unm1136
WKR
I bought these last year to increase the capacity of my Marauder for a deer hunt. They worked great for that, and now that I have an EMR, they are not as critical to my hunt. I use them for EDC, and the more I use them, the more I like them. I have other silnylon bags, and these feel different to the hand, re-enforcing Kifaru’s assertion that they are not silnylon. During last year’s hunting and scouting trips, they were not babied in any way, and I was surprised at how well they held up to being dropped on rocks, trees, trails, and roads. I can detect literally no wear on them.
Anyway, this year I watched Aron’s Rokslide video on packing his DT pack, and noted that he used a compression sack to store food. I also took an REI class on lightweight backpacking, as I am still new to this; my last couple of years could be classified as car camping to hunt. This year I want to get back, baby.
I was pricing UL stuff sacks for my food, and realized that on my gym bag (a Maxpedition Sitka Gearsliner) I had my small pod and realized that they could act like a stuff sack in the pack, and if pack space is necessary for meat, the pod could resume its original role and be clipped to the outside of my pack for the haul out. They could also, with cordage, be used to suspend food from a tree in the approved bear aware manner. Because they would be inside the pack for the pack in, they would be exposed to approximately 50% less wear and tear than if they were strapped to the outside of the bag.
I initially hoped that the small pod would carry 2-3 days’ worth of food, the medium pod 5-7 days’ worth of food, and the large 10+ days’ worth of food. I initially continued my old habit of separating each day’s worth of food in a zip lock bag for organization. I learned that since the pods are sort of free standing when they have things in them, it was beneficial to stop that: I got about 60% more food per pod by stacking it in the pod without the zip lock bags. I could likely increase the amount of food in each bag by about 25-30% by opening the mountain house bags and purging the air, or even better, transferring the contents to quart ziplock freezer bags and labeling the bags with the contents and the correct amount of water to add.
The first thing I did was thread the female airlock connectors for the pods through the male parts. Then I filled the pods, and tugged the draw string tight and secured it, and tucked it in. The female connecters were connected to the male connectors, and the dock and lock straps pulled tight, providing a football shaped pocket. The spare female connectors were put in a small snack sized zip top bag with the Tactical/KU adapter ladder locks. Here is what I learned.
Small pod: My set up for next week’s 2 day turkey hunt. Leaving Friday afternoon, backpacking in since my minivan (grocery getter/looser cruiser) can’t get me to my hunting spot , and spending Friday night, and Saturday night in the woods, returning either after dark on Sunday, or just after first light on Monday. The small pod holds: 3 MH wrap meals, 2 MH meals, 5 Justin’s almond butters, 1 can Hormel chili, 16 high fiber tortillas, 2 cans smoked brislings, and 1 package thick sliced, cooked bacon. Including the weight of the pod and all the packaging for everything: 6065 kcals, at 5#9oz, or 62 kcal/oz. Taking the net weight of the food and doing the same math, 102kcals/oz. I could likely get better food choices, but for 2+ days this gives me variety.
Med Pod: I didn’t do the math for this pod, since the 2 day+ turkey hunt is on the horizon, and that is what I am more concerned about. However, the medium pod gave me 27 servings, rounded off. I treated the 2.5 serving mountain house meals as 2 servings. I don’t have kcal/oz, but here is what the medium pod held, at a weight of 6#15oz, including all packaging and the pod: 1 full MRE, 2 MRE entrees, 1 MRE pound cake, 10 assorted MH meals, and 2 Backpacker’s Pantry meals. That is easily 5-7 days’ worth of meals, if you can fit a few snacks into other pockets or pouches.
Large Pod: Could not get this like I wanted to, as the Large Pod is attached to a bag in the Wife’s car at the moment, and she is at work. I have just completed 10 hours at work on my day off, and really don’t care about scientific accuracy. The large pod, based on experience, will hold both the medium pod and the small pod, and a bit extra. So, if you have room for snacks elsewhere, the large pod, with or without the other pods will do 9+ days. No total weight available, and since I won’t be able to hunt out of state or on a full archery hunt in this state for several years, I am effectively limited to 5 day hunts for the foreseeable future. So a Medium Pod and a Small Pod will do me well, to include snacks.
Pics to follow in the next 2-3 weeks.
pat
Anyway, this year I watched Aron’s Rokslide video on packing his DT pack, and noted that he used a compression sack to store food. I also took an REI class on lightweight backpacking, as I am still new to this; my last couple of years could be classified as car camping to hunt. This year I want to get back, baby.
I was pricing UL stuff sacks for my food, and realized that on my gym bag (a Maxpedition Sitka Gearsliner) I had my small pod and realized that they could act like a stuff sack in the pack, and if pack space is necessary for meat, the pod could resume its original role and be clipped to the outside of my pack for the haul out. They could also, with cordage, be used to suspend food from a tree in the approved bear aware manner. Because they would be inside the pack for the pack in, they would be exposed to approximately 50% less wear and tear than if they were strapped to the outside of the bag.
I initially hoped that the small pod would carry 2-3 days’ worth of food, the medium pod 5-7 days’ worth of food, and the large 10+ days’ worth of food. I initially continued my old habit of separating each day’s worth of food in a zip lock bag for organization. I learned that since the pods are sort of free standing when they have things in them, it was beneficial to stop that: I got about 60% more food per pod by stacking it in the pod without the zip lock bags. I could likely increase the amount of food in each bag by about 25-30% by opening the mountain house bags and purging the air, or even better, transferring the contents to quart ziplock freezer bags and labeling the bags with the contents and the correct amount of water to add.
The first thing I did was thread the female airlock connectors for the pods through the male parts. Then I filled the pods, and tugged the draw string tight and secured it, and tucked it in. The female connecters were connected to the male connectors, and the dock and lock straps pulled tight, providing a football shaped pocket. The spare female connectors were put in a small snack sized zip top bag with the Tactical/KU adapter ladder locks. Here is what I learned.
Small pod: My set up for next week’s 2 day turkey hunt. Leaving Friday afternoon, backpacking in since my minivan (grocery getter/looser cruiser) can’t get me to my hunting spot , and spending Friday night, and Saturday night in the woods, returning either after dark on Sunday, or just after first light on Monday. The small pod holds: 3 MH wrap meals, 2 MH meals, 5 Justin’s almond butters, 1 can Hormel chili, 16 high fiber tortillas, 2 cans smoked brislings, and 1 package thick sliced, cooked bacon. Including the weight of the pod and all the packaging for everything: 6065 kcals, at 5#9oz, or 62 kcal/oz. Taking the net weight of the food and doing the same math, 102kcals/oz. I could likely get better food choices, but for 2+ days this gives me variety.
Med Pod: I didn’t do the math for this pod, since the 2 day+ turkey hunt is on the horizon, and that is what I am more concerned about. However, the medium pod gave me 27 servings, rounded off. I treated the 2.5 serving mountain house meals as 2 servings. I don’t have kcal/oz, but here is what the medium pod held, at a weight of 6#15oz, including all packaging and the pod: 1 full MRE, 2 MRE entrees, 1 MRE pound cake, 10 assorted MH meals, and 2 Backpacker’s Pantry meals. That is easily 5-7 days’ worth of meals, if you can fit a few snacks into other pockets or pouches.
Large Pod: Could not get this like I wanted to, as the Large Pod is attached to a bag in the Wife’s car at the moment, and she is at work. I have just completed 10 hours at work on my day off, and really don’t care about scientific accuracy. The large pod, based on experience, will hold both the medium pod and the small pod, and a bit extra. So, if you have room for snacks elsewhere, the large pod, with or without the other pods will do 9+ days. No total weight available, and since I won’t be able to hunt out of state or on a full archery hunt in this state for several years, I am effectively limited to 5 day hunts for the foreseeable future. So a Medium Pod and a Small Pod will do me well, to include snacks.
Pics to follow in the next 2-3 weeks.
pat