Quiver and Gear: a Ranger's Snapsack
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 2:10 am
For years we've been working out how to both carry both pack and a quiver: while I've always liked Greg's brisk morning outing setup, I believe this new variation is worth a try:
It's my standard Dunedain snapsack design, just stretched out to be as long as the bedroll when tied skinny-style - but kept really narrow.
The construction is just like before: walnut dyed goatskin body, linen liner, and a bronze anchor at each end. It rides doubled up on the bedroll strap, right alongside the bedroll itself:
So far, I'm very happy with this solution. Riding right alongside your skinny bedroll, it can be drawn in tight to the body, even over a quiver. It doesn't appreciably bounce, doesn't sway around your body while you're moving around, and doesn't appreciably bulk out your profile for snaking through brush. Loosen the ties a bit on the bedroll strap, and you can even hike it up across your chest burden basket style. Or swap it from one shoulder to the other as things wear on.
Maybe the horseshoe roll is easier on the shoulder for long treks, but this is remarkably svelte and comfy on shorter runs - at least so far.
The tradeoff is of course that the bag is quite narrow. Obviously that limits what you can carry, but it also means you need to pre-plan what order things get stacked in there. Stuff you only need in camp towards the middle, things more likely to be needed during the day towards the ends.
So far I'm finding that constraint more an asset than a liability though. Since everything's stacked single file as it were, they don't get jumbled around so much as in my old Colonial knapsack - thus there's less fishing for that one little thing you know you packed. This bag is JUST wide enough to accomodate my little cookpot in its mess bag. (One might almost think that was the plan.
)
- merf-dunedain-ranger-quiver-snapsack-01-worn.jpg (48.73 KiB) Viewed 17154 times
The construction is just like before: walnut dyed goatskin body, linen liner, and a bronze anchor at each end. It rides doubled up on the bedroll strap, right alongside the bedroll itself:
- merf-dunedain-ranger-quiver-snapsack-02-baggage.jpg (67.78 KiB) Viewed 17154 times
So far, I'm very happy with this solution. Riding right alongside your skinny bedroll, it can be drawn in tight to the body, even over a quiver. It doesn't appreciably bounce, doesn't sway around your body while you're moving around, and doesn't appreciably bulk out your profile for snaking through brush. Loosen the ties a bit on the bedroll strap, and you can even hike it up across your chest burden basket style. Or swap it from one shoulder to the other as things wear on.
Maybe the horseshoe roll is easier on the shoulder for long treks, but this is remarkably svelte and comfy on shorter runs - at least so far.
The tradeoff is of course that the bag is quite narrow. Obviously that limits what you can carry, but it also means you need to pre-plan what order things get stacked in there. Stuff you only need in camp towards the middle, things more likely to be needed during the day towards the ends.
So far I'm finding that constraint more an asset than a liability though. Since everything's stacked single file as it were, they don't get jumbled around so much as in my old Colonial knapsack - thus there's less fishing for that one little thing you know you packed. This bag is JUST wide enough to accomodate my little cookpot in its mess bag. (One might almost think that was the plan.
) - merf-dunedain-ranger-quiver-snapsack-04-messkit.jpg (84.78 KiB) Viewed 17154 times
