Decision Making
Life is full of decisions. Every single day you make decisions without even thinking about them. You stop for fuel, grab your morning coffee, hit the gym. There are thousands of examples every day that are strictly due to knowledge and routine. We fuel up on Mondays because prices typically change on Tuesday. We hit the gym in the mornings for fasted cardio sessions. Even though these things seem like obvious choices, they came to fruition because of knowledge and experience. At RuckList we want to give you the confidence to make decisions on gear, logistics, and preparation as though it’s part of your routine.
RuckList is an offering to build confidence. It provides you with the knowledge to make quick decisions about all things related to an upcoming trip. Currently, I’m using every piece of RuckList to help me build my gear list for a trip to the Yukon. I can’t mess this up. If I forget anything crucial, there is no way to get it once I’m up there. I’m headed on a 12 day horseback hunt deep into the Yukon for Moose and Caribou. As if that isn’t enough to think about, my wife is also coming to hunt Grizzly and Caribou. So with that being said, let’s break down the few decisions I’ve been tossing around.
What Shelter Should I bring?
It’s a horseback hunt so weight isn’t a huge concern, but we still have to be under 70lbs apiece. We could go with the MSR Hubba Hubba, which I have had great luck with or we could go with the Seek Outside 8 man tipi and stove. The tent would be easier to set up and take down. I would need less space to set it up and it would be plenty comfy for my wife and I. The 8 man tipi would provide us with ample room if we get a bad weather stretch and want to move around a little bit. If we throw in a couple Helinox chairs then we can stretch our legs and comfortably hang out while a storm passes. The Yukon in late September could see snow and the wood stove would be nice on those crisp mornings. We ended up deciding on the Seek Outside tipi.
Rain Gear
Should I invest in some rubber rain gear? This hunt could be very wet but I also don’t want to sweat to death in full rubber. Yes, I know that I could very well end up a little wet if we get stuck in a downpour and I’m running a light weight set of rain gear. I’m just not a fan of rubber. If I need to hike in rain gear, I want it to be able to breathe a little bit at least. In my opinion there is nothing as uncomfortable as sweating from the inside of your rain gear. Long story short…I’m going with a KUIU Kutana Rain Jacket and a Sitka Dew Point rain pant.
Sleeping Bag
I currently have a Stone Glacier Chilkoot 15 degree down bag. I’ve never been concerned about wetting out one of these new bags, but this hunt has me questioning it. It could make for some cold miserable nights if my bag tags a dive on me. However, I also don’t love packing the extra size and weight of a synthetic bag. There are advantages to each one but I’m going to stick with the Stone Glacier for this hunt.
Those are the main questions I’ve had. For me, it’s a balancing act between weight, size, speed, and function. Each one of those items has an advantage and a disadvantage in some form. If you are in a similar position to me and can’t decide what to do I’d recommend checking out Jay and Drew’s and Informational videos over at the RuckList YouTube channel.
At the end of this hunt I will breakdown all the gear we took and how each performed. In the meantime, dig into Rucklist and pack with confidence.