Dang. And I don't carry the stuff backpacking. ___________________________________________
Never mind that invite to come camp with me Dryer... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
_________________________
These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
This is a true story! About 15 years ago, my I took my daughter on a 18-day backpack in the Wind Rivers. We descended Bull Lake Canyon and ended up rim-rocked about half-way down. We built a raft from driftwod using 4 sleeping bag straps and two bungee cords. Then we used our raingear as "wetsuits" to swim the packs across (twice). The water was straight off a glacier and the canyon was so deep that we had no sunshine. The first time we swam naked we froze. The second time we did the wet suit trick. It really worked. (it was my daughter's idea). Less than a mile further we hit a cliff and had to lower packs - on - you guessed it! sleeping bag straps and bungee cords. I also strung my fish on the bungee cord. I do not think if this qualifies - but we shared one pair of wading shoes. One of us would cross and then toss the teva's back to the other person.
This reminded me of the many uses for sleeping bag straps. I have used straps to tie down extra corners of my tent, wrap around a rock in place of a tent stake, belt for pants (you do not need a belt when the pack is on because the waist strap keeps my pants up, but at night I need a belt. Hang food from little critters. Clothesline. Alternatively, you could just use cord to tie on your sleeping bag and then use it for all of the above too.
There are those who do not agree with this idea - but I have done this many times -- as I read pages of a book I then use then as toilet paper.
I do not take extra paper - just write my trip notes on the back of my maps. Many of my maps have little corners torn off where I wrote my e-mail address for someone I met in the mountains.
I still say that a multiuse is an item that Can be used for another purpose! It's what your mind can conceive. Every invention created was created from a thought or idea. Just because someone configures something a certian way doesn't mean it can't be used in a different way. Take a stone for instance. It was probably the first tool. Sure there are items that are intentionaly made with two or more uses. Take the poncho for instance. I'll bet it started out as a tarp and was modified so you could see out of it and wear it. then someone deceided to plug the hole and use it for a tarp again. I still say a stick or bandana wins. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Language is that way also. I listened to this show on CBC radio where they were talking about words, and that ALL words orginate as metaphors. Newer words tend to be living metaphors and older words tend to become dead metaphors, where they become so common we forget their origin, but all words are metaphors.
In that sense all words are gear and tools and raw materials, and so all gear and tools and raw materials are metaphors.
Just make sure a few of these abstract concepts are made real when you really need them. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
A bandana also serves most of those purposes. Plus, on one Fall hike it was much warmer than I had expected and I was so overheated in my wool base layer (did not bring a light shirt) that I fashioned a skimpy "top" from two bandanas (this was a fashion trend in the 70's!). Bandanas make nice prayer flags, sweat bands, tent cord, sun shade, and you can express yourself with outrageous designs and colors.
Registered: 03/17/07
Posts: 374
Loc: Fredericksburg, VA
LOVE crazy bandanas! My favorite has happy suns all over it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Back to the topic, though, contact lens saline solution makes a great wound/burn irrigation before field dressing. Have I mentioned that you've REALLY gotta watch those camp stoves? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
_________________________
Why am I online instead of hiking?
OK all of these may not be completely legit, but there are an armful. First off my wife's input on multiple uses of toilet paper. 1) Bra padding for young campers 2) intimate feminine usage 3) Tinder 4) Cleaning up messes... 5) First aid as a gauze replacement 6) Wrapping a delicate specimen 7) Making a big X on the ground for rescue 8) wiping condensation from tent 9) wrappable insulation - emergency hat or neck scarf or foot insulation. 10) oil lamp wick 11) sediment filter 12) coffee filter 13) ear plugs 14) Surrender flag 15) molotov cocktail 16) Silencer 17) TP a friends tent 18) camp chair shimming = level device 19) Roll makes a pipe 20) wrap around comb for quasi kazoo 21) polishing glasses 22) small square targets 23) ????? Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> YMMV
Blowing your nose cleaning your ears loaning to people who are suffering from the Mountain House two step markers, should you be directionally challenged yet need to go some distance off trail - drape over a branch every few steps and retrieve them on the way back.
_________________________
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
I need to look for one of those. It would be great to wear on dreary days. I could also wear it onstage with a new band I want to form. I intend to call it,"Orange Sunshine", play only Psycadilic seventies and very electric blues. But really, I think a bandana could have so many uses. I don't currently own one but will ditch the pack towell (that I really never use) and pick up two bandanas. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Because of the way you framed your question, I really had give this some thought, and even that wasn't helping me come up with anything. But then I suddenly realized that on my last hike I left neosporin home because I took some raw honey with me to put on my oatmeal in the morning. I'd always considered neosporin essential before I learned about using raw honey.
Raw honey can be used as an anti-biotic ointment and an ointment for burns. It's also good to use as a dressing for most wounds and it promotes healing. Taken all by itself, honey is a great energy booster. It's also a very good cough suppressant and local raw honey is good for reducing allergies.
And, don't forget, it can also be used to attract bees and bears, in case you want either of those to come visit you.
So, for me, a little bit of honey is now considered essential gear as well as multi-use and multi-purpose, and, it tastes a whole lot better than neosporin on oatmeal too <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Quote:
Toilet paper wins
OK all of these may not be completely legit, but there are an armful. First off my wife's input on multiple uses of toilet paper. 1) Bra padding for young campers 2) intimate feminine usage 3) Tinder 4) Cleaning up messes... 5) First aid as a gauze replacement 6) Wrapping a delicate specimen 7) Making a big X on the ground for rescue 8) wiping condensation from tent 9) wrappable insulation - emergency hat or neck scarf or foot insulation. 10) oil lamp wick 11) sediment filter 12) coffee filter 13) ear plugs 14) Surrender flag 15) molotov cocktail 16) Silencer 17) TP a friends tent 18) camp chair shimming = level device 19) Roll makes a pipe 20) wrap around comb for quasi kazoo 21) polishing glasses 22) small square targets 23) ????? Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> YMMV
23 ways to use TP.....
Dude, that sounds to me like something only an experienced Dead Head could figure out. In fact, I think I saw a guy back in `73 doing #9 in a rain storm. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
I carry a plastic trowel that proved almost usless in soil that is root bound. For some trips I'm tempted to buy a lightweight folding shovel that can be used as a pic. I know that this will increase my pack weight but to dig a small hole shouldn't take me as long as using a stake. Maybe there is another way but I don't know what that would be.
I have dug rather lardge holes in rootbound,rocky hard clay here in ga in just a few seconds. so when i said it makes a rather nice trowl. i was dead serious.
_________________________
Some peopole live life day by day. Try step by step.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
I must say that I would have no use for 27 of those things. I'm sure there are places where you could buy one or two similar stakes at a time. However, I have a similar semicircular tent stake dating from the 1980's (probably came with a tent I no longer have). It does a great job of digging and weighs 1.0 ounce. Since half of what I bury comes from my dog, he gets to carry it in his pack! Of course it could be a spare tent stake in case of need.
Edited by OregonMouse (02/07/0906:57 PM)
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Our long-time Sponsor, BackcountryGear.com - The leading source for ultralite/lightweight outdoor gear:
Affiliate Disclaimer: This forum is an affiliate of BackcountryGear.com, Amazon.com, R.E.I. and others. The product links herein are linked to their sites. If you follow these links to make a purchase, we may get a small commission. This is our only source of support for these forums. Thanks.!