Stepping out of the door from your vehicle, you should always have at the bare minimum a first aid kit, some food, some water and a basic survival kit. If your dog is with you, you should try to have twice as much water as you think you will need. In the summer and on short bomb off trips, I like to go as light as I possibly can. When I first saw the Park Pack from Uncharted Supply Co, I was interested in learning more. The Park Pack comes with a basic triage kit, two water bottles and a fanny pack that hugs your hip and secures tightly with a cinch strap and buckle.
I have learned my lesson on more than one occasion to have the tools that I need in as light of a pack as I can so that I will carry it into the field. My first elk hunt taught me that lesson. We were heading up the ridge to check a valley below and we were not planning on being away from the truck for more than 30 minutes. We saw elk, went after them and three hours in, I reached in my pack and all I had was a Capri-Sun. Luckily, that Capri-Sun wrapper went back into my pack because a few hours later with a little MacGyver move we slit the top, turned it into a cup and drank about a gallon of water out of a snow melt stream on the side of the mountain after recovering my first elk. We were away from the truck for 13 hours in total and walked a little over nine miles. Lesson learned.
Since then, I have overloaded packs with the idea that having more tools will keep me out of trouble. As I have gotten older and wiser, the best idea is having the right tools in the right pack that I will actually carry. At various times that might mean a full pack, a bird hunting vest or something as lightweight and easy to carry as the Park Pack from Uncharted Supply Co.
The Park Pack is as sturdy as they come. It is built with a water proof 600 denier Tarpaulin shell, a 210 denier liner, and a water resistant zipper. Very little is going to get through this thing. The internal area holds a 2.8 liters of storage which is enough to hold a knife, the Uncharted Supply Co Triage Kit, some lunch, snack bars, my dog’s leash and a couple of other items. You can easily strap a jacket and an additional water bottle to the back of the pack and still have room to fill up both of the water bottle pouches.
The molle straps on the side will hold your pistol holster or bear spray. If you plan on using this to hold your holster or bear spray, make sure you practice pulling out your pistol or bear spray multiple times, even on a range, so that you feel comfortable with your set up. Practice keeps you alive in quick, fast reaction situations. I feel very comfortable with this set-up in the outdoors. When I am alone, I use the water bottles included from Uncharted Supply Co. When I am with my pup, I upgrade to larger water bottles to carry extra water for me and the pup. I oftentimes stow a third bottle inside the Park Pack.
You can buy the Park Pack without the Triage Kit, though I caution against this. The difference in price is only $30.00 but it can be such a helpful tool should you need it. It contains most of what you need for basic survival and more than enough to get you back to your vehicle. Uncharted founder, Christian Schauf clearly thought through this kit. I sat down with him over breakfast one morning before SHOT show; he clearly has been testing this on his own outdoor runs and his own hunts and he listens to the wants, needs and desires of his customers. This was my first Uncharted Supply Co product but it will not be my last.
