My Top Ten Gear Items For Safari

[meigsbucks]

Another great video Phillip. Well done and gives people a starting point. Your coverage of boots, gun slips and lights are spot on. Actually everything because it works for you.
As you stated, everyone has their own preferences. Example: I used a light weight Badlands pack on my first safari and took it and a small sling pack on my second. On the second, the pack stayed on the truck and I‘d throw the sling over the shoulder and go.
As far as binoculars go, I have a pair of Zeiss mini 8x20’s that fold and fit in a shirt pocket. I’ve had these for about 40 yrs and go on every hunt. I took these as well as a pair of Swarovski 10x30’s on my first safari. The PH told me to leave the 10x30’s in the truck for glassing from there but on the stalk he’d do the glassing and I should concentrate on the shooting. If I needed to look at something, I had the 8x20’s in my pocket. It worked great. In Namibia on my second safari, I told my PH how I handled the bino situation and he concurred that that is a good route to go. I never felt I was handicaped on either hunt.
A lot of other great suggestions by people.

 

[One Day...]

... ten items I can't do without on a typical day on safari ...

Nice video Philip

I certainly agree with the spare ammo, the flashlight (one on the belt + a headlamp in the pack), the swiss knife/multitool (Swiss Champion on the belt + original Leatherman in the pack), and I concede that a knife (that you do not mention) is rarely needed on a guided Safari - but it certainly is necessary on a do-it-yourself hunt. And in my case, I also add a pair of 1.5x foldable reading glasses.

This, I always carry on me while hunting...

I also agree with a mini pack in the truck. Mine includes water, a light Gore-Tex jacket depending on season - it can rain in Africa too LOL - and a "possible bag" including the usual suspects (headlamp, spare batteries, lighter, individual first aid kit (IFAK), etc.), that I take along if we decide to leave the truck for a stalk.

I also recommended in several posts over the last few years the soft-case-inside-hard-case solution in order to have something to protect the rifles in the truck, so I agree with that too

What surprised me is that you did not mention a camera. I would most definitely include a camera in the "can't go hunting without it" list.

As to whether the iPhone camera will do the job, well...... it depends on what you are looking for...

The camera question...

Often discussed, and often confused...

What an iPhone provides is a fully automatic "point & shoot" solution with sophisticated software that takes care of the bewildering issues, for most, of selecting shutter speed, lens aperture, sensor sensitivity (ISO), etc.

Note that an iPhone does not provide a better or worse software solution than the full automatic "intelligent mode" of any compact or digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but for those who transitioned from a throw-away Kodak Instamatic to a cell phone to shoot picture, there is indeed a giant leap forward

What an iPhone cannot provide is THE critical key to higher quality picture: sensor size and individual pixel size. Please note that I did not mention a number of pixel because this too is widely misunderstood.

Let's go step by step:

Number of pixel. Mercifully, it seems that the race for ever more Mega Pixels (MP) is largely over, but still a fair number of folks continue to believe that the more MP the better. This is not the case! The reality is that unless you shoot pictures to be displayed on highway billboards, you do not need more than 10 MP.

--- Actually, a full page picture 8.5" x 11" printed at 300 dots per inch (dpi) uses only 8,415,000 pixels [ (8.5x300) x (11x300) = 8,415,000 ]. If you shoot a 12 MP camera, the printing software already needs to compress and suppress 1/3 or the native pixels in your picture to come down from 12 MP to 8 MP.

--- Same thing if you watch your pics on a full Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K TV with 3840 x 2160 pixels definition, it only uses 8,294,400 pixels [ 3,840 x 2,160 = 8,294,400 ].

--- And if you are printing typical 4" x 6" pictures, you only print 2,160,000 pixels. 10 million pixels of your 12 MP pictures are dumped...

FYI, Apple use a 12 MP sensors in their iPhone and it is plenty. Actually, I would prefer a 10 MP sensor due to the above math.

Sure a 20 MP sensor allows you more flexibility to crop and reframe a picture, and slightly enlarge an specific area of a picture, when printing it, but the results are good only if the individual pixels are crisp.

Pixel size. THIS is the big issue. The bigger each individual pixel is in a sensor:
1- the more light this pixel can capture (higher sensitivity)
2- the richer the color that this pixel capture (wider dynamic range)

This is why professionals use what are called "full size" sensor, 36 mm x 24 mm per the same format as the old films, and this is why an iPhone will never be able to compete, because its sensor active area is 5.6 mm x 4.2 mm. This is roughly the equivalent to the so-called 1/2.3" format (see picture here under).

What this means is that the iPhone 12 MP sensor packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 23.52 square millimeters [ 5.6 x 4.2 = 23.52 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.00000196 square millimeters in size.

By comparison, my "pro" Nikon D3S also has a 12 MP sensor but it is a "full size" sensor, so it packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 864 square millimeters [ 24 x 36 = 864 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.000072 square millimeters in size.

Therefore, each of the pixels of the 12 MP "full size" sensor is 37x bigger than each of the pixels of the 12 MP iPhone sensor.

There is simply no overcoming this physical reality.

--- Will John Doe see a difference in a 4 x 6 print? Likely not.
--- Will a discerning eye see a difference in a 8.5" x 11" print? Likely.
--- Will you see a difference when cropping a picture? Yes.
--- Will you see a difference in color vibrancy on a 4K TV screen? Heck yes!

In truth, iPhones make great quality pictures, and there is no photographic reason whatsoever to carry a $300 "point & shoot" 20 MP camera that has a sensor no bigger (and often smaller!) that the sensor in the iPhone.

However, any compact camera with a sensor bigger than 1/2.3"; or - even better - a 1" to APS sensor; or - the holy grail in a compact - a full frame sensor will produce much better quality pictures.

Camera sensor size (https://newatlas.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/ )

This means that even though the facts disagree with the pixels aspect of Shakka's post, there is a lot of truth to the money aspect of Shakka's post. I would not put the bar at quite $1,000, but definitely $700...

Phil, I'm curious as to which Camera you have. A camera buff friend of mine told me that to beat an I Phone 11, you would need to spend $1,000 PLUS on a good camera, and even with that, you won't benefit in photo quality/pixels, as it's only because the camera will have a telephoto lens.

Since I cannot focus on shooting pictures and hunting at the same time, I do not take a DSLR hunting, but I still want the option to snap a pic at any time (hence the camera in a belt pouch), and I want a quality picture. For hunting I personally like the Sony RX 100 as a great compromise between compactness and sensor size. It features a 1" sensor. Of course you pay for it: $700 for RX100 III to $1,200 for RX VII. By the way more money does not get you better pictures, but more gizmos (e.g. Bluetooth connection), Choose wisely what you really need...

For fly fishing I personally like the Olympus Tough. Although it is a little bigger, it only has a 1/2.3" sensor (ouch!) but it is waterproof. It only took one dunk of my first Sony RX100 to destroy it, so I sacrifice the 4x smaller sensor to water survivability... at $350, it is a good camera and it is marginally better than an iPhone because although it has basically the same sensor, it still has a larger lens.

Left: Sony RX 100. Likely the best true compact? Right: Olympus Tough. Not as good, but waterproof.

I have been lusting after the Sony RX 1 with full frame sensor, but its lens is not collapsible, and it is therefore not truly a "fit in the pocket" compact. It is therefore too big to fit in a pouch on the belt, and that rules it out for me as a hunting camera...

 

[One Day...]

Reading the rest of the thread after I posted above. Did not realize the OP was from April...

• I can see we all agree
• Can't live without a good camera
• Only those who have never hunted further than 500 yards from the truck have never needed the "possible bag"

If we have been out long enough, far enough, and often enough, we all have a story when we were the only one with a flashlight 45 minutes away from the truck in pitch black night

I can add being the only one with spare batteries (another grand classic); being the only one with an IFAK when the skinner skinned himself; being the only one with a light Gore-Tex jacket when it snowed on the Great Karoo; being the only one with a knife after the skinner/driver was sent back to meet us with the truck on the other side of the canyon; etc.

 

[Philip Glass]

Hi Phillip

Really enjoyed your video, very informative and well done.
Do you apply the Permethrin shortly before packing for the trip or after arriving?

Before I leave home. Get pump spray not aerosol. Even so don’t want to breathe much of it. Hey it may prevent the virus

 

[Philip Glass]

Very good video.

Thank you very much!

 

[Philip Glass]

Nice video Philip

I certainly agree with the spare ammo, the flashlight (one on the belt + a headlamp in the pack), the swiss knife/multitool (Swiss Champion on the belt + original Leatherman in the pack), and I concede that a knife (that you do not mention) is rarely needed on a guided Safari - but it certainly is necessary on a do-it-yourself hunt. And in my case, I also add a pair of 1.5x foldable reading glasses.

View attachment 380584
This, I always carry on me while hunting...

I also agree with a mini pack in the truck. Mine includes water, a light Gore-Tex jacket depending on season - it can rain in Africa too LOL - and a "possible bag" including the usual suspects (headlamp, spare batteries, lighter, individual first aid kit (IFAK), etc.), that I take along if we decide to leave the truck for a stalk.

I also recommended in several posts over the last few years the soft-case-inside-hard-case solution in order to have something to protect the rifles in the truck, so I agree with that too

View attachment 380591

What surprised me is that you did not mention a camera. I would most definitely include a camera in the "can't go hunting without it" list.

As to whether the iPhone camera will do the job, well...... it depends on what you are looking for...

The camera question...

Often discussed, and often confused...

What an iPhone provides is a fully automatic "point & shoot" solution with sophisticated software that takes care of the bewildering issues, for most, of selecting shutter speed, lens aperture, sensor sensitivity (ISO), etc.

Note that an iPhone does not provide a better or worse software solution than the full automatic "intelligent mode" of any compact or digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but for those who transitioned from a throw-away Kodak Instamatic to a cell phone to shoot picture, there is indeed a giant leap forward

What an iPhone cannot provide is THE critical key to higher quality picture: sensor size and individual pixel size. Please note that I did not mention a number of pixel because this too is widely misunderstood.

Let's go step by step:

Number of pixel. Mercifully, it seems that the race for ever more Mega Pixels (MP) is largely over, but still a fair number of folks continue to believe that the more MP the better. This is not the case! The reality is that unless you shoot pictures to be displayed on highway billboards, you do not need more than 10 MP.

--- Actually, a full page picture 8.5" x 11" printed at 300 dots per inch (dpi) uses only 8,415,000 pixels [ (8.5x300) x (11x300) = 8,415,000 ]. If you shoot a 12 MP camera, the printing software already needs to compress and suppress 1/3 or the native pixels in your picture to come down from 12 MP to 8 MP.

--- Same thing if you watch your pics on a full Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K TV with 3840 x 2160 pixels definition, it only uses 8,294,400 pixels [ 3,840 x 2,160 = 8,294,400 ].

--- And if you are printing typical 4" x 6" pictures, you only print 2,160,000 pixels. 10 million pixels of your 12 MP pictures are dumped...

FYI, Apple use a 12 MP sensors in their iPhone and it is plenty. Actually, I would prefer a 10 MP sensor due to the above math.

Sure a 20 MP sensor allows you more flexibility to crop and reframe a picture, and slightly enlarge an specific area of a picture, when printing it, but the results are good only if the individual pixels are crisp.

Pixel size. THIS is the big issue. The bigger each individual pixel is in a sensor:
1- the more light this pixel can capture (higher sensitivity)
2- the richer the color that this pixel capture (wider dynamic range)

This is why professionals use what are called "full size" sensor, 36 mm x 24 mm per the same format as the old films, and this is why an iPhone will never be able to compete, because its sensor active area is 5.6 mm x 4.2 mm. This is roughly the equivalent to the so-called 1/2.3" format (see picture here under).

What this means is that the iPhone 12 MP sensor packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 23.52 square millimeters [ 5.6 x 4.2 = 23.52 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.00000196 square millimeters in size.

By comparison, my "pro" Nikon D3S also has a 12 MP sensor but it is a "full size" sensor, so it packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 864 square millimeters [ 24 x 36 = 864 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.000072 square millimeters in size.

Therefore, each of the pixels of the 12 MP "full size" sensor is 37x bigger than each of the pixels of the 12 MP iPhone sensor.

There is simply no overcoming this physical reality.

--- Will John Doe see a difference in a 4 x 6 print? Likely not.
--- Will a discerning eye see a difference in a 8.5" x 11" print? Likely.
--- Will you see a difference when cropping a picture? Yes.
--- Will you see a difference in color vibrancy on a 4K TV screen? Heck yes!

In truth, iPhones make great quality pictures, and there is no photographic reason whatsoever to carry a $300 "point & shoot" 20 MP camera that has a sensor no bigger (and often smaller!) that the sensor in the iPhone.

However, any compact camera with a sensor bigger than 1/2.3"; or - even better - a 1" to APS sensor; or - the holy grail in a compact - a full frame sensor will produce much better quality pictures.

View attachment 380572
Camera sensor size (https://newatlas.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/ )

This means that even though the facts disagree with the pixels aspect of Shakka's post, there is a lot of truth to the money aspect of Shakka's post. I would not put the bar at quite $1,000, but definitely $700...


Since I cannot focus on shooting pictures and hunting at the same time, I do not take a DSLR hunting, but I still want the option to snap a pic at any time (hence the camera in a belt pouch), and I want a quality picture. For hunting I personally like the Sony RX 100 as a great compromise between compactness and sensor size. It features a 1" sensor. Of course you pay for it: $700 for RX100 III to $1,200 for RX VII. By the way more money does not get you better pictures, but more gizmos (e.g. Bluetooth connection), Choose wisely what you really need...

For fly fishing I personally like the Olympus Tough. Although it is a little bigger, it only has a 1/2.3" sensor (ouch!) but it is waterproof. It only took one dunk of my first Sony RX100 to destroy it, so I sacrifice the 4x smaller sensor to water survivability... at $350, it is a good camera and it is marginally better than an iPhone because although it has basically the same sensor, it still has a larger lens.

View attachment 380583 View attachment 380582
Left: Sony RX 100. Likely the best true compact? Right: Olympus Tough. Not as good, but waterproof.

I have been lusting after the Sony RX 1 with full frame sensor, but its lens is not collapsible, and it is therefore not truly a "fit in the pocket" compact. It is therefore too big to fit in a pouch on the belt, and that rules it out for me as a hunting camera...

Thanks for your excellent thoughts. My comments are meant to be minimalist. I also carry the Olympus Tough and found it to be excellent and certainly better than my iPhone 11.
Philip

 

[outwestidaho]

Nice film Philip !

Does any one have photos to share taken with the Olympus tough camera?
Do they do well with blow ups?

 

[Philip Glass]

Nice film Philip !

Does any one have photos to share taken with the Olympus tough camera?
Do they do well with blow ups?

Thanks! Yes they are print quality pics with the Olympus Tough. It’s a neat little camera and easy to use.

 

[Philip Glass]

Nice film Philip !

Does any one have photos to share taken with the Olympus tough camera?
Do they do well with blow ups?

My Cameroon safari pics were taken with it. See hunt report.

 

[dirtydiver]

Here is a video explaining ten items I can't do without on a typical day on safari. I hope this helps not only in planning your next safari but also dreaming of your next great hunt!
Philip

View attachment 344806

Who makes the short shorts worn in this video? Also what are some good websites to buys hunting clothes for Africa?

 

[Uncle Sauce]

Who makes the short shorts worn in this video? Also what are some good websites to buys hunting clothes for Africa?

Not sure who makes those short shorts in the video but here are a couple websites for clothing:

Africa Sporting Creations
https://www.africansportingcreations.com/

Tag Safari
https://tagsafari.com/

Hope this helps,

 

[dirtydiver]

Nice video Philip

I certainly agree with the spare ammo, the flashlight (one on the belt + a headlamp in the pack), the swiss knife/multitool (Swiss Champion on the belt + original Leatherman in the pack), and I concede that a knife (that you do not mention) is rarely needed on a guided Safari - but it certainly is necessary on a do-it-yourself hunt. And in my case, I also add a pair of 1.5x foldable reading glasses.

View attachment 380584
This, I always carry on me while hunting...

I also agree with a mini pack in the truck. Mine includes water, a light Gore-Tex jacket depending on season - it can rain in Africa too LOL - and a "possible bag" including the usual suspects (headlamp, spare batteries, lighter, individual first aid kit (IFAK), etc.), that I take along if we decide to leave the truck for a stalk.

I also recommended in several posts over the last few years the soft-case-inside-hard-case solution in order to have something to protect the rifles in the truck, so I agree with that too

View attachment 380591

What surprised me is that you did not mention a camera. I would most definitely include a camera in the "can't go hunting without it" list.

As to whether the iPhone camera will do the job, well...... it depends on what you are looking for...

The camera question...

Often discussed, and often confused...

What an iPhone provides is a fully automatic "point & shoot" solution with sophisticated software that takes care of the bewildering issues, for most, of selecting shutter speed, lens aperture, sensor sensitivity (ISO), etc.

Note that an iPhone does not provide a better or worse software solution than the full automatic "intelligent mode" of any compact or digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but for those who transitioned from a throw-away Kodak Instamatic to a cell phone to shoot picture, there is indeed a giant leap forward

What an iPhone cannot provide is THE critical key to higher quality picture: sensor size and individual pixel size. Please note that I did not mention a number of pixel because this too is widely misunderstood.

Let's go step by step:

Number of pixel. Mercifully, it seems that the race for ever more Mega Pixels (MP) is largely over, but still a fair number of folks continue to believe that the more MP the better. This is not the case! The reality is that unless you shoot pictures to be displayed on highway billboards, you do not need more than 10 MP.

--- Actually, a full page picture 8.5" x 11" printed at 300 dots per inch (dpi) uses only 8,415,000 pixels [ (8.5x300) x (11x300) = 8,415,000 ]. If you shoot a 12 MP camera, the printing software already needs to compress and suppress 1/3 or the native pixels in your picture to come down from 12 MP to 8 MP.

--- Same thing if you watch your pics on a full Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K TV with 3840 x 2160 pixels definition, it only uses 8,294,400 pixels [ 3,840 x 2,160 = 8,294,400 ].

--- And if you are printing typical 4" x 6" pictures, you only print 2,160,000 pixels. 10 million pixels of your 12 MP pictures are dumped...

FYI, Apple use a 12 MP sensors in their iPhone and it is plenty. Actually, I would prefer a 10 MP sensor due to the above math.

Sure a 20 MP sensor allows you more flexibility to crop and reframe a picture, and slightly enlarge an specific area of a picture, when printing it, but the results are good only if the individual pixels are crisp.

Pixel size. THIS is the big issue. The bigger each individual pixel is in a sensor:
1- the more light this pixel can capture (higher sensitivity)
2- the richer the color that this pixel capture (wider dynamic range)

This is why professionals use what are called "full size" sensor, 36 mm x 24 mm per the same format as the old films, and this is why an iPhone will never be able to compete, because its sensor active area is 5.6 mm x 4.2 mm. This is roughly the equivalent to the so-called 1/2.3" format (see picture here under).

What this means is that the iPhone 12 MP sensor packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 23.52 square millimeters [ 5.6 x 4.2 = 23.52 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.00000196 square millimeters in size.

By comparison, my "pro" Nikon D3S also has a 12 MP sensor but it is a "full size" sensor, so it packs 12,000,000 pixels in an area that is 864 square millimeters [ 24 x 36 = 864 ]. It follows that each individual sensor is 0.000072 square millimeters in size.

Therefore, each of the pixels of the 12 MP "full size" sensor is 37x bigger than each of the pixels of the 12 MP iPhone sensor.

There is simply no overcoming this physical reality.

--- Will John Doe see a difference in a 4 x 6 print? Likely not.
--- Will a discerning eye see a difference in a 8.5" x 11" print? Likely.
--- Will you see a difference when cropping a picture? Yes.
--- Will you see a difference in color vibrancy on a 4K TV screen? Heck yes!

In truth, iPhones make great quality pictures, and there is no photographic reason whatsoever to carry a $300 "point & shoot" 20 MP camera that has a sensor no bigger (and often smaller!) that the sensor in the iPhone.

However, any compact camera with a sensor bigger than 1/2.3"; or - even better - a 1" to APS sensor; or - the holy grail in a compact - a full frame sensor will produce much better quality pictures.

View attachment 380572
Camera sensor size (https://newatlas.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/ )

This means that even though the facts disagree with the pixels aspect of Shakka's post, there is a lot of truth to the money aspect of Shakka's post. I would not put the bar at quite $1,000, but definitely $700...


Since I cannot focus on shooting pictures and hunting at the same time, I do not take a DSLR hunting, but I still want the option to snap a pic at any time (hence the camera in a belt pouch), and I want a quality picture. For hunting I personally like the Sony RX 100 as a great compromise between compactness and sensor size. It features a 1" sensor. Of course you pay for it: $700 for RX100 III to $1,200 for RX VII. By the way more money does not get you better pictures, but more gizmos (e.g. Bluetooth connection), Choose wisely what you really need...

For fly fishing I personally like the Olympus Tough. Although it is a little bigger, it only has a 1/2.3" sensor (ouch!) but it is waterproof. It only took one dunk of my first Sony RX100 to destroy it, so I sacrifice the 4x smaller sensor to water survivability... at $350, it is a good camera and it is marginally better than an iPhone because although it has basically the same sensor, it still has a larger lens.

View attachment 380583 View attachment 380582
Left: Sony RX 100. Likely the best true compact? Right: Olympus Tough. Not as good, but waterproof.

I have been lusting after the Sony RX 1 with full frame sensor, but its lens is not collapsible, and it is therefore not truly a "fit in the pocket" compact. It is therefore too big to fit in a pouch on the belt, and that rules it out for me as a hunting camera...

Are those pouches/sheaths custom made? If so who makes them because I have the same belt and like the color combination.

V/r,
Carlin

 

[shootist~]

Filson Featherlight shirts (smoky olive) are my fav. Very lightweight, btw.
Tag Safari are good too for a heavier weave. Their kaki is darker than most with a hint of green. (A good thing).

The Stone color for both the above is too light, IMO.

Size runs pretty true for both the above, or maybe just a hair small after shrinkage for a senior type build. Tag Safari starts off a little large at first, but shrinks up after a few washes.

 

[curtism1234]

Who makes the short shorts worn in this video? Also what are some good websites to buys hunting clothes for Africa?

Imo if you are a well-rounded outdoorsman there is likely little need to buy any clothing except maybe a hat and gaiters. If you have a couple cotton/poly dark hiking pants, a couple dark fishing shirts, and a jacket you are good to go.

Not sure of you income or cash flow but if you have been saving 5-10 years for this there is no need to spend another $500 in brand name clothing. The ph and other guests are going to see right through it anyway so you might as well just be yourself.

 

[BeeMaa]

Imo if you are a well-rounded outdoorsman there is likely little need to buy any clothing except maybe a hat and gaiters. If you have a couple cotton/poly dark hiking pants, a couple dark fishing shirts, and a jacket you are good to go.

Not sure of you income or cash flow but if you have been saving 5-10 years for this there is no need to spend another $500 in brand name clothing. The ph and other guests are going to see right through it anyway so you might as well just be yourself.

Exactly.
A good guideline is to stick to cotton and canvas in darker earth tone colors.
If you need general clothing, Carhartt and Duluth Trading are good sources.
Keep it simple and put more money into practice shooting off sticks than clothing.

 

[Philip Glass]

Who makes the short shorts worn in this video? Also what are some good websites to buys hunting clothes for Africa?

these are Boerboel but I also wear Tag Safari clothing along with others.

 

[autofire]

Nice Video Phil, I would add TP to list of must carry items even the leaves in Africa have thorns. I prefer a safari vest to a back pack, I find it gives me better access to my gear and IMO it makes getting around in the bush easier. As a general question about carry items do you carry a fixed blade knife on your hunts?

i take half roll of TP , remove cardboard center and smash it flat. it will fit into ziplock sandwich bag. Keep one in my vest and one in travel backpack at all times.

 

[mark-hunter]

I travel light, I am not even sure, I could list full ten items for safari.

1. Large duffel bag, 100 liters or more, light in weight, as a checked in luggage. More then half empty, so will have space for souvenirs later.

2. Two sets of clothes for hunting - one set wearing during travel (if luggage gets lost/delayed one set of clothes is ready for hunting)

3. 4 pairs of socks

4. 2 pairs of hunting shoes

5. photo camera (next trip will be two cameras)

6. Laptop, in hand luggage - for taking notes in daily hunting diary, and emailing home from camp, if wi fi is available

7. Knife - in checked in luggage

8. Binoclular

9. 2 meters of rope kept later in pocket during hunt

10. Cap, basball type

11. Sunglasses - actually cheap plastic dark glasses with neck strap - for protection of eyes, especially during riding in the back of truck when passing bush

12. Tick and insect repellent, types for skin and the other for clothes application

13. Rifle, rifle case, ammo - for those who use their rifles

14. Book to read in the plane

15. Minor personal items, medicines, aspirin, mobile phone, etc... certainly a pen and spare pen, should be there - for filling up various forms along the way, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc

 

[Woodcarver]

Reading the rest of the thread after I posted above. Did not realize the OP was from April...

• I can see we all agree
• Can't live without a good camera
• Only those who have never hunted further than 500 yards from the truck have never needed the "possible bag"

If we have been out long enough, far enough, and often enough, we all have a story when we were the only one with a flashlight 45 minutes away from the truck in pitch black night

I can add being the only one with spare batteries (another grand classic); being the only one with an IFAK when the skinner skinned himself; being the only one with a light Gore-Tex jacket when it snowed on the Great Karoo; being the only one with a knife after the skinner/driver was sent back to meet us with the truck on the other side of the canyon; etc.

Years ago, my former FIL ended up about 2 miles from camp with 2 horses loaded with an elk, and 5 guys with no flashlights, and no moon. But with the known bear population, it was decided to get both horses and elk off the mountain. I might add, I was the only one in this camp that always carried a small pack with most of what has been mentioned, but I had left for home that morning and missed out on all the fun. By the time they reached camp, one guy still had his shirt and there 2 jackets that hadn't been used as fuel for the torch to get them off the mountain. While there some blood, nobody lost an eye. And more importantly, everybody had a flashlight with them for the rest of that hunt!

TP, spare batteries, and everything he mentioned in the video. If I remember it, a camera is definitely better than the phone for pics.

 

[Philip Glass]

Another great video Phillip. Well done and gives people a starting point. Your coverage of boots, gun slips and lights are spot on. Actually everything because it works for you.
As you stated, everyone has their own preferences. Example: I used a light weight Badlands pack on my first safari and took it and a small sling pack on my second. On the second, the pack stayed on the truck and I‘d throw the sling over the shoulder and go.
As far as binoculars go, I have a pair of Zeiss mini 8x20’s that fold and fit in a shirt pocket. I’ve had these for about 40 yrs and go on every hunt. I took these as well as a pair of Swarovski 10x30’s on my first safari. The PH told me to leave the 10x30’s in the truck for glassing from there but on the stalk he’d do the glassing and I should concentrate on the shooting. If I needed to look at something, I had the 8x20’s in my pocket. It worked great. In Namibia on my second safari, I told my PH how I handled the bino situation and he concurred that that is a good route to go. I never felt I was handicaped on either hunt.
A lot of other great suggestions by people.

Thanks for your insight on small binos.