Advice on my kill kit

[krossh]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to try and lighten up my kill kit. It's not that it's overly heavy, but I do think there are some things I can cut to trim the fat so to speak. here's my list.

- Outdoor Research Zip sack
- Havalon piranta
- Extra blades
- marking tape (could leave the roll at home and only take 20 feet)
- electrical tape (could leave the roll at home and take a smaller roll)
- emergency heat blanket the cheap $2 version (dual purpose for emergency / lightweight tarp to lay meat on if needed)
- gerber vital saw (could leave at home since I will primarily be using the gutless methond)
- Knives of Alaska bear cub (thinking about leaving it at home since I feel like I only use the havalon)
- Game bags generic cheese cloth kind ( As soon as everywhere isn't sold out, I'm going to go with T.A.G. bags)
- 30 ft of 550 cord
- 2 contractor garbage bags.. not sure why

everything folds down small, and it's a pretty compact kit. I just think I could remove a few things, but it's just hard to let go of stuff you think you might need.

 

[yak]

I have TAG bomb bags, Havalon Piranha Edge, Replacement Blades (x6), 1 pair Nitrile gloves, 3 large trash bags, 25' reflective paracord. Weights in at 15oz and all of it fits in the TAG Bag. I also carry a Leatherman Style CS for Havalon blade replacement and backup fixed blade for 0.8oz. Hope this helps.

 

[Ryan Avery]

What does it weigh now?

I would dump the extra knife, saw and tape.

I would also get the bomb bags

 

[Brock A]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to try and lighten up my kill kit. It's not that it's overly heavy, but I do think there are some things I can cut to trim the fat so to speak. here's my list.

- Outdoor Research Zip sack
- Havalon piranta
- Extra blades
- marking tape (could leave the roll at home and only take 20 feet)
- electrical tape (could leave the roll at home and take a smaller roll)
- emergency heat blanket the cheap $2 version (dual purpose for emergency / lightweight tarp to lay meat on if needed)
- gerber vital saw (could leave at home since I will primarily be using the gutless methond)
- Knives of Alaska bear cub (thinking about leaving it at home since I feel like I only use the havalon)
- Game bags generic cheese cloth kind ( As soon as everywhere isn't sold out, I'm going to go with T.A.G. bags)
- 30 ft of 550 cord
- 2 contractor garbage bags.. not sure why

everything folds down small, and it's a pretty compact kit. I just think I could remove a few things, but it's just hard to let go of stuff you think you might need.

I'd dump the following:

. All but a little marking tape
. Electrical tape
. Saw
. Alaska bear cub
. Emergency blanket
. Replace the 550 with some ironwire or glowire from lawson equipment
. Switch to TAG bags.

 

[duchntr]

What does it weigh now?

I would dump the extra knife, saw and tape.

I would also get the bomb bags

^^Yup, all I bring is a havalon a few extra blades, and the # of game bags it will take depending on the animal Im going after and 1 contractor bag. I use a folder too but I carry that on my person all the time. I always see guys bringing multiple knives and i guess i don't see the fascination with bringing 3-4 knives but thats just one guys opinion.

 

[Ryan Avery]

If your hunting elk I would keep the space blanket. It's a cheap/tough place to lay meat.


Have to look into the ironwire Brockly.

 

[durangobrad]

can ditch the paracord for something lighter like the glowire as mentioned about. I love that stuff. Awesome for tent lines and hanging your food bag, when light hits it it literally glows and can be seen from a considerable distance. You could ditch the space blanket and lay meat on the trash bags, the reason most of us carry them is if during a warm hunt we might have to stash meat in a creek to keep it cool. ditch the extra knife i think the havalons can get the whole job done.

 

[krossh]

Awesome Suggestions. Well I just bought some ironwire to replace the 550cord. I'm pretty sold on the space blanket. It's a really cheap and light alternative to a tarp for keeping meat clean. I don't know exactly what my kill kit weighs in at now but I'll get an accurate weight as soon as I can. I've never had to put meat in the creek to keep it cool but having those garbage bags seems pretty important if the need arises. In the last two years I haven't used the extra knife or saw. I think I'll leave those at home. I'll cut off some of that marking tape and only take maybe 20 ft. I read a suggestion on here a while ago where a guy wrapped some electrical tape around trekking poles. I use that to attach tags so I need to bring some with me, just not the whole roll I suppose. Taking these suggestions will get my kill kit to about as light as I think it can possibly go. Then I can check that off my list of improvements to make for next season and worry about the other 200 things. I appreciate the info everyone.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I wouldn't ditch the space blanket, I have one in my kit as well. Its there for emergency mainly but this year a storm was moving in as we finished quartering out a bull in scrub okay/sage country. I put the game bags we weren't carrying on the first trip on top of some bushes to let air circulate and then put the space blanket over top and lashed it down with flagging tape. Kept the meat shielded from a pretty hard rain that night. I normally use a garbage bag to rest meat on rather than opening up the space blanket. I also use the garbage bag if I need to put a load if meat into a pack to keep blood out of the pack.

It was really easy to fine the kill site again too.

 

[Ruskin]

I switch to glowwire. I was tracking at night and that stuff worked great for trail marking as its reflective.

 

[BroodBuster]

I'm adding a small container of meat tenderizer this year. I got stung by a couple yellow jackets last year and my damn wrist puffed up to the point that I could barely buckle my release on.

 

[Brock A]

If your hunting elk I would keep the space blanket. It's a cheap/tough place to lay meat.


Have to look into the ironwire Brockly.

Sheep tarp is a better option than a space blanket I think.

Iron wire is awesome. 2.5mm, 2oz per 50' with a breaking point of 600#.

 

[Ranger619]

The glowire is great if you hang your food in bear country. It really lights up when hit by a flashlight.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Sheep tarp is a better option than a space blanket I think.

Iron wire is awesome. 2.5mm, 2oz per 50' with a breaking point of 600#.

Haha, I will take my chances with a 2 dollar space blanket over 108 dollar tarp!

 

[BigDog00]

Sheep tarp is a better option than a space blanket I think.

Iron wire is awesome. 2.5mm, 2oz per 50' with a breaking point of 600#.

I just looked at the website and saw they have a Ultraglide Bear Line. Have you used it? Looks very similar to the iron wire...comes in at 1.7oz for 50', but has a 1000 lb test so its a little more stout. It says it does hold knots pretty well even due to the slick coating it has, but I wonder how well it would work for guy lines, hanging meat bags, etc.

 

[Brock A]

I just looked at the website and saw they have a Ultraglide Bear Line. Have you used it? Looks very similar to the iron wire...comes in at 1.7oz for 50', but has a 1000 lb test so its a little more stout. It says it does hold knots pretty well even due to the slick coating it has, but I wonder how well it would work for guy lines, hanging meat bags, etc.

I have not tried the bear line. Sounds promising!

 

[airlocksniffer]

Gossamer gear has some polycryo ground sheets that I'm planning to get. Would make a good place to lay meat. I believe they are the same material as shrink window film so you could make your own as well.

http://gossamergear.com/polycryo-tent-ground-sheets-protection.html

 

[krossh]

I'm going to get a 50' hank of glowire for hanging food and for guy lines as well. I put my kill kit on the scale and it came to about 13 ounces. That will change once I swap the 550 cord out with iron wire and swap my generic game bags out with T.A.G. bags. Removing the saw and knife made a big difference not only in weight but also in size. I could probably stuff that OR zip sack into a coffee mug. I'll get a final weight on it once it's complete and let you all know. Also, I forgot to mention I have 2 pair of surgical gloves in my kill kit as well. I'm ashamed to say that I don't typically use them.

 

[Dos Perros]

You folks not bringing a saw...is that because the meat is coming off the bone anyway, so no need to separate joints?

 

[yak]

You folks not bringing a saw...is that because the meat is coming off the bone anyway, so no need to separate joints?

You shouldn't need a saw to quarter or bone out an elk. I've quartered out and boned out the last 2 elk with a havalon and a couple blades. Separating the hip is the only tricky part to be careful with a havalon. The only time I would use a saw would be to skull cap a bull or cut heavy firewood. Just my $0.02.