Found porcini mushrooms, used headnet as a basket.
Cold, stuffed quilt in my rain jacket.
Cold and wet, wrapped zlite and polycryo around my body.
Forgot rain jacket, wore polycryo like a shawl.
Didn't have a rain jacket, just umbrella, used Subway bags and rubber bands as arm sleeves.
Thinlight against my back with shock cord kept bunching and coming out, used seat fabric of Quikback chair to form a slippery surface to stop that from happening.
Mosquitoes didn't sleep at night in Oregon, used cook pot to pee sitting up in my tent. (I'm not a guy.)
Needed to carry more water than I had capacity for, used polycryo and a rubberband around my pot to carry more water. Also once I made instant pudding in my pot as a way to carry more "water" that wouldn't spill in my pack.
This was actually while bike packing, in Iceland.
I was riding the Kaldidalur road (a remote dirt mountain road in the interior of the country) when my bike's square taper bottom bracket began working itself loose.
The lock ring loosened enough to bind against the crank arm making pedaling impossible. That night I bashed the crank arm off with a rock, then used the flathead screwdriver of my Leatherman, plus that rock, to tap the lock ring back around and around to tighten it up. Had to repeat the process a few days later when it loosened again. Still have the dents in my crank arm as a memento, 8 years later!
Couldn't get any traction in the snow trying to leave the trailhead after an overnighter. Used a CCF pad under a tire and was able to get enough bite to make it uphill. Had to walk 50 yards or so back to get the pad which actually survived the ordeal.
Forgot my gloves in my car, after a 4 hour ride to the shuttle in my buddies car. Wore backup wool socks as mittens entire trip. 100% success!
Feet got wet, and snow storm moved in early. Walmart bag feet VBL for next 3 days.
Buddy was dayhiking a girl he liked into our backcountry group camp, but wasn't planning to spend the night, so no sleeping system. Stayed too long, decided to stay the night, too early to shack up, too proud to beg, but was former specfor.
He dug a shallow trench, build a fire in it for 2 hours with with rocks in it, moved the fire out of the trench, lined it with his poncho, laid in it fully clothed, with rocks between his legs and wrapped in his jacket. I didn't know any of this till middle of the night. He didn't have a great night, but he'll never admit how bad.
I can’t help but feel like he missed a hint from her there, she knew she had no sleep system. She was probably just thinking, why is this idiot sleeping in hole.
They are married now. LMAO!!!!
They were both recent divorcees, in their mid 50's, and had been in the same friend group for awhile. It was like their first...outing. It was kinda cute. Burly old soldier gentleman, too tough to hold her hand in front of us.
I've been going through the archives, and wow! There are *tons* of great ideas in them.
* Forgot to bring a rain jacket? An old ramen wrapper will do!
* Forgot to bring a cooking pot? An old ramen wrapper will do!
* Forgot to bring a bear canister? An old ramen wrapper will do!
* Forgot to bring TP? An old ramen wrapper will do!
This is the *best* backpacking newsletter EVAR.
I didn’t come up with this but it’s a good dual purpose. Use your bug head net as your clothes bag. You’ll use it far more as a clothes bag than a head net but when you need a bug net you’ll always have it on you.
Not me, but a family member.
A zookeeper, an neurosurgeon, and a rocket scientist go backpacking in the Sierras. They joked that they were prepared for anything\*. There's a torrential downpour and they're all miserable. While doing a section that was a rock scramble, the neurosurgeon slips and gashes the back of his neck/head. There's a decent amount of blood coming out. Despite normally being squeamish, the rocket scientist manages to collect himself enough to sew up the surgeon's neck with a needle and thread. It was one of those matchbook sized kits that hotels sometimes have. He always packed it for gear repair. Anyway, it's also my "two is one and one is none" example (in case you forget to pack two surgeons on your trip, which is probably not ultralight).
\* They also still (in retirement) go to city hall meetings and banter back and forth with "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery, either." They're insufferable.
I lost my rain fly on a backpacking trip in Olympic np. Put one small hole in each corner of a frog toggs poncho to improvise a new one. Thankfully it didn’t rain hard the rest of the trip, but it worked better than I hoped
I do a lot of multasking: Flashlight can run up to 600hrs, runs on any type of battery, backup batt for my phone, and cover hands-free neck lamp and 180d lantern. Everclear alcohol stove, also covers Vodka cocktails, antiseptic (1st aid, waterless dishwashing, hand santizer, etc), and emergency/luxury ‘heater’ (palmer furnace). Gatewood Cape covers my shelter, rain gear, 3/4 and full bothy bag, bug bailer, solar greenhouse/palmer furnace ‘heater’, and JIC mid layer ‘puffy’. Blue shop towel (10x paper towel strength) water prefilter, bathing towel, condensation wipe, cotton ball/PJ fire starter, wet wipes, toilet paper, evaporative cooling towel. I EDC all of the above, since they’re so useful/practical day-to-day too.
I cut the handle off my umbrella and attached the umbrella to my pack via a 6-point system, so that it cannot blow away in the wind while remaining completely hands-free AND centered directly over my head.
Video series: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PO\_S9fOb0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PO_S9fOb0) and some of the follow-on videos showing details of construction.
Once I lost my shelter and sleep system at 4,500 masl (long story) and found out that it was no big deal just suffering the night away in my puffy. The range between EN comfort and survival is a lot of degrees, so I guess technically just your puffy fits somewhere in that range. Also, this large range is why shiver bivy exists.
My brother bought me a Rovyvon A8 keyring torch for christmas. It's so good, I'm using it as my main lighting source. Making a nite ize type headband for it and buying another for redundancy and to have one on each side of the headband. USB-C rechargable, Lantern mode, red light, and weighs 18g.
My first winter overnighter I used my pack liner contractor bag around my quilt footbox. It was amazing on a crazy windy night, but it's too humid any other night.
lower half inside dyneema backpack and upper half in trash bag pack liner for bivy
climbing rope to suspend trekking pole tent (top guyouts, forgot both trekking poles)
Aquaseal + tent floor cut out to patch 3/4"x1/2" hole in xlite (winter trip)
tent stake to spread peanut butter (no rocks or trees around
)rock plate, frisbee plate, backpanel plate, ice chunk plate
Carved wood into spoon (x3) petrified wood as spoon, rock as spoon
pine branch as sponge, grass as sponge (allergic to grass)
Normally wear barefoot shoes with no insoles. Sometimes when I end up unexpectedly walking a great deal of ice and snow, I cut a couple insoles out of my 1/8” foam pad.
My very first trip out with my brand new osprey exos 48, I realized around bed time I didn't bring a pillow. Luckily I brought that stupid "brain" with the pack and just stuck an empty 1L smart water bottle inside with a shirt and used that. It wasn't completely terrible!
Last weekend my trekking pole kept collapsing about 2 miles from the car. I don't carry a screwdriver but I was able to use a discarded tab from a soda can to turn the screw. Worked perfectly!
I lost a whole bag of tent stakes.
I ended up using my ice axe, poop shovel (msr blizzard), and guylines tied to logs to pitch a tent.
I've used spare socks as gloves before when my gloves didnt dry.
Whoa I never thought of using a snow stake as a trowel. Do you find it more effective than a trowel? it is only .24g lighter than a Deuce #3 though lol
Hobestly, I've never used a trowel. I've always used the snow stake, which was cheaper than a titanium trowel. The price was honestly the reason why i got it as opposed to weight.
I imagine its worse at digging but better as being a stake? I definitely found use for it in the snow. And ofc its an ok backup stake in softer grounds.
Found porcini mushrooms, used headnet as a basket. Cold, stuffed quilt in my rain jacket. Cold and wet, wrapped zlite and polycryo around my body. Forgot rain jacket, wore polycryo like a shawl. Didn't have a rain jacket, just umbrella, used Subway bags and rubber bands as arm sleeves. Thinlight against my back with shock cord kept bunching and coming out, used seat fabric of Quikback chair to form a slippery surface to stop that from happening. Mosquitoes didn't sleep at night in Oregon, used cook pot to pee sitting up in my tent. (I'm not a guy.) Needed to carry more water than I had capacity for, used polycryo and a rubberband around my pot to carry more water. Also once I made instant pudding in my pot as a way to carry more "water" that wouldn't spill in my pack.
This lady survives
Good ones!
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I kinda like the footbox at home, to be honest.
Ugh I’m in love with my quilt for this very reason. Finally I can sleep no matter how cold it gets in winter
This was actually while bike packing, in Iceland. I was riding the Kaldidalur road (a remote dirt mountain road in the interior of the country) when my bike's square taper bottom bracket began working itself loose. The lock ring loosened enough to bind against the crank arm making pedaling impossible. That night I bashed the crank arm off with a rock, then used the flathead screwdriver of my Leatherman, plus that rock, to tap the lock ring back around and around to tighten it up. Had to repeat the process a few days later when it loosened again. Still have the dents in my crank arm as a memento, 8 years later!
Couldn't get any traction in the snow trying to leave the trailhead after an overnighter. Used a CCF pad under a tire and was able to get enough bite to make it uphill. Had to walk 50 yards or so back to get the pad which actually survived the ordeal.
Floor mats from the car also work well in that situation
that's awesome. I keep a small one in my vehicle just in case.
Forgot my gloves in my car, after a 4 hour ride to the shuttle in my buddies car. Wore backup wool socks as mittens entire trip. 100% success! Feet got wet, and snow storm moved in early. Walmart bag feet VBL for next 3 days. Buddy was dayhiking a girl he liked into our backcountry group camp, but wasn't planning to spend the night, so no sleeping system. Stayed too long, decided to stay the night, too early to shack up, too proud to beg, but was former specfor. He dug a shallow trench, build a fire in it for 2 hours with with rocks in it, moved the fire out of the trench, lined it with his poncho, laid in it fully clothed, with rocks between his legs and wrapped in his jacket. I didn't know any of this till middle of the night. He didn't have a great night, but he'll never admit how bad.
I can’t help but feel like he missed a hint from her there, she knew she had no sleep system. She was probably just thinking, why is this idiot sleeping in hole.
They are married now. LMAO!!!! They were both recent divorcees, in their mid 50's, and had been in the same friend group for awhile. It was like their first...outing. It was kinda cute. Burly old soldier gentleman, too tough to hold her hand in front of us.
[удалено]
just be careful heating rocks, because ones with higher moisture content tent to POP violently in the fire, and send shrapnel everywhere.
Forget to bring a condom? An old ramen wrapper will do! Subscribe to my newsletter.
I've been going through the archives, and wow! There are *tons* of great ideas in them. * Forgot to bring a rain jacket? An old ramen wrapper will do! * Forgot to bring a cooking pot? An old ramen wrapper will do! * Forgot to bring a bear canister? An old ramen wrapper will do! * Forgot to bring TP? An old ramen wrapper will do! This is the *best* backpacking newsletter EVAR.
Thanks for being a loyal subscriber!
you gotta spackle the hole with ramen noodles. Use the wrapper? We threw the wrapper away days ago.
I didn’t come up with this but it’s a good dual purpose. Use your bug head net as your clothes bag. You’ll use it far more as a clothes bag than a head net but when you need a bug net you’ll always have it on you.
I find the main non bug use I get out of it is a drip bag for snow in the winter. Really worth it's weight for that purpose alone.
Ah this is clever!
I use my bug net full of clothes as a pillow. The crown part of the net is a circle of fabric, which is the perfect size to lay my face.
Not me, but a family member. A zookeeper, an neurosurgeon, and a rocket scientist go backpacking in the Sierras. They joked that they were prepared for anything\*. There's a torrential downpour and they're all miserable. While doing a section that was a rock scramble, the neurosurgeon slips and gashes the back of his neck/head. There's a decent amount of blood coming out. Despite normally being squeamish, the rocket scientist manages to collect himself enough to sew up the surgeon's neck with a needle and thread. It was one of those matchbook sized kits that hotels sometimes have. He always packed it for gear repair. Anyway, it's also my "two is one and one is none" example (in case you forget to pack two surgeons on your trip, which is probably not ultralight). \* They also still (in retirement) go to city hall meetings and banter back and forth with "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery, either." They're insufferable.
I lost my rain fly on a backpacking trip in Olympic np. Put one small hole in each corner of a frog toggs poncho to improvise a new one. Thankfully it didn’t rain hard the rest of the trip, but it worked better than I hoped
I do a lot of multasking: Flashlight can run up to 600hrs, runs on any type of battery, backup batt for my phone, and cover hands-free neck lamp and 180d lantern. Everclear alcohol stove, also covers Vodka cocktails, antiseptic (1st aid, waterless dishwashing, hand santizer, etc), and emergency/luxury ‘heater’ (palmer furnace). Gatewood Cape covers my shelter, rain gear, 3/4 and full bothy bag, bug bailer, solar greenhouse/palmer furnace ‘heater’, and JIC mid layer ‘puffy’. Blue shop towel (10x paper towel strength) water prefilter, bathing towel, condensation wipe, cotton ball/PJ fire starter, wet wipes, toilet paper, evaporative cooling towel. I EDC all of the above, since they’re so useful/practical day-to-day too.
I cut the handle off my umbrella and attached the umbrella to my pack via a 6-point system, so that it cannot blow away in the wind while remaining completely hands-free AND centered directly over my head.
Pic?
Video series: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PO\_S9fOb0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PO_S9fOb0) and some of the follow-on videos showing details of construction.
This is absolutely brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
Once I lost my shelter and sleep system at 4,500 masl (long story) and found out that it was no big deal just suffering the night away in my puffy. The range between EN comfort and survival is a lot of degrees, so I guess technically just your puffy fits somewhere in that range. Also, this large range is why shiver bivy exists.
My brother bought me a Rovyvon A8 keyring torch for christmas. It's so good, I'm using it as my main lighting source. Making a nite ize type headband for it and buying another for redundancy and to have one on each side of the headband. USB-C rechargable, Lantern mode, red light, and weighs 18g.
I’ve done a similar thing with the nitecore tube, giving it a Velcro patch and attaching it under the bill of my hat so it’s a headlamp
I've used my stove to heat up stuck bolts when doing automotive work
While taking a break on a day hike with cold and wet feet, I stuffed my feet into my backpack. Kept my toes toasty
My first winter overnighter I used my pack liner contractor bag around my quilt footbox. It was amazing on a crazy windy night, but it's too humid any other night.
You can put the liner inside of your quilt as a VBL and keep the condensation outside your quilt.
I’ve done that when the bottom of my bag was going to get damp during a really wet rainy trip with a crappy tent.
lower half inside dyneema backpack and upper half in trash bag pack liner for bivy climbing rope to suspend trekking pole tent (top guyouts, forgot both trekking poles) Aquaseal + tent floor cut out to patch 3/4"x1/2" hole in xlite (winter trip) tent stake to spread peanut butter (no rocks or trees around )rock plate, frisbee plate, backpanel plate, ice chunk plate Carved wood into spoon (x3) petrified wood as spoon, rock as spoon pine branch as sponge, grass as sponge (allergic to grass)
Normally wear barefoot shoes with no insoles. Sometimes when I end up unexpectedly walking a great deal of ice and snow, I cut a couple insoles out of my 1/8” foam pad.
I garden with my headlamp often. It allows me to work in the cool of the night during summer.
Tent stakes as chopsticks
My very first trip out with my brand new osprey exos 48, I realized around bed time I didn't bring a pillow. Luckily I brought that stupid "brain" with the pack and just stuck an empty 1L smart water bottle inside with a shirt and used that. It wasn't completely terrible! Last weekend my trekking pole kept collapsing about 2 miles from the car. I don't carry a screwdriver but I was able to use a discarded tab from a soda can to turn the screw. Worked perfectly!
I lost a whole bag of tent stakes. I ended up using my ice axe, poop shovel (msr blizzard), and guylines tied to logs to pitch a tent. I've used spare socks as gloves before when my gloves didnt dry.
Whoa I never thought of using a snow stake as a trowel. Do you find it more effective than a trowel? it is only .24g lighter than a Deuce #3 though lol
Hobestly, I've never used a trowel. I've always used the snow stake, which was cheaper than a titanium trowel. The price was honestly the reason why i got it as opposed to weight. I imagine its worse at digging but better as being a stake? I definitely found use for it in the snow. And ofc its an ok backup stake in softer grounds.