What to carry while backpacking?

[jdub75]

I do not. I don't put anything but the pistol in that gun pocket and feel completely comfortable carrying DA revolvers and 1911s in there. Would feel the same carrying a P-series Sig as well. I don't have much experience carrying Glock or plastic pistols so can't speak to that.

I thought about picking one of these bags up for about two years. One of the better outdoor gear purchases I've made. Made in the USA and everything.

Thanks for the reply. I am signed up on their restock notice.

 

[jdub75]

I once went backpacking alone but left my wife a map highlighting the exact sections of trail I planned to visit. While out there, a trail I hadn't planned on hiking seemed interesting, so I headed down it to explore. I kept thinking that this is the time when something bad would happen to me, and when I didn't come home on time the search parties would spend days looking in the wrong places...

About a mile down the trail something suddenly caught my eye causing me to stop and look to my left. There was a black bear about 30 feet away which appeared just as surprised to see me as I was to see it. I reached for my .357 and once it was in my hand I yelled at the bear to "Get!". It didn't move so I yelled again. This time it turned around and ran a half dozen steps but whirled around to face me again. I yelled a third time, and it took off crashing up the hill through the brush. I holstered the gun, glad it ended the way it did, and headed back toward the trails highlighted on the map at home.

You forgot the part where you changed your undies!

 

[jdub75]

I've also got a hill people gear kit bag that I carry a Glock in and I have purposely try to and succeeded in pulling the trigger while it was in the kit bag. Is it likely that I ever would have been able to do that on accident probably not but because it is possible I choose to either use the trigger guard contraption that multiple companies offer or put it in a holster inside the kit bag. Either way draw isn't significantly hampered any more than being under a large jacket would be.

Thanks.

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

Cougars are 99% a PITA and maybe 1% dangerous. If you know one is trailing you, the probable reason is that they like to keep an eye on you when you walk through their territory. Sometimes they even go out in front of you and leave fresh scat on the trail, before dropping off behind you again. Attacks on humans just aren't rare, they are nearly non-existent.

"Washington (state) is home to some 2,100 cougars; and over the past century, the state has experienced two fatal cougar attacks.

In the same period, all of North America has seen 95 nonfatal attacks and 25 fatalities."

That's in a hundred year period. You have way more chance of being struck by lightning every Christmas, or winning Powerball. Or maybe even being killed by your own damn dog. Or someone else's. That's far more likely.

Two fatal attacks by cougars in WA state in a hundred years? I wouldn't call that a real danger on the trail. Bears on the other hand, a completely different story. You want to worry about an animal attack, worry about a bear, or even a moose. The last fatal attack by a cougar in WA was on a mountain biker. Even a big cat can't resist something running away from him. Most other attacks, the cougar is starving or sick. I've been hiking and camping this state since I was a young teen. Started doing it in 1968 with a hike along the Olympic Coast. In all those years, one cougar tracked me for a couple of miles. In another incident, I was camped by a small lake in the Olympics at the end of a Forest Service road and went down in the morning to go fishing. Big cougar was sunning himself on a rock across the lake. I told him loudly to 'get the BLANK out of there,' 'beat it, butthead', stuff like that. He turned around and went back up the hill.

If you think a cougar is really tracking you, then fire a couple of shots into something harmless. it will leave. Just for the heck of it, I will put up a picture of that lake. I call it the High Lake, but Google Maps calls it 'Goober Pond, WA'.

 

[Defense Minister]

Including the story I shared in post #100, I've had close contact with bears three times in the wild, and once with a cougar. I never felt like I was in any immediate danger, but I was always glad to be armed.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

Including the story I shared in post #100, I've had close contact with bears three times in the wild, and once with a cougar. I never felt like I was in any immediate danger, but I was always glad to be armed.

While I love seeing wildlife, it's an immediate realization that you're not the top of the food chain.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

I was camped by a small lake in the Olympics at the end of a Forest Service road and went down in the morning to go fishing

What type of fishing? I spent the summer learning to fly fish in the rivers of eastern Idaho, so I'm hoping to find places here for a similar experience. I know Goober Pond fishing would probably differ a bit from fishing the rivers in Yellowstone, but it's good to have options. Plus, I love finding secluded bodies of water to go camping

 

[Dinglenutz]

I carry whatever is handy, usually my Glock 20 but my Glock 32 is also fine. Guns almost never fail to stop a bear attack if a person uses them.

 

[Triton900]

4" S&W Model 66-2 in .357 mag. Open carry for hiking and hunting.

View attachment 753667View attachment 753670

I'm with you sir, just a slightly newer firearm... still shoots the same round though and they get the job done. 8 shot cylinder.

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

What type of fishing? I spent the summer learning to fly fish in the rivers of eastern Idaho, so I'm hoping to find places here for a similar experience. I know Goober Pond fishing would probably differ a bit from fishing the rivers in Yellowstone, but it's good to have options. Plus, I love finding secluded bodies of water to go camping

Just open Google Maps and enter in the search box: Goober Pond, Washington.
There are only two possible camping spots, so it's better to get up there during a weekday if you plan to stay the weekend. Fishing is just small trout, but they fight like crazy. It's not catch and release, but that's what I do because none of them are large enough to eat anyway. And yes...you may run into a bear or a cougar up there. It's the only water source up there for a ways.

 

[Member 38805]

I'll give you the chance to re-read what I quoted and point out to me where I addressed ammo. I was even clear enough to mention the specific weight of my pistol to show how much "extra weight" I carry. There's more silliness in your failed understanding of my post but I just don't have the energy today to help people read

You didn't specifically say ammo, but it seemed inferred that you were supporting the idea of people being prepared by carrying extra ammo or magazines. If you didn't mean this, then what was the point of your original reply?

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

You didn't specifically say ammo, but it seemed inferred that you were supporting the idea of people being prepared by carrying extra ammo or magazines. If you didn't mean this, then what was the point of your original reply?

I quoted your sentence that you never found a need to carry a hand cannon when being active in the boonies (paraphrased). Your following sentence about ammo started with "Also", which is used to identify a separate point in addition to the statement about carrying whatever your definition of a hand cannon is.

With that context, my point was that just because you personally have never found a need, doesn't mean it's not still a good idea (whether that good idea is for you or others is a personal choice). I personally have never found a need for other safety precautions, but I still carry them because I can't predict the future.

Since our first comments, others have chimed in with their personal experiences of what's never happened to them, which I think is valid. Unfortunately, 100 people having spent their whole lives never having been mauled by a bear/cougar/moose doesn't preclude person #101 from having a different experience. You never know if you're going to be #99 or #101

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I'm with you sir, just a slightly newer firearm... still shoots the same round though and they get the job done. 8 shot cylinder.

View attachment 756395

NICE!!! What model is that one?

 

[orygun]

Granted, this is not local and is in an area known for Grizzlies, but it certainly caught my attention today when I saw it.

Man injured and two Yellowstone-area grizzlies killed in hunting conflicts

Wyoming bow hunters had two run-ins with grizzlies in recent days, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

www.jhnewsandguide.com

 

[orygun]

"I'm with you sir, just a slightly newer firearm... still shoots the same round though and they get the job done. 8 shot cylinder."


@Triton900 , N-Frame, correct?

All of those cylinder flutes make it look like a 22!
I prefer smaller, lighter guns, but I really like the idea of that many bullets in a revolver. That is really cool.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

Granted, this is not local and is in an area known for Grizzlies, but it certainly caught my attention today when I saw it.

Man injured and two Yellowstone-area grizzlies killed in hunting conflicts

Wyoming bow hunters had two run-ins with grizzlies in recent days, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

www.jhnewsandguide.com

Yeah. If you expand the earlier discussed data to nationwide, those cougar attack numbers change too. 127 attacks with 27 fatalities. 97 fatal bear attacks since 1900. I guess we get the tame ones in the PNW

 

[orygun]

Yeah. If you expand the earlier discussed data to nationwide, those cougar attack numbers change too. 127 attacks with 27 fatalities. 97 fatal bear attacks since 1900. I guess we get the tame ones in the PNW

I've encountered 2 black bears in the last 10 years , or so. The one that saw me ran away as soon as he knew what I was. The second one didn't see me and just kept ambling along.

 

[Triton900]

"I'm with you sir, just a slightly newer firearm... still shoots the same round though and they get the job done. 8 shot cylinder."


@Triton900 , N-Frame, correct?

All of those cylinder flutes make it look like a 22!
I prefer smaller, lighter guns, but I really like the idea of that many bullets in a revolver. That is really cool.

Yes, N frame, it's definitely not an EDC firearm but it feels at home in the woods.

 

[Triton900]

NICE!!! What model is that one?

627

 

[HaveGun]

627

If I ever broke down and bought a revolver, then that would be the one. Pretty much a bucket list gun.