This is how I fish 80% of the time. I fish on foot and carry everything I need for a day or two. Some of the gear choices change due to the season or other conditions. As I said in previous posts, I do a lot of research on gear to find exactly what I need to accomplish the objective. There is always a cost-benefit analysis that occurs to prevent wasted expenditures. The wife and I bounce ideas off of each other and weigh the “Pro’s and Con’s”. Believe me, I’ve bought cheap stuff before and it didn’t hold up for very long. These days I dig into the specifications of products in depth as I’d rather “buy once, cry once.”
The backpack I’m wearing in the picture is the Yeti Panga 28L. Overpriced? Absolutely! Over-built? Absolutely! And it is 100% WATERPROOF which is what I need. ALL of the features I needed were present in this pack. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Was I happy spending $300…NOPE! But I will say that it was a great investment and I’m VERY happy with it.
What you can’t see is that the Panga is holding a silnylon tarp, Klymit air mattress, a poncho liner, a Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter, an isobutane stove and fuel canister inside a titanium mug, food for a day or two, NiteCore NU25 headlamp, filet knife, spare shirt, the yellow MagPul DAKA pouch, a ThermaRest Z fold sit pad, GoPro stuff and miscellaneous fishing tackle. Oh, and a shortwave radio. Don’t ask!
So the big WHY that people ask and want an answer to is simple…it’s waterproof and it floats! I can (and have) put it on my front and lay on it as I kick and swim across deep pools or any body of water that’s too deep to wade. It helps float me where I want to get to. Boats can’t get to where I want to fish. Food for thought…
Velox Seeker 