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My tunnel bag is to heavy…

P
Dec 15, 2018
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Man iam that green horn with to much money and time reading the internet. I had bought my bag for skiing and my boots and now I wanna be Chris burandt and mostly go trying to ride. Anyway it’s to heavy and I wonder what you would leave at the truck? I have a pack with some redundancies too but my back is bad and I try and keep it light. So what do you think? It’s 23.5 lbs on a bathroom scale lol! My tool kit is junk so I think I need aluminum tools too? Any links? Thanks

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IDspud

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No need for Aluminum tools, just get rid of all the ones that don’t fit anything on your machine. Why do you have two multi tool knives?
I see about six ways I could start a fire. Give your wife back 90 percent of her tp roll.

My tool kit is a roll about the size of my two fists and can fix anything.
Tow ropes about the same size bag for helping others. My first aid kit is a partial flat roll of duct tape and knife and whatever shirt I’m wearing. Little rope, some zip ties, wire, good pliers, you can get through anything.
Bag of jerky, bar of choice, snow melts into water by engine heat or fire, so not six gallons of water.
Simplify. You’ve got a lot of junk.
Look like Christopher ffs.
 
P
Dec 15, 2018
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Haha! Ok that’s a good start! That little dry bag is my survival bag I carry on the river and I just take it everywhere. I’ll ditch the double multi tool , it just lives in there and duct tape and oxy’s for first aid, no water seems bad and I gotta have hot coffee lol…wish we didn’t have to carry anything that would be nice. I only carry a few real tools and Saturday I didn’t have the right size wrench and I needed two of them! I copied some set on the internet but it s heavy and sucks.
 

boondocker97

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I don't carry anything that is redundant and carry an amount of items that I would realistically use in a day. Rather than carry a full roll of tape, I carry a partial. One wad of toilet paper in my backpack for an emergency. 6-12 zip ties, not a full bag. I bring the small handful of tools I'll likely need for my sled. If they work for someone else's sled then great, but I'm not going to pack for the whole group. Can usually find what you need between a few of you in a group. You don't need a regular pliers and two multi-tools when one multi-tool will do the job. If the multi-tool has a phillips screw driver you don't need to pack another one. Carry the things that will get you out of a jamb, but not over-carry for convenience for something that might happen. I do recommend carrying a separate saw-the multi tool ones won't cut it! I actually carry a folding saw like the OP and a chainsaw with handles if there's a big job.

Life saving or light items go in my backpack:
Shovel, probe, beacon, radio
Foil blanket
Small bit of fishing line.
Small first aid kit
Leatherman tool
Lighter and two vaseline-coated cotton balls in a contact lense case for fire starting.
Combination LED glow stick, flashlight, and whistle.
Dry gloves
spare goggles
One pair of dry socks
TP and two blue paper towels

In my tunnel bag:
Couple granola bars. Sandwich goes in the muff pot when I leave the truck
Electrolyte tablets
Zip ties, tape, fuses in one small plastic container
Loctite stick
Folding saw
One small nylon strap to tie a ski loop to a running board for a tow-out.
Spare belt for the sled
One tool set in a zipper bag that's about 6" long and 2-1/2" in diameter.
Air pump for my shocks
A thin, mid-layer jacket and beanie in a plastic bag. I dress thin so this is for the ride home at the end of the day or if I need to spend the night I can pull off my wet base layer and put this on.
Wet gloves that I swap out.

Small pocket on the back of my seat gets three 16 oz water bottles.
 
Last edited:

jcjc1

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Mar 8, 2019
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Half gal of water in mine. Tow rope. Tool kit. Fire starter stuff always stays on my person.
Saw
Extensive med kit. EMT qualified via military and learned it sucks to not have all the crap you need when someone’s in a bind.
Xtra belt folded in half twice.
Wilson Combat .45 w/ 2 mags but that goes everywhere I go.
 
C
Nov 29, 2008
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BCA tunnel bag contents ....
Puf jacket
Thermal base layer
Socks (in waterproof section)
Lights *2
Batteries
Inreach + quick guide
Fuses
Tool kit inc- sockets, screwdrivers, wrenches, vise grips*2, adjustable wrench, tarp, rope, lighter, waterproof matches, folding saw, flares*2, spare throttle block, shovel with saw ...That's only items in the BCA bag....
Also carry sharp axe, water (3l) food, gloves*3, goggles*3, belt, plugs, quick drive belt ... mostly split between seat bag and console....

Generally don't carry spare gas ...
Weight can add up quickly so pick essentials ....
ef9c0220218d3d55e4a1f0cc7d408bac.jpg


Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk
 

Sage Crusher

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Don't forget one item that I have had to use spending the night, a small titanium cup with a lid that fits into the under seat bag.
Melting snow to drink, cause bottle water goes fast-and the lid is a must for covering the cup unless you enjoy sifting ashes and pine needles with your teeth.
The titanium heats up quickly, weighs less than a candle... and my Bivy bag fits inside it when not using the cup. Otherwise I carry about as the same as @boondocker97 above
 
G
Feb 9, 2014
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Man iam that green horn with to much money and time reading the internet. I had bought my bag for skiing and my boots and now I wanna be Chris burandt and mostly go trying to ride. Anyway it’s to heavy and I wonder what you would leave at the truck? I have a pack with some redundancies too but my back is bad and I try and keep it light. So what do you think? It’s 23.5 lbs on a bathroom scale lol! My tool kit is junk so I think I need aluminum tools too? Any links? Thanks
I think part of it depends on what philosophy you susbsrice to. Are you packing what you realistically use on an average day, or what you'd want to have if spending the night.
I carry about the same as you, but all in my airbag backpack with the exception of the tools - they are on the sled. It's 30lbs, but that includes shovel/probe and rope/beaners, also a small axe. Debatable how necessary it is to have all of it, but in an emergency, I'll be thankful. It's heavy, but I too hate the weight on the tunnel and am under the belief that I'd rather have all my emergency gear on my person.
Couple of tips; Vacuum bag your emergency socks/jacket/gloves. Keeps it compact and dry. Switch the plastic Nalgene for a non-insulated stainless one so you can stick it in fire to melt snow.


What bag is that btw? waterproof zipper?
 

revrider07

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I ride with Polaris guys they have every tool in their bags. Even snow jacks that keeps the weight even vs the doo.lol
 

BeartoothBaron

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I feel naked if I head out without a decent set of tools, but I've definitely carried a lot of stuff I don't need in the past, like some things in that second picture! To me, a minimum is 8/10/13/17mm wrenches, a good channel-lock, spark plug wrench, multibit screwdriver, and multitool (takes care of pliers, knife, gives you backup screwdrivers, and a few other potentially useful bits). I've been meaning to buy some lighter tools (without going crazy); something like these https://rollingmavericks.com/collections/tools/products/asahi-lightool6-piece-spanner-set to start. Ti would be nice, but it's hard to find anything that's not stupid expensive; the Burandt/Skinz kit actually seems to be a good deal for what it is (the wrench set; the full set just adds a bunch of stuff you could buy from Lowe's for cheaper). It's out of stock though. One other thing - if you're riding with the same group regularly or for a longer trip - is you can divvy up tools to handle more contingencies and carry less weight individually. Either way, it's easy to get carried away - plus you want to keep in mind you'll probably have somebody running back to the truck if it's a bigger job.

Survival gear is essential: I pack a can of stew or chili (gives you something to eat and then to melt snow in), survival blanket, first aid kit, and fire starter. There too, it's easy to get carried away, but I won't go anywhere without enough to get through a cold night, at a minimum. Good riding gear and an extra layer of clothes make a big difference there too. Ultimately, when it hits the fan, you're going to wish you had something you didn't bring. As long as you can start a fire, you'll probably be able to make it through anything short of a really bad injury or crazy cold / blizzard situation (and that goes into a whole different discussion of decision making and risk management).
 

BeeDoo

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Feb 12, 2008
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Regarding weight, I doubt that even a few percent of riders can tell the difference in 5-10 pounds of total weight. I've posed this before. If I put you on your sled and told you to ride it around for a few miles, could you tell me if you were at 3/4 tank of gas versus 1/4 tank of gas? I bet that most riders definitely could not. And that's a difference of at least 30 pounds! You can say that weight is distributed differently, sure, but most of us can't tell.

Bring those extra 5 lbs of tools and just take a fat shiiite before you head out.
 

PSI 800

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you could also get a handle bar bag for some of that stuff. anything safety wise is in my back pack or in my coat, tools and such in a bag on the tunnel, spare gloves ,goggles, water in the glove box behind the gauge on my maytrx. usually have a water bottle in my back pack and tunnel bag as well
 
P
Dec 15, 2018
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Hahahaha! Iam on a diet now and I’ll loose another 12-14 pounds so I’ll be good lol! Hopefully it’ll snow next year …?????
Funny everything I do is a gear up. Whitewater and a dry suit pfd helmet. Snowmobile ski gear avy pack boots helmet. Never fails as soon as I get all that gear on and we’re ready to go…oh man where’d I put that toilet paper lol. Your funny!
 
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