Tag: Gear

October 21, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

Maybe I should called it the shit I forget plus some more bags of stuff Today, I am showing the remaining gear that I have for my hunting excursions. The question might be, why do you need so much stuff? The ultimate answer is comfort but there may be some additional nuance there.

What is comfort? It can take on some deeper meaning. To me, comfort is knowing you have something even if you don’t necessarily need it. So is also having it packed and ready to go where you don’t search and gather every Friday night. There are also some traditional definitions of comfort. Like, have you ever spent all day in the rain without rain gear? Talk about miserable.

As I talked about on Monday, some years we hunt five hundred miles away. The same bags/gear that is loaded for a Saturday is the same gear that go on the week long trips. I suppose that a very good argument could be made that excluding survival gear or strict protection like rain gear, all the rest is unnecessary. It doesn’t take a lot of gear to drive around in the woods and look over the edge of logging landings.

The technical term for these type of bags are called blind bag. This means that they are meant to be used in duck blinds which means that they are water resistant and they float. The bag on left is really used to haul decoys, so it is just a open container like a large shopping bag. I use this one to put my rain gear in and it is a catch all for anything that I just want to throw in, like extra water, change of clothes etc.

The bag on the right, is a little bit more tailored for hunting with places to put chokes and calls etc. If I ever went duck hunting, I may to look for a replacement of what this bag is carrying. Moving from top left to bottom right

  • Rope
  • Rangefinder 0-1000 yards
  • firearm cleaning kit
  • game bag
  • thermos (for coffee)
  • 3000 calorie ration bars

The rangefinder is going to go into my backpack and I mostly use that when I am sitting for a while. I like to pick out places in my field of view and then check the distance. That way, if some animal comes into my sight, I will have an idea of how to hold for bullet drop. I also use it to determine where to sit. Distance can be surprisingly deceptive sometimes and if the field of view is over a thousand yards, you are not going to be able to shoot without moving anyway. This is a luxury item for sure, but I find it really useful.

The game bag keeps the carcass somewhat clean if you were to drag it or you put it on if you are going to hang the animal for some time to reduce the chances something else will start eating it too. All of the rest of it is self explanatory.

End Your Programming Routine: You don’t need all of this gear to hunt. If I am honest, most of it never get’s used. But if you have ever bonsaied your rifle into mud (or snow) then your day is done unless you can get that barrel cleared. I hope to never eat those 3000 calorie bars. Some day I might taste one just to see. If I cant figure it out with all of this stuff, I am not sure what else can be done.

February 27, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

Last week’s entry was about functional fitness. I feel more like functional sickness lately. That being said, it was the monthly trap shoot last weekend. I took a picture of my range bag dump to show what I lug around to these things.

Starting at the bottom

  • The black thing (not a great picture) – that is a shell caddy to hold a box of shotgun shells and all the hulls if your firearm doesn’t fling them out.
  • 100 rounds of ammunition – I take double what I plan to shoot, being that I am the only one that brings a 20 gauge, I can sell it all
  • Shooting muffs – I always carry extra
  • Stapler – that is for stapling targets, not trap
  • Safety glasses
  • Range finder – this is to get an accurate measurement of distance
  • A bag of binder clips, clothes pins, small bolts with wing nuts – this is for attaching targets to stands
  • Binoculars – these are for looking at targets, I frequently don’t carry a spotting scope unless I am doing rifle range work
  • Masking Tape – Also for putting targets on stands
  • Avid multi-tool – this has a choke wrench, pliers and bit drivers for that quick range adjustment
  • Range bag- for holding everything

I typically take another old shopping bag that holds targets, extra muffs, garbage and/or brass to take back home. I have experimented with taking cleaning supplies and other things before, but I have kind of settled on the fact that if something goes really wrong, I probably need to stop and fix it at home rather than keep going.

I have also found that all this gear starts to really add up in weight and bulk. There is the rest, weights, spotting scope, lights and more tools like a drill. It starts to get overwhelming just loading the car, so I try to keep it paired down when I can.

I would be interested in hearing what your essential gear is. Thanks for reading.