So with more and more people coming up into the adventurecore community, I figured I'd endulge in a little guide I always follow when I pack my bag for all occasions. This is quite a long post so be warned!
Remember, you can always swap these items out for things you specifically need.
You want to make sure your bag has several pockets (At least 2!) to maximise space and make sure you don't get things lost! You wanna know exactly where that thing you need is, in a perfect situation. My bag is a messenger bag so it has six pockets!
(Two at the front, three inside, one at the back)
In my front pockets I always have:
-Gum and snacks! You never know when you need to kill the hunger pangs.
-A little Swiss army knife. Always always always make sure to check your country/states/cities law on these types of things and what you are allowed and not. Leave the knife at home if you aren't sure.
-A pencil case sometimes although I do keep loose pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, paint brushes in these pockets. Even if you're not an artist, they're good for marking maps or boards.
Inside my pockets on the inside I have:
-A firelighter. This can be anything from matches to a lighter to a genuine firelighter. The one I have is a magnesium flint stone firelighter. It's rather good and it's always great to get to work on making a quick fire fast!
-A compass. It's always good to know your way around an area and from when you know the north, you can try to navigate your way. I might do a separate post on how to read from a map and compass in the future.
-Tape and Glue! These are brilliant if you're a scrapbooker and you find the perfect leaf or bark to place in your notebook. If you're on the more adventurous side, these are great for bushcraft and sticking-things-together activities in your day to day life.
Now in the main part of the bag I have:
-A Water Bottle. We all need water, and as much as we all don't like to admit it, we need to drink a lot of it. If you get yourself a cool water bottle, you'll feel more inclined to drink! So I always stash my favourite water bottle or swap it out for a thermos in the cooler days.
-A torch. Sometimes the worse happens. Sometimes your phone dies and you're left trapped in a dark area. Or maybe you have it on hand closer than your phone. I have a large industrial torch I carry with me when I know I'm going on trips but when I'm only out and around town, I have a small keychain torch stuffed in my bag pocket.
-A notebook and a notebook cozy! I knitted my own cozy but if you don't have the skill, store bought is fine. Nobody has to see this but you, which is great for writing down important information (like a quest book!) and scribbling notes or doodling when you're bored. You can have as many journals as you like and have different themes for them (Plant book, Bushcraft tutorial book, journal, diary) or, like me, have just one that you heft about everywhere.
-A waterproof or parka that can fit inside a small bag. I picked this up at the dollar store and I'm so glad that I did since it's been helpful on so many situations. It's small enough to fit inside many pockets or fit inside small spaces.
-A carrier bag. And for once, a plastic carrier bag inside another one is okay! This will probably fill up the rest of the space in your bag (it did for me) and I mostly use this to pick up trash when there's no trash can nearby. I absolutely hate throwing things on the floor and always hound my friends to put it in the bag until we can find a trash can. It's also useful for when you spontaneously need to buy things and you don't feel bad about buying another plastic bag. Part of adventurecore, it feels for me, is protecting the areas we have adventures in.
And finally: The back pocket, where I keep my,
-Phone and my solar powerbank. This is vital as I keep a lot of my bushcraft information here before I transfer it into the notebook. The solar powerbank was quite expensive but I find it worth it as I don't have to find an outlet in the middle of the woods to charge it. Money well spent, I'd say.
-My wallet. Like I said before, spontaneous purchases may be made if you forgot to pack a drink or your endless supply of snacks ran out. I have an emergency £10 that I never spend that I have trapped in the back of my wallet. If I ever need to get a cab home or I'm in a place where I need money, I use the £10 to get to it.
-I also sometimes keep some rope in my back pocket. I also have a paracord bracelet which I love and you can make your own out of any rope, even stinging nettle! Paracord is extremely strong and can be used for a lot of things like lean to building and pulling rafts together.
And that's all that's in my adventurecore bag! I hope you enjoyed this and thank you for reading. Go adventure, explorers!
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