Armed on a Backpacking Trip

[ripcurlksm]

Has anyone gone on something like a 7-day backpacking trip into the wilderness? I'm talking about dehydrated food, fishing pole, water purifier, lite sleeping bag, small tent/tarp, etc. - total minimalist trip. We are planning around a series of rivers and lakes in the E. Sierras where most of our food would be from fishing. And for kicks I would love to try my luck at gathering and snare traps.

So to get to my question, I was speaking with my friend and he said that he used to go all of the time. Everything you need is on your back in a < 70-lbs. backpack. Anywho, I mentioned it wouldnt hurt to bring the 1911 with two magazines for a little extra protection (NOT FOR HUNTING!)- he rebuttled that it would weigh too much. I replied that I would just pack less clothes to make up for the weight

I am curious if anyone has gone on adventure backpacking trips whilst carrying a firearm. Please dont respond if you have a car-camping story or any trip that involves a cooler with ice!

Regards,

 

[DevLcL]

Well... I've gone backpacking... and I've been camping with a gun, but not at the same time. I used to go with my family as a kid, guns were probably the furthest thing from our minds. I've been thinking about planning a trip of my own. I want to take my AR15. Don't ask why... I'm not sure I know myself. I just think it would be cool to trek it with my AR. If the trip is here in california I might have to resort to a handgun. Let us know how your trip goes!

-Dev

 

[Dr.Rob]

You plan on carrying 70 pounds and foraging? I hope some of that weight is actual food. NEVER go without supplies unless you have to. "Proving you can rough it" is a silly way to die. "We plan on eating mostly fish we catch" is great, have a plan B if the fish aren't biting.

Every 50+ mile hike I ever did I never carried more than 50 pounds of gear, clothing and food. In the winter there are concessions to heavier clothing... but 70 pounds is a LOT to hump if you aren't used to it.

Buy a Wilderness Products Safepacker and drop a small .357 in it. Strap it to your hip belt... it doesn't look like a holster and it's within easy reach. It's a piece of saftey gear, treat it as such. Lightweight is best, with a couple reloads. I use a Colt Magnum Carry. My previous backpacking gun was a Colt Lightweight Commander.

 

[Colt46]

Don't expect the Eastern Sierra to be a buffet table

Bring enough food for every day and about another 48 hrs in case you get caught in a snowstorm and can't pack out on your intended day. National Parks are strictly verboten for firearms. Make sure you don't stumble into any of them. I usually go out of a trail head across the highway from the Marine Mountain Warefare training center just over Sonora Pass. I take in a fishing rod and my Marlin Papoose for small game. Beautiful country. Pretty unforgiving in winter I would imagine.

 

[gunsmith]

I live ten minutes from the Sierra's

It's cold and snowing, mountain lions do not hibernate so bring something!

 

[Cosmoline]

I always felt a good .357 revolver is going to serve better in the field than a .45 ACP. It will eat a wider array of loads, and more are available. From snake shotshells to 200 grain thwampers.

 

[280PLUS]

Yea, you could quickly learn to hate that 1911 if you brought it along. I've done a lot of hiking the Appalachian Trail in this area and the thing that always amazes me is the stuff I've found along the trail that hikers have tossed to lighten up, frying pans, pots, a shovel once, you name it. Last I recall your pack should weigh no more than 1/4 your body weight. Carry a few cans of tuna in oil and some jerky. Make sure you have some way of opening the cans. Dried beans and rice aren't a bad idea either. Make some trail mix or "GORP" (Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts) to take too. I usually carry my lightweight .32 Mag snubbie. It weighs 14 oz loaded, I bought it specifically for mountain hiking but like it so much it's now my every day carry. I carry it for protection against animals of the two legged variety (I'm usually alone). There's really not too much to worry about from the 4 legged ones in this area. If I was in bear or mountain lion country I'd be more inclined to carry one of those S&W lightweight .44 Mag revolvers. And whatever you do DON'T forget the IMPORTANT PAPERS!!

 

[Leatherneck]

Make sure you have some way of opening the cans.

A P-38 on a string weighs like one ounce. Alternatively, a sturdy knife will work on cans.

tc

 

[coat4gun]

I always pack while backpacking. Carried a Taurus titanium in .41 Mag last summer on a 4 day trip in the Cimarron mountains in Colorado. I sleep better at night knowing it is there. The 25 oz + ammo weight is worth the security it provides. I can always carry more on a good nights sleep...

 

[shooting time]

Don't go without one did you ever see some of the characters that you meet along the trail?

 

[clown714]

my backpacking pistol is a charter arms bulldog

clown

 

[Joe Demko]

Here in the east, I've used a Whitney Wolverine as a backpacking pistol. I have one from Olympic Arms. Since it is largely made of polymer, it is ridiculously light weight, even with a whole box of ammo along for the hike. You seem to want something with more horsepower than a .22, though.

 

[another okie]

I used to spend up to 10 days in wilderness areas of national forests off road, but I always took enough food for the whole trip, even if I expected to catch fish. 70 pounds is way too much. Do you have some monster tent or something?

Go through your day mentally and imagine yourself using each item. If you don't use it every day, leave it behind. You may have more clothes than you need - you can climb in your sleeping bag once it gets cold.

I never carried a heavy gun. Sometimes today I carry a titanium snubbie, which weighs 13 ounces. I'm not going to encounter a bear. A good full size knife can also protect you and you will use it more.

 

[Ash]

I've hiked portions of the AT in North Carolina and Georgia, as well as many other trails. Just last month, we did 31 miles on the Bartram Trail, the Rabun Bald portion near Highland NC. Our rule of thumb is that an ounce in the beginning as a pound in the end. The more weight you pack, the more you have to carry. Even if you arrange your pack well and distrubute the weight properly, your hips have to carry it. I have backpacked many trails and gone many miles in the last 20 years of backpacking, and have never carried on the trail. I have wished for something from time to time, however. A 357 would be an ideal trail gun, probably the best.

Carry food unless your distance is mild. If you plan on hiking more than 10 miles a day, gathering food will be very difficult if you are in any kind of terrain. And you'll need to eat more than you do at home just to keep your energy up (and if cold, to keep warm). If you hike 15 plus miles a day, you'll have no time at all to forage save for the evenings, which is much harder if you plan on making camp, building a cooking fire, etc. (I know many folks that don't build fires, who deal solely with cooking stoves, but a fire does more than just cook food, it provides a warm place until you are ready for bed, and there is more to hiking than getting from one point to the other, the comradery at the camp, is a large part of why I backpack. As I am a certified prescribed burn manager as well as an Eagle Scout, I know how to make a safe fire (or when not to try) and how to put it out).

More than anything, beware of Pre Hike Man. This is the person who plans the trail and packs the pack, but DOES NOT GO ON THE HIKE. Hike Man has to carry everything that Pre Hike Man packs, has to eat the food, has to follow the trail. And no matter how much Hike Man might resent and despise Pre Hike Man, there isn't a thing he can do about it. The trick, then, is to try and zen Pre Hike Man and Hike Man. Keep in mind that when you plan the journey and prepare the gear, just what Hike Man will be enduring. Remember what it was like the last time you were Hike Man while you are packing. If you are not certain you will need the item you are considering, then don't carry it. And personally, I don't carry any cans of any kind. Tuna, stew, etc I will drain into ziplock bags (and store in a larger zip lock bag against leaks). Any weight that can be saved is worth it.

We once had a fellow bring a small cooler with pudding cups and Capri Sun's. I told him not to, but he was confident he could carry it in his hands. After 6 miles or so of changing it from one hand to the next, he let out a scream and threw it over a cliff as hard as he could. Needless to say, he never went on another of my hikes again.

Ash

 

[FilJos]

I did this in September. Carried a Colt Trooper mkIII with 180gr Buffalo Bore LFN-GCs. I chose this for the possibility of bear or catamount encounters. Due to wildfires in the BWCA, the wildlife was getting more ambitious about where and what they were willing to eat. We were getting a lot of reports of folks getting "sized up" by wolves, bears and the occasional non-existant mountain lion. Don't know if anyone actuallly got attacked, but it was a distinct possibility.

Anyway. I carried the Trooper and two speed loaders, one with a Buffalo Bore reload, the other with some more "sociable" lead hollowpoints for the pink, fleshy predators.

I used a Right Stuff Chest Pack, the M2 model to be specific. It has an inner pouch that is supposed to be for a small hydration bladder, but the Trooper fit nicely there. It was easily accessed, and was also concealed. If I had to open the pack, it wouldn't have shown. I got it in black with the color logo. It looks real nice and "back-packy." I carried my maps, a knife, and some other small esssentials as well. You can find the pack at this address: http://www.rightstuff-durango.com/chest_packs.asp

I believe that it comes with clips so that you can ditch the harness and mount it directly to your pack straps. This can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. decide what works best for you.

 

[Manedwolf]

I find the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 to be the perfect backback gun. If folded, it will tuck right into a side pouch of many backpacks, out of sight, but not out of reach. Extremely light, too, mostly polymer. It's comforting to have an actual long gun with you at all times, not just a pistol. At night, it can be unfolded and tucked next to your sleeping bag, in case of two-legged predators at your campsite.

Bear country, though, I would definitely say to have a Blackhawk or other large-caliber pistol. Here, wearing it on your hip is legal, not sure as to there.

 

[TX1911fan]

If you are backpacking for a week, DO NOT TAKE CANS. They will kill you with weight. All dry foods. Dry everything before you go. It may taste like crap when you eat it, but it's better than starving.

I agree that taking a lightweight .357 is a good way to go. If you've only got the .45, take that.

 

[Gun Wielding Maniac]

I've done what you're proposing several times. Personally, I'd carry 1 change of clothing, some poly-pro's and several changes of underwear and socks. That is really all you need as far as clothing. I'd bring a Mosin carbine or possibly one of my AK's. The advantage of the AK is I can carry all my ammo in one magazine, as opposed to distrubiting it across my body in stripper clips.

Try and keep your total pack weight at around 40 lbs. Consider that you'll have to allot a significant amount of time to gathering food...

 

[Third_Rail]

70lbs? 70lbs? You don't need to bring that much extension cord, the TV is battery operated.

 

[sacp81170a]

Used to backpack the Contintental Divide in Wyoming. Don't go into bear country unarmed! I carried a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag in shoulder hunting rig. I could adjust it so that it rode across my chest and actually balanced the weight of my pack. Carrying a hog leg like that in a belt holster get awkward pretty quickly with a pack on your back.

+1 on carry enough food. Freeze dried is a little more expensive but darn well worth. We taught our Boy Scouts to carry some dry dog food for emergency rations. Nutritious, complete, fairly nonperishable, and you sure ain't gonna eat it unless ya have to!

 

[CAS700850]

I've always believed that a revolver is the preferred sidearm for field use, especially in situations as you describe. A .357 magnum revolver, a couple of speedloaders or speedstrips (lighter and easier to carry), and ammo. Why a revolver? Enough power for most problems. Accurate enough to put food in the pot if necessary. Don't need a magazine to make it work, just need ammo. In your situation, the Taurus Tracker revolvers would have appeal.

have a great trip.

 

[History Prof]

It may taste like crap when you eat it, but it's better than starving.

In my younger thinner days my friends and I used to do 7 day 50 mile hikes through the Gila Wilderness. We used to joke about "pizza drops" when we had to eat that dehydrated stuff. But by day three, we appreciated it. When I was a kid, it was still safe to drink the water straight out of the creeks in the Gila. Man, that was some good tasting water.

As for the "packing" while packing, it depends on the crowd you're with. When it was my larger group of friends, I didn't, because some of them were weenie liberals. But when those of us who were conservatives or libertarians went without the libs, we ALL packed - and I can't recall anyone ever even firing a shot.

When I went packing with a group I met in college, those dudes packed 12 packs of Bud!

 

[rchernandez]

Check out this site for tips on backpacking light(er):

http://www.backpacking.net/


A j-frame with +p ammo is light enough to carry (where permitted) but a .357 snubnose works better in "rougher" country.

With a 13-yr old, we're now limited to "car-camping" with day hikes! Think 2-room tents, folding cots AND air mattresses

 

[GoRon]

+1 on the light weight 357

70lbs is heavy, real heavy. I would trim that down to no more than 45lbs.

I just took up backpacking this year and have been on three trips, the longest being 5 days four nights. I weighed in at 45 for that trip and I am not a light weight backpacker by any stretch.

Check out Backpacker.com for some good info and forums.

Some pics from a couple trips. LINK

 

[roscoe]

What Dr. Rob said. Light, light, light! And a light .357 in a Wilderness holster!