Packing light & right - Off Duty, Sports, Hunting, Fishing - Navy Times

Packing light & right

Settling on a gear list for a remote hunt is an exercise in thinking light, practical and necessary.

That’s especially true when the wilderness is demanding, weather is fickle, game is dangerous and you’re miles from civilization — and limited to 60, maybe 70, pounds of stuff.

Figure almost 20 pounds for rifle, scope, ammo, binoculars and knives, plus another 5 to 10 pounds for sleeping bag and boots. Wool shirts, base layers, socks, outerwear, rain gear and incidentals such as cameras and a favored adult beverage pile on the pounds.

A rundown on some of the gear we hauled into “the bush” for a recent moose and bear hunt:

Trijicon AccuPoint 3x9x40 scope

Our main tool was a custom-built .338 Winchester Magnum rifle topped with this remarkable new scope featuring tritium fiber optics at the center of the reticle.

It’s adjustable to changing light conditions. At daybreak and dusk, prime times for encounters with big critters, the scope helps you focus on your aim point and make critical shots.

There are no batteries to worry about. A manual brightness-adjustment override lets you control the light output of the fiber optics during daylight. The scopes are made from aircraft-quality, hard-anodized aluminum and multilayer coated lenses. The tube is nitrogen-filled to prevent corrosion and eliminate fogging. Water resistant to depths of 10 feet.

Price: The 3-by-9-inch power scope with 40mm objective sells for $815.

Website: www.trijicon.com

Bushnell Backtrack Point-5 GPS

To enable straight, point-to-point navigation we carried this idiot-proof tool that always points toward the position marked as a base.

The altitude and digital thermometer capabilities were used daily. The clock was invaluable after our wristwatch broke on Day 6. We marked key waypoints that included the base camp and an ambush point along the edge of a lake.

The unit also gives your latitude and longitude coordinates and has a digital compass.

Unlike other higher-speed GPS units, it’s not a battery hog. The lightweight device easily ran all week on the initial two AAA batteries. The one feature that would be a great add to any revised Backtrack product would be a barometer to enable hunters to predict when weather may be changing.

Price: About $90.

Website: www.bushnell.com

Bushnell Legend 1200 Arc rangefinder

With 6x magnification, ranging capability to 1,200 yards and lightweight design, this was a must-have in a day pack.

The built-in inclinometer reported the true distance based on the angle of the shot, uphill or downhill. This is also a superb feature for bowhunters.

With a built-in ballistics calculator, the Legend 1200 Arc also tells how much holdover is needed on long-range shots. My .338, zeroed 1.5 inches high at 100 yards, would see bullet-drop by as much as 10 inches at 330 yards. You still have to estimate left-right drift based on wind, and that’s where practice at the range under windy conditions can really help performance in the field.

Price: About $515.

Website: www.bushnell.com

Battenfeld Technologies Lead Sled FCX (below right)

We got ready using this brand-new, indispensable product for zeroing heavy-caliber firearms. It reduces recoil to next to nothing, enabling sure shot groups and eliminating “flinch” factors.

The .338 is a potent caliber with considerable recoil. The sled captured recoil energy from the rifle and transferred it through the frame to weights in the weight tray, eliminating up to 95 percent of the felt recoil.

The new and improved Lead Sled FCX (Fire Control Extreme) features a control arm adjustable to 360 degrees to enable precise alignment with your scope’s cross hairs. You can squeeze the trigger in a completely relaxed shooting posture.

Price: About $360.

Website: www.battenfeldtechnologies.com

Winchester Supreme 200-grain Nosler E-Tip cartridges

These new lead-free cartridges are available in .338 for the first time this year. The copper-alloy bullets have premium construction, controlled expansion, good penetration and 95 percent weight retention — critical when trying to anchor a grizzly. The bullet has a Lubalox coating and a polycarbonate tip, also featured on other Winchester ammo such as the Accubond-CT and Ballistic Silvertip.

Price: About $60 for a box of 20.

Website: www.winchester.com

Aquamira Frontier Emergency Water Filter System

It’s possible to drink directly from mountain lakes and rivers in northern British Columbia and not get laid low with a gastrointestinal issue, but it’s not worth the risk.

We boiled lake water and added it to portable containers. In case water became an issue, though, I always had this emergency system in my pack.

Attach and expand the straw, submerge the filter end into the water source, and drink through the straw. The straw removes contaminants down to 2 microns in size, including pathogens such as giardia, cryptosporidium and large bacteria. It weighs less than an ounce and filters up to 20 gallons of water.

Price: $11.95.

Website: www.aquamira.com/emergency

Base layer clothing with micro-silver fibers

Hunting can be sweaty work, and sweaty often turns to stinky. My Medalist SilverMax and Cabela’s MTP base layer clothing countered that with long johns featuring micro-silver fibers bonded to or woven into the garment.

These silky feeling duds wick moisture and help keep you warm or cool, depending on conditions. Hunter’s Specialities is also getting into this market with a new Tek 4 line of base layers that touts 33 percent more silver fibers than current items on the market. They’re even incorporating the technology into socks.

Supposedly, silver counters any bacteria your skin grows and neutralizes ammonia and denatured proteins to keep you less smelly.

Prices: A base layer set costs $60-$90.

Websites: www.medalist.com; www.cabelas.com; www.hunterspec.com

Adventure Medical Kits Heatsheets Emergency Bivvy

At 3.8 ounces, this waterproof, windproof, metalized polyethylene bag reflects up to 90 percent of radiated body heat and could be the key to keeping you alive if you have to spend a night away from the base camp. The company’s portable first-aid kits and Fresh Bath Travel Wipes also can be valuable adds to your pack.

Prices: $16 for the bivvy; $4.50 for a pack of eight wipes.

Website: www.adventuremedicalkits.com