(bird calls)
- When you're hiking it's normal
to keep most of your equipment inside your backpack,
such as your tent and your sleeping bags.
The only risk with having everything
inside your backpack is,
if you are separated from your backpack,
you could be left out here in the bush with nothing.
That's why I always like to keep
a series of basic equipment on my person
at all times when I'm trekking.
In this video I wanted to show you
what those items are.
This is the small bum bag that I carry with me
when I'm hiking in the snow and the bush.
If I am trekking in the jungle,
I don't normally carry the bum bag
because I'm wearing cargo pants
and there's enough room in the pockets for all this gear.
(zipper zipping)
So I'll just open up and show you
the simple items that are in here.
Firstly, just a BIC lighter.
Only weighs about 10 grams,
and I think a cigarette lighter
is ultimately the most efficient
and easy way, and effective way to make a campfire.
Traditional fire-lighting methods
like ferrocerium rods and bow drills
normally require two hands to operate.
So if you are injured, it's gonna be a lot easier,
(clicking)
to just light the campfire the 20th century way,
or the 21st century way. (chuckles)
Lot safer, I think.
This is the pocket knife I carry, or pocket tool.
It's a Swiss army knife, 35 piece tool set, all in one.
Very light, very compact, easy to carry.
Very comfortable to carry, and that's
the main thing about everyday carry items.
You want them to be comfortable enough
so you can wear them even (zips zipper)
at the end of the day when you put your pack down.
So that covers everything that was in the front.
Let's open up the main section.
In previous videos, you may have seen me
wearing a compass around my neck.
But I recently decided that's a bit of a choke hazard,
so from now on, I always have my Suunto compass
just tied either to my belt and in the cargo pants,
or in this case, inside the bum bag.
But just attached with that lanyard so I can't lose it.
I always wear sunglasses, well I always carry sunglasses.
So this is the sunglass cleaning tool.
So at all times I always do have one of these on me.
Really nothing to do with survival,
but it is an item that I'll have
in the bum bag when I'm hiking in the bush and the snow.
Inside this waterproof container
is a very important tool or survival beacon.
That's the inReach Explorer.
If you are looking for an emergency distress beacon system,
I would recommend this.
I think they really make old EPIRBS and SPOTs
and satellite phones redundant.
The amount of functions in this little tool,
including the SOS button.
It's a really effective way of calling for help
if you were stuck out in the bush.
I've never had to call for help in my lifetime,
but I do use this to text people while I'm out here.
So it is running off the Iridium satellite network,
an extremely reliable, useful piece of gear to carry.
Garmin have recently just taken over
the company inReach, so there is a newer model.
This is the older model,
so if you're interested I'd recommend looking that one up.
So this is the waterproof or rainproof pouch
that I keep the inReach inside.
And also keep my cell phone inside the bum bag,
just an iPhone.
Also inside the bum bag is a whistle.
I think a whistle is a pretty traditional
piece of gear to carry.
But I think in the 21st century with satellite phones
or satellite communicating devices being so easy to come by,
I think one should question, "Are whistles actually useful?"
And that is because the whistle is obviously
only useful if your rescue team is within earshot,
but you could call for help to someone
who's on the other side of the world
with a satellite communicator.
So the whistle is still in there,
still carrying it after all these years.
This is the Lifesystems whistle, extremely loud.
I won't blow it now, (chuckles)
cuz it will cancel out the audio on the camera.
And in this section right here in the middle,
I carry a four metre piece of gear rope.
I know a lot people like to carry Paracord,
for the many many uses that it has.
But I think, to me, gear rope lasts longer.
It doesn't fray and fall apart like Paracord.
Just a simple piece of rope.
You may have noticed in my previous PSK Survival Video,
I had a Paracord bracelet tied to the side here.
But I think most Paracord bracelets out there
never really get deployed.
And you sort of question, "Are they actually useful?"
If it's something that you wont deploy
'cuz it's too difficult to actually
weave it back together again.
So this is a piece of rope that we actually use.
We do actually use it.
It's not just in there for survival purposes.
We use this as guylines
for our tents, and also clotheslines.
So it's a pretty simple kit, it's very lightweight.
The overall weight, if you take away the cell phone,
is only about 400 grams.
That's the complete kit, including
communicator, pocket knife, compass.
Another thing I like about the bum bag system
is it does give me the option of
hanging other items off the belt.
For example here, on the right side,
I keep my Merino wool Balaclava.
This is mainly in winter or in extreme cold.
If I'm not wearing the balaclava,
that's where I actually keep it at all times,
just tied to the right side of the bum bag strap.
Just with half a square knot,
that's the knot that I use to hold it in place.
And I showed you before the compass.
The lanyard on that compass is only probably 25 centimeters,
but that does give me enough length
(zipper zipping)
to operate the compass.
I can easily read the needle on the compass
with only that short distance of lanyard.
So that is actually tied to the waist strap,
but then goes inside the zip section.
So when I'm car camping, I can also just
hang my keys on a carabiner off the waist strap,
so I don't lose my keys.
And finally, another item I can keep
on the bum bag waist strap is my large knife,
or machete, in this case, just the sheath.
So normally during the day of
hiking from point A to point B,
I wouldn't have the machete hanging
off my waist like this, cuz it's quite uncomfortable.
It'll be inside the backpack.
But when I do reach the campsite,
and I wanna start chopping up some wood,
I can hang the blade off of the bum bag like this.
This makes it a lot easier to reach for it
when I'm cutting up wood.
Thanks for watching Bush Channel.
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(bird calls)