Pre-trip stress

“What routines do you all have for packing for a trip? Do you pack one bag that represents the clothes that you will start out wearing, one backpack, and one bag that holds the things that you want to have in the car waiting for you when you get off the trail? Some people keep their bag packed so they can dash at a moment's notice (according to some posts on other threads). But then how do you handle the items that shouldn't be stored that way, like the sleeping bag, tent poles and thermarest? Just assume that you'll remember them, and fresh food and water? I'm curious what those of you do, that go out very frequently. Do experienced people use lists, or just wing it? Do you lay everything on the floor and check your list, or just grab things and throw them in your pack?”

“For me?.. I have a room (it's actually the outbuilding) where all my stuff is stored and kept organized..”

“Most trips I dash around the house going through a mental checklist.

A few times I've actually been packed days in advance.

I don't like to leave the sleeping bag packed for more than a few days.
The same goes for the thermarest.

I just about always take a solid loaf of pumpernickel or some other tough bread from an "in store bakery".
That has to be as fresh as possible and so does the Bleu Cheese and Brie......oooo, that stuff could attract carion-eaters!

I DO usually get fairly wacked when I'm gettin' packed!”

“I DO usually get fairly wacked when I'm gettin' packed!"
Tom Terrific
07:19:17 AM
02/04/02

hummm really into S&M huh Tom”

“I usually keep all my stuff fairly well organized and together (it's not right now). It's not kept packed because I like to go through things after each trip and replace/replennish, repair, clean, etc. Plus, while some things always go on every trip, some things are terrain/season/expected weather dependent. I often keep a written checklist and use it while packing so that I don't forget something important. I have found myself adding things that I have left off the list as I'm packing.

I don't stress too much though. If I have food; water treatment and containers; the tent; sleeping bag; sleeping pad; raingear and boots, everything else can be improvised or done without to a certain extent.”

“I have a gear list that I use. When it comes time to pack I spend about 4 or 5 hours running around trying to find everything. Come 1am I'm usually packed and then spend all night worrying about where I should go.”

“I hear ya, Scully. If I take too long cleaning/repairing/replacing, then I'm not organized for the next trip. Then I need a list because I can't trust that I will remember everything. I have pulled out of the driveway without my hiking boots, and that was skeery! At this moment I can't find my trowel, probably because I intended to clean it, procrastinated, and then the garage swallowed it.”

“Yeah, Bunyip, that's the kinda wacko sh!t I'm talkin' about.

I find it helps to drink beer while preparing.”

“Yeah, it's good to keep them together even if they're undergoing maintenance. I usually do. I've got Rubbermaid boxes and a ditty bag that I keep mine in. Right now however I've started my spring cleaning early and everythings mixed up. Ahhh, to have it straightened back up by the end of the week is a dream of mine now...”

“Uh, what's the trowel for?

Not clean??”

“I know it sounds crazy, but I like to start the trip with EVERY thing clean. Must be a newbie thing.”

“I have a check list that I acquired from an expidition outfitter that I rely on.
I keep most of my packing equipment confined and, sadly enough, improperly stored to appease someone else who lives in my house.”

“Clean socks, yes, yes!!!

I washed my down bag before snowshoeing last month.
Iis four years old and I think the washing helped floof it up a bit.

I like to take a plastic vegetable brush to my boots and re-wax 'em.
I (almost) never have wet feet.”

“I don't think it's a newbie thing to practice good gear maintenance. I like to store mine clean and it gives me a good opportunity to check it for wear and tear. I really hate to be packing for a trip and find out I have to replace something at the last minute. I just want to pack and go.”

“I have lists in MSX (a car camping list and a backpacking list) that I adjust before each trip depending on the season, the length of the trip, where I'm going, and how many people I'm packing for. If I didn't have lists it would be stress! I don't stay packed all the time - clothes need to be washed, I use some gear for day trips, and I wouldn't leave my sleeping bag stuffed. I also use some things for other than backpacking. I try to stay organized but I think it's hopeless.

I clean and seal my boots after most trips - I get to feel them all over and kinda relive the trip while rubbing boot stuff on 'em. I love my boots.”

“Twiggo, you just like me!”

“The worst is the drive to the trailhead because your so worried you forgot something!”

“ANd don't forget the mustard!”

“I keep my gear in a big rubbermaid in the closet, my sleeping bag is in a seperate rubbermaid to keep from compressing it to much. I have a few cold weather clothes in with my backpacking stuff but almost all the clothes I have are multi use items. By using a checklist and following it closely, I generally don't forget anything. Before I pack, I lay everything out on the bed, much to my wifes amusement, and go down the checklist one item at a time. It sounds like a pain in the butt, but when you are missing some important piece of gear like toliet paper on the trail, the next you pack, you will use a list.”

“I never leave my bacpack packed with gear since it's not the best way to store most things. I never used to use a list, but now I have to because my memory is shot and I'm afraid I'll forget a critical piece of gear.”

“I got my walk in closet with all my gear in it. I put up shelves and hooks to put stuff on. One shelf holds only the stuff I always carry like water filter, first aid bag, stove, fuel, cook pot, spoon, lighter, headlight, ect.
Depending on temperature, terraine, and length of time out, I'll decide what pack, bag, pad, shelter, ect i'll use.
I keep any leftover or unused food in a bear cannister in the closet.

As far as cleaning my gear.............hehehe. My boots & gaitors are still mud encrusted from the last trip.”

“I am the same way I have to have everything clean and in order.I have a gear room in my house and I have all my stuff in order in that room.And when I pack my pack I go down the backpackers checklist so I know I am not going to leave anything at home.But sometimes now matter how many times you go over that list you still leave something at home.”

“Eeeek! I've got 3 of those rubbermaid things not counting the stuff I hang. My latest addition to gear is a 3 room, 8 person tent. Not for backpacking obviously, but boy are the nieces, nephews and grandkids gonna have a blast this summer - one thing they all agree on - from age 1 to age 12 - is that tenting is a blast!

So the list is an age thing, eh? I used to spend my trip to the trail head running over in my mind what I'd packed, but the list pretty much eliminates that. A new-to-packin'-friend asked what I bring and I gave her a list - complete with check-off boxes. She laughed and called me anal but asked for it next time we went.

'dude your boots are dying to be felt up - give 'em some love baby.”

“I touch and play with me gear all the time.....:p
It's fun...:)”

“I'll feel of my boots this weekend. I ain't touchin them nasty motherfuc#ers now.”

“LOL WD......:)”

“One more vote for a gear list. I made one with check boxes and divide it into different sections: essentials, day trip, overnight, food/cookware, kayaking, photography, etc.”

“Everything fits in my pack a certain way, so it gets packed in the same order.

I forgot my boots one trip, when we switched trucks last minute. SnowDude didn't see my boots in a plastic bag on the floor, and I didn't check.

I have the plastic bins too. I don't like to pack the sleeping bag til last, and of course, it goes in the bottom of the pack.”

“I know alot of BPkers put their sleeping bag inside their pack...doesn't that take up a lot of space? I always have my sleeping bag on top of my pack, my tent hanging on the bottom of the pack and my sleeping pad strapped on the side....that way it leaves the pack more room for the rest of the stuff.”

“Mine is internal, and everything except my chair and camelback goes inside. My sleeping bag doesn't take up much space when its stuffed (7x15 stuff sack)”

“Mine is internal also...

Having the sleeping bag on top (anywhere outside) would still give you 7" X 15" more space inside the pack.

I guess everyone has their own style of packing.”

“About 25% of the time I get everything packed a couple of days ahead except fresh food. That really reduces the stress the night before and morning of.

Most of the time I work from Phil's packweight estimator, but that still could omit a few items.

I let my thermarest and down back air out between trips.”

“But Stanlee,
If I free up the space inside, its more weight I have to carry.... ;)”

“Snow Nymph, I know what you mean...my pack weights in at around 45lbs (solo BPking)...and that's just for a weekend...holy cowsters.”

“I can't think of 45 pounds worth of stuff I'd need! My pack weighed 35 pounds at the start of a 6 day trip in the White Mountains. That even included my Photo gear.”

“Phil, I do that too. It also gives you a couple of days to mull over the contents and add things you've forgotten or decide you might like to have.”

“I usually wind up removing stuff if I try to pack that early.”

“I have to pack early; otherwise I am late to meet my friends at the trailhead. But if I pack early, then just before I leave, I have to take it apart, and put it together again. Then I don't spend the whole drive thinking that I forgot something. And lists are great, but each trip has different needs, depending on weather, menu and how many nights out, so each trip gets its own list.”

“I have a list, but most of the gear has its own place in the pack and I notice if it is missing. I group things in ziplocks. Kitchen stuff, miscellaneous stuff stay together for the most part. I have the Rubbermaid tubs, but something is always left in a day pack instead of the tubs.

The most often forgotten item is a spoon or salt. I forgot coffee once!?!?!”

“I haven't been that satisfied with my camp coffee. It has been a little frustrating.”

“Camp coffee is very simple. Put water in pot. Put coffee in pot. I don't mean a coffee pot. Just a pot like a sauce pan. Bring to boil. Drizzle cold water over coffee to sink coffee grounds.

Percolators, coffee filters, and starbucks won't do as good a job as boiling coffee in a regular pot. Try it at home on the stove.”

“Thanks, I will try it.”

“I forgot coffee once too! Yikes!





He's right, that's the best way to make coffee.”

“Two things worry me about some of the comments on this thread.

1. You must clean your boots, not only to protect them so that they last longer but more importantly to prevent the introduction of weeds and or fungi into different hiking locations. What might appear as a harmless piece of grass could have the potential to do all sorts of damage. We have a problem in Western Australia where a type Fungi has caused dieback in the Kauri forests. PLEASE CLEAN YOUR BOOTS!!

2.You strap your sleeping bag on top of your pack?
Say for example you paid $100 for your sleeping bag,
What happens if you snag it on a branch?
Boof, you get feathers in all direction.
What happens if you fall over while crossing a creek, you go to sleep in a bag of porridge (oatmeal).
What happens if the strap breaks or gets snagged or unbuckles, you get pissed off because you lost your $100 sleeping bag.
It's your choice of course.

So clean ya bloody boots and putcha sleepin bag in ya pack!”

“Two things worry me about some of the comments on this thread.

1. You must clean your boots, not only to protect them so that they last longer but more importantly to prevent the introduction of weeds and or fungi into different hiking locations. What might appear as a harmless piece of grass could have the potential to do all sorts of damage. We have a problem in Western Australia where a type Fungi has caused dieback in the Kauri forests. PLEASE CLEAN YOUR BOOTS!!

2.You strap your sleeping bag on top of your pack?
Say for example you paid $100 for your sleeping bag,
What happens if you snag it on a branch?
Boof, you get feathers in all direction.
What happens if you fall over while crossing a creek, you go to sleep in a bag of porridge (oatmeal).
What happens if the strap breaks or gets snagged or unbuckles, you get pissed off because you lost your $100 sleeping bag.
It's your choice of course.

So clean ya bloody boots and putcha sleepin bag in ya pack!”

“I always forget something. As I turn out of the driveway I'm always thinking, "I wonder what I forgot this time. Must not have been very important!" Thick hiking socks and coffee have been the biggest blunders so far.”

“I pretend I am camping to check to see if I have everything. I hate to pack early until I see a weather forcast to help me judge which sleeping bag I will need and what clothes and how much water. I pack car food and water(emergency) and dry clothing in laundry baskets. I take the clothes I will be hiking in and roll them up together. Ditto for the dry car clothes and shoes. I do little things like what I call the bathroom bag when I get home from a trip and replace anything I have used up so all I have to do with that stuff is check it over. I do have a storage closet but I have stuff all over the house.”

“You have to forget something. It's some kind of universal law.”

“I agree with Bunyip!

In Maine you have to clean the bottom of your boat because this nasty invasive plant called milfoil is killing our lakes.”

“"... you lost your $100 sleeping bag.
"
Bunyip
07:54:12 AM
02/05/02

That happened to a friend on a 3 day trip. We were on a high trail and his strap was loose. He watched his sleeping back bounce down the steep slope. He shared a sleeping bag with his wife for 2 nights. On the way out, he decided to find the bag. He got lucky because it got stuck and didn't go all the way, but it wasn't easy to get down there.”