Benchmade 560 Freek
Brian founded Ultimate Upland in 2010 to be the most comprehensive resource for upland hunting enthusiasts. Since then it has grown into a community where bird hunters congregate and share their love for the sport. Brian shares detailed accounts of Ultimate Upland adventures in pursuit of wild birds in the wildest places.
Koch is joined afield by hunting partners Labs and Llews.
Getting ready for road trips is always a process for me. Lists lead to piles. Piles turn into containers filled with unorganized gear. Then I spend half the trip searching for things. The 5.11 Urban Utility Ruck 25L helped me change the game this year. I utilize a lot of electronics in the field, which…
I knew when we hit the trail this season that we had multiple river crossings in our future. There was a good chance I’d get soaked from the waist down, but I had to keep my gear clean and dry even if I became completely submerged. Nite Ize Runoff Cubes offer a great solution for…
Yes, I know, everyone and their brother has a roto-molded, armageddon-proof cooler that costs more than their actual freezer. There are umpteen companies now competing in the space, basically making the same heavy cooler with thick walls leaving minimal room for actual cooler contents. But, I had a space problem. I needed a cooler that…
Biting bugs can ruin a backcountry trip. Since most of our hunting occurs after the frosts of fall, insects are rarely a nuisance. But when training in the off-season or even hunting in early-season those bugs can be absolutely maddening. I was one of the original testers of the Thermacell Backpacker at high elevation. The…
For those of you who followed along (literally) during our early upland season, you were able to track all our hunts in real-time thanks to Garmin’s inReach Mini satellite communicator. What you didn’t get to see is regardless how far off the grid we were hiking or hunting, we were always able to send and…
Normally I’m all blast and no cast. But even the toughest bird dogs need to take breaks. Sage convinced us that during these down times we should try slinging some flies. It is addictive. The Sage One Fly Rod and 4250 Reel combo ($995) and a handful of flies gave us everything we needed to chase fish…
At 66 years young. I’ve had a bunch of knives. This Benchmade knife is the best. I have two of them.