I sure hope you guys don't mind all my questions, but I need to know if a day pack is necessary on a boat based bear hunt.

My outfitter didn't include a pack on his gear list that he sent me. I figure I will need something to carry an extra jacket or rain gear if needed, water, extra socks, snacks.....ect.

I would want something small enough to use as a carry on bag for the trip up there and back to carry my optics, meds and other items I don't want to arrive without.

What do you AK hunters recommend? I would think it needs to be constructed with waterproof material due to the potential for daily rain and boat travel. Something small enough for air travel and light enough for day hunting trips on the coast and up the creeks.

On my boat based black bear hunt the day pack was very essential. I kept rain gear, extra clothing, lunch and snacks, extra bullets, knife, pistol, survival gear, camera, range finder, toilet paper, binoculars (when not around my neck), gps and probably more that I am not remembering....

Okie, I too took a pack on board the boat. I just used my kifaru spike camp and it was fine. A little large but I carried camera as well as other items noted above. We were lucky for an end of May boat hunt in that we had very little rain - this was in SE Alaska, Sitka area.

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
Okie, I too took a pack on board the boat. I just used my kifaru spike camp and it was fine. A little large but I carried camera as well as other items noted above. We were lucky for an end of May boat hunt in that we had very little rain - this was in SE Alaska, Sitka area.

I'm going to Sitka myself, but in September. I'm almost positive we will have "seveal" days of rain. Is the Kifaru waterproof and small enough for a carry-on? I have found that a pack small enough to carry-on a good way to travel in airports. A lot easier to carry than a regular bag.

Okie, in fact I took the spike camp on a recent trip to Africa fully loaded. It fit perfectly in the overhead plus the pack itself had a small filson duffle over laying it and still fit the overhead. It would not however fit the overhead of the smaller commuter jets, but nothing does other than a small shaving kit!!

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
Okie, in fact I took the spike camp on a recent trip to Africa fully loaded. It fit perfectly in the overhead plus the pack itself had a small filson duffle over laying it and still fit the overhead. It would not however fit the overhead of the smaller commuter jets, but nothing does other than a small shaving kit!!

Thanks! I will put that one on my short list for sure. I assume these are made with a waterproof material or have some kind of cover that fits over them? I have never had a need for a day pack other than something to carry a few small items to my deer stands. I want something that will work. I am a firm believe in you get what you pay for.

Okie, the pack itself is NOT rainproof but they sell a cover for it that will make it so.

quote:

Originally posted by Okie 7 STW:
Thanks! I will put that one on my short list for sure. I assume these are made with a waterproof material or have some kind of cover that fits over them? I have never had a need for a day pack other than something to carry a few small items to my deer stands. I want something that will work. I am a firm believe in you get what you pay for.

Whether your pack is billed as "waterproof" or not, use some heavy duty plastic bags as liners for the main compartments, and especially any pockets you where intend carrying camara gear.

May partly depend on whether you are going in the spring or fall and what rain you epxect. Firstly, you will for sure need a bag to carry/collect all the stuff you are taking in the skiff with you. That said, it might not need to actually be a day pack. I never took mine out of the boat to carry anywhere. What it should be is waterproof. I went in the fall two years ago andd brought an Eagle daypack (good pack by the way) that spent it's whole time inside a succession of trah bags. When I go again it will be with a dry pack or dry duffle.

I always put everything in my pack in water proof roll down bags.

You can get them at REI, Whole Earth, etc.

I agree emphatically with N E 450 No2 and bear in mind that even the slightest mist or spray in the boat is usually salt water based, thus the importantance of added, watertight protection of anything metal. Those from the lower 48, not regularly exposed to the salt water environment, may not be prepared for the quick onset of corrosion -- even for your rifle.

The multi-sized role top bags inside the day pack compartments and a pack cover for the outside or a larger roll top bag to drop your day pack into are all good suggestions. Think wet environment and then double it.

Most of the guys I know in Alaska use a day pack for a short hike to a lake, stream or just a walk in the woods. If they are going to leave their boat for the day they usually have food, water first aid kit, rope, rain gear extra clothes, etc. in it in case they have to spend the night out some where. That can fill up a day pack in a hurry and leaves little room for a bear hide or meat on the return trip. I have a Crooked Horn Outfitters day pack for the short hikes. I take a Eberlestock J105 internal frame on my boat based black bear hunts. It is versatile and I leave it in a black plastic contractors bag if it is not on my back. If I was packing brown bear hides very far I would want my external framed Barney's pack. I would rather carry to much pack then not enough if that makes sense. More then one person has spent the night on the beach in Alaska. When it is raining, snowing and blowing starting a fire and building a shelter is a real test of your Boy Scout skills...

Get a pack rain cover. They pack up small when you don't need it, but are simple and quick to put on when the weather turns nasty.

Thanks guys. Great suggestions from everyone!

Kelly said it well..."Think wet environment..then double it."

Dear Okie:

I have never hunted in Alaska, but have been hiking, camping and hunting in pouring down rain in Pennsylvania.

I really don't care if my old nylon packs are waterproof or not, although the old North Face Snowleopard pack is waterproofed somewhat.

The reason I don't care, is similar to what the fellows mentioned above, I pack everything inside in "ziplock freezer bags". You can get any size you want, and they are tough and cheap.

For the survival stuff I carry I double up the freezer bags. Occasionally they wear through, and you just replace them.

As far as salt water, I've done enough scuba diving to know about corrosion. Also, as a youngster I grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where we lived across the street from the harbor. The key is to have ready access to fresh water to wash everything down at the end of the day.

When the commercial fishermen returned in the early AM, they were constantly hosing down the boats and the gear on the dock with fresh water. Good idea. Same thing with regulators for diving, get the salt out.

As far as corrosion resistance for a rifle, I'll probably bring a couple sufficiently long and tough enough plastic bags and some rubber bands for the end of the bag to keep the rifle in when on the boat. I got that idea from the landing craft scene in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" by the way.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Thanks Yale. That zip-lock bag idea is a good one for sure! Now I just have to decide which day pack to purchase. There are just so many good products out there these days.

Thanks for all the great ideas folks! Keep-em coming........

I spend a lot of time hunting from small boats in salt water marshes. Corrosion is an issue if you don't prevent it.

Get something like one of these:

$12 from Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...em&item=130364389140
(use your own case)

or

$95 for the same thing from an "Alaskan" with soft case incuded:
http://nomaralaska.com/gunscabbard.htm


I have the $12 ebay version and it works well both with and without a soft case inside.

Hey I've got one of those Gun Boats somewhere that I used for my shotgun while duck hunting.

I didn't think a scoped rifle would fit in one. I will have to search for it and give it a try.

Great idea! That Alaskan waterproof bag with the liner looks pretty sweet as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Okie 7 STW:
I didn't think a scoped rifle would fit in one.

I'll have to check again myself, but in the past I have successfully fit a Kimber 24" bbl, Rem. 700 w/ 26" bbl, and Browning A-Bolt w/ 26" bbl... all scoped.

Ask before you buy, would be my suggestion.

The "gun boat" will hold a soft cased scoped Win 70 classic w/ 26 barrel. I'll be hunting nilgai w/ mine next week out of a boat.
I wish I had invented it!

I've been using a gun boat for a number of years and yes, they fit scoped rifles in cases.

I love my badlands day pack. Its the kind without the zipper. the top kinda rolls.

Its not perfect but works fine.

Oki- Try www.sagebrushdrygoods.com. The best for wet, period. They are in Kake and know wet. It is not a pack you would use for normal, dry weather activities.

Yes, you do need a day pack and you will have more things to put in it than you realize. So, a little bigger is better then too smal and too much stuff.

For my first AK trip I made the mistake of buying a Remington day pack at Sports Authority. It was too small for the task and fell apart, by the end of my short trip. That is no place to have equipment failure.

I suggest a Kifaru pack and a waterproof pak cover. The pack covers fit in the palm of your hand. You can also use a garbage bag to cover the pack if you stop for a long period of time. The garbage bag should be in your pack anyway.