Need help putting together basic backcountry kit

[Night goat]

I feel I am in the same boat as alot of guys here, in that I am ipdating my gear collection, and slowly adding and changing my kit as tactics evolve.

For the past 5 or 6 years my gear has consisted of my Jeep and Alaknak 12x12 and everything that goes along with it, however we are starting to feel limited by our setup. While we can get way back into some areas, it seems that those hard to get to areas are slowly disapearing and the next step would be to ditch the jeep at a trailhead or base camp and just head out for 3-5 days at a time.

Whats in your kit, why do you pack what you pack, what works, what doesn't?

While I have great gear in its own right, alot of it falls under the "classic" category such as my grandpas old army issue field binoculars, and his old rifle, and old leather pack, army issue mountain sleeping bag and wool army blankets... My stuff works absolutely amazingly for what I use it for, have woken up to a foot of snow on the ground and had no idea it was even snowing because of how toasty the tent gets, but, i do have a good chunk of my gear that is army surplus, and now that my girlfriend is becoming even more of a hunting enthusiast that myself, i need gear for two, and considering she has even less gear than I do, its time to start figuring out what we are gonna need for next season.

We want to start going further, hunting harder, hiking longer, and staying out farther than we ever have, and are thinking it might be time to price out some budget friendly entry level ultralight set ups.

One thing us for sure, we want a tipi or tent with a pack stove, and im thinking colorless with bivy bags, but again I dont even really know where to begin, so, I thought id see what you guya can recommend... Boots, GPS, outter layer, lets gear it all and why or why not you reccommend it

[KFhunter]

you didn't mention medical stuff, things happen.  I've had arrows fall out of my quiver pounding through thick brush, been lucky I guess *knock on wood* and haven't stabbed myself. 

As for the rest of your gear I think you have a good idea what to get, the more $$$ you spend the lighter it gets.  I don't spend top dollar, so my pack might be a 33# instead of 32#, I weighed it with 4 days of food and it was around 34# I think,  but I didn't have the exo pack. 

speaking of packs, I think the most important money you can spend is on boots and packs. 

[jackelope]

There are a ton of "What's in your pack" type threads in the backcountry hunting forum board. Lots and lots of invaluable advice and gear suggestions.
Best suggestion I have is buy the best gear you can afford. If you're not careful, you'll spend a crap ton of $$ on stuff you don't need or won't use. Even then, you'll end up buying stuff you wont use. The used gear market is huge. I have a bunch of good gear, a lot of which I purchased used in perfect condition for a fraction of the cost of new.
 
In terms of tents or tipis and stoves, some folks swear by them and some swear against them. Tipis aren't free standing, therefore you're limited to where they can be set up. I have a tipi that I have hardly used as I usually end up going to my freestanding tent. I just use a REI half dome plus tent. Plenty of room with big vestibules. Ideally you stay under 5 pounds pack weight for your tent, but obviously the lighter the better. That said, I've been thinking about a stove for my tipi.
 

[ctwiggs1]

There are a ton of "What's in your pack" type threads in the backcountry hunting forum board. Lots and lots of invaluable advice and gear suggestions.
Best suggestion I have is buy the best gear you can afford. If you're not careful, you'll spend a crap ton of $$ on stuff you don't need or won't use. Even then, you'll end up buying stuff you wont use.

Buy once/cry once!

I can't tell you how much stuff I've sold on the classifieds because I bought it before really researching to see what I needed.

Like KFHunter said.. Start with boots and work your way from there.  It's hard to push gear selection without knowing what/where you're hunting, but maybe figure out what your big priorities are and start asking for specifics on that?

[Night goat]

There are a ton of "What's in your pack" type threads in the backcountry hunting forum board. Lots and lots of invaluable advice and gear suggestions.
Best suggestion I have is buy the best gear you can afford. If you're not careful, you'll spend a crap ton of $$ on stuff you don't need or won't use. Even then, you'll end up buying stuff you wont use.

Buy once/cry once!

I can't tell you how much stuff I've sold on the classifieds because I bought it before really researching to see what I needed.

Like KFHunter said.. Start with boots and work your way from there.  It's hard to push gear selection without knowing what/where you're hunting, but maybe figure out what your big priorities are and start asking for specifics on that?

Big priorities are staying warm and dry, with emphasis on being able to dry out if we arent...but not having it weigh a ton...

Just kinda intimidating with the sheer amount of gear out there

But

Boots and a pack is where I will start looking...

[jackelope]

You need good boots to get where you’re going without destroying your feet and a good pack to carry it all without destroying your shoulders and back. The rest is gravy.

[toyman2]

I agree with everything KFhunter said.
I did this early this winter/spring for a bear hunt. Lots of you tube videos, Exo Man gear has some good videos for whats in peoples packs, listen to the brand names and research, listen to how they talk about the gear.
I started by buying a Exo pack, then I found the videos, from there it was a easy snowball effect.
I think I come in right at 40lbs for a 4 day

[highside74]

Your sleeping bag needs to be rated at least 10 degrees colder than the coldest you think that you're going to be sleeping in.

[jmscon]

I think it’d help to know what season and area you are hunting in to make suggestions. East side, west side, rifle (I think you said that), early, late, out of state?
You’ll need different gear for rifle hunting the west side of the olympics for elk where it might rain four inches in a day compared to early archery in the blues, or late rifle in Montana.

[Night goat]

I think it’d help to know what season and area you are hunting in to make suggestions. East side, west side, rifle (I think you said that), early, late, out of state?
You’ll need different gear for rifle hunting the west side of the olympics for elk where it might rain four inches in a day compared to early archery in the blues, or late rifle in Montana.

West side elk, east side deer, west side deer, and westside bear

[swanny]

Figure out your key items first.

Boots, Pack, Sleeping Bag, Sleeping Mat, Tent. From there, it's all accessories that only you can decided what is needed and not needed.

Any sleeping bag worth it's money will be EN rated, which provides a much more true and accurate temperature rating. For men this is the "limit" rating on the bag and takes into account that you will be wearing medium weight long underwear, socks, and a warm hat. For your sleeping mat, go somewhere such as REI who has a wide variety of mats and decide what baffle style you like best and pick the packed size/weight/price your comfortable with carrying. Any good sleeping mat will also have an R-Value (just like the insulation in your house).

[Magnum_Willys]

Freestanding 2man if dry.  Easy to setup or move and will be plenty warm if dry .  Tipi’s best with heat source but heavier and more work. Needed if wet and cold imo.

[Night goat]

Figure out your key items first.

Boots, Pack, Sleeping Bag, Sleeping Mat, Tent. From there, it's all accessories that only you can decided what is needed and not needed.

Any sleeping bag worth it's money will be EN rated, which provides a much more true and accurate temperature rating. For men this is the "limit" rating on the bag and takes into account that you will be wearing medium weight long underwear, socks, and a warm hat. For your sleeping mat, go somewhere such as REI who has a wide variety of mats and decide what baffle style you like best and pick the packed size/weight/price your comfortable with carrying. Any good sleeping mat will also have an R-Value (just like the insulation in your house).

Yeah i got an REI igneo 17 ultralight duck down bag, and an REI flash sleeping pad

Bag is just in at 2lbs, good to 17deg, I got it for packing around Alaska when i was fishing and boat hopping.

Bag and sleeping pad comes in at 3lbs 4 oz. 

That base is covered.