“Backpacking: an extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take”
Recently I commissioned Ben from Garrison Packs to make a lumbar pack designed for the jungle and to own my particular specifications. Ben is producing packs to the same quality as the top backpack brands (some of which go for, frankly, ridiculously high prices) at a more affordable price and, best of all, he will customise packs to your own design – so, even though I already owned two lumbar packs, I couldn’t resist the chance to design one for myself.
For me lumbar packs are well suited to the jungle because:
The lowered centre of gravity makes you more balanced on your feet.
They snag less on overhead branches as you duck under them.
Your upper body is unencumbered making it easier to twist and turn and to use a parang.
Your back is left exposed so you don’t overheat as much.
Rather than doing a straightforward review of the pack I thought it would be more helpful to look at the key differences between the traditional (Orang Asal) jungle backpack and the modern equivalent and try and draw out some general themes that might be of use when trying to select your own gear.
“Preserve substance; modify form; know the difference” (Dee Hock)
Many times I have bought camping gear over the internet and waited, with growing anticipation, for the arrival of a piece of kit that I am convinced is going to vastly improve my camping experience. More often than not, when the piece of equipment does arrive, I find that there are some draw backs, or failings, that I hadn’t foreseen and that initial pleasure is quickly dampened.
However, after really getting to know a particular piece of kit I usually spot a few simple modifications that will make it do what I, at least, want it to do. With rucksacks and bags I won’t hesitate to take out the scissors and remove unnecessary or overlong straps, if the knife I bought has a blade profile I don’t like I’ll mercilessly grind it into a shape I do, and the sewing machine is often called upon to add on extra pockets, sleeves or whatever it is that I decide a particular piece of gear is missing.
Not everyone is happy to take this approach (my friend Keong is, I know, horrified at the way I take the scissors to branded rucksacks!) and the obvious drawback is that, should you wish to sell-on that bit of kit, a potential buyer may not approve of your modifications!
In the case of the Mountainsmith lumbar pack in the video, the addition of shoulder straps turned out to be a very necessary modification as, without them, the pack is too uncomfortable to carry loads much above 3 kg. I’d bought the pack in Malaysia (on line) at a very decent price (RM 140 if I remember correctly) and the model is the older (and, in my view, better) version. However the shoulder straps aren’t sold here and are quite expensive as well. The solution was to adapt a yoke system used by the British Armey and the problem was solved (and without much expense).
As someone who is very skinny the other problem I had was getting the waist belt to fit comfortably under load (although this is a problem I have just as equally with most rucksacks) and I sewed in some padding to resolve this.
As the Mountainsmith has only a 14 litre capacity I wanted to get another, larger, lumber pack for longer trips. I was very tempted by the wildland packs used in the States but the only one available here was the Mystery Ranch pack (sold by Outdoor Gear Malaysia) which was both too heavy and too expensive for me. I also considered importing a True North pack but the Firefly pack was too heavy and the Fireball pack, although much lighter and with a nice 20 litre capacity, was quite an expensive option after the cost of importation. The one I ended up with is a non-branded (hand made) bag from Evil Bay and I am very pleased indeed with it. Ebay in the US has quite a range of these wildland style packs available and, obviously, you can save quite a bit of money if you’re prepared to buy second hand.
So, are these the best packs for the jungle? The truth is that it depends very much on where you are going and your own personal preference….if you are sticking to well used trails then there isn’t that much call for ducking and weaving through the undergrowth, nor will you have to do that much heavy clearing (so upper body mobility is less of an issue) and a rucksack will serve just as well and better distribute the weight on your back.
…but if you’re going off trail then the these packs really come into their own.
“Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your troubles and your strife” – (Baloo)
Last week I went in to the jungle for a night’s camping and, as darkness fell, realised that I had forgotten to bring in any food (although I had, curiously, remembered the beer) – it was annoying and I went to bed hungry, but not really that big a deal.
Forgetting or losing an item of kit can send some people into a spin, but the truth is that for most 2-3 day trips into the jungle you could easily survive without any of your kit (apart from your parang and compass) – you could live without food (although it’s not pleasant to do), water is easily found, there’s little danger of dying from hypothermia (although nights would be chilly) etc.
I remember Les Stound making the distinction between ‘enduring’ and ‘surviving’ – the former means simply sitting out the discomfort in hungry misery, the latter means taking control of the situation and satisfying the basic needs of shelter, fire, food and water (and beer!).
So, when packing for a short trip, it’s good to remind yourself that all the stuff your are taking is really there just to make life easier and more comfortable (rather than being absolutely necessary) but that the more of these items you take the less comfortable the trekking is going to be as the load on your back gets heavier.
I’ve had a few requests from people (mainly here in Malaysia) who want to start camping out in jungle but don’t know where to start in terms of kit to take in – this video shows what I use and hopefully will be of some help.
My advice for those starting out is not to overstretch yourself at the beginning and to test your equipment first. Once you’ve got your kit sorted, take it for a walk – it doesn’t matter where, round the park a few times will do (but try some hills too!) – just to check whether the weight is bearable and the rucksack comfortable. Then do a test run into the jungle – there’s no need to go far (you could go a hundred yards off the road and into the jungle) and try setting up camp and sorting out food, water, fire etc. For those in Malaysia you could visit Raman (the Orang Asli who lives at Gombak) and camp at his kebun for a night. By checking your equipment first you will quickly discover any problems and become familiar with its use.
This is particularly important when it comes to hammocks – they are, by far, the best shelter system to use in the jungle but they do take a little bit of skill to set up in a way that maximizes the comfort they can offer. Keeping your body at the right temperature in a hammock can also be difficult at first as the evenings are often warm and humid and the early mornings can be surprisingly chilly.
And then there’s the rain – your hammock shelter system must be 100% waterproof – no water creeping down the ropes, no splashback from the ground, no rain getting in from the sides – and the only way to be sure is to try it first in heavy rain. You could do this anywhere – in your back garden would do – but test it (and adjust it) before you go on an extended expedition into the jungle.
The tortoise that I relocated ambled off into the jungle, seemingly happy with the new environment that didn’t have the concrete storm drains that tank-trapped him where I found him (or, for the time being at least, the looming threat of development).
About 30 miles from where I live is the Malaysian Elephant Sanctuary that relocates elephants displaced by the seemingly unstoppable spread of oil palm plantations. It is a commendable effort to help these animals but, to some extent, it has the side-effect of making us feel better about a situation we should really be feeling extremely bad about. Elephants need space, it’s as simple as that, and relocating them (into unfamiliar areas where other elephants have already staked out their territory) is a sub-optimal solution.
It reminds me of the line in Apocalypse Now:
“It’s a way we had of living with ourselves: we cut them in half with a machine gun and then give them a band aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies”.
The politics of the rain forest here in Malaysia are both complex (in terms of finding workable solutions) and very simple (in terms of projecting the outcome) – what is needed is a system of fully protected, federal, nationals parks linked together with corridors of forest that the animals can use to go between them. Unfortunately the state (rather than federal) system of forest control in Malaysia makes this difficult to achieve and the growing consumer demands of a growing, urbanized population mean that there is an ever increasing demand to clear the forest for our own ends – be it farms or oil palm plantations or housing developments.
Here in Malaysia I see some cause for hope in the changing attitudes of the younger generation towards the environment – but will the situation change fast enough to save the forests? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure, future generations will curse us for the mess that they will inherit: the result of selfish exploitation of the worlds resources that has gone on over the last 50 years and the unchecked population explosion.
As a future Churchillian might say of our generation: “Never in the field of human conduct have so many been left with so little, and with so much blame lying with so few”
When I first started camping in the jungle I went out and bought a very expensive and expansive rucksack which could hold every item I might possibly need – I then proceeded to fill it with every-possible-item-that-I-might-need. Halfway up a hill – with rattan and bamboo hindering my progress – sweating and feeling dizzy from the beginnings of heat exhaustion, I realised my mistake.
When I think about it, the only times I haven’t enjoyed being in the jungle was when I was carrying too heavy a load and I go to great lengths to avoid doing so again.
Until you are in the tropics, it is difficult to imagine the difference the heat and humidity make to your ability to carry a heavy rucksack – what you can comfortably carry when in the UK will be much more of a burden to lug around in the sweltering jungles of Malaysia.
Of course, if you are going on a long expedition there may be no option but to carry a heavy rucksack (extra food needs to be carried for starters), but for a 1 or 2 night stay in the jungle this isn’t the case and, the lighter your pack, the more you’ll enjoy the trek and the experience. The other option to a light pack is to get someone else to carry your heavy pack for you – locals in the tropics are generally stronger/fitter and more acclimatised than the average visitor and may be glad of the work – but my own preference is to travel light and carry my own gear.
I now use a rucksack which is almost too small (30L capacity) as it forces me to cut down on what I take in. Every item I take gets weighed and, if a lighter option can be found, replaced.
In this video I show you the rucksack, tarp/hammock/net set-up I use and cover an update on jungle boots.
For anyone who is interested in knowing more about the items shown I’ve listed the websites below:
As with all equipment, personal choice and cost play a big part and I am not saying that the gear I use is the best there is – it’s just gear that works for me and gear that has worked well in the jungle.
The lowered centre of gravity makes you more balanced on your feet.
