After The Camp: Drenched - Military SurplusOvernight Adventure II

This is After the Camp and today we are discussing Drenched - The Military Surplus Overnight Adventure II.

Pack : Large Alice Pack - Love and Hate it.

 It’s large, inexpensive and there are a lot of ways to modify it.  The ALICE pack was built with one purpose in mind – rugged performance.  Field tested by countless soldiers around the world, the ALICE has earned its reputation as a rugged beast of a pack.  With that said, it is a NO FRILLS pack.  Don’t expect the posh features and design of a recreational back-pack. You can use the ALICE pack without the frame but don’t waste your time – especially with loads of 40 lbs or more – it is really uncomfortable.  The frame helps to distribute the weight and makes a HUGE difference with heavy loads.  The ALICE pack isn’t the most comfortable pack in the world.

Pros:

• Built to last
• Rugged & Tough
• Versatile
• 2 sizes (both sizes mount on the same frame)
• Proven by 1000s of soldiers in the field
• Very affordable

Cons:

• Not the most comfortable pack on the market
• Old school metal adjusters and closures
• No easy access pockets for bottles, etc.

Tarp : USMC Field Tarp - Shelf setup - provided exactly what I needed in terms of coverage and protection from the elements.  Naturally with the materials and the rain, it did begin to absorb moisture and was one saggy shelter by morning.  When packing everything up to head out of the woods it weighed at least 2x as much because of water.

Sleeping Bag : Intermediate bag, part of the modular sleep system

Sleeping Pad : I know that at least a few people remembered were I found this pad.  Laying in the woods along the Appalachian Trail.  

Bivy : USMC 3 Season Improved Bivy - Great bivy especially if you can find one for a good price.  For people who hate bugs having the integrated mesh is very much appreciated.  Kept me nice and dry through out the night and added a few degrees of warmth.

Knife : Gerber LMF II - Coyote Brown, runs about $63. Includes a good sheath with has a built in sharpener. I’ve read stories about pilots using this knife in Iraq to bust out the windows of crashed helicopters.  This is not a good wood processing knife and really has military applications in mind.  For backpacking, camping, bushcraft and so on, I would go with something else.

Cookset : Yugoslavian Mess Kit This is a great bit of military surplus that you can pick up on the cheap.  I have a video on this if you haven’t seen it already.

You have the stainless steel spoon, fork, kind which also include bottle opener and can opener.

Small cup, bowl, and pot with a canteen.

Poncho : German Snow Poncho

Food : Drytech Real Turmat reindeer meal.  Reindeer is caribue.  Sadly it is going to be very difficult to find these in the us.  I contacted the company and they said that they do not sale their products here.  The only chance we have to get our hands on them is to have them imported from Europe.    Absolutely amazing so far.  I can’t wait to have another one.

Clothing : Typically everyday clothing for myself.  Fjallraven Pants, old navy active shirt, wool socks, mammut fleece.  

Weather : As you all saw in the video my area was forecasted with a winter storm, heavy wet snow with about 7 inches of accumulation.  That isn’t what we got.  Instead of snow we received about half an inch of rain that night.  Work up in the morning and it had turned to snow but almost immediately turned back into rain.

Behind the Scenes : While I loved this trip what i didn’t love was fighting the moisture while filming.  The cameras were fogging up, getting wet and by the end of the adventure i was irritated.