You know you're a real backpacker when.. .

“Yep, that counts Gremlin, I'm coming to the same conclusion myself perhaps.

Barking mad we is!”

“Nice to have company.”

“Ya know, #9 is true too. I'm so ashamed. ;)”

“I don't feel so "Un-normal" anymore...
we should compile a book of these

CJ”

“got to agree with nimble too. i would NEVER put all my gear in the attic or in a garage. Nice and neet in my closet. A couple month ago I moved some of my street clothes in the attic, but never my gear.

and what grem said...i'll do that in my next life. wasn't into hiking 16 years ago.”

“Lol, did I say nice and neat? Glad no one can look through my 'puter screen.”

“- You have more camping equipment in your garage than tools or automotive supplies.
- You check your wood stove at home one too many times each night just to check out the flames, and the smell.
- You make plans with family and friends AFTER you have scheduled in trips.
- You change/cancel plans with family and friends just to make a trip.
- You walk around Home Depot looking at the lightweight raw materials thinking "I wonder what I can make out of THAT for use on the trail?"
- You spend more time at work on TT than doing the work you are paid to do, all the while wishing you were really on the trail.”

“- You change/cancel plans with family and friends just to make a trip.

Muahaha! I had family that decided they wanted to come down at the same time I am leaving for florida...believe me, thats good timeing! (I told them I couldnt cancel the trip)”

“hahaha...I tried to figure out how I could fly to Germany a week earlier without anyone knowing so I can backpack there. LOL”

“Everytime you pump water, God kills a kitten.”

“WTF?!?”

“I bought a car in one day, start to finish, didn't even sit in it much less test drive it before I signed.

LOL, I'd NEVER do that with BP gear.”

“When someone camplains of walking a mile you tell them to shut up till they done more then 20 in a day.”

“New Years comes its time to set goals and make resolutions and nothing about your home, family or career come to mind - but you keep thinking of trails you've never walked and peaks you've never stood on.”

“......When you don't feel the need to convince anybody.”

“... when you compare and count calories while food shopping, because you are trying to get the count high!”

“Your front and back lawn has returned to its natural state.

The Office of Homeland Security is investigating the delivery of all those brown packages by UPS & FEDEX.

Your friends come over to dinner and you have to explain how to use a Spork.

Your kitchen two burner stove both are marked Coleman Exponent.

You drink all your beverages out of a bladder.

Your forehead is permanently creased from your headlamp.

Your living room furniture consists of various sized and shaped logs.

Your wallpaper pattern is TOPO MAP.

You have a room in your house just for your gear.

You spend all winter looking at topos.

You look forward to getting a dividend every year, and not because you invest in stocks or because you live in Alaska.

You wear your Tevas to work.

You own a food dehydrator.

You are on a "first name" basis with the cashiers at your local outdoor store.

Your dog excessively drools when you dust off his/her pack.

You are expert in the 41 ways to use a bandana.

You've turned into a pack-rat... saving everything imaginable that could "someday" be utilized on the trail: For example:
- Mountains of old outdoor magazines...
- Various sizes of rope, twine, velcro, zip ties, etc.
- Various sized plastic bags by the truckload

You absolutely refuse to throw away a pair of hiking boots cause of the memories it reflects everytime you glance at them.

Your family knows the gifts you want: Gift Certificates to REI, Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear, EMS.

Each and every time you go to the grocery store, you find some new dried soup, rice, noodles, meat in a foil package, etc. and exclaim "Oooh, that would be good for backpacking."

You hold everything you buy (even non-BP stuff) in your hand and wonder about its weight.

You think it's perfectly normal to get all of your rain gear on (jacket, pants, boots, and gaiters) and stand in the shower to test the set-up.

The guy at the camera store says he enjoyed your trip while printing your photos.

You spend your entire afternoon off wandering an outdoors store.

Other customers at the store ask you for advice on purchases.

You can very easily rationalize spending hundreds on a raincoat.

Your REI member number has only six digits.

Your basement looks like an REI garage sale.

Owning five sleeping bags, three tents, ten stoves, and cubic yards of doo-dads makes perfect sense.

You consider things like REI, Campmor, and STP catalogs "porn".

You shut off all of the heat in your house and open all the windows in the dead of winter to test the temperature rating on your bag.

You like power outages because you can play with your headlamp.

Everything you own smells like a campfire.”

“Very Nice BearCrossing!”

“You consider things like REI, Campmor, and STP catalogs "porn".

My wife said that to me yesterday. I was on REI drooling. Her comment, "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you looking at porn on the net."”

“All of those are very good.”

“You instinctively reach for a trowel when you need to do #2.

You consider diner food to be a gourmet meal.

You use dirt to clean your eating utensils.

You can claim your local outdoor store as a dependent on your taxes.
last edited: 1/13/05 4:04:05 PM”

“You have surgery on a bum knee to ensure you can continue backpacking in the future”

“So many of these have described me, but this nails it: "You consider things like REI, Campmor, and STP catalogs "porn"."

Hope its not a repeat, but how 'bout "Your friends eventually become more surprised when you're staying home for a weekend than when you're headed to who-knows-where to meet who-knows-who from that internet site."”

“Thanks, to everyone. It was a great chuckle. Oh, have I been there.”

“Hey Mark, you know what is up for tomorrow?

I think Ruby can atest to this one...

You will drive to a place you have never been before with a guy/person you have never met. That was Ruby's first. We figured out 2 days before the trip that we did know each other, kinda.”

“This website is you homepage, and most of your favorites are outdoor realted sights.”

“- You actually use all those pockets on your cargo pants. Each pocket will have a specific use (ie. map pocket, compass pocket, watch pocket, etc.) and you would never consider putting anything but the designated item in a pocket.”

““When someone camplains of walking a mile you tell them to shut up till they done more then 20 in a day.”
photoguy190
12:59:32 PM
1/13/05

... up and down mountains... in the snow... for 6 days... while smiling...”

“When you don't think twice about stealing your kids plastic "Zoo Pals" spoons because they're so light and sturdy, you had to try them on the trail. LOL (Inside Joke)

But dude, they're Zoo Pals!!

Yea but they're so light

Dude, they're still Zoo Pals!!!”

“This is probably the best thread on TT so far.”

“They ask u how far you are driving to get to location....and you reply...
aw, not far just an hour or so.


LOL.. in Thinkbubelz' and my case, we would say, about 5 hours... (we don't think that's too far for car-camping.)


How 'bout this....

You eye packs of instant noodles in the grocery store and wonder how quick and easy they'd cook up in a ziploc baggie.....

When looking for street clothes, you say to yourself, "no cotton... no cotton... no cotton!!"”

“I'm soo guilty of way too many of these for any kind of comfort whatsoever.

Be afraid.
Be Very Afraid


11 hours one way for a weekender (October 2004) is my record travel by car so far.
last edited: 1/13/05 10:53:00 PM”

“do you go to the store and check out every new item they have that comes in single portions? I try to figure out how much weight it would safe me...etc...

or if you go to gas stations and see the single mayonese or mustard packages...don't you always take a couple with you? NO, I don't steal them, I put them on the counter with all my other stuff, they never charge me. :)

There is so much. yeah my local outfitter knows me. Of course they know me, sometimes I am in there for hours.”

“You wear your new hiking boots everywhere to break them in, Church, gym and blacktie weddings.
When you are late for work you take the stairs instead of the elevator because it is quicker.
You use your backpack as luggage when you go turon.
You navigate city streets with your compass instead of street signs.
You are never the one without raingear, wherever it rains.
When on your trail diet you select calories per ounce instead of calories per serving.
You don't understand the point of taxi cabs.”

“Because you don't need to diet.

One week into the forest...your body will start to eat your own fat.
last edited: 1/14/05 11:14:19 PM”

“When you are late for work you take the stairs instead of the elevator because it is quicker

I park on the 10th floor of the garage and take the stairs up and down everyday. Just for laughs I hit the buttons for the elevator on each floor so all the lazy people have to stop at every floor!

You navigate city streets with your compass instead of street signs

I got yelled at on Friday for telling somebody to turn West instead of left. I rationalized that if I tell you West then you can come from the North or South and always turn the right way if I say West instead of left or right.”

“People ask you if youre the crocidile hunter.”

“one of the first things you want to find out about that new girl your friend introduced you to is whether she likes to hike and camp.”

“There's a real backpacker here????”

“one of the first things you want to find out about that new girl your friend introduced you to is whether she likes to hike and camp

or if she'll at least shuttle you from the end back to your car...

and does she have a mate-able bag...”

“....If you have ever "cooked" your wet socks on a stick over the fire!”

“if your eyes light up when the thermometer plunges...

if you don't know/care what kind/color street socks you have, but have 6 different styles for hiking in various conditions... not including the liners...

you know what a balaclava is...

you can tell your friends with authority and detail the differences between various animals scat...

your friends worry about you because of the above...

you've felt the thrill of having your food hanging line go over the branch on the first try...”

“you can tell your friends with authority and detail the differences between various animals scat...


athikerol

Now there's a guy who really knows his s h i t.
8*)”

“Spring, Summer, Fall aren't enough so you start looking at these new things called "snowshoes".”

“Athikerol, that's how my parents view me.”

“Yes sir!

Chuckin' that food bag line over the branch in one shot is like nothing else!!”

“The only thing you ever put in the oven is your boots to heat them up to waterproof them.”

“you go backpacking...sheesh!”

“...if you've ever hiked back to the trailhead after dark while drunk off your a$$ to pick up more booze because you ran out by the campfire...

You're crazy man. Salute!
last edited: 1/17/05 9:06:48 PM”

“...you are on strike at work, and representives from REI and Campmor join the picket line with you.”