Jeepergeo
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Posts posted by Jeepergeo
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Have you considered a cot instead of a pad on the ground? Therm-a-Rest has a packable, ultra-light cot. They are expensive and are a little complicated to put together, and losing just one part can be a problem. But once assembled, you should get a good night sleep. Note that in cold weather, you will need a pad on the cot for that lower side insulation.
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If you go with a kindling stove, many areas will consider the stove to be an open fire and require a permit or outright prohibit the stove's use.
My preference is white gas in a stove that has a pump. I have used both MSR with removable bottles and Coleman with fixed bottles, both with pumps, and liked them both. The MSR was a bit lighter, but the Coleman made up for its weight via convenience and ease of use.
Coleman Backpack Stove, Fixed Bottle. Very nice, wide burner, even heat on pan bottom.
MSR Backpack Stove, Removable Bottle. Focused hot spot, good for boiling water fast, but creates a concentrated hot spot on pan, so pancakes are out!
Coleman now has a removable bottle stove too, but I have not tried it, but it looks pretty nice.
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On a recent trip up and down Mt. Baden Powell, I had homemade GORP. The homemade stuff is sooooo much better than the pre-bagged and factory made stuff. Mine had: Cherrios, almonds, M&Ms, dried cranberries, yellow raisins, granola cereal, and freeze dried strawberries. The stuff was pretty yummy, and was definitely filling. I'm glad I had the time to bag some of my own rather than running by the store and buying some.
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I might have a new "favorite", or at least a new memory to add.
After two weeks hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico (Philmont) and living on dehydrated food for the most part, plus Lars Bars, Gatorade, Crackers, Deviled Ham, Tuna and the like, and some base camp stew, we climbed onto Amtrak at Raton, New Mexico for the ride home. That evening, while riding across New Mexico outside of Albuquerque, we went to the dining car, where with white table cloth service, I ordered the Flat Iron steak. I thought it would be a tough cut of rail food, but boy was I surprised. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had. Eating while watching the desert go by and the sun setting, the meal was truly memorable.
Thank you everyone for adding your memories to this thread.
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In a pinch, a 15 minute fuse (road flare) will start even wet wood burning. They stinkwhile burning, but in an emergency, who cares?
I carried one for years, but never had a need to use one in an emergency, but would replace my "carry fuse" every year or two and, of course, properly dispose of the old one by starting a camp fire with it in a fire ring at base camp or on the beach.
These days, I carry strike anywhere matches, a lighter, and a magnesium and striker block (Harbor Freight, $1.99), and some charred linen in a tin mint box.
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It's something I think about especially when my daughter is with me. What happens if we come across a mountain lion or some dumbass yahoo while out in the middle of the Hills. I have my .45 but my daughter has nothing except her wits and trumpet playing lungs. If I remember the information correctly from my SD CCW booklet, being a minor she can't even carry my .22 with permission since we would be on Forest Service land and not private land.
I need to increase my safety equipment beyond a small first aide kit, flashlight, cell phone, orange mesh vest and gun.
A gun is not on either my 10 Essentials or even my 20 Essentials list for backpacking. I suppose it depends on where you go backpacking. But in way too many years of backing in all parts of California, Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico, I have personally never run into a situation where having a gun would have produced a better outcome than other skills. But I suppose that women may have a slightly higher risk of running into problems with the two-legged beasts that roam some trailheads.
For your daughter, consider a nice size can of bear repellent. It is lighter than most guns and less likely to cause you legal problems or personal injury. Recently, a woman near where I used to live came home and found someone in her house. She sprayed him with bear repellent and he was soon apprehended by Sheriff's Deputies. And guess what? The bad guy was an LAPD officer!
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LOL! That would mean never camping above 2000' or so up here in Alaska!The ground is for walking on. Ditch the tent, hang a hammock.
On topic: My North Face Westwind has been pitched and rolled over one hundred times during the past twenty years. The only obvious wear and tear that can be seen is the spot on the rain fly that someone touched a hot Coleman lantern to. I think keeping the tent clean and dry between uses is more important than whether it is rolled or stuffed.
Conversely, our down sleeping bags always get stuffed during trips (wouldn't stand a chance of rolling one to fit into a bag) and stored "loose" in muslim hanging bags.
+10 on the clean and dry storage for the tent and fluffed storage for the sleeping bags. We've had a few Scouts unpack tents previously stored wet from the last trip...it is amazing how much those tents reek!
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For lunch on the trail, it is hard to beat pilot biscuits and Jalapeno Squeeze Cheese, washed down with some Gatorade or some cool, fresh, just filtered
water from the stream. -
It's good to see this topic recovered.
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It seems like the best way to find a thread is to go outside to Google and search for it there. I searched for a topic I had started using the forum tools and was not able to find it, but found it via Google in about 15 seconds.
Thanks, I've been doing that as well and have recovered a few for Moun10Bike. I assume you have been to the new forum location and seen the topic there to get others to do that as well, he will move them back when located.
Edit: I see you did with two more! It's starting to move now.
Doug 7rxc
How do you move them back? Report to Admin with request, or is there a way for a member to move something back?
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Here's a few threads that I started that I'd like to see back:
http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=220772
http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=222962
http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=213812
It seems like the easiest way to find a thread is to Google it.
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It seems like the best way to find a thread is to go outside to Google and search for it there. I searched for a topic I had started using the forum tools and was not able to find it, but found it via Google in about 15 seconds.
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I'm glad that Hiking and Backpacking was restored as a forum...
But I notice that there is still a lot of threads that could be returned to it.
Not all would fit in with the new thinking of course, but there were a few that were one of the main reasons for using it.
I can find only 9 or so at present, despite opening up my filters to look.
Doug 7rxc
The search routine and filters don't seem to be working all that well, or maybe they work fine and some old thread have just vanished. It would seem that threads with a substantial number of views should be moved back automatically since the number of views suggests a level of community interest.
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I also wish the hiking/backpacking forum had stayed. I'm not sure we really want trail recipes and tent recommendations in the main forum.
Please, Groundspeak?
I might lose my job
, but I made an executive decision to add the Hiking and Backpacking forum back to the Related Topics section and just finished doing so.As for the other changes, they were vetted out for several weeks among active cachers and moderators. Some decisions were made for reasons that may not be apparent to those unaware of a given topic's history, etc. We are aware that you cannot please everyone but strive to make changes that please the majority.
Thank you for restoring that forum.
It would just be nice to make the process a bit more democratic since we are the consumers of the product. Not sure what the subjective definition of an "active cacher" is - someone with 10K+ finds maybe? Not sure about that. At any rate, thanks again for bringing the forum back and I applaud the good intention.
I don't think this is something the Admins really needed to take a vote on. It seems like many if not most users viewed the forum as an important part of the Geocaching Community, and most folks in the Community do geocaching and other things, and the forum became a place to talk about many related things. The reorganization does not seem to have been accomplished with much awareness and/or appreciation of why folks come and many pay to be members. Imagine Starbucks coming in to their stores one day and saying that the only thing customers could talk about are strong coffee and clove cigarettes.
My membership just AutoRenewed, so I'm here for another 11 months, but that AutoRenew feature is being turned off because Geocaching dot com is on my watch list of items to cut out of the budget unless they can prove to me that they appreciate the geocaching community (and not just rabid geocachers).
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Back in September I spent 3 days back-country camping in the Grand Canyon.The best food that we had to eat was Mountain House Brand beef stroganoff.This was made even better by adding pieces of beef jerky to the package before the hot water was added.Let's hear about your favorite trail foods .
That is definitely one of my Mountain House favorites. The mashed potatoes, meatballs, and gravy are another one.
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Backpacking with the Boy scouts never leaves too much free time. One thing I have implemented that I have grown to enjoy is a group meeting around the fire before bed. We call it rose petals, buds, and thorns. I make each person in turn think of one thing that they really enjoyed/liked (petal), something that was ok/needs improvement(buds), and something that did no go well and needs to be improved(thorns). It is amazing some of the stuff they come up with. Aside from that, I am always teaching them to enjoy the moment to just decompress - wildlife, HITO, cacheing, the night skies, ...etc - its the journey and not the destination.
Jack
Take your Scouts to Philmont and do a Trek (suggest ~75 miles). I don't think I've ever been on any vacation (our Scout outing) where I had more free time.
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Accidentally killing someone else or myself.
That was a waste of time taking gun safety lessons then? You could say the same thing about driving a car. I don't think people should carry just because they can, there should be some training involved. Right now I'm teaching my wife to shoot and how to handle guns and she also went to a carry class. When she becomes comfortable with everything she will be getting a carry permit. I think things are going to get a lot worse in this country before they get better, and hearing other people talk I don't think I'm alone feeling this way.
No, it wasn't a waste at all. I was 12 and I needed the lessons because I shot target a lot. I went hunting once.
But shooting target is different than having a gun on you in the woods, being startled and possibly acting too quickly. I wouldn't think I could make such a mistake but you never know. I have been very startled out there and I notice even small animals make big noises.
I wet caching during hunting season accidentally, and I was surprised to see people with guns out there. I felt very nervous.
I admire people that know their limits and act accordingly. There are too many folks out there carrying weapons and are way outside of their capabilities. The problem is the CCW laws in many states. In California, your capability with a firearm is at best a minor consideration in issuing a CCW permit. The biggest factor is knowing the sheriff and political connections. Yeah, right...the police will protect you...
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Reading a good book is always a treat on a backpacking trip.
Recently, I read a book that consisted of 22 short stories and journal articles written by John Muir. This collection of stories was particularly interesting because each story featured John Muir describing a near life threatening situation he'd faced during his life. And the stories were all in Johh's amazingly insightful and beautifuly prose. Wow, what a full life that guy lived.
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What about a couple of large Garbage sacks, plus they cover packs very nicely when Hiking or that overnight. 
Good point. Garbage bags are like duct tape...many uses in the field.
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If your hiking will take you into any sort of wilderness or isolated area, The Ten Essentials should be on your list. The 10E list takes on many forms and can evolve based on location and season. A great starting point is the 10E list prepared by the Boy Scouts. See the link below for a link to another post covering the 10E's.
http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=266118&view=findpost&p=4608949
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For most backpacking field navigation, a simple baseplate compass will provide the accuracy and reliability that you need. The Silva Explorer Pro (see image below) can be had for well under $30 and will probably last a lifetime with reasonable care.
I use a Silva baseplate compass that I purchased in the early 1970's, and it still works fine after years of being carried in backpacks and a lot of use in the field. My Silva has been used to teach dozens of Boy Scouts how to navigate with a map and compass, so it has held up well. I wish its needle was alcohol or oil damped, but it's not, but I have never thought it was reason enough to replace the compass. I still have the Silva instruction sheet, which I think is much better than the current one they ship with new compasses.
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I hear that if you join the service, they are free.
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This weekend I went on a relatively short day hike and had a great lunch. The lunch consisted of the following:
- Two peanut butter and jam sandwiches (extra PB&J on each, to the point of being messy)
- Homemade peanut butter cookies (sugar sprinkled on top)
- Raw Carrots
- Dried Wasabi Peas
- Ritz Crackers
This lunch sounds sort of basic, but boy did it taste good. Maybe it was because it had been awhile since I'd been on the trail.
The hike was originally planned for about 5 miles, but due to some trail relocations and a new "honor camp" in the area, we ended up going 7.48 miles per the GPS. It would be nice if USGS would update their maps...the map for this area was last updated in 1994, and had an original date in the 70's when they converted from 15" to 7.5" maps). It was a great day to be outside, and the lunch just really hit the spot.
- Two peanut butter and jam sandwiches (extra PB&J on each, to the point of being messy)
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That saw blade on the top side looks like it could rip or tear the owner's flesh or gear pretty easily. The one you bought is not something I'd want to carry much.
I've used a Military Surplus machete from the Viet Nam era a time or two, one of conventional design, and it not only worked great, it was pretty cheap to purchase. That said, I have not had it out in the field for maybe 20 years, and as I recall, one could work up some nice blisters using the thing.
water from the stream.
What about a couple of large Garbage sacks, plus they cover packs very nicely when Hiking or that overnight. 
Home Made (DIY) fire starters
in Hiking/backpacking
Posted
In a pinch, it is hard to beat this: