The "Gear I love" thread - An open list for good gear

[canross]

Some more good gear:

Kifaru gun bearer - basically just a quick release strap that velcros to your pack arm strap and pocket to hold the butt of your rifle that velcros to your waist strap.
This was given to me by a friend, and at first I was unsure what to do with it. I've always used a rifle sling for my guns and this one was odd to me - the rifle sits vertically tight to your pack strap. Once I tried it, I was amazed how much I liked it - the gun can't swing or fall off your shoulder and bash into things, it sits low so it doesn't snag on bushes, pop your lens caps, try to pop your bolt open, etc etc etc. It's also quick to get the rifle into action - without practicing it's the same speed as getting it off your shoulder with a sling. The only downside I've found is that it makes your reliant on wearing your backpack, so you either need to bring a lightweight sling or keep your pack on. A light nylon sling with quick releases fixes this issue, or you just keep your pack with you, which is best practice anyways. If I'm not careful when bush bashing the barrel can bump your glasses, but that takes some effort to do.

The second one courtesy of the same friend, is a jetboil stove. For ages I've been telling myself that my stove is fine, it's lightweight, and that jetboil is another fancy thing I just don't need. I can say now, I was wrong. The jetboil setup weighs the same as my micro setup, but uses 1/3 to 1/2 the fuel my micro stove does, and boils water faster in all circumstances, including strong wind. This was abundantly clear when we were both cooking on the tops and he had boiled his water and started eating while I was still trying to get my water to boil by tucking the stove into a protected hollow and laying down and curving myself around it to create a windbreak. Back at home under perfect conditions it boiled water in about half the time with almost half the fuel. Taking the jetboil out hunting, I have to remind myself to watch the stove because the water boils so fast and I'm used to going and doing something else while waiting for it to boil. The fact that it just works regardless of the conditions, it works fast, and it saves weight on fuel has really sold me on this.