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

“1. Your hiking boots never really dry out... and the smell never really leaves no matter what you do.
2. You have a closet devoted to nothing but hiking/camping gear and you need another... and another... and another. Then it turns into a whole room (so much for my office).
3. All your family vacation plans are made with the thought "where can I hike around there" in mind.
4. You sleep with the window open in the middle of the winter and use your down sleeping bag as a comforter.
5. You sleep outdoors in the middle of the winter in your kids treehouse so you can try out your new sleeping bag.
6. You tell your significant other she looks HOT in hiking boots just... hiking boots!
7. You put more miles on your boots in a weekend than your car.
8. You got a permanent grin frozen on your face from too much time above the tree line in winter.
9. You spend more time on line researching your next hiking gear purchase than your car purchase.
10. You try to convince your wife you really "Have To" have those new MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoes... because it's a "Safety" issue


GOT MORE EVERYONE??? Keep Em'Comin'

Capt. Jim”

“LOL, Hey I fit a couple of those! I must be...a hiker!”

“fight for food that falls to the ground.

can hike for a week straight without deodrant”

“That "campfire smell" on your clothes IS deoderant”

“I agree with that last one, CJ.”

“hell we have more then a closet full of gear, we have a huge gear room. The gear has a bigger room then our bedroom :P”

“the bolded ones definitely coincide with my life:


You know you're a real backpacker when...
1. Your hiking boots never really dry out... and the smell never really leaves no matter what you do.
2. You have a closet devoted to nothing but hiking/camping gear and you need another... and another... and another. Then it turns into a whole room... my attic
3. All your vacation plans are made with the thought "where can I hike around there" in mind.
4. You sleep with the window open in the middle of the winter and use your down sleeping bag as a comforter.
5. You sleep outdoors in the middle of the winter in your kids treehouse so you can try out your new sleeping bag. i have no kids or treehouse or i prolly would.
6. You tell your significant other he looks HOT in hiking boots just... hiking boots! or pretty much anything devoted to hiking
7. You put more miles on your boots in a weekend than your car.... eh not really... i usually gotta drive a ton of miles to get to a hiking spot.
8. You got a permanent grin frozen on your face from too much time above the tree line in winter. hahahahahahaha classic!
9. You spend more time on line researching your next hiking gear purchase than your car purchase. hell yea
10. You try to convince your wife you really "Have To" have those new MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoes... because it's a "Safety" issue... goes along with any gear, really. but i don't have a wife.”

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

if you pack your stuff, are ready to leave and your family questions where you're going..AND you reply..."what? I have told you about this trip 4 month ago"

if you remember the last time you bought gear, but must think real hard to remember the last time you bought street clothes.

you start thinking about the new titanium stove in your local gearstore while watching a tv comercial about titanium bracelets.

have backpacking food in your closet (not in the kitchen) and could prolly live of it for a month.

if you forgot your spoon and eat your dinner with a brench.

if you pick up food from the ground without thinking twice and eat it too of course.
last edited: 1/12/05 6:39:28 PM”

“u come across a pork rind lying on the ground at the shelter, and think nothing of picking it up and eating it, and you dont even like pork rinds that much”

“you can pack up without using a list right before you head out and not forget anything”

“Okay Gabby whats a BRENCH?”

“pork rinds = bacon rings?”

“The car or truck you buy is centered on how much gear you can fit it, or how comforable it will be to sleep in at a trail head.

You grow a beard just to keep your face warm during winter hikes, and now consider your beard part of your "gear". LOL”

“wish I could grow a beard now that you mention it like that!”

“awwww.go away!! a tree branch. so i missed the freaking "a" and typed "e" darn you all.


BTW Spam...What's a "Gabby"??? I don't know that word.heeheeheee
last edited: 1/12/05 6:51:51 PM”

“You can be ready to go on a 1/2 hour notice.”

“You think DEET is an aphrodisiac.”

“Hahaha!! that's just bad!”

“I was not making fun of GEMINI I thought .....well I didn't know what the heck it was. I didn't take into consideration that you misspelled anything.”

“Hahaha!! that's just bad!”
Gemini

I've been bad. I need to be spanked.”

“LMFBO...gottcha Spam!! Heehee!!


Spank me!! Where are you????? Navi needs a spanking!!”

“If you've ever used a soda can stove to cook dinner...

...at home, you might be obsessed.

Heh heh, I'm guilty of 1,2,3,4,6,7,8, and 9 myself...”

“The first 10 days on the trail, if something's been on the ground for less than 10 seconds, you still eat it.

The next 10 days on the trail, if something's been on the ground for less than 10 minutes, you still eat it.

After those 10 days, you can name 10 things you'd eat no matter how long they've been on the ground.
last edited: 1/12/05 7:23:44 PM”

“You know you're a real bp'er when you carry your water in your blisters.”

“The only name brand clothing you own say Duofold on the label.

You don’t remember the original color of your hiking boots were before the mud color.


You know you’ve been hiking in the Adirondacks when:

You don’t get tan lines from your cloths only mud lines.

You think a switchback is an illegal knife.

You expect one day of rain for every 6 hours of sunshine.

You swear black flies have wing numbers.”

“You know what's bad, I forget I am work, and so I drop some food and bend over, pick it up and pop it in my mouth. Everyone, stares agape at me as I realize what I have done so I blame the ten second rule.

I always comment on the 'Barking Spiders' on the trail. So, if I happen to experience a little windiness when not one trail, I absentmindedly blame those spiders. No one knows WTH I am talking about except my BP partner, who begins to laugh.”

“the only food in your cubboard is enertia meals

you use your backpacking stove more than your kitchen stove.
last edited: 1/12/05 9:36:49 PM”

“Your pack is packed & ready to go... by the door... and you don't even have a trip planned...

You consider floaters to be "fiber"...

You know 14 ways to start a fire...

You don't think twice about driving 5 hours to go hiking...

You actually enjoy dehydrated food...

Ramen sales mean a trip to the grocery store...”

“Yep, can definitely relate - to all of the above.”

“1. Everytime somebody mentions a fear of bugs or snakes you feel free to share several backcountry experiences with them.

2. Your coworkers think your crazy. The winter beard has helped assure them of this.”

“you get a woody (or wet) looking at topo maps.”

“now, that might be carrying it just a bit too far, well, depending on who your going with I guess.”

“I have to agree with roam on that one. really never happend to me before.”

“(Ok, now back to a clean topic...) Winter beard here -- and yes, co-workers think I'm nutz...

:~)”

“... you go out to the garage to play with gear that needs no attention whatsoever and you have no trip planned. You just need a whiff of that last campfire.

... and while you are playing with the gear, you realize you're cold. So, you fire up the whisperlite and using water in an old poly, water that came from some lake or stream somewhere but you have no clue, you cook up a stale soup packet in your treasured G.I. issue canteen cup.

... never mind the fact that you could walk ten feet into a warm house where a fresh, hot home cooked dinner is waiting.

... and then you eat the soup while sitting cross-legged on a closed cell foam butt pad, burning the last glimmer out of tired batteries as you stare at a topo map that you've looked at so many times you could draw it freehand in your sleep and not miss any details that matter, and in fact you don't really need to carry it anymore because you already know the details of both the map and the terrain it covers as well as you know your kids' face.

... and don't understand the import of the look you just got from the spouse who just found you in the garage, in the dark, when she was looking for you to tell you dinner was ready.

... and perceive nothing unusual about this behavior.
last edited: 1/13/05 1:27:31 AM”

“That's too funny strider!”

“Your friends and co-workers just shake their heads ruefully at the mere mention of your upcoming vacation...

Your friends & co-workers come to you with any question they may have about surviving in the "wilderness", e.g. what do you do if a bear/mountain lion/wolverine/porcupine/skunk attacks, what should you do if you're caught outside in a lightning storm, what parts of the pine tree are edible, etc etc...

When your spouse/significant other/friend picks you up after 9 days out and says you reply, with all sincerety - "What?"...”

“... if you have ever driven 14 hours one way for a weekend backpacking trip with people you have never met except through the Internet”

“You suck the tuna juice from the can before devouring the contents, plain, with a spoon, branch or your fingers... and you think it tastes great...”

“LMAO. Those are all good. BTW, stick was right about looking at topo maps...nuff said...”

“This one got auto-edited for some reason...

When your spouse/significant other/friend picks you up after 9 days out and says "PEW!" you reply, with all sincerety - "What?"...”

“You consider trip planning with your spouse/significant other foreplay...”

“athiker thats true in our house!(Last night this was especially true)”

“I've done that - only it was 18 hours.”

“Nice what the outdoors brings out in us, isn't it Spirit?!”

“amen to that :) making out on the map is like trail sex without the stank and bugs.”

“I have all those symptoms....I am a diseased person. lets see...work on maps and databases for trails, points and etc all day...warehouse mind you full of gear that gets fondled daily...sit in it at times and fire up the dragonfly to make coffee out of the storm water creek nearby cause it tastes better...sick just sick”

“that's why "the others" call us sick!”

“I decided to stay single just so that I can go where I want, when I want.

Does that count?

Colleagues and students BOTH are absolutely convinced that I am barking mad.







MOOOOOOOOOhahahahahahaha!!!!!!!”

“Strider - I would never keep ANY of my hiking gear in the garage. Boat yes, fishing gear yes, but my hiking gear is right behind me...warm and safe in this little bedroom, lol.

Gem - I agree, I can't remember the last time I bought normal clothes. Hiking stuff seems to we what I wear anyway.

My contribution - give away hiking gear just to have excuse to buy new stuff. Just last night I gave my Virga tarptent to my son so I could order the Virga 2 for myself.”