Organizing Your Pack

mnnowak

FNG
Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
12
Location
Houston, AK
I don't understand why people put all of their items inside of separate bags then put all the bags inside their pack. They have their clothing in a bag, separate Ziplock for each days food, first aid kit in a bag, sleeping bag in a bag, ect. everything seems to need its own bag.
My food all goes loose in the bottom of my pack. My Valandre down sleeping bag goes in a sea to summit dry compression bag and my tent is in a bag. All my clothes are loose along with any other gear. Most packs have pockets or compartments to help store stuff.
it's easy to cut weight out of your pack by leaving all these extra bags at home. Are people OCD and need to know it's organized? I have a Stone Glacier pack that zips all the way down the center and I can access any thing without pulling anything else out of my pack.
My wife and I did a 9 day sheep hunt last year and we went in with 34 and 37 pound packs(rifle not included).
 

Gumbo

WKR
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
1,298
Location
Montana
My pack looks like a bomb went off in it after a couple days without using bags to organize my gear/clothes. With the bags I know where to look for something when I need it. I use a bag for my sleeping bag (which compresses it more so I have more room), a bag for my clothes (which is fleece and doubles as a pillow), a small game bag for my kill kit, a bag for my food that I can hang it in, a couple smaller bags for misc. items (survival kit, archery repair kit, headlamps/knives/etc). I also use two spotting scope pockets, one for my tent/bivy and another for mattress/whatever else so I can attach it to them side of my AMR if I need room to pack meat in my pack. They add a pound or so but are well worth it IMO.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Messages
1,848
Location
Fishhook, Alaska
You should try a little organization sometime, you might like it. :)

UL sil-nylon dry sacks weight almost nothing, and keep the gear dry inside the pack. Even if I fall during a creek crossing. They also let me quickly unload and cache stuff for a stalk.

1 dry bag for sleeping bag, pad, and extra clothes

1 nylon sack for food (with a few zip locks for organization inside that)

1 small dry sack for small items (1st aid, headlamp, fire, cord, etc)

Zip Lock with game bags

Might be a few other things stashed in pockets for easy access (lunch, hat, gloves), otherwise, that's about all it takes.

Total weight of the storage isn't more than 4-6 oz. I don't loose stuff in the dirt. I can find stuff fast. Stuff doesn't get wet when I pull my spotter out in the rain. If I need to lighten the load for a stalk, I can grab the food sack and clothes/sleeping sack and quickly drop them... even in the rain.

Really, no downside to it.

Yk
 

ljalberta

WKR
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
1,439
I'm also sitting at about 5-6oz with my stuff sacks. Certainly beats digging around for loose first aid/kill kit items/headlamp/etc. in the pack. Additionally, I often have to hang my food at night, so need a bag of sorts for that anyway. An additional 5 or so ounces is worth it for me to save the annoying digging. I agree with Yellowknife, give it a try and you might not go back. I don't think you'll even notice the additional .3 pounds.
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
3,615
I do it so once i make camp set up tent or hammock , its easy to pull out the stuff that can stay at camp and not hike around with it all day


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Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,391
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
I am admittedly 100% OCD about keeping my stuff dry. For me that means separating stuff out into dry bags. All my clothes (which are not very many), go into a DB, quilt in another DB, kill kit in a zippered dry pouch (mainly just because I want to keep those things together), shelter/bivy in another stuff sack (not 100% waterproof because it only has a drawstring closure, but I'm ok with that), other misc. things ie., toiletries, lighter, first aide, reading material, headlamp, etc. in another DB. I usually just throw all my freeze dried food and other misc. food in a game bag since I'm taking the game bag anyway and I may as well be using it to keep something organized and I don't care if the stuff in there gets wet because it's in its own waterproof packaging. All my dry bags and stuff sacks are cuben fiber and weigh a total of around 4 oz. I tend to pack UL on everything and my solo shelter is just that (UL and solo), so there's not a whole lot of room inside it once I'm in there. I find it really nice to be able to stuff anything and everything that I'm not using for the night into dry bags and just toss outside the shelter. 4 oz. is a small wt. penalty to pay for not having to worry about stuff getting wet and knowing exactly where everything is at any given time.
 
Last edited:

Randle

WKR
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,176
Location
Nope
I dont always use the same pack, so I can just grab the pouches I need and transfer to my smaller day pack if I am just going in on a morning deer hunt.
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
33
Besides all the other states reasons...

Putting my food in bags for each day keeps me from over packing food. I know my calories for each meal and each day. Usually I end up with extra food anyway, but not as much as I used to ..
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
385
I dont always use the same pack, so I can just grab the pouches I need and transfer to my smaller day pack if I am just going in on a morning deer hunt.

Exactly. And no more frantic hunting for my Havalon, headlamps, etc...
 

dotman

WKR
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
8,201
I just like knowing where everything is and what it's in. It's not for everyone but I like it but I really don't need many diff sacks to org my pack so weight is minimal.

But then again I won't pack in without a cot anymore either.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2015
Messages
437
Location
New Mexico
But then again I won't pack in without a cot anymore either.
What kind of cot do you use?


I don't use a lot of bags, but am considering a small pullout for my clothes. I do use a compression sack for my sleeping bag. A food bag is a must for me to hang in bear country, and I do pack daily bags within that to monitor my intake for the day.
 

daron

FNG
Joined
Feb 23, 2017
Messages
12
Location
hill road
I also have a problem packing and organizing all my things inside my bag. it's really had to put them all without separators so I would prefer bags lots of compartments to save from using additional small bags.
 

4ester

WKR
Joined
Nov 2, 2014
Messages
911
Location
Steep and Deep
It's nice to have an organized pack, with different dry bags to keep each item where you can access it.

Personally this is what I do:

Emergency Kit: In an orange bag, includes first aid, fire starter, TP, water filter (always stays in pack).

Kill Kit: In Kifaru UL Pullout, Game Bags, Tags, Knife, Blades, Load Cell, a little baler twine.

Sleep System: Pump Sack Dry Bag, that has sleeping bag, pad, tyvek, and tent. Stays at camp

Extra Clothes: Large Kifaru Pullout, all my extra clothing, socks, gloves, etc.

Food: In another Kifaru UL, When for multiple days all the food comes in my SG Load Cell, then each night at camp I move a days ration over to the Pullout.



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wyelkhunter

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Messages
298
Location
Kinnear, WY
So does your food and cloths etc just lay around loose in your tent? My bag stays attached to my pack frame. I don't want my cloths just laying on the ground in my tent. I need a bag to hang my food up in. Leave your food on the ground in your tent where I hunt and critters will get into it.
 

BradNSW

FNG
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
87
Location
San Diego
"I just quit taking so much shit to the woods. Less junk, less need for organization."
,
Exactly!

Down to 37lb pack for 7 days. (6 bags total) - 1 qt bag for trash and 5 gamebags for meat. Have to admit 1 other sandwich bag for license, tags, zip ties and paper map (no GPS)
 
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