Miners backpack

[MMinOH]

Miner's backpack

Hello from Ohio. As my fever for gold continues to grow so does my collection of equipment. I'm looking to upgrade my hiking backpack to some sort of miner's backpack to cram all my gear into lol. What do all the ole timers use to carry their gear to a honey hole when a hike is involved?

 

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[Hangtowndiggins]

Thanks for recommending the large Alice guys, picked one up today and can definitely see why. It's the perfect tool for the job and the bgt super mini fits great. Paid ten bucks more for a new one. Mm I thought it over and decided to leave some dead weight out of the new pack, and thanks for posting the pic of what your packing in.

 

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[AzViper]

Here in Tucson we have a store called Millers Surplus. They bill themselves as the Worlds Greatest Store. If its military they have it. Kinda fun store to take a walk through.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I used a old Boy Scout back pack frame . I tied a 20 gal plastic tub on it. Loaded my A 52 Sluice, shovel Special Hoe. small survival kit. Small Cooler, 2nd paie of dry shoes, Crow bar 3" x 3' Hand dredge, 2- 5 gal buckets and 2 GPAA Gold trap Gold Pans.

 

[KevinInColorado]

And you look really silly that way...which I admire wholeheartedly!!

 

[Aurabbit79er]

View attachment 906581
My backpack hasn't really changed over the last few years. If anything it has gotten lighter as now experience has taught me some... Though when I find a spot that needs some more attention I will make trips carrying Rockbars sluice ect.. Sometimes 3 days of packing crap in.. All to common for prospectors not to know what tools are really needed and waste time packing in crap because in beecouse they might need it..A good prospector not only finds gold but it very aware of the tools needed to exploit it. And I am willing to bet you may be surprised on how little actual tools a prospector needs to actually work... Different places could require a different set up.. Anyway Gentlemen if you are spending more money on sluices and highbankers and other crap and have yet to have your finds pay for it.. You may want to step back and rethink your tools!!!! Lets not forget what prospecting is!! Finding gold and making a buck.. Not collecting gold recovery equipment/toys....

If you can do both that's good, but most trips I always take the same gear and supplies, Minimal waste - food and drink in reusable containers and only bring out my cons to clean at home. I have a backpack method and a bike/ trailer method.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

And you look really silly that way...which I admire wholeheartedly!!

Function before form. It is balanced to rest just above my hips and is tied tight to the frame. The tub makes clean up a breeze, and the tub is tall for easy panning.
When I ride the bike I take more gear, like for over night stay.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Function before form. It is balanced to rest just above my hips and is tied tight to the frame. The tub makes clean up a breeze, and the tub is tall for easy panning. When I ride the bike I take more gear, like for over night stay.

I totally agree!

 

[UncleMatt]

I hike around the high country in the Rockies each summer with a 100 pound pack, and I gotta find some way to get more padding between the straps and my shoulders! The straps are made to ride flat, but my shoulders are angled, so one side of the straps tends to dig into my shoulders, and the weight is not distributed evenly across the top of my shoulders. I am thinking of buying some gel material used for motorcycle seats and try that as strap padding.

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

Hey unclematt, 100lb pack would kill my shoulders too! Look into shoulder pad inserts for motorcycle riding jackets. They also work well as knee pads

 

[gold tramp]

Hey unclematt, 100lb pack would kill my shoulders too! Look into shoulder pad inserts for motorcycle riding jackets. They also work well as knee pads

100 pounds would bring me to my knees, Im lucky if I can hold up under 60 lb pack.
GT..........

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

100 pounds would bring me to my knees, Im lucky if I can hold up under 60 lb pack.
GT..........

I wanted to join the military I used to train running in the woods with 80 to 90 pounds in a normal backpack

 

[gold tramp]

View attachment 906581
My backpack hasn't really changed over the last few years. If anything it has gotten lighter as now experience has taught me some... Though when I find a spot that needs some more attention I will make trips carrying Rockbars sluice ect.. Sometimes 3 days of packing crap in.. All to common for prospectors not to know what tools are really needed and waste time packing in crap because in beecouse they might need it..A good prospector not only finds gold but it very aware of the tools needed to exploit it. And I am willing to bet you may be surprised on how little actual tools a prospector needs to actually work... Different places could require a different set up.. Anyway Gentlemen if you are spending more money on sluices and highbankers and other crap and have yet to have your finds pay for it.. You may want to step back and rethink your tools!!!! Lets not forget what prospecting is!! Finding gold and making a buck.. Not collecting gold recovery equipment/toys....

Not much difference in tools I have a little extra but I hardrock n desert placer, my dry washer replaces the river as my method of concentrating in the field, but my stuff is pretty basic and I use a gold bug bleeper not shown.

Marshal I notice you don't have a grease gun ?

View attachment 907040View attachment 907044View attachment 907045

 

[Rob in KS]

That's so far out lol man I wish I lived during the 70's lol

As soon as I get that time machine perfected, that's where I'm goin'. The '70's were a lot of fun. To bad I didn't know then what I know now. ... I be dangerous.... and rich

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

I used a old Boy Scout back pack frame . I tied a 20 gal plastic tub on it. Loaded my A 52 Sluice, shovel Special Hoe. small survival kit. Small Cooler, 2nd paie of dry shoes, Crow bar 3" x 3' Hand dredge, 2- 5 gal buckets and 2 GPAA Gold trap Gold Pans.
View attachment 906829View attachment 906830

Anyone backpacking through the desert in flip flops is alright in my book .

 

[russau]

100 pounds would bring me to my knees, Im lucky if I can hold up under 60 lb pack.
GT..........

hahahaha well a 30 pound pack would probly send me to the bar for a pickmeup! if i cant get it onto wheels, it stays in camp!

 

[Nevada Coyote]

Amen, brother. I'm too old to back pack. Only bad thing about it is we sold our quads for a down payment on our new home. Now I'm back to a back pack. LOL It's a military style and works great.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Anyone backpacking through the desert in flip flops is alright in my book .

Actually, in the picture I'm returning from a day at Heaton Flats Bend, at the EF River. I use gum boots at the dig, in the water. I wore the Flips just to walk the mile back to the Coach. I wear boots and long pants in the Desert.
Hope I'm still alright. I do pour a bucket of water over my head as a impromptu shower after desert mining. I always bring lots of water there.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I hike around the high country in the Rockies each summer with a 100 pound pack, and I gotta find some way to get more padding between the straps and my shoulders! The straps are made to ride flat, but my shoulders are angled, so one side of the straps tends to dig into my shoulders, and the weight is not distributed evenly across the top of my shoulders. I am thinking of buying some gel material used for motorcycle seats and try that as strap padding.

I used to have a pair of sheep skin snap on pads but they wore out. If I keep the bulk of the weight on the hips I can manage 70 or so lbs for about 5 miles a day. I do prefer to use my bike rig if the trail allows. With the Bike rig I bring about 150 lbs. Mostly food, Ice and Bed roll. Also if I need to go back to the Coach it's a fast trip with the bike. Also if I drove the coach to EF I stash my gear at the end of the day and ride back to the coach to sleep. Follow the path of least resistance to max the work at the dig.

 

[63bkpkr]

The Joy of Backpacking

Well Uncle Matt ,
I so appreciate your input as I understand of which you speak.
I also carry a few things along with me that add up.

It is an absolute that the waist strap stay at the waist without cutting one in half, so a well padded waist strap is necessary. The shoulder straps also need to be well padded, I glued two sections of 3/8" blue sleeping pad foam together and made them into 6" x 6" squares. They help a great deal but they do compress. Your gel sounds interesting though I suspect you will need to house them in a sturdy cloth to keep them from crumbling from direct abrasion. I would think 1/2" thick would be minimum and you might need to glue a stiff something to the side that contacts the strap to spread the load out across the gel. My straps really compress the blue foam I use with JUST the staps, no stiffener. A functional sternum strap can be a big help.Let us know how the gel works for you.............................63bkpkr

Note here: IF the waist belt blisters the skin over the pelvis - I use 1/16" thick packing foam with duct tape only on one side of the foam to keep it from being torn apart and insert a 12" x 6" strip of it so the foam is next to the skin with my clothing contacting the duct tape side - no blisters!

Gold Tramp,
That is an interesting selection of tools you have there, I especially appreciate the two longest pry bars! I've moved a lot of river rock using leverage and bars like those. That is also a heavy selection of tools, I would need to be in really good shape to tote everything that is in that picture in one load.