One Pot Meals |
OPMs reduce camp meal complexity and
improve camp safety and cleanliness. Click for details |
Duct Tape |
Put some Duct tape around your fuel and water bottles and
hiking stick. Duct tape can be used for quick repairs of many backcountry
problems such as :
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Fix holes in no seeum netting on tents
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Fix holes in packs (from critter attacks)
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Fix holes in down coats or sleeping bags.
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Fix tent poles that are splintering.
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Cut a corner from a closed cell foam pad and use to make an arch support
in your boots.
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Stitching the Duct Tape in with some floss and needle can effect a relatively
permanent repair. Be sure to carry a carpet needle in your emergency
med kit wrapped in ribbon nylon floss.
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Make effective bandaging for sprains and other injuries. Note: Duct
tape doesn't breath so you may have some additional issues to deal with in
long term usage.
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Blisters |
Preventing and dealing with blisters. |
Water bottles |
The light weight plastic pop drink bottles are virtually
indestructible as well as virtually 'free'. They come in a wide variety
of sizes, shapes, tops and openings. Some additional comments are
:
-
Tops -- the most indestructible tops are aluminum caps. I like the
styles that one can open without unscrewing. Carry a few extras.
-
The wide mouth styles are great for mixing liquids with dry goods as well
as for storage of dry goods such as dry soup mixes.
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Shapes. The 12 and 16 oz size can be carried in pants and shorts pockets
on day hikes without much problem. The larger formats are fine for
around the camp.
|
Get Organized
Mesh Potato Bags |
Many grocery goods can be purchased in a lightweight
mesh bag. This mesh bag can be used for numerous uses to aid in
organization of a pack.
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Clothes. I put my clothes in two basic groups in to separate nets.
The daily clothes, and weather gear. When I am taking a day hike
from camp, I merely have to throw my weather gear bag in the day pack and
I am ready to go.
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Emergency Meds and other trail goodies. I put this gear in a fine mesh
bag. This allows one to be able to localize all of this gear to a single
site for quick access as well as organization.
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Food. Put your breakfast, snacks and dinner meals are in separate mesh
bags. The mesh bags allow one to quickly locate foods. I carry
these various mesh bags are carried in a larger spare stuff sack in the main
pack.
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Control the pain |
Ibuprophen or Alleve (Naprocyn). Stomach permitting,
take two or three tabs before a hike. (over the
counter strength)
-
These medications are prostaglandin inhibitors. When muscles are damaged
or stretched, as they are during a hike, the damaged cells release prostaglandins
to attract various parts of the immune system to repair the damage.
Prostaglandin inhibitors reduce (but don't eliminate) this activity
so that one might be free of some, not all, of the post hike pain. Be
sure to take some after the hike is over.
-
Waiting to take these medications until after you are sore is like closing
the barn door after the pigs and cows escaped.
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Take them before as well as after the hike. Don't take any more than
2400 mg of ibuprofen in one day.
-
If your ears start to ring, you are taking too much and need to ease up or
discontinue taking the medications.
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Ultimate in light weight water containers |
Lightweight Water Container (aka box wine bag) -- empty
a 5 liter box wine container (preferably over a week or so), discard the
cardboard box and wash out the bag that contained the wine a few times.
A baking soda rinse helps.
-
This bag makes a super light weight storage container for water on the trail
(stuffed safely in some spot in your pack or day pack), or at camp.
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It is lightweight enough that you can carry two, in case one breaks.
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It is highly flexible so that it can be stuffed in a pack to carry substantial
amounts of water if you need to port water to a dry camp site.
-
Be sure to filter or treat the water with iodine and then neutralizer if
the water source is questionable as most is these days. Pumping
through a filter is nice, but isn't 100% reliable. Use your own judgment,
face your own consequences.
|
Carrying a Camera |
-
Hang your 35 mm camera around your neck and then strap the lens into your
sternum strap. If done right, the weight of the camera will be carried
by the strap and not your neck.
-
You can carry a small camcorder in your hand ready to shoot while your other
hand uses a walking stick.
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Get Organized |
Develop a detailed list of what to pack and where to put
it in your pack. The list will save you time when getting ready for
a trip. Pay attention to details like
-
The order you need to get things in and out of your Pack. In other words,
put all of your foul weather gear in a spot that doesn't require you to sort
through your pantry and stove to get.
-
Make it so these 'streams' of gear don't interfere with each other
as much as possible. You don't want to hold up your buddies while you
disassemble your pack to get out some rain gear or a snack and then reassemble
it again.
-
Having ready access to camera, film, snacks, water, emergency meds, flashlight
while on the trail.
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Have those items (tent, bag, food, etc) you need when setting up camp come
in or out of the pack in the order of making or breaking camp. In other
words, the tent comes out before the sleeping bag.
-
Have quick access to daypack if you are inclined to 'drop' your pack and
set out for a peak as part of your adventure.
-
Be sure to hang your pack if you leave it so bears and other critters don't
have a picnic while you take a short side trip. Carry a strong rope for this.
-
Keep a good pack list. Check and double check the list. Don't
do like I did once and leave the tent poles at home.
-
Adjust the list according to expectations of hike. Each trip has different
needs for ability to make and break camp, day hikes, food stuffs, clothes,
foul weather, bugs, etc.
|
Eternal vigilance |
Keep your eyes open for new items that appear in the
marketplace that can be adapted to backpacking. Many of the items listed
above have been adapted from common usages and, while quite usable, are of
little or no expense. |
