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What piece of gear do you lose most often?
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Aug 21, 2013 at 9:38 pm #2017493
For me it's a pocket knife, specifically a small Swiss Army knife, the kind with the scissors, small blade, tooth pick and tweezers. After loosing several, I finally went the other way and purchased a rather large Swiss Army knife I refer to as "The Beast." Victorinox makes them for the German Army, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. Yes it's "stupid heavy" but at least I haven't lost it yet. http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-One-Hand-Trekker-German-Multi-Tool/dp/B001B197RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377145807&sr=8-1&keywords=victorinox+german+army+knife
Aug 22, 2013 at 4:13 am #2017515No wonder there's so much crap on the trails nowadays. You guys keep losing your crap on them!
My wife always loses an earring. I lost a stake once.
Aug 22, 2013 at 7:05 am #20175402 swiss army knife classics one was lost by LOST lake in the winds the other I can't remember. Two photon freedom lights one at marms lake in the winds the other in ne Iowa The solution on losing knives was to tie a foot long piece of orange cord for better visability. I spent hours and hours looking for the knife at lost lake. What is worse than cleaning fish without a knife is the feeling I get thinking that somebody or some creature may have hurt them self on that knife that had the blade folded out as I had been cleaning fish. So if you are ever at lost lake in the wrr be careful, better yet maybe avoid the place entirely the trail getting there is bad the scenery horrible the fishing is terrible and if you don't cut your foot stepping on a blade you will definitly trip fall and cut your juggler on it.
Aug 22, 2013 at 9:13 am #2017571I did an overnight trip a few weeks ago and on my way out saw a bandana, a headlamp, a doggie bootie, and a chapstick tube. I picked them up and tied them to a branch overhanging the trail. Thinking about it again maybe I should have carried it all out to the trailhead and set it there?
Aug 22, 2013 at 9:16 am #2017572That's a tough one. I usually do the same thing and hang it off a tree or trail marker on the chance that I miscalculated their direction of travel.
Aug 22, 2013 at 12:18 pm #2017627I lost a SpotLit, and found a pair of underwear. PM me if you're missing a small gray thong.
Aug 22, 2013 at 12:33 pm #2017638I always lose my mind. If you find it please return to: …………:-0 me!
Aug 22, 2013 at 12:50 pm #2017643I don't lose much on the trail. In fact, the only thing I recall losing in the last 8-10 years is a bag of tent stakes. I was car camping and remembered before I got far from the campground that they were at the base of a tree. Drove back and they were mysteriously gone. I didn't ask the group that was camped nearby if they had seen them.
I'm more prone to forget to pack things than I am to lose them. I've had a few surprises, like not having a spork or compass. On my last trip I left my car at the end of the trail and shuttled with a friend to the other end only to realize that I'd left my trekking poles in my car. Luckily he uses poles too and was able to lend them to me in the evening to set up my tarp.Adam
Aug 22, 2013 at 1:26 pm #2017670Socks, gaiters, spork, photon lights.
Aug 22, 2013 at 2:01 pm #2017684"I lost a SpotLit, and found a pair of underwear. PM me if you're missing a small gray thong."
Thong's mine. I was wondering what happened to it. My bad.
Aug 22, 2013 at 2:56 pm #2017714Seriously Ian? I thought only Nick and Justin wore cotton. A PacNW'er should know better!
Aug 22, 2013 at 7:11 pm #2017788"A PacNW'er should know better!"
Life's like a razor. It's dull everywhere except right on the edge.
'Tis a tale as old as time …. a man and his thong against the world.
Aug 22, 2013 at 7:46 pm #2017793That I can remember I have only lost two thin Ti stakes that came with my TiTri set-up.
The sad part is that I did not need them anyway.
As a habit, after I pack up I walk a few paces and then walk back to have a look.
That way you see things from a different point of view and you know that you had a look.Aug 22, 2013 at 8:11 pm #2017796"I lost a SpotLit, and found a pair of underwear. PM me if you're missing a small gray thong."
That's NASTY.
Aug 22, 2013 at 8:29 pm #2017807rock climbing tends to instill a good habit of doing an idiot check or 3 before leaving an area. I don't think i've lost too much. I did find the nylon hat I use now (washed it well before using) and multiple stakes.
Aug 22, 2013 at 8:33 pm #2017808With so many of you losing tent stakes and titanium spoons, maybe you should check this thread about rainbow titanium stakes. Pretty awesome imo!
Aug 22, 2013 at 8:50 pm #2017810I haven't lost any stakes during daylight hours, but I can trip over them at night. So, I painted the top inch of my stakes with yellow luminous paint. Now they glow in the darkness.
–B.G.–
Aug 22, 2013 at 9:39 pm #2017822I lose a bottle about every 3 trips. I have been known to lose 2 bottles in a single trip. I now carry a 1 liter platy as a backup on all trips.
Aug 23, 2013 at 7:39 am #2017891I lose temperature sensors – set them in the shade for 15 minutes to get good reading then forget about it.
Left one at Ramona Falls, came back 5 minutes later when I remembered it but someone had taken it.
Left one at Ozette and was 100 miles away when I remembered it – cost more to go back and get it
Left one on my tire in the shade, forgot about it and ran over it.
Aug 23, 2013 at 8:12 am #2017903>My wife always loses an earring. I lost a stake once.<<
No one going to ask why you wear earrings while hiking?
Are they multi-use?Aug 23, 2013 at 8:22 am #2017906I've asked her why she wears earrings while we're out. She says the holes will close on trips that are a week or longer. I dunno!
Aug 23, 2013 at 8:29 am #2017909I don't lose things very often. But there was one incident that left me pretty embarassed. In 2006, I packed up my 4Runner to backpack a month each in Glacier and Yellowstone. The truck was loaded, with backups for all gear and clothing, extra sleeping bags, trekking poles, and 2 months worth of backpacking food and canister fuel. The Yakima roof box held the extra tents, bags, pads, canister fuel, backpacks, and campground stuff like a hand axe, Sven saw, tarps, and other things.
In Glacier, I had a zero day between hikes, and I spent the afternoon cruising around the park. I noticed that lots of people I passed were pointing to me, waving, smiling, and yelling things I couldn't quite understand. Friendly tourists, I thought, so I just smiled and waved back. When I later parked at the visitor center, the guy next to me asked, "Do you know that your roof box is wide open?" Damn! My quick inventory revealed that I'd lost one sleeping bag, a self-inflating pad, a day pack, and a small bag of charcoal briquettes. I remembered that I hit a few rough spots in a construction zone, which must have popped open the poorly closed roof box. Funny that I didn't notice things flying around when I was driving. I felt pretty stupid about things that day.
I have only lost a pair of sunglasses and a Spyderco folding knife since then. But a month ago, while returning to my Yellowstone trailhead, I took off the pack and placed it and my beloved BPL Stix trekking poles against the front bumper while I changed into comfy shoes. Then I put the pack into the roof box, fired up the truck and drove off. An hour later, I happened to get something out of the roof box, and I noticed that the Stix weren't where they were supposed to be. I'd forgotten to pack them up, and they were probably still on the ground back at the trailhead. Or, likely not. When I got back to the trailhead parking area, there was no sign of them. I asked a guy if he'd seen any stray trekking poles, and he politely said, "Like maybe those over there?" There they were! Apparently someone spotted them and moved them to a visible place where nobody would drive over them. My heart would have broken if I'd lost those poles, as they are not replaceable. But I guess I was having a good karma day.
Aug 24, 2013 at 6:43 pm #2018321>My wife always loses an earring. I lost a stake once.<<
No one going to ask why you wear earrings while hiking?
Are they multi-use?Aug 24, 2013 at 7:07 pm #2018328Some questions are best left unasked.
We now have a no earring rule, self imposed. win,win.
Aug 25, 2013 at 12:37 am #2018397I wear earrings while hiking because most of mine require tools and the assistance of another person to take them off. Some of them have been in place continuously for over 15 years. No danger of these getting lost, though!
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