Under a cloudless sky, with low humidity and temps pushing 90°F, drinking plenty of water was a must -- and I did, although it's unlikely that I could've chugged enough to prevent the world-class bonk that knocked me out of the game. Nutrition came in the form of three PowerBars, and that was adequate.
If I had it to do over again I'd employ a canteen or a hydration bladder, some way to keep water with me rather than in an ice chest in the truck, which often was 200 yards away.
I dressed for battling the spiny overgrowth -- sturdy boots and comfortable socks, blue jeans and a long-sleeved denim shirt. Although I prefer deerskin gloves, that day I wore a well-loved cowhide pair and they did the job.Under the loose-fitting long-sleeved shirt I wore a polypropylene t-shirt (layers aren't just for cold weather), which kept me much cooler than a cotton tee or nothing at all. For headgear I chose Amish over redneck -- a broad-brimmed straw hat, bought for five bucks at an odd-lots store earlier this summer, ventilated much better than a feed cap and allowed me to carry a 360° patch of shade around with me.
I also had the good sense to tuck a bandanna into my hip pocket. In addition to serving as headband and sweat rag, soaked with water from the ice chest and tied around my neck it provided blessed (albeit temporary) relief from the heat. Honestly, I don't know why I don't carry one of these indispensable cloth squares every day.
I brought along a pair of short-handled loppers for cutting pumpkins from their vines. That's what I ended up using 99% of the time, but I thought that a medium-sized fixed-blade knife might come in handy, too, so I slipped a Bark River Gunny onto my belt -- not the one that I wrote about a year ago, rather a Micarta-handled version bought at well below dealer cost from a shop that was reducing inventory.Capable as the Gunny is, it generally isn't the right tool for the job of harvesting pumpkins. (My 18-year-old, who carried his own bargain-basement Gunny on Monday, concurs.) See, at this point in the season their tough, woody stems no longer are securely attached, and it proved almost impossible to apply enough force to cut the stem without breaking it off (thereby junkin' the punkin). I did use the knife a few times to clear vegetation, but that was about it.
I had my EDC Victorinox Farmer with me, of course. I never took it out of my pocket.
Finally, I left my Glock 19 in the safe and carried my Walther P22 -- lighter on the belt and arguably a more reasonable choice should I have had to dispatch a pumpkin-patch pest. (I didn't.) Loaded with ten rounds of CCI Stinger, the P22 rode at 4 o'clock in an El Paso Saddlery Tortilla OWB leather holster, joined at 8 o'clock by a spare ten-round magazine in an El Paso Mag Pouch.
Whatever else came out of that imperfect day, I got to spend quality time sorting out kit. If I were headed back to the pumpkin patch tomorrow -- and I'm not -- with just a few changes I believe I'd equip myself the same way.
