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.
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
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.
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="" />
Registered: 02/26/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Washington State, King County
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.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
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="" />
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
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!
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
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.
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.
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="" />
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.
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.
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="" />
Registered: 01/10/06
Posts: 679
Loc: Central Texas
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.
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="" />
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
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="" />
Registered: 02/26/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Washington State, King County
"[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.
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.
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....
Edited by Earthling (11/11/0805:18 PM)
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!
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