How do you ID your gear bags?

**Dblcorona** · 05-24-2012, 17:28

I just use cuben bags. They are see through. Easy peesy.

**Groovy** · 05-24-2012, 17:40

I also wrap electrical tape on the draw string of like colored sacks. If you don't like the tape idea try tying a series of different knot on the draw string.

**mattyg** · 05-24-2012, 18:20

Colored string on the drawstring or replacing the drawstring.

**rip waverly** · 05-24-2012, 18:41

i'll chime in saying i don't use sacks --- can't help out.
only bag i use is a trash compaktor pack liner. everything else goes
in loose, and back up----my hammock is in a double ended cuben sack, sometimes, --sometimes its just packed loose.

**born2roam** · 05-25-2012, 03:38

I too pack in the order I need them. Most of my stuff that needs to be dry is in red/orange Sea to Summit silnylon drybags.

13 ltr version on the bottom with PLUQ and No Sniveler TQ
8 ltr version spare clothes, dry towel etc.
4 ltr version Hennessy / Ticket to the Moon
8 ltr version foodbag

20 ltr Sea to Summit silnylon daypack used as stuffbag for most other things, like MFA, PHK (personal hygiene kit) or as daypack when needed.

Cook kit in an old Plantronics headset stuffbag (left over from my first office job 1996

)

Tarp in a stuffbag where the origin is no longer known from

So besides size, the four drybags are easy to identify by shape and location in the pack. I, personally, never liked colour coding. Why not? Well, in the dark I mostly use the red light from my Petzl E-lite and you don't see the true colours of the bags then.... And I can use the red/orange drybags as emergency markers (great to spot from a distance! a lot easier then yellow ones)

Have fun experimenting and figuring out what works for you.

Grtz Johan

**gargoyle** · 05-25-2012, 06:25

Ziplock freezer bags for the little stuff. They're cheap, lightweight, seal good, and they are see-thru. Contents can be easily identified. Bags can be labeled. Quart and gallon sizes are available everywhere, if I need to replace them. I stick the less used items in smaller bags (they dont need to be freezer bags, regular "sandwich" bags with zips work here) then put them into one gallon size so their aren't a bunch of little bags floating around my pack.

Bag 1, Qt. size - First aid kit and personal hygiene.
Bag 2, Qt. size - Toilet kit. The shovel hangs outside the pack.
Bag 3, Qt. size - Camera, phone.
And then stick this in a gallon size. This bag is usually easily accessible, placed near the top of bag.

Food is in a gallon size, with some of the meals split into qt. size freezer bags, for the boil-in-the-bag stuff. I I.D. each meal with instructions and description, if needed. Sealed well, it keeps food smells down to a minimum. Food stays dry. Granola bars and the like, are just floating around in the food bag.
If I'm in an area where critters are an issue, I'll hang this inside my hammock stuff sack, from the throw line. I can fit a weekends worth of food in a gallon size bag.

Big items (the quilts, hammock) go into the bottom of the pack, inside a trash compactor bag.
Clothes go into a separate stuff sack and are also in the compactor bag.

I've found that by reducing the "stuff sack" mentality, I actually can pack easier. The individual stuff sacks became weird shape balls, which were harder to pack, since they used pack space ineffeciently. And I had the same problem as you..how to identify all the different bags?

.

**sandykayak** · 05-25-2012, 09:51

different colored cordlocks and/or cords or even bags doesn't cut it. "Now, which one was the blue?"

white tape with sharpie is pretty good. There are things that aren't stored in their bags. What about those of you multiple hammock owners? How do you know which is the BB, the SB (Clarks are easy to ID!), or ????