Bushcraft Gear: Creating a Minimalist Pack

Broadly speaking, bushcraft gear is the basic stuff you carry when you’re in the woods and need to survive. 

There’s nothing accounted for in terms of recreation and the extended equipment usually associated with disaster preparedness or bug out bags is largely omitted. 

With bushcraft gear, often the focus is on getting back to basics. 

So what should your pack contain?

The Foundation: A Good Knife 

The single most important tool you can carry, in the woods or out, is a good knife. A fixed blade is more structurally sound than a folder but here you can take any port in a storm.

Your knife can construct structures, meet medical emergencies, prepare food, start your fire, help you excavate pits for everything from latrines to fire pits, and much, much more. 

Enough said. This is not a guide on helping you select a knife. Just make sure you have a good one (and then pack a spare; remember the old adage about two being one). 

Wool, and Plenty of It 

Specifically, what we mean is wool clothing, including a hat, gloves, and other accessories. Fortunately, since you will be wearing it, it won’t take up any room in your pack. 

Now, there is a very important reason that wool is so prevalent among outdoorsmen. For one, is it physically tougher than cotton (as well as self-cleaning, up to a point). 

But the real thing about wool is that it retains about 70% of its insulative properties, even when wet. Which means even if you get doused in the cold, wool can keep you warm, which can save your life. 

Outdoorsmen know this - this is why they say “cotton kills.” So make sure your outdoor gear is primarily composed of wool garments.

A Mess Kit

You don’t have to get crazy with a mess kit but it’s good at least to have a small aluminum pan and a hobo tool if you’re building out a bushcraft pack. 

You can cook on skewers and foil but having one good watertight container that you can use for boiling or frying - not to mention to eat out of - has its benefits, too. 

A Saw 

A saw is something that some hardcore bushcrafters will leave behind in favor of a knife and ax, but there are things that a saw can do easily that you can’t do without the former. 

Chiefly, a saw excels at straight, crossgrain cuts and can square the ends of timbers, which for obvious reasons is beneficial if you are cutting joints or building structures. 

There are ultralight options out there, such as flexible wire saws and handheld chainsaw blades that make good options, too.

A Hatchet or Pack Ax

All checklists of bushcraft gear should contain at least a hatchet or a pack ax. A full-sized felling ax might be too much for a die-hard minimalist but there’s not much you can do with one that you can’t do with a pack ax. It’ll just take a bit longer. 

Anyway, a good hatchet or pack ax should be your constant companion in the field as it will allow you to process wood for fuel as well as for constructing impromptu shelters. 

A Scotch Eye Auger 

The scotch eye auger is one thing that has a lot of value on a list of bushcraft gear despite the fact that it is highly specialized, and so can be only used for effectively one thing and one thing only. 

And that is drilling straight holes of a specified thickness. 

But here’s why that’s valuable. With a scotch eye auger, you can drill out mortises in wood and then carve dowels with either your knife or axe that can be used to construct very strong, very intricate structures. Mortise and tenon construction is more advanced than some other bushcraft techniques, but it will also open up a lot of doors. 

Shop Bushcraft Gear and More at CH KADELS 

While this short assortment of bushcraft gear and essentials is pretty bare-bones, you can find a lot more over at CH KADELS. Visit their website, where you’ll find all of the gear mentioned here, along with plenty more.

For more information about disaster survival gear and SHTF Plan Please Visit : CH Kadels