Today I decided to "test" my B.O.B. by going for an afternoon hike. Since I'm only partially done, I started loading it up with water for added weight. I threw an extra pair of boots in it, and stuffed my Maxpedition bag (already full of stuff) into it as well.
I originally planned on hiking for several hours straight, but only managed to get about 2 hours in. The rest of the time ended up being pretty interesting though.
The main goal of my outing was to wear the bag, and see if any issues were presented, or if a field-trip could dredge up ideas for necessary items, and weed out unnecessary ones.
Additional items brought were an extra bottle of water for my "Battle Buddy", his leash, water dish, and several of his favourite snacks: Milk Bones.
Entrance to the Series of Trails:
Looking Down at the Previous Picture:
After hiking around for about an hour I hadn't had any indications of "hot spots". If you're looking for some nice boots, check out the Converse Stealth boots. They're fantastic, and I've worn them at least five days a week for the past year without a single blister, burn, etc. They're the most comfortable "combat" boot I've ever had the pleasure of wearing. I will be getting more for hiking/but-out purposes since they've held up extremely well, have a safety toe, and after hiking some of the slopes I hiked today (which is more abuse than I typically put my feet through), my dogs ain't barkin'.
Chuck Taylor Goes Cool-Guy:
My "Battle Buddy":
So, my hike continues along for a little while longer, when I see an area that I've never noticed before. It appeared to be a cove, complete with a beach. Since my sidekick's never really been treated to hiking before, I decided to venture down the slope, toward the cove, and give him a double treat of some hiking AND swimming. Surprisingly, going off-trail through some mildly thick brush wasn't problematic. I assumed the rope/Pro-Tec/B.O.B. would have been snagged, since I was having to crouch down, and bust through a few thick spots. Upon arriving at the cove, I parked my keister on a log, and let my buddy do some swimming.
The View from the Cove:
After about five chain-smoked Marlboros, I decided to stroll around. I was mildly pissed, since the cove served as a trash dump for washed up items from the lake. Beer bottles, of course, an old plank of wood, a couple of pieces of styrofoam. Pitiful. The cove looked like it would be a killer camp-site, and I got the itch to come back. Since I had no intention of spending the night, I figured I'd at least gather materials for a camp, if I decide to come back next weekend.
Of course, "Broski" as I have nicknamed my buddy, swam the entire time.
"Broski" Gettin' his Phelps On:
First thing I did was gather large rocks for a fire-pit. The rocks were piled together close to the area where I wanted the pit. I kicked out a small area and marked the center of where I wanted the pit with a flat rock.
Nice Place for a Fire Pit:
Since I don't have an E-Tool, I decided to use the rock to dig the pit. This is where I found the first missing item from my kit: Entrenching Tool. Despite the sandy soil, digging with that tiny rock was proving to be a workout. It wasn't effective enough. So, off I scavenged for a better rock. I then remembered seeing that plank, and decided to give it a shot.
Field-Acquired E-Tool:
Digging was slower than with a good spade, but better than the rock. In short, the plank was cutting the mustard, surprisingly better than I had thought it would.
Plank > Rock:
The downside to using the plank was that it could only be used to scrape, and lift/flip soil. The lack of curvature limited the amount of soil that it could hold at once. As well, all digging had to be done with the shoulders, as to adequately scrape, I would lock up my arms, and scratch the soil out of the hole. Every so often, I would lay the plank sideways against the beach, and scrape the removed soil down towards the shoreline, even distributing the excess. I didn't want to dig a hole, and have mounds of dirt strewn unevenly on the beach. By doing this, my fire pit was more naturally integrated into the landscape.
After a good 15 straight minutes of digging/flipping/smoothing, I decided to burn a few more smokes and take a break. By this point, gathering the stones and digging the pit have taken more out of me than the hour and fifteen minute hike that got me here. I decided to survey the area some more, and was feeling pretty good about the pit.
A Naked Pit:
Feeling like the pit was in order, I got to gathering stones. First, I placed the largest stones around the pit. I thought for sure I'd had enough to encircle the pit with large stones, but I had underestimated the quantity needed. Finding large stones required further walking and further hauling. By this point I'd worked twice as hard as if my day had just been ruck-marching. Finally I had enough stones on hand to encircle the pit. Then, I ventured to find smaller stones to line the pit with. I suppose the best "workout" for "bugging out" would be bending over about 300 times. Screw the hiking, get off the exercise trike, ditch the treadmill. Stand in your living room, and crouch down/bend over until your back feels like dry rubber with no flex in it. This will be my new workout for bug-out. Anyway...
To save myself additional walk time, I'd gather the small interior stones, and throw them back towards the pit. Saved on walk time, but still required the bend/crouch workout. Again, the amount of small, flat, stones needed to line the interior was initially underestimated.
I suppose the stones aren't a necessary item to have in your fire, but I was setting up my "camp" as an extended stay base-camp, so-to-speak, so I wanted a nice fire pit. The stones help radiate/retain heat, as well, they make cooking more efficient.
Stoned, Circled, and Ready for Burnin':
So, the pit was ready, but now I had to get out of the hole I was in, as well as get my buddy out, who'd spend several hours swimming...constantly. By this point I was beat, since I had absolutely no intention whatsoever of setting up a fire-pit, especially without proper tools. Getting out was harder than the ascent/descent in, as I was totally beat up from hauling stones around, and trying to use a plank as a shovel. I was shocked that I had to take a 2 minute breather halfway up the slope.
I learned that, despite not being in the lineup for items I'd been planning on integrating into my pack, a small E-Tool is desperately needed. As well, since all my gloves are for work, a dedicated pair is a necessity for the B.O.B. If the weather isn't nightmarish next weekend, I'll update this series of posts with firecraftin'.
I had a good time, learned that I need to get in better shape, discovered that a few of the items I considered useless would've come in handy, and that all that bitching about the garbage was a waste, since some of the items could be turned into makeshift tools.
'Til next time.
-Mike and Riley
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If I had that kind of scenary I would not mind a several hours hike either. Hope the BOB works out well for you.
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