Multi use item used?

Posted by: chaz

Multi use item used? - 11/08/08 07:03 AM

What item that you carry do you consider the best because of it's ability to be used for other functions. I know this has been covered before but some new to this forum might benefit. For example, I use two of my aluminum tent stakes as support for my cook pot thru holes in the windscreen when used with my alcy stove.
Posted by: phat

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/08/08 08:57 AM


My personal favorites:

Integral Designs Silponcho.
1) primary foul weather raingear.
2) tarp to sit under in a rainy camp
3) emergency bivy in my daybag
4) insulation "taco" under my hammock as a windblock/underquilt outer shell

AGG 3 cup pot:
1) pot
2) cup
3) bowl
4) Bathtub

1.5 foot square of blue foam

1) butt pad to sit on
2) stand on it pad to get out of hammock or stand on to bathe/dress etc.
3) pack lid, strapped on the top of my GG virga

alcohol stove fuel

1) stove fuel
2) hand sanitizer
3) (if everclear) makes decent peppermint schnapps when mixed with mint tea

Toque

1) keeps head warm
2) freezer bag/dehydrated food cozy for food
Posted by: DTape

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/08/08 10:25 AM

Frisbee

used as:
plate
shallow bowl
cutting board
sit or kneel pad
tray for tinder and kindling
fire fan
emergency paddle
snow shovel
recreational toy

I am sure there are other uses, but these are just the ones I remember using it for.
Posted by: Eric

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/08/08 10:36 AM

Everything phat said plus:

Tent stake as digging tool

Everclear as pitch remover and deodorant

Trekking poles as tent pole and tent stake

2 ltr Platypus as shower, hot water bottle and pillow

Bandanna as wash cloth, towel and pot grabber
Posted by: Glenn

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/08/08 05:56 PM

Wow, where to begin.

MSR Titan kettle: pot, cup, and bowl.
Prolite 3 pad and chair kit: doubles as frame for my Virga pack, and as sleeping pad and chair in camp and at lunch.
Dromlite water bag: inflated with air (or filled with water) as a pillow
W/B rain jacket and pants: wind garments, extra layer of warmth, and long pants (since I wear shorts.)
Long john bottoms: extends shorts to long pants in cool weather.
Tent or tarp: lunchtime shelter
Down jacket, long johns: extend range of sleeping bag, if necessary.
Packtowl (hand sized): washcloth, pot holder, towel, etc.
Hiking poles: hiking, tarp support
MSR Ground Hog stake, 30' parachute cord: spare tent/tarp stake, clothesline, extra guy lines, bear bag hanging, and (my favorite) wrap the cord around the stake and you have a toilet trowel with a padded handle.
Posted by: chaz

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/09/08 05:49 AM

All good ideas. I haven't thought of denatured as a hand sanitizer. That will eleminate that little bottle. Now I'm gonna rethink some of my gear. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: BrianLe

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/09/08 10:42 AM

I might be going slightly in the other direction on multi-use things next year. I thru-hiked the PCT this year, and carried a snow/sand stake as a trowel, and it worked well enough, but the aluminum stake bent a couple of times, and more importantly, I used it as a trowel almost every day for months, whereas I used it as a stake a couple of times total and could easily have done without it. I'm thinking now that a very light trowel (something designed primarily as a trowel) is better, especially if I could multi-use that at need as ... a stake. TBD for me.

I only carried denatured alcohol on this trip as my tolerance, need, desire for drinking alcohol was low, and I also saw a thread here or elsewhere talking about how pure alcohol has to be thinned to safely use it as any sort of hand cleaner. Thinking about this --- if it's already thinned then it's no longer a backup fuel, can only be used as a sanitizer --- in that event I might as well carry a purpose-made sanitizer, purell or whatever (which I did). If it's not already thinned, then --- like the trowel, this was something I used day after day for many many days. Thinning it on the spot for each use struck me as more time and hassle than it would be worth.


Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/09/08 12:33 PM

You only asked for his favorites, phat also tells the time with his compass, uses his tent as sail to help him up the hills and his hiking poles as lightning rods to charge his GPS, he uses his hat as a soup bowl and shower cap and he can turn his stove into speakers when he hooks his iPod Nano to it.

Someday phat will need an weight belt to keep him from floating off the trails <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Bill
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 12:21 AM

LOL, Bill!

In addition to the normal uses for trekking poles (hiking poles, tent/tarp poles or, as Bill suggests, lightning rods), they could be emergency splints or the base of a travois in case my dog gets hurt. I've tried making up a travois with poles plus jacket, but haven't yet figured out how I'd get Hysson to stay on it while being dragged!

Rainjacket and pants, non-breathable silnylon: for rain, of course, windbreaker when cold; vapor barrier in sleeping bag on below-freezing nights, bug barrier from horseflies.

Veterinary wrap (self-adhering foam): Works great for human sprains as well as to keep bandages on dog leg. Far lighter than elastic bandage.

Brian, I never used my 1-oz. aluminum stake/potty trowel as a stake, but I defy anyone to come up with a 1-oz. metal trowel. I've found plastic trowels to be pretty useless, especially in the Pacific NW dry season when it doesn't rain for weeks and the trekking pole/stick/heel combination doesn't work either in dry, hard ground. Since I have to bury the dog's poop as well as my own, the "potty trowel stake" gets lots of use. I haven't had trouble with its bending--maybe mine is heavier? I don't know what kind it is nor when I got it--it's like a half-tube of thick aluminum and must be 20-30 years old.

I believe that, so far, DTape's frisbee is the winner here!
Posted by: chaz

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 05:00 AM

O.k. Besides keeping warm and cooking or heating water what multi use purpose could Phat's new tent furnace be used fpr? Just remember that I'm the one that can walk on water. I'll be able to fly once I get my Persian carpet for Christmas. I'm gonna need something cause my truck is on it's last few runs.
Posted by: chaz

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 05:07 AM

Quote:
be pretty useless, especially in the Pacific NW dry season when it doesn't rain for weeks and the trekking pole/stick/heel combination doesn't work either in dry,


Sorry for the bad copy/paste. I was refering to the usless Plastic trowell. I bought one of those and had a hard time trying to dig a cat hole. Maybe I should have brought a cat. With hard ground and mats of roots. I was tempted to buy a surplus folding shovel.
Posted by: Dryer

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 05:37 AM

I try to get at least two uses out of everything I pack. Most of my hiking is desert. Where you hike matters.

Robinson Poncho Shelter....pitches as a tarp, lean too, and a rain poncho. I've used it as a windbreaker too.

Quilt....for sleeping, and as a heavy jacket. I've wrapped up in it lots of times while walking.

Compass/whistle....hard to find but made by Silva. Stays around my neck, along with a coin cell flashlight.

Platypus bags....work also as a pillow (when wrapped in something soft).

Pack straps....no foam in them. That's where I store extra socks and stuff, and they become 'padding'.

Socks.....double also as pack strap padding. Also work pretty well as mittens, and stuff sacks for holding my glasses at night. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Trekking poles....converted ski poles actually. Double as tarp poles, weapons, pokers, crutches, and oddly enough, dipole antenna for my shortwave radio.

Shortwave radio....which is actually a dual band ham transceiver. Receives shortwave, park ranger conversations, weather, standard band AM/FM, and is my emergency communications when cell phones don't work. Also has a barometer in it!

Space blanket (cheap Walmart version).....portable shade, a poncho (after my poncho shelter is pitched), A space blanket scrolled onto your trekking poles makes a HUGE signal mirror. Mylar sheet has tons of uses.

Esbit.....doubles as fire starter.

Hat...doubles as a wash basin, if there's water around. Makes a fine bucket if lined with plastic.

Ridgerest sleeping pad....doubles as a pack frame, and sometimes a water float.

Super glue....as glue, and works great for skin cuts and cracks, fabric repair, shoe repair.


The more I think about it, it's a long list. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: JAK

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 06:33 AM

It's good to think about what you carry would also be good for first aid...

Kelly Kettle: great for lots of boiling water for sanitizing stuff, delivering babies ???
Alcohol fuel: would be much better for first aid purposes if it was ethanol
Spare socks: 1 clean dry pair held in reserve as field dressing, or spare socks
Spare long underwear: if a skin layer is also held in reserve it might be worth sanitizing and sealing it for first aid purposes. Overkill perhaps, but mid-winter I do carry heavy wool underwear as insurance in case it goes subzero on me. Might as well clean them and seal them and use them as a pillow until needed for first aid, or emergency sleep wear or trudging clothes.

1. Broken/Sprained Limbs: blue foam pad, tarp cordage, webbing
2. Major Burns: gotta read up on my first aid, but the clean socks useful for many body parts
3. Major Cuts: gotta read up on my first aid, but ethanol and water, squirty fuel bottle, sewing kit, clean socks
4. A swolen foot/ankle can be a very tricky thing in winter if your boot no longer fits. Improvise a mukluk?
5. Critical gear failures are alot like first aid situations, and require similar solutions. i.e. Broken ski or ski binding?

Again you might need to improvise a mukluk and perhaps snow shoes from you gear and tree branches and thinking this out ahead of time and practicing it might be very helpful. Might be a fun thing to practice some of this stuff with my 9 year old daughter. I could be the victim and she could help me patch myself up, or make some snow shoes and mukluks, or whatever. I wonder if clean merino wool is as good as cotton as a field dressing, if sanitized? I should think so, as long as it doesn't knit into the wound and force you to tear open the wound later to change the dressing. I need to get better at drying stuff with a small fire, as it is often needed for first aid and emergencies in addition to just keeping socks and mitts dry. Need to review my first aid. My daughter is in Girl Guides now, so that should help, with merit badges and all.
Posted by: JAK

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 06:43 AM

A pot or mug can make a good shovel for snow shelters and stuff.
Maybe a good case for a good strong handle when winter camping.
Posted by: phat

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 08:18 AM

Quote:
You only asked for his favorites, phat also tells the time with his compass,
uses his tent as sail to help him up the hills and his hiking poles as lightning rods to charge his GPS, he uses his hat as a soup bowl and shower cap and he can turn his stove into speakers when he hooks his iPod Nano to it.

hmm. 'fraid not.

- I wear a cheap watch
- I only use my shelter as a sail when setting it up in the wind - and normally not intentionally.
- I don't carry a GPS - most of the time
- Shower cap? why would I cover my head when I don't cover anything else?
- my iPod is left in the truck. I want technology as far away from me as possible when I'm out

Quote:

Someday phat will need an weight belt to keep him from floating off the trails <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


Already got that. it's the big pillow that hides my six pack abs.
Posted by: JAK

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 08:35 AM

Aha, that brings up a very important multi-use item. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Body fat...
1. insulation
2. food storage
3. sleeping and sitting pad
4. very personal floatation device
5. arm rest

I'm not overweight. I'm just overly cautious in case one of my day-hikes turns into a 600 mile trek across the Arctic.
Posted by: phat

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 08:57 AM

Quote:

I'm not overweight. I'm just overly cautious in case one of my day-hikes turns into a 600 mile trek across the Arctic.


Well, I'm not cautious, so much as I have evolutionary ties to the walrus <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Spock

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 03:49 PM

Number one top item: brain
If you don't lose your head, you can improvise just about anything.
Skills are weightless. Knots, improvising cordage, firebuilding skill, first aid and so on.

Favorite multi-use items: * Quilt worn around camp for warmth; * Poncho/cape used as hammock fly, general rain protection; *Pack cover used as gear hammock, water carrier, bathtub; *Platypus turned into shower and in first aid for wound irrigation with addition of a perforated cap; *Everclear as stove fuel and for recreation; *Salt as dentifrice as well as condiment; "Backpack as bivouac cover; *Stuff sack (with simple shoulder straps) used as day pack.
Posted by: Trailrunner

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 05:20 PM

Bandana.
Posted by: Jimshaw

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/10/08 07:48 PM

Chaz,
Funny - this is a great topic and is seems to make sense, but as I look at my gear and my list I realise that I
probably carry fewer items than most, and they are very specialised. The only multi use items I carry are:

1) large rain shells that will go over either daytime or nighttime insulation layers. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

2) My Z-rester is used as a liner for a chair and for sleeping insulation. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

3) My Down Air Mattress makes a great boat! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


I could use my wool sleeping socks as gloves if I lost my gloves I suppose. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

The point being - maybe the real title of this thread should be "other things that you COULD do with your camping gear to make it seem more useful than it really is, but probably won't. Like I could eat my toilet paper then use more to clean up <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> I could use my WM bag as kindling, and the little aluminum Earthling fire tube could be used to blow bubbles. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> My flashlight makes a great flashlight.

Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: chaz

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/11/08 06:43 AM

Quote:
The point being - maybe the real title of this thread should be "other things that you COULD do with your camping gear to make it seem more useful than it really is, but probably won't. Like I could eat my toilet paper then use more to clean up I could use my WM bag as kindling, and the little aluminum Earthling fire tube could be used to blow bubbles.


TP as food? You are a minimalist. And the Earthling fire straw has already been proven to be a true multiuse item. You just added another function.
If you really wanna carry less, just wear the clothes on your back and carry a stick.
Heck, don't even carry a stick. You can find one of those when you get to where your going. Think of all the uses a stick has to offer. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: johndavid

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/11/08 10:45 AM

Folding chair as sleeping mat in summer weather works well for me, though
it isn't luxurious as mattress.

I once used Sierra cup and a cooking pot as daytime snow stakes under slightly peculiar circumstances.
Posted by: BrianLe

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/11/08 11:04 AM

"[color:"blue"]Brian, I never used my 1-oz. aluminum stake/potty trowel as a stake, but I defy anyone to come up with a 1-oz. metal trowel. I've found plastic trowels to be pretty useless, especially in the Pacific NW dry season when it doesn't rain for weeks and the trekking pole/stick/heel combination doesn't work either in dry, hard ground. Since I have to bury the dog's poop as well as my own, the "potty trowel stake" gets lots of use. I haven't had trouble with its bending--maybe mine is heavier? I don't know what kind it is nor when I got it--it's like a half-tube of thick aluminum and must be 20-30 years old.[/color]"

Mine is also a half-tube of thick aluminum, though it's only a year or so old. Most of the time it worked fine, but it seems that all too often one is playing "rock and root roulette", i.e., each day offers a new and creative pattern of obstacles to being able to dig a good sized cathole. The aluminum stake bent for me in trying to pry out a rock. Maybe the orange plastic type would have just snapped, or maybe I wouldn't have levered the plastic one so hard, dunno.

What I have is sold as an "SMC Perforated Snow/Sand Stake", and it weighs about 1.1 oz. The traditional orange plastic stake is about 1.6 oz. Montbell sells a "Handy Scoop" made with "1 mm thick stainless steel construction" that's 1.4 oz. But it strikes me that 1 mm is pretty thin ...

There are really two knocks on the snow/sand stake approach, for me at least. One is that it's narrow and less efficient in moving a lot of dirt quickly. The other is that, per previous, I've bent them once or twice, and once you do that, they're never going to be as strong again after being bent back into shape.

But on reflection, there's no clearly better option. A trade-off on the narrowness is that it's easier with a narrow trowel to get in and among obstacles (rocks, roots) and those IMO are ultimately more of a problem than simply moving earth. Very very few times along the PCT this year did I encounter soft earth that was easy to just shovel out of the way --- almost never.

And the tradeoff in bending the stake is that to have something beefy enough to be really bullet-proof in that regard, it would inevitably be heavier than I want to carry. I'm not attracted to a 1 mm thick scoop. In an ideal case I would just "be more careful" and not bend one in future. In practice, a person gets impatient in trying to move impacted rocks, and the length of the snow/sand stake allows quite a bit of leverage to be applied to the tip.

Sorry, thread drift here I guess. It ultimately does still relate to the credibility of multi-using this item. In more soft earth or snow I would have used it as a stake more often. I didn't bring a tent for the first 700 miles of the PCT, just cowboy camped, and it's possible that I would have found occasional use for it as a backup soft-earth stake if I had been tenting along those miles. Similarly, I never had to actually camp on top of snow on the PCT this year, but if I had, needle-stakes wouldn't have cut it.


Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle
Posted by: Earthling

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/11/08 05:05 PM

Quote:
I might be going slightly in the other direction on multi-use things next year. I thru-hiked the PCT this year, and carried a snow/sand stake as a trowel, and it worked well enough, but the aluminum stake bent a couple of times, and more importantly, I used it as a trowel almost every day for months, whereas I used it as a stake a couple of times total and could easily have done without it. I'm thinking now that a very light trowel (something designed primarily as a trowel) is better, especially if I could multi-use that at need as ... a stake. TBD for me.

I only carried denatured alcohol on this trip as my tolerance, need, desire for drinking alcohol was low, and I also saw a thread here or elsewhere talking about how pure alcohol has to be thinned to safely use it as any sort of hand cleaner. Thinking about this --- if it's already thinned then it's no longer a backup fuel, can only be used as a sanitizer --- in that event I might as well carry a purpose-made sanitizer, purell or whatever (which I did). If it's not already thinned, then --- like the trowel, this was something I used day after day for many many days. Thinning it on the spot for each use struck me as more time and hassle than it would be worth.


Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle


Good point on your alcohol fuel choice Brian. You should take a look at the Montbell Trowel as it is a favorite pack item of mine since it's inception. Light enough to carry, yet sturdy enough to do it's job as a trowel and stake when needed. Even comes with a hole in the top of the handle <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Oh, and Montbell will replace it if you break it for free! It's more sturdy than it looks....
Posted by: diegodog

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/21/08 08:26 PM

I use a tea bag after use to clean my pots and pans
Posted by: Spock

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/22/08 04:29 PM

Oh, yeah, tea bags. I use them for a face wash. I used them on the pots back before freezer bag cooking.
Posted by: earlylite

Re: Multi use item used? - 11/30/08 07:52 AM

Here's a long list:

http://sectionhiker.com/2008/11/23/lighten-up-your-backpack-with-multi-function-gear/

Earlylite
Posted by: sabre11004

Re: Multi use item used? - 12/03/08 04:23 PM

Damned, I guess that next time I go trekking I should make darn sure that I carry my "Frisbee"" don't you think????

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there....
Posted by: sabre11004

Re: Multi use item used? - 12/03/08 04:33 PM

I have been using alcohol for hand sanitizer ever since I started boiling my water in my little alcy stove with it. Hell, maybe even longer than that..
Posted by: ronin

To sabre11004 - 12/03/08 11:49 PM

FWIW: I hope it's not denatured alcohol.

Peace,

Richard.
Posted by: hikerFedEx

Re: Multi use item used? - 12/04/08 09:31 AM

lots of things already posted.

anyone ever try hand sanitizer as firestarter? (I've haven't) but know it's flammable as fire marshalls required hospitals to remount dispensers away from (NOT above) electric outlets & switches.
It may just slash quickly like an alcohol pad might.
Posted by: sabre11004

Re: Multi use item used? - 02/04/09 12:16 PM

I have a small bottle of fabric soaked in Vaseline (not soaked but saturated)that I use for rubbing my feet down almost every time that I stop to give my feet a rest. That does two things in itself as it keeps my feet from getting wet and it also moisturizes them so that I will not get blisters and it works because I rarely get blisters. The second thing that I use it for is when the Vaseline on the piece of material is almost gone (just right for lighting) I use it as a fire starter the first chance that I get...It lights with a first strike of a steel and it burns long enough to get some kindling on top of it...Hope that helps...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there... awesome
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: Multi use item used? - 02/05/09 04:49 AM

Ah, yes!

Body fat. Enough said. I certainly have plenty of it, which is why I don't bother to take the "extra food" suggested as the whateverth essential.

Socks as gloves (if dirty, might be a bit smelly).

Plastic bags as glove overmitts.

TP (if I don't need it for its original purpose, which I usually do) plus hand sanitizer, a great fire starter (although I've never needed a fire yet, and if I do I'd use the firestarter I have in my emergency/first aid kit).

As Jim says, sometimes we get a little ridiculous on this multipurpose bit. On the other hand, it's nice to know we have some backup, however weird, in case the excrement hits the fan!




Posted by: jpanderson80

Re: Multi use item used? - 02/05/09 12:38 PM

Yes, I've used hand sanitizer as a fire starter, even an alcy stove primer. It burns fine. It didn't burn as long as I would have guessed though, but certainly long enough to help get a fire started.
Posted by: Samoset

Re: Multi use item used? - 02/06/09 04:33 PM

a lardge wedge tent stake makes a rather nice trowl. I carry one as my pack trowl and use it in conditions when a sturdy stake is needed.
http://store.colemans.com/cart/tent-stake-9-in-aluminum-27-pack-unused-p-1994.html