The multiple use gear thread

“I try to pack as light as I can on the trail so I leave the condoms at home.”

“Yah, condom will hold a lot of water.

Don't get the lubricated ones for this.”

“dub, really now! They said that during the Damascus Trail Days. Condoms are good for all sorts. Protecting wounds, holding water, etc... use your imaginagine.

You don't have to think about S E X all the time!! Dangid!!”

“You can use those AOl CD's for a "little-critter-keeper-offer" when you hang your food bag (credit jerbear), a mirror for you or a signal mirror.”

“I would think it foolish to put things which go in the eye into a used film container. I've heard its REALLY difficult to get all the residue out, even after repeated washings. And who doesn't have a half dozen lens cases laying around?”

“On the contact issue-

I allways pack my glasses, just incase, but I am sure u all do as well.

On longer and cooler trips, like FYAO and the buttkicker, I packed in a second set of contacts, just incase. I also do this on water trips like, if I go rafting.

My father gives me one of those emergency blankets every year along w/ other gifts. I highly recomend that every backpacker carries one of these life savers. For the low weight, and high usesableity, it is worth it. I have used the blanket as emergency socks, when I was near frostbite. I'm sure it could be used for much more. Hell you could cook a pottato in it.”

“Mmmm potato”

“Mmmm potato”

“So delicious I had to post it twice”

“speaking of potatoes - instant potatoes can be used to stop bleeding from cuts”

“So can super glue.”

“So can baking flour”

“So can direct pressure.
Buy a newspaper from a local town.
Get the local news,weather prediction,do crossword,and read funnies.
Roll up paper to swat bugs.
Put paper inside wet boots.
Use as door mat for muddy boots
inside vestibule.
Insulation.TP paper.
firestarter.”

“Cut out the bottom of a 1 gallon spring water container and it makes a nice lightweight plate and cutting board.”

“I might as well use my condoms for water containers...before they reach their experation date.






































Oops...too late!”

“yeah put I am more likely to have instant potatoes on the trail than I am super glue

direct pressure works on many cuts but a bad scrape like what Ewker had would have been a problem for direct pressure IMO”

“I scraped up my hip something awful. I did an extra couple of miles,hoping not to stiffen up.
I now carry a small can of spray on bandage. Did Ewkers scrape heal up ok?”

“That spray-on bandage is good stuff for scrapes! I wonder how many multiple uses we can think of for that one?


Oh and BTW, a newspaper rolled around and arm or a leg makes a good splint in a pinch also.”

“Newspaper makes a great napoleans'
hat too!”

“I always carry a small trial tube of tent sealer. I heard it's kind a like super glue if put on bleeding wounds.”

“Yeah! And paper airplanes. And homemade kites. And....OK, I'm going to walk away from this now.


No more eggnog for me, thanks.”

“I used the paper hat to make post#69. go figure!”

“tell me skullcap - would you really take a newspaper on a backpacking trip?”

“When I go on a 3 day jaunt to some
of my favorite hikes and I know the weather will be iffy. I try to pick up info on the seasons events for the local town. weather I read it in the tent or read it when I get back home.”

“I just read in a magazine that we should all cary a light weight rock, around 5 to 10 lbs. THe rock can be your friend, or a pot holder or a seat or a pillow or a tool of destruction or a paper weight.”

“A pet rock.”

“sitting on a rock = a cold arse.”

“Might get hemmeroids doing that too.”

“sitting on a rock = a cold arse.
Sassafras
06:58:41 AM
01/06/04

A friend of mine had his arse cheeks freeze together from doing that.”

“Preparation H is said to make cuts heal faster.”

“I carry a 4 foot length of 3/8" plastic tubing with a 3" brass fitting on the end. If the weather is rainy and if firewood is soggy, I use it as a "bellows" to get a fire good and hot.

socks = pot holders
socks = mittens in a pinch

Trekking pole = fishing spear
Trekking pole = Camera Ipod
Tea Candle = firestarter
Snowshoes = Deadman tent stakes
Duct Tape - Chatty Hiker Gag”

“I like the teacandle/firestarter thing, I hadn't thought of that.”

“Roam around, the Tea candle, is a bad idea. It sounds good in therory, but it does not work well. The candle will not burn hot enough to get wet wood on fire.”

“hubby tells me to take some dryer lint with me. the best fire starter!”

“lint works pritty well. Nothing beats white gass and lint.”

“Speaking as one who has been backpacking for 47 years, the tea candle works fine as long as you use the proper tinder.

What I posted was not theory Tea, I have used t candles in a pinch on several occasions.

On the other side of the coin, if lint works well, then why do you need the white gas? I can start a fire anywhere with white gas except for the fact that I don't carry it.

The real secret to any of it is the tinder, then the kindling (and the "bellows" I mentioned helps too).

AND there may be people who do not have lint r gas but MIGHT HAVE tea candles and they are better then just a match, don't you agree?

Thats what multi use is all about in adverse conditions, being able to use what you have to obtain what you need.

Unless something is UNSAFE or Counterproductive, it is never a bad idea if it is better than nothing.”

“for a tough starting fire a small container like the bottom to a tea candle filled with alcohol is a good choice for getting a fire going - better than just pouring the alcohol on the wood because it lawsts long enough to dry the wood”

“redhawk, A candle is better than a match, true. It has been my expirence that tea candles are a waste of time and weight. If they are your last resort than you are screwed. They may work with dry wood, but with wet wood it is near impossable. The flame simply does not produce enough heat.”

“Must be an indian thing then. Been using candles in a pinch for years and they have worked for me, Soaked, torrential downpours, high wind, etc.

Hot enough and burn long enough to dry the tinder and kindling and get the fir kick started.

I also carry charred cotten. Best tinder in the world, lights in an instant with even flint and steel.

Takes a little work and expertise to char the cotten, but well worth it and come to think about it, that a whole nother world of multiuse for worn t-shirts, shorts , hankies, etc. It has to be 100% cotton however.”

“Empty water at night and blow air in, use as pillow.”

“Ice Tea - the key is in the kindling that you use, take your knife and fuzz up some really small sticks, shave the bark off of damp/wet wood (its dry underneath), moss dries fast against a small flame, like a tea candle. The key is in the kindling, it shouldn't take tons of heat to get a fire going, even with damp wood, if you use the right tinder/kindling.

All the same, I tend to carry one or two of those small firestarter sticks, makes it easier, but I don't ever build a fire when I'm solo.”

“okay, the one time I tried to use a candle, was during a two day down poor. it didn't work, so I ditched the idea. I typicaly have better fire starters, like lint or those sticks, or homemade stuff. I understand kindiling, I know all about it. But the time i used a candle the wood was wetter than a fish tank. I could wring water out of it. the candle did not work then, for me. Maybe for a more experince fire master it would.”

“Listen to whatever Iced Tea says about making fires. He made a fire after a torrential rainstorm on the Pinchot trail in the midst of flash floods.”

“:-)”

“Take two old blankets and sew them together on three sides. Carry this "sleeping roll" with you.

When you get to camp, fill the blankets with leaves, cattail down, thistle down, or bark fibers, then roll the blanket around you. The colder it gets, the more stuffing you can put into it.

In the morning dump out the filling and pack it. Very lightweight.

You can also take two old shirts, remove the sleeves and sew them together n the bottom and the two sides. You can then pack this with whaterever amount of insulating materias you need for warmt on the trail. In the spring, dump out the contents and store till fall”

“I was about to switch to the candles. But in reading this, I now wonder how hot they burn. I think I will stick with cotton balls and vaseline until I find something superior to that.”

“vaseline has many uses;)”

“The cotton balls and vaseline are an Excellent Firestarter. I mentioned the candles because I carry several in my candle lantern so they are available in a pinch. I don't carry white gas or fuel so I need what I have available in a pinch.

I DO carry the vesines cotton balls with me when I remember and take th time to make some.”

“Did Ewkers scrape heal up ok?"
elfskin2
04:52:10 PM
01/05/04

yes it is slowly healing. Thanks for the concern.”

“Okay, I'm compiling this information right now...site up soon, I'll post a link. Not everything will go here as some information may belong in other areas like techniques.”