Favorite piece of advice

I have been hanging out in this forum for 10 years now and, boy, have I learned a lot form you all.

Practically every piece of my equipment was suggested or vetted by you. Everything from my tent (SMD Europa) and sleeping bag (WM Versalite) to my socks (Smartwool mini outdoor).

Some of my favorite pieces of gear advise have to do with the little things like:

Using McDonalds coffee cups for drinking.
Using a Glad storage bowl as my bowl.
Only needing a spoon (no fork).

or, advise like:
try to find things that have multiple uses or avoid redundancy - like using your bandanna to filter out the big chunks before filtering cruddy water.

I know that there have been many threads on "what is your favorite piece of gear" (which you can mention if you like) - I'm more interested in the one or two things that surprised you because it was such a simple, beautiful idea or something that changed the way you do things...

So, what is your favorite piece of advice?
And already I can see it - so let me save you some time... "don't eat yellow snow"

A lot of good advice here. On this still fairly active thread. About good advice!

http://www.backpacking.net/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=152678#Post152678

"Take a hike."

I'm sure it was meant in the best possible way.

the paper pouch that instant oatmeal comes in is large enough that you can just add water to it and don't have to dirty a dish.

If you take a class on backpacking or read a book or learn "how to do it" elsewhere, a lot of rules of thumb are given that are often quite conservative, especially in terms of gear and clothing.
I guess my favorite advise would be to just recognize that, and over time feel your way to the right balance of being safe & comfortable via gear/clothing vs. (actually "plus") experience, common sense, wisdom, knowledge.

Put another way, sometimes we have to be able to un-learn some firmly held notions in order to find what are ultimately our personal best practices.

Don't get hung up on gear. Just go out there and do it.

Absolutely agree. I started out doing everything They told me to do, but after a couple years (and a thorough reading of The Complete Walker) figured out that nothing They said was etched in stone. I've spent the next thirty years refining gear and technique - and one of these days, I may even get it figured out!

I just went out there with what I had and what I thought I knew, and suffered, and incurred a big hospital bill.

Your Mileage Hopefully Varies A Lot.

keep your powder dry

don't let your pants fill with snow when visiting tree in a blizzard - OR - never do anything that could kill you without first having a plan.

Do not depend on any advice given on the internet that could affect your survival.

Jim

I just checked out the "profound advice" thread and there is ample wisdom there.

My question has more to do with gear advice. Not necessarily your favorite piece of high tech gear, but the sometimes little things that make life easier and lighter on the trail.

Another one I thought of is the window shrink wrap ground sheet.

I suppose my favorite gear advice is "Don't take it if you don't need it". Got that here. That's saved me from lugging a lot of weight after I finally weaned myself off of a bunch of stuff I didn't need. It's actually still an ongoing battle, but I'm doing better

"Take exactly enough clothes to stay warm and dry, then stop."

There was a time when I brought extra clothes just to have some clean and dry things to change into on a 3 or 4 day trip. Eliminating all my non-essential clothes saved me more weight than any other changes I have made in lightening my pack.

"Cotton clothes are dead man's clothes. Synthetics will keep you warmer and drier and, consequently, alive."

When I took this advice, the benefit wasn't so much staying alive, as it was that, once I eliminated 98% of the cotton from my pack, I not only had lighter clothes, but I also could wash a few items and dry them in a small fraction of the time it would take to wash and dry cotton. That way if I put in the effort, I can wear fairly clean clothes and be safer in wet weather, too.

My favorite gear advice--three of them:

When selecting new gear, get the lightest item you can find that meets your needs. The last part is the most important!

At some point, the "law of diminishing returns" applies to lightweight backpacking. The dollars spent per ounce saved sooner or later become prohibitive. At that point, it's time to look for other ways to save weight.

With new gear, or when taking less gear: Stay close to home, or at least to your car, the first time or two out with new gear or a different gear configuration. Four days from the trailhead on a week's backpack is not the time to find out that you left one layer too many at home!

When it comes to gear! This goes to all you do it your selfers.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!

Because if you don't re invent the LED you might have to buy one to replace the one u HAD

Hmmm...

That's not really one of my favorite pieces of advice.

Not that I've ever heard that before from my wife, it just that she doesn't understand that it's not always possible to really think of that advice when sudden flashes of inspiration hit you that require you to act fast and innovate with what's on hand.

Besides, my LED "Shoe Lights" were a huge improvement over Al Bundy's version...

I have 2 , have fun and stay safe, all else is icing on the cake! Does matter how many miles or how fast, just that you're doing it, more than most can say. We have such a limited time. Love life, enjoy everything you do.