Thread: "Oh sh#t" overnight kit

Reading about some hikers stuck out overnight, and from my own recent experience with a thunderstorm that came in 4 hrs ahead of schedule, I'm rethinking my basic carry kit.

The basic philosophy behind it is I can leave my big main pack at camp or the hut and take a lightweight setup in the 20L attached bag out with me that has enough stuff to deal with weather changes and allows me to spend a rough night if need be.

Thinking on it, the reasons I wouldn't be able to return are:
Lost
Injury
Sudden unsafe conditions (for example in the thunderstorm I mentioned I had to return via a pine plantation, I heard several trees go over while I was walking, if I'd had another option I'd have camped out and waited for the wind to die down.)
Gear failure (ie both my headtorch and my backup failing)
Exhausted to the extent that continuing on for the night would be unsafe.

Due to that I've set the following requirements:
Must allow me to spend the night in freezing or near freezing conditions without use of a fire.
Be able to keep me out of wind and rain
Must be able to be done without use of light.
Be simple to set up, since I assume I'll be not in the best headspace.
Not require me to buy much more stuff, or double up on stuff that would be in my main pack.
Be moderately comfortable. I realise there are a lot of ex army types on here who could survive a snowstorm with just a doc leaf to cover their nuts, but I'm a desk jockey and appreciate some comfort

So far here's where I'm at:
Rain jacket and pants, which are for weather changes.
Fleece midlayer, wool neck gaiter and gloves plus down jacket for sleeping in.
Poncho/lightweight bivvy bag. - I'm torn here, the poncho is way more versatile, but the bag is much easier.
Sleeping mat- this is the single heaviest thing on the list at 600gm but being able to get off the ground and off any stones is maybe worth it?

This all fits into the bag with enough room for water and some food.

What are peoples thoughts? Am I overdoing it?

There is no overdoing it when you actually need it.

I have one of those mylar tube "tents" and a firestarting kit (ferrocerium rod, firelighter, some firestarters and a piece of rubber...)

The tube tent would be sufficient to keep me out of the rain/wind and build a temporary but uncomfortable shelter yet is so light-weight that i can afford to carry it in all situations.
That and a multitool (which i have with me all the time as well)
And they are cheap, thus every backpack has one in it all of the time...

And of course a plb... always... even on day hunts/hikes

I've spent an involuntary night out at about 1,200 masl in early spring once and the learnings from that very cold night were invaluable.

Fire starting gear as per above a must, light fly, plenty of headlamp batteries plus small back-up torch and the warm gear you've suggested. Not sure I'd worry about a sleeping mat. Having a small fire, and knowing that you have light from your headlamp when needed are good for your physical and mental wellbeing. If you're warm, under a fly and have a fire going then it will be a safe and bearable night out.

I'd add swollen rivers to the top of your list of possible reasons/causes to stay out.

Something substantial to eat for breakfast.

Having a meal will help with the business of getting the day back on line - and you out of wherever you are. I keep a Radix breakfast in my bag. *00 calories and no need to cook it, just add 180ml of water

Good stuff, guys! During 40 years as a SAR practitioner, I always asked of people who had spent a night, or part of a night, out unexpectedly: "What did you wish you had with you?" The responses were always similar: shelter, warm clothing, light, food, fluids, means of communication. A lot of outdoors people keep/carry a "survival kit", but don't give a lot of thought to its contents. 16Tontovarish has.

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

Good stuff, guys! During 40 years as a SAR practitioner, I always asked of people who had spent a night, or part of a night, out unexpectedly: "What did you wish you had with you?" The responses were always similar: shelter, warm clothing, light, food, fluids, means of communication. A lot of outdoors people keep/carry a "survival kit", but don't give a lot of thought to its contents. 16Tontovarish has.

Having kids has made me way more thoughtful.

Has anyone had any experience with heating under something like a poncho with a tea light? I hear you all with a fire, but I keep thinking that if its pissing down or I had a rolled ankle it wouldn't be practical.

I got some of those little heating pads from the chemist warehouse, plan on trying them out on my next trip. should be interesting to see if a couple of those inside a thermal blanket would make much difference.
https://www.chemistwarehouse.co.nz/s...=hand%20warmer

My 2 cents..

Firstly I believe that spending time in the hills when the weather is really shit house is invaluable. Personally I only ever did this on fly in trips that I had committed to where weather was bad for the first 3 or 4 days and it got too unbearable staying in the run down Bivvys.

You’d be very surprised to learn how it’s possible to tuck up out of the extremes fairly well once you know how.

It takes practice to identify good dry wood and get a decent fire going in wet bush and it’s a great skill to develop. You will know you’ve cracked it when you stay at a campsite or hut and you can find a shit load of good dry wood close to camp that everyone else has walked right past. You will also identify good wood areas as you hunt and if you are in the shit you can go back and grab it.

It always takes more wood to keep a fire going outdoors than you think so if your stuck out for the night and conditions are likely to get very cold - don’t ever be relying on a fire alone to prevent you from hypothermia particularly if your clothing is damp. That’s PLB territory.

In colder months you need to keep a down jacket, gloves, Beenie and spare long sleeve thermal in your pack and be able to keep it dry. If you are planning on an unexpected night out, once you have managed to find a good place to hold up only then do you swap out your damp clothing for the dry layers that you’ve safely stored in your pack.

Plenty of inner tube rubber, BIC lighter and foil blanket in emergency kit. Even if you manage to make it back to a hut late at night after an ‘Incident’ this stuff will help you believe me. Don’t stuff around with matches and flint sticks and know that if your BIC lighter gets wet and won’t work, run the roller up and down a tree a few times until the friction dries out the flint and you good to go. The butane ones with the blue flame that you fill up yourself are better again.

Chuck your firefighting kit inside a large snaplock bag and you can use the bag to build your fire in and keep everything dry until it’s going.

Candle stub with inner tube rubber around it is another handy addition.

I carry a small kit of "Oh sh#t" gear at all times. I carry it in a waterproof bag in a small molle pouch on the front of my TwinNeedle bino harness. That way- if I had to ditch my pack for whatever reason (fall crossing a river or something) then I still have some rudimentary gear to help me out- two forms of fire starter (lighter and stormproof matches, plus I always have another lighter handy inside the bino pouch which I use all the time for checking wind direction when hunting), rubber inner tube, pain killers, celox sachets, basic bandages, mylar blanket, backup knife and a couple of snacks. Plus my PLB is on my person at all times- no good in a pack if you have to ditch it or get injured and can't get the pack off your back to reach it. My PLB also lives on my bino harness.

The above is very much meant as a sh#t hits the fan deal. Anytime I leave camp with just a day pack that will always have my full first aid kit (including more fire sources and inner tube), food that I don't need to cook, a 1L dry bag with spare merino thermals and socks (in case the clothing I'm wearing ends up soaked I've always got something dry to put on), raincoat, lightweight puffer, beanie, gloves and water. Plus head torch and a 1L dry bag with spare 18650 battery, power pack and cord to charge my phone &/or head torch.

Genuinely interested. How confident are you that you could start a fire, even when you have the essentials? To be honest, I struggle when everything is wet. May not be an issue in the open, drier parts of the country, but I don't visit those places very often. Others have said the same including a mate who is ex-army.

Originally Posted by MB

Genuinely interested. How confident are you that you could start a fire, even when you have the essentials? To be honest, I struggle when everything is wet. May not be an issue in the open, drier parts of the country, but I don't visit those places very often. Others have said the same including a mate who is ex-army.

Flakey Rimu bark is usually bone dry or dead Kanuka branches that are hung up under other trees and snap nice and crisp are fairly easy to get going without too much trouble. Provided you build it on a platform of dry wood to stop the steam putting it out once the heat builds up.

Being warm will ensure you see the sun rise next morning. A fire may help, but to be honest, a half dozen army surplus store hexamine tabs is far, far better than any firestarter. My luck, it's pissing leopards and hyenas, and there is no dry fuel. A chocolate bar or 3 of the small Whittakers bars ( or your treat of choice) is a huge morale boost, and has lots of fast acting calories to help you warm up. Doesn't have to be chocolate - I'm quite partial to dried mango, or fruit leather. The oldest I've ever been was on a military exercise. The South African army didn't have great cold weather kit, and we were sleeping underneath a truck. We had no sleeping mat, just a nylon groundskeeper to keep you dry. Never again. A sleeping mat isn't a luxury in extreme conditions. IIRC it hit -7ºC that night and at one point, I though I might break something I was shivering so hard. I bought a thin foam sleeping mat (this was 1989, before anything remotely flash was available), cut it to fit inside my 2 season army sleeping bag, and never looked back.

Great to see some resilience around the prospect of toughing it out for a night.
Further to the below, it’s worth while reinforcing having a light source. Having undertaken a few airborne searches at night I cannot stress enough how important a light source is if a night time search ends up being called. Even a small light or signal fire will likely make a search into simple pick up for an experienced crew on goggles.

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

Good stuff, guys! During 40 years as a SAR practitioner, I always asked of people who had spent a night, or part of a night, out unexpectedly: "What did you wish you had with you?" The responses were always similar: shelter, warm clothing, light, food, fluids, means of communication. A lot of outdoors people keep/carry a "survival kit", but don't give a lot of thought to its contents. 16Tontovarish has.

A normal overnighter will see me carrying my main pack wherever I go and camp when I'm done hunting for the day. This way I have all my gear on me at all times.
If I set up a base camp I will just dump a few things but still take the pack and a few basics.
I pack differently for each trip and what goes in is based on the weather and the location.
Having had hyperthermia 3 times in the past you learn a few things. A few items that have and or could of saved my arse were as follows:

-pack liners are compulsory! Keep your gear dry and help float your pack in a river crossing
- always carry a stove and food. A warm feed helps a lot when cold and on one trip when hyperthermia was evident I used a couple of dehy meals once heated to stuff down my jacket......life savers!
-The ability to pull out warm dry clothes with a wind/rainbreaker is a must. Strip off wet cloths first.
- a light weight fly is my norm for overnights so pretty easy to leave in the pack
-for a sleeping mat I leave one of the cheap light weight car front window shades in my pack, $5 from miter 10. Good to sit on when glassing or having lunch and can sleep on with the addition of dead tussock leaf.
-EPIRP lives in the pack too

Probably one of the biggest things we've learned is the self discipline of... "if it looks dodgy, go the long way around". This applies even more so toward the end of the day when fatigued. It's those micro decisions that often lead to dumb ones.