Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Most indispensable piece of gear?

40 F below is nothing new, even in the lower 48 though it generally doesn’t last as long down in Montana/Dakotas as it does in the interior. I worry more about my vehicle not restarting when I can’t get it plugged in, than I do about myself being out in the elements. I keep a good stash of food and cold weather clothing/sleeping bag in my vehicle.

To answer the OP’s question though, I pretty much always have my Garmin InReach on me, as well as a Kifaru Lost Park Parka in my pack.

Hotel Reservation.

A rifle.

Compass

So far, down in southeast, my chest waders and my wool halibut jacket have been pretty hard to leave behind. They keep me warm and dry so I can keep using my most important tool - my mind.

I appreciate y'alls input on this. It's fun to hear what your essentials are.

I'll give up a lot of creature comforts but not My Pillow.

My beautiful Headlamp, I am afraid of the dark, especially in Grizz country

Really helps with skinning deer and moose in the dark too!

In Grizz country I’m afraid of them in the daylight so a headlamp would be least if my worries.

If you ever gutted and skinned a moose in the dark alone, you would understand.

If you cant build a fire, yer gona be damn cold quick....

Even in the summer, its raining you get wet, yer screwed.

Fire trumps everything in terms of survival.

Absolutely!

I always carry at least 2 different ways to start fire and 2 knives. When I’m in the backcountry I take 2 different ways to figure out where the hell I am and when I carry a compass I always have 2 so that means I carry 1 GPS and 2 compass in remote country.

Fire is VERY important.

ETA….1 knife is my Bowen belt buckle knife that goes everywhere I go since it keeps my pants up. 😀

The LPP might be my favorite piece of gear these days.

Much better than my wool halibut jacket are my Asbell wool pullovers. The deer hunting garment of choice!

https://asbellwool.com/t/pathfinder

From years of reading and listening/"listening" on this subject, I thought that the powers that rule on such issues had long ago decided that the answer was a knife. Everything from performing personal hygiene matters such as brushing one's teeth to wiping his rear through building a log cabin and raising crops to slaying mastodons could be accomplished with a knife.

Ditto.

I have been amazed a few times when I hear of how foolishly people have thought and acted when in difficult outdoor situations. Some of those people had decent gear, just didn't use it or use it with brain in gear. Some of those have been first hand accounts from people I know.

To those saying fire….I am not so sure I agree, in a general sense. In Mainer_in_AKs’ particular story it makes total sense, but in regular hunting situations I disagree. I do carry fire starter no doubt but I can’t think of a single time I have built a fire in Alaska, other than when frying up a grouse or fish: never for a warming fire. I have never been in the need before I guess even when trapping at -40F or on two week moose hunts in constant rain. With the right equipment and right mindset I have never felt vulnerable without a fire.

I built a warming fire once in Montana at -20F while elk hunting and all that did was melt adjacent snow and get anything nearby wet, to include my pant knees and pack, which then refroze instantly once I backed away which made things even worse. That was a learning experience….

Building and tending to a fire is a lot of work and once I finally drag my ass back to camp all I want to do is go to sleep. I usually take my rain gear off and crawl in the sleeping bag with wet cloths on…they’ll usually be dry come morning. The last thing I want to do is tend a fire outside of my sleeping bag and tent. I do have a Kifaru tent stove but have never used it.

Others may feel different but this is how I do things and have never seen a reason to change.

If I am hunting with the tp w/stove by boat, (which is how we moose hunt) I bring compressed wood bricks and a blow torch to heat the tp. No way I am going to expend time/energy gathering firewood and starting a fire. Glamping.. Ha! It is nice to dry stuff off in the tp at night. Not exactly a backpack trip though.

Been hunting Alaska solo since the mid 80's and have never made a fire, neither at base camp nor spike camp out in the field, just wasted time and energy to tend a fire

However, I do carry lighters and a survival kit, for emergencies only, have never seen the need to make a fire at camp, usually too late in the night and too tired to screw around with a fire

We had a child with us on a remote burbot fishing trip in -30 temps, and we needed to get her in the woods and build her a warming fire. It had been a wet fall, and the wood froze wet. We tried three different fire starters to get it going. In the end, it was the Vaseline soaked cotton balls that worked. So, in that case, it was the Vaseline, cotton balls, 35mm film canister they were stowed in, and a Bic lighter that saved the day.

These look nice! I'll definitely try one. I'm always between medium and large, do they fit pretty roomy or do they run smaller?