Listen as Scott chats with North Shore Radio host, Mark Abrahamson, about the essential outdoor skills and gear any outdoorsman needs to help them stay safe in the wilderness.
Pack & Paddle: Essential Outdoor Skills and Gear Transcript
0:00:00.2 Mark: WTIP's feature, Pack and Paddle, with Scott Oeth is up next. Scott is a registered Maine Guide, and Eagle Scout, and Minnesota Master Naturalist. He's an instructor for the Okpik National Cold Weather Leader school. He joins us now by phone to talk about essential gear. Good morning, Scott.
0:00:22.0 Scott Oeth: Good morning, Mark.
0:00:24.0 Mark: So today we're gonna talk about what to bring with when you're heading out for a day in the woods or maybe more of an extended time.
0:00:33.5 SO: Yeah, I've thought about this a lot. Obviously, personal trips, leading trips, what do you take with you? Something I've noticed, I've taught a lot of wilderness survival courses, I've taken a lot. I collect every article I can see in a big electronic file. Most people, if they're heading on a backpacking trip or a Boundary Waters canoe trip, it seems they're pretty well prepared. They usually have a packing list, they follow it. Accidents may happen, but often they've thought through what to bring with them. I gotta tell you, Mark, when I look at my files, people that are just going out for a hike, they've going out for a fishing trip for the day, they're going out cross-country skiing, they're hunting for the day, those are often the people you see showing up in the stories that become search and rescue. They have an accident, they get lost, they get injured, something breaks, a ski tip breaks, their bike breaks, their vehicle gets stuck, and they're the ones that end up having to struggle with an emergency overnight or two out in the woods, and I think, thinking about what do you take with you, even if you're just thinking it's gonna be an afternoon, that's key. What do you take with you so you have an enjoyable, fun experience, but also in the event of an emergency that you have a few key pieces of gear with you to help you stay alive?
0:01:43.6 Mark: Well, it sounds like even though it's a day trip, then you need to do a little planning.
0:01:48.3 SO: I believe so, and I think having a thought out system, a checklist. A pilot has a checklist for pre-flight, a surgeon goes through a detailed checklist before they operate. I believe in having even a simple checklist with you to make sure that you've got those key items so you're not missing something crucial in case you twist that ankle or go through the ice or get poked in the eye with a stick, whatever it might be that makes this a little bit more serious adventure than you planned on.
0:02:16.3 Mark: I imagine the items would be different for different kinds of trips depending on how remote it is, or the weather, or what kind of transportation you're using, on foot or bike?
0:02:26.9 SO: Yeah, absolutely. So I think this is scalable, depending on the weather conditions, the type of activity you're doing, who you have with you and just... I'll hit it very quickly, but the essentials, there's a mountaineering club out of Washington State called The Mountaineers, and they came up with this concept of the essentials, back in the '30s, I believe, to make sure people were prepared on their trips. I've looked at that. There's different folks that have different spins on it, but for the Northwoods environment, what I've come up with is that you should have a trip plan and planning. You gotta think through your trip and let someone know where you're going and, crucially, when you're expected to be back. That's the trigger in case something happens to send out a search. Number two, you should have a good clothing system thought out, the right types of materials, the right type of clothing, be one layer ahead in terms of warmth, and critically, rain gear. Water. A lot of people talk about having a water bottle. That's great. How are you gonna reload that? You have chemical tablets, a filter. I'm a big fan of having some type of metal cup or pot so you can boil water.
0:03:29.9 Mark: Well, I'm a big fan of the backpacks with the hydration system as part of them, 'cause then I can put other gear in those, but I also have my hydration system in my pack.
0:03:40.6 SO: There you go. It's always with you. It's always with you. I think that's fantastic. I just encourage you to think about what do you need to do if you need to refill that bladder. So how are you gonna treat the water to make sure you have more clean water in case it turns into a longer trip? Navigation and illumination. How are you gonna find your way around? I do a lot of activities in Maine and Baxter State Park, which is not what we'd think of as a State park, it's more like a massive State forest, very densely wooded. The Rangers there, it's mandatory you have a flashlight with you. A lot of their search and rescues are simply because it gets to be dark and people can't see the trails, and they end up wandering off the trail, so that's key. The ability to make fire. The right tools for the trip whether it's something as simple as a Swiss army knife in your pocket, or whether it's a snow shovel and a big saw if you're heading out in the Northwoods in the winter time.
0:04:30.7 SO: I'm a very big proponent of having some type of ready-made shelter, even if it's a trash bag you can pull over yourself with a breathing hole for your head, or a simple tarp. All the fancy natural material shelters, pine boughs, leaf debris huts, snow shelters, those are all great. I have fun making those, I teach those, I've practiced those, but what you find when you make those, it takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of time, and it takes the ability to be able to walk around and gather those materials, and the use of both your hands. You need something that you can just basically pull yourself into in the event of an emergency. Then think about first aid and personal care, signaling, and food is last. People were also thinking about trapping or foraging or hunting wild mushrooms. You can go for a long time without food, like a month, but it's not fun, so I do like to bring along a little food. It's good for morale, it's good for energy, it's good to help keep you warm. And out of those, having a knife, a fire starter, and a whistle on your body, like in your pocket, not even in your pack, I think is key.
0:05:32.3 Mark: Alright, so those are kind of essential gear and the skills involved doing some trip planning, but that essential gear, you could almost have a kit for that for when you just go out for day trips.
0:05:47.1 SO: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people ask me about a survival kit. I'm a little cautious there because it's usually what people think of as some type of small little tin or something you can carry in your pocket and that's fine, but when you open that up, what you see is oftentimes it's gimmicky little types of things like a razor blade and a little wire saw. I like to have full functioning, full size, real gear, that's gonna work when you need it. You wanna stack the deck in your favor when the chips are down, because often it's not gonna be some kind of pretend scenario where you parachute onto a desert island. It's gonna be you badly hurt your leg, or you're ill, or something like that, or you've gone through the ice, as I talk about often, and so you want things that really work and are full functioning. So a full-size folding saw or a sheath knife might be an example, or a collapsible mountaineering shovel. Not rely on just the tiny little kit. I'm a big fan of the belt pack. Some people like the fanny pack, and for warm weather, I find I can fit everything I need in that pack, and then either I'm clipping that around my waist, or if I am bringing extra stuff with me, like extra clothing, it goes inside the backpack or in my canoe pack, but that's a very easily grabbed, scalable item.
0:07:02.6 Mark: Alright, we've been talking with Scott Oeth about essential skills and gear for a day out in the woods or elsewhere. Anything else you wanna add this morning, Scott?
0:07:14.3 SO: Well, there's a phrase I really like, and it's that knowledge weighs nothing. And so the gear is great, and the gear will give you tremendous leg up, and like I say a lot of these things will help you just have an enjoyable trip because nothing will go wrong until it does, but these are things that can help you even in the best of conditions. But you need to practice in case something does go wrong, practice the skills, things like navigation, well, throwing a compass in your pack doesn't do much good unless you really know how to use it, or the same thing with a knife, or cordage, knowing and understand the knots. So I'm a big fan of the skills as well as the gear. Knowledge weighs nothing, be prepared, and have fun out there!
0:07:55.0 Mark: Well, you can follow Scott's adventures and all sorts of advice and videos, etcetera, at bullmoosepatrol.com. Thank you very much for talking with us today, Scott.
0:08:06.0 SO: Yeah, this was great. I enjoyed it.
BMP Outdoor “Essentials”
*Keep a knife, fire starter, whistle, and large trash bag on your person!
Trip Plan & Planning
Clothing System–Including rain gear and one extra insulating layer, spare socks, hat, and mittens
Water/Hydration System-Pot to boil water. Water purification. Water bottle or Thermos to carry water.
Navigation & Illumination-Map & compass. Headlamp. Consider GPS
Fire Starting Kit-Fire can provide warmth, morale, drying, signaling, boiling, cooking, illumination. Carry two fire sources, in different locations (storm matches, “ferro rod”, lighter) *Carry pre-made tinder and accelerants
Knife & Tools-A well designed knife and knowledgeable user! Also, depending on activity, conditions and location; consider a saw, ice picks, shovel, axe, machete, multi-tool, rope, chisel
Shelter-Large trash bags, tarp, “super-shelter” components, bivy bag, wind sack, poncho, foam shorty pad, space blanket (to line shelter, not shelter in itself)
First Aid & Personal Care- First aid, bug dope, sunscreen, Vaseline, wet wipes, hand sanitizer
Signalling- Whistle, mirror, cell phone, flare, surveyor’s tape, bright clothing, SPOT, satellite messenger
Food-Not absolutely necessary for short-term survival but provides energy, warmth, and a morale and confidence boost.