gear
20:36
that you have. If you have to have all this stuff on the outside, your pack is too small
20:42
Don't try to squeeze by with a small day pack and go on a three day winter trip
20:48
You need a bigger bag. You want to be able to be comfortable, you want to be able to be warm, and you want to
20:53
be safe. So having a good sized backpack, even like this ILBE, it contains everything I need
21:00
I don't have to worry about leaving something at home and then being cold or hungry
21:05
I've got all the gear I need. So always buy a bag that is right sized for your trip
21:12
Okay, got the pack loaded. Now this thing weighs in at about 27 pounds dry weight, no water
21:23
How are you going to get that pack on you easily? There's a lot of different tricks and tips on how people do it
21:29
I kind of manhandle it, but what I like to do is bring it to my side, I bend my knees
21:35
and I pick up the pack by the straps, and I kind of put it on my knee right there, and
21:41
then I put my hand through, I lean into it, I pull it around, I grab my waist strap, finding
21:52
my strap, now I've got it on. I've seen people do an upside down method where they pick up the pack and they flip
22:05
it over. For some reason I don't like that, I can't get my head around that, flipping my bag over
22:11
with my contents of everything kind of moving around. So this works for me
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So now I've got the pack on, how do I fit it
22:20
How is this pack going to become more comfortable? Because right now, the way it is, it's not comfortable at all
22:27
There's a lot of adjustments on this thing, and the first thing I want to do is buckle
22:36
my waist strap, it's loose, grab the ends, and I'm going to cinch it in as tight as I
22:48
possibly can. What's happening is, I'm bringing the hip belt around, it's sitting kind of on top of
22:58
my hip bone, or my pelvis, and then what I'm looking for is this strap right here
23:04
So see that strap right there? This is going to pull the pack into the belt, that's important
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I grab one, and tight. Do the other side, same thing. You can do that at the same time
23:20
So now, that is cinched towards the belt. Now, the pack straps are loose
23:29
What I'm going to do is, take these straps, and I'm going to pull them down
23:39
Okay. There we go. Pull that tight. Grab this one. You may have to lift up the buckle a little bit, but you want these tight because that's
23:53
bringing the pack towards me, so now the pack is brought in and up
24:00
And then the very last thing that I do is the sternum strap
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I've seen people talk about cutting off their sternum straps, not using them
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There's a really good reason why sternum straps are on backpacks, especially of this size
24:14
Because what they do is, when you buckle them, and you pull it tight, it pulls in the straps
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So now the straps are in, they're up, and the weight of this pack is now more on my
24:34
hips and not on my shoulders. That's where you get the fatigue, that's where you get the pain, is when the pack is not
24:40
properly adjusted and pulled tight, you get that pain. So the hip belt, all that weight is going to my hip belt, it's transferring to my hips
24:48
and that's where I'm carrying my weight. And when I'm hiking and walking, I bend just a little bit at the waist so that weight is
24:58
going down. Alright guys, hope you enjoyed the video. As always, thank you so much for watching
25:04
Please share, like, subscribe, all that good stuff. Also, check out the affiliate links down below
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Lots of great additional content on my Facebook page and my group, so please join that
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And as always, thank you so much for watching The Prepared Wanderer. We'll see you next time
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♪♪�
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