My Bag in becoming.....

[GerhardG]

Hi Everybody

I grew up with veld both sides of our house, making and using slingshots, killed everything that would sit still long enough, made "duif biltong", tanned a "Blou-kop Koggelmander" hide (the biggest we ever caught) after it was expertly skinned sitting on the garage roof.
We had a house in Henties Bay, so most holiday were spent there.
Then aged about 10 this lighty from Natal moved in next door and the world of freshwater fishing opened up to me.....eternally grateful for that.
Fast forward a few years, out fishing with a buddy and we get onto the dam wall to scout, and my ciggies and lighter bliksem into the water below. Spare ciggies a-plenty, but no way to light them.....not long after I got my 1st Light-my-fire ferro rod.
Fast Forward a few more years, fully into fly fishing, and working in Rosh Pinah, deep South Namibia.....20km from the Orange river and all those Yellowfish....
Since I prefer going solo and human powered, I've had a waterproof bag with some things in with me at all times while out.
I've had waders full of water in the middle of the Orange, and times when I seriously doubted I would get out. Similarly got caught in a rain storm on my kayak, middle of the summer, and I'm sure that's the coldest I've ever been.

The general opinion seems to be that knowledge is what you need most to survive, so I've watched everything I could find, Ray Mears, Les Stroud, Ron Hood, and I try things out, the skill isn't yours until your hands have done it....
One of my goals for 2014 was mastering friction fire lighting, and I flopped badly, not for the lack of trying. I felt slight better after the friction-fire-lighting boffin on Naked&Afraid flopped for 12 days straight in Namibia....I've tried many woods, plenty smoke, no fire.

Anyway, about 2 years ago I was (supposed to) take part in a fishing compo on the Orange, got a flat looking for a spot, was a day/night compo and I ended up sleeping in my car because I was late and it was too much effort to put up my tent.
I have a good tent, will last my lifetime, but I realised I need something smaller and easier, more portable. "Slaaprol"/bivvy bag seemed like the best idea, but due to my size I would need to have one made.
This led to further research.....and hammocks.

500 knuckle-bleeding knots later prototype 1 was some, excellent cargo net, useless hammock....
Version 2 was made from ripstop nylon.......and quite simply.....more comfy than ANY bed I've slept in.

The hammock brought me full circle towards a complete, self-contained all-you-need kit. Because, finally I could. Tent eliminated. And if there aren't trees to hang it from, tough, it still a good multi-use tarp.

I've been a pyro maniac of sorts since an early age, I quit smoking ciggies after 17 years of 30/40 a day, but now I have other reasons to make fire in as many ways as possible.

Now for some pics of my kit.....

[GerhardG]

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First my axes:
Cold Steel Trail Hawk that's had some TLC including fitting the head properly.
Ultimate Survival Tools, was the first small axe I found a while ago. Limited weight is both advantage and disadvantage, removed the black paint (it's SS) and replaced the plastic handles that were way too small for me with rope - works great for light jobs, and I've found it's good steel for the application, whatever it is.
Next is and Angus. Hope somebody can shed some light... It had a rubber handle marked as safe to 20 000 V, and was used and left behind during break-in at a friend.
I removed the broken rubber, cleaned it all up and restored the edge. It's heavy, but it eats through wood.....

Next my saws....
The Opinel is the smaller model and brand new....had a tough time making my mind up on this one, but my chosen big saw sorted it out...
Bought a chainsaw blade for R263, 2 D-rings that I bent shut and soldered on the straight end of the D, and some left-over webbing for the handles.
This one has worked more than a bit, and better than I expected.....everybody that's seen it in action were amazed. It has a few tricks towards the end of a cut, I always reverse the blade at some stage to cut in the other direction, and by it's nature it's meant for larger stumps.
I want to try fixing it to a bowed stick and use it as a hand saw some time.

....and now I'll have to figure out how to get past the forums pic size limitations....

[Mr_Medic]

Awesome stuff!!!

Use a pictute hosting site. EG: Tiny pic.com

Keen to read more of your posts.

[GerhardG]

Awesome stuff!!!

Use a pictute hosting site. EG: Tiny pic.com

Keen to read more of your posts.

Thanks....this will take a while!



Magnifying glass and the bottom of a slightly thicker type paint can as a (working) parabolic fire starter.

[GerhardG]

...the standard duct tape transferred onto a card.

[GerhardG]

This is my Leatherman Core, chosen because of size, I know it looks brand new, but it did service on my side for a few months on the Zambezi, did it's fair share of tinkering on outboards, and I managed not to loose it all those times hanging off the boat cutting nets from the prop in the Kasai.......and a few nets just for being where they shouldn't be....

[GerhardG]

....sharpening stone, cheapy but it works well enough.

[GerhardG]

These are a few Effzett and Mepps spinners, part of my hopelessly inadequate (so far) fishing kit.

...and a few hooks, shortcomings will be addressed soon.

[GerhardG]

My first Light my Fire ferro rod and a magnesium bar.

[GerhardG]

Backing braid and SS wire for making snares.......yup, watched that Ron Hood DVD.

I have a collection of wire snares I removed from the bush, I can understand the usefulness, but this is one survival skill I'll need to learn on the fly, not willing to practice except on birds.