My little baggie of important dinky stuff

Mike,

Cool stuff! I forgot about removing the strap on the Petzl lite. I can lose another 0.8 oz off my wt. Thanks for the tip.

I like the idea of pre-mixing the Aqua Mira. I will be repackaging some of my solutions in the smaller micro bottles.

I think my husband will like your idea of toothpaste microdots. I have peppermint Dr Bronner's that I use for toothpaste as well. If I don't use too much it tastes OK.

Do you carry anything for first aid, blister care (besides Hydropel)?

It's an impressively light package. More inspiration for me. Thanks for sharing.

LV

I recently switched over to Platypus from Camelbak. I noticed the Platy repair kit. Is it common to need the kit-many failures?

Mike, Another cool idea; premixing the A/M in a tiny bottle for a couple days worth of treatment. I never thought about this because I assumed the mix wouldn't keep. Thanks for the time saving tip!

(A) I don't get blisters very often. But – I also carry a tiny first aid kit, not part of the "dinky" stuff kit above. It's Minimal. I never quite know what's in it. For short trips – A small roll of tape, a few band aids, ibuprofen and a gauze pad… maybe a little more, but not much. When I go out for long trips with a team, I carry a lot more.

(B) I have used a platypus since their introduction. It has been my only water bottle for 30-days at a time. They need to be treated nicely, but they are fine.

I will add that a few times (twice?) I have repaired them. I have also handed out the little patch to pals who got a hole in their Platy.

(C) The AQUA-MIRA mix should last 48 hours. The drops NEED to be yellow, if not, it's lost it's effectiveness. And, when the water source is trusty, I use fewer drops than recommended. But that's just me.

Anyone know if McNett's Tenacious Tape will patch a platypus?

>toothpaste dots / 0.7 oz
>toothbrush (chopped handle) / 0.8 oz

Crest Unflavored Glide-to-Go Floss Packets
Overview
One of the ultralight backpacking adages is to cut the handle off your toothbrush. Want to save more weight? How about just leaving it at home?

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Mark, do you think flossing, brushing with your finger and Listerine strip can replace toothpaste/toothbrush in your kit?

McNetts Tenatious Tape works well, so does duct tape. Both would be adequate. But the little patches seem to work the best.

Are these just little dabs of toothpaste left out to dry? If so, I never knew about that one.

I picked this travel toothbrush the other day at CVS Pharmacy (I think). It's 0.5 oz with the handle or 0.3 oz without…no cutting required. :)

Yes – to the posting above.

I've found that the clear "JELLY" looking toothpaste dries poorly.

The white chalky paste works best.

Heres what seems to work best. Squirt out a long "cord" of toothpaste onto a plate, about a foot or so. Let it dry a day or so. Then cut the "cord" into little (approx) half-inch segments. A sharp knife helps. Let those dry a few days.

They'll glom together a little in a tiny ziploc. It helps to sprinkle a tiny bit of baking soda in the baggie.

All done.

Note: It's VERY dry where I live. THis won't work in a humid environment. If you live in Louisana, I guess you'll need to use a dehydrator.

i found baby size toothbrushes work much better for me than the kind that roman uses. no handle to fall off while brushing. (and no i can't use my finger or go without) yuck… got 5 to a package at the dollar store. leave the case off. wt.1/4 oz. i have also tried the toothpaste dots, but didn't care for them. went back to using powdered tooth powder that i found at the health nut store. put it in a zip lock snack bag or a light wt. screw top container. just dip your wet brush in it.

At Pet stores, they sell toothbrushes for your dog which fit over your finger. A small hollow plastic tube with a brush on the end.

View here: http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Pet-Finger-Toothbrush-Set/dp/B001KNWKWW/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i/189-7091528-8816943

I just ate lunch there and was thinking…I wonder how much these sporks weigh? 0.1 oz :)

My husband has dropped about $10K on my teeth so far with another $10K or more in the near future….I'll just say that my dental kit I carry is not UL.
I carry toothpaste, a full toothbrush, my dental brushes for going around my braces, floss, mirror, repair kit, wax, flexible tooth picks, floss guiders, etc. I carry a repair kit for my crown as well (cause it would more than suck if it popped. I wouldn't be able to eat!). I also carry my special mouth rinse – I have very carefully controlled gingivitis, the rinse keeps it from getting a leg up.

You get one set of real teeth. Unless you like dropping the equivalent of a good car on them, take care of them.

Backpacking is NO excuse to not have good oral health! Go without bathing, go without deodorant but keep your teeth in tip top shape!

Though I can laugh – my braces are made of Ti :-P

Right on Sarah! I don't carry all the gear you do – but a tooth brush and fluoride toothpaste always make it into my bag. Dirty and smelly can be washed away with a good shower – but you'll never get that enamel back.

During Artic missions we used baking soda because it would not freeze and it did a good job. Over the years I have seen baking soda toothpastes come out professing its teeth whitening properties.

The following is from myoralcare.com

http://www.myoralcare.com/questions/

"As a cleaning agent, baking soda is less abrasive than virtually any other cleaning agent used in toothpastes. Less abrasion means less tooth wear, which helps keep your teeth healthier, longer. And when it comes to cleaning, recent studies indicate that baking soda in high concentrations…breaks down into tiny particles that are able to penetrate enamel crevices and remove food particles and deep stain embedded there. Other cleaning agents, like silica, don't readily break down into such tiny particles, so they are too big to clean inside the enamel crevices.

Light weight and has many uses.

20 Uses Of Baking Soda

1. Baking soda will also put out fires in clothing, fuel, wood, upholstery and rugs.

2. Wash food and drink containers with soda and water.

3.Wash out thermos bottles and cooling containers with soda and water to get rid of stale smells.

4.To remove strong odors from your hands, wet your hands and rub them hard with soda, then rinse.

6. Sprinkle baking soda on your wet toothbrush and brush your teeth and dentures with it.

7. Sprinkle soda in tennis shoes, socks, boots and slippers to eliminate odor.

8. Take a soda bath to relieve general skin irritations such as measles and chicken pox.

9. Take 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1/2 glass of water to relieve acid indigestion or heartburn.

10. Gargle with 1/2 tsp. baking soda in 1/2 glass of water. Freshens and cleans your mouth.

11. Used as a mouthwash, baking soda will also relieve canker sore pain.

12. To relieve sunburn: use a paste of baking soda and water.

13. Bug bites: use a poultice of baking soda and vinegar.

14. Bee sting: use a poultice of baking soda and water.

15. Windburns: moisten some baking soda and apply directly. Soak and wash diapers with baking soda.

16. Use soda as an underarm deodorant.

17. Add to water to soak dried beans to make them more digestible.

18. Use to sweeten sour dishcloths.

19. Use dry with a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.

20. Apply soda directly to insect bites, rashes and poison ivy to relieve discomfort. Make a paste with water.

Sure it is great. Except for it tastes like warm fuzzy yuck-o ;-) Too gritty for me as well.

Sarah,
I agree that it tastes yucky, but, for me, the weight savings and multi use make it worth it.
Mike

Baking soda is:
–Lots lighter than toothpaste
–Highly recommended by dentists
–Doesn't leave white spots on the ground when you spit it out
–Can be used for many things as described in a prior post. The most useful for backpacking are for bites/stings and as a deodorant.

Another dental item, if you have fixed bridgework: Glide (Crest) makes individual packets of threader floss, with one end stiffened. I take each out of the individual paper packet, cut off part of the floss (since it's much longer than I need) and put them in a tiny ziplock (the kind you buy at the artsy-crafty store in the bead section). One per day. It's much easier for backpacking than using separate floss threaders, which tend to pop out of their package and disappear forever once they hit the ground.

Please do not neglect your teeth on the trail. Abcessed teeth are painful. Root canals and extractions are NOT fun. Restorative dental work is expensive! In the last 10 years, I've had to spend close to twice as much as Sarah has so far.

"Anyone know if McNett's Tenacious Tape will patch a platypus?"
Superglue applied to a small piece of paper or cardboard will work and holds for years.

To all those people who hate the taste of baking soda: There is a powdered tooth powder which tastes a heck of a lot better than baking soda. You can get it at the health nut store. Brand escapes me. Mint or cinnamon flavor. Very light weight….

a few band-aids, a small roll of tape, a tiny ziplock of ibuprophin, a few small pieces of moleskin and a gauze pad.

All this goes in a ziploc sandwich baggie. No idea what it weighs. I add a little if I have a partner, and I pare it down if I'm solo.

As cool as they sound intead of making the little toothpaste pellets why don't you just brush your teeth with baking soda?????? It actually works better than tooth paste and its proabbly lighter to.

Here's my ditty and first aid bag for an upcoming, 3 day, really light trip:

Contents: (starting top left)

1. Princeton LED light – .4 oz – not as light or bright as the Photon, but I already had it. I had to use a hot pin to make a hole in the bottom for kevlar cord (left over from a project)

2. Firelight mini – .4 oz – sans sparker, use small blade of knife

3. Tinder-Quik tabs (3) – ~.1 oz – when I can't find anything else to catch a spark

4. BodyGlide/duct tape/thread& needle – .4 oz – bodyglide repackaged in chapstip tube for chaffing/blisters. Duct tape is a bit archaic, but has worked for blisters. Needle and thread are under plastic wrap under duct tape. This prevents it from getting gummed-up with adhesive. I would have to unwrap the tape to reach them, but I rarely need to.

5. Toothbrush – .2 oz – this is the same brush that Roman posted above, but I've done some cutting. I cut off part of the handle, and then cut 3/4 of the way around the cover, right below the head. I left the 4th side long enough to tuck up against the handle, which locks the cover in place.

6. Dr. Bronner's in dropper – .5 oz – for washing up/brushing teeth. It doesn't taste very good and goes against what I wrote earlier in this thread about fluoride. Replacing 2/3 items with one was just too appealing. I'd probably take proper toothpaste or dots on longer trips.

7. Swiss Army knife – .9 oz – just two blades; I don't think they even make this anymore. Smaller blade is used with flint, larger is good for shaving tinder. There are lighter options, but I've had it forever and it's a sentimental favorite.

8. Whistle – .1 oz – cut from a Whistleloc buckle. I wouldn't otherwise need this kind of buckle, so I just went at it with a hot X-acto knife. Really light and only $.65!

9. REI thermometer/compass – .4 oz – thermometer is good for assessing gear at different temps. Compass is small, but most of my hiking is on a trail of some kind.

10. Ibuprofen (18, 6/day) – .1 oz – apparently I'm a drug addict, but this is the only medicine I ever find myself using and sure helps at the beginning and end of a long day.

11. 3 std band-aids, 3 butterfly closures – ~.1 oz- enough to replace if needed, but not overkill.

12. 5×4 Aloksak – ~.1 – keeps everything dry.

Total= 3.9 oz – so apparently there's an extra .1 oz somewhere in there, but my scale isn't very precise, this especially shows on light items.

*No bug or sun dope – I mostly hike in shade and have long sleeves and a hat for sun. Bugs aren't much of problem yet, and I treat my clothes with permethrin.

*No water treatment – I'm trying nonconventional water treatment like boiling or using a filter straw, which wouldn't be in the bag. Normally, I use chlorine dioxide tablets.

Mike, Your idea of the toothpaste dots is an interesting idea because you know exactly how many teeth brushings you are taking. I usually take a travel sample tube of toothpaste which I think weighs about 1oz. The empty tube weighs about 0.1oz I believe. Isn't this sort of neglible?

Here is my question to the forum: How many teeth brushings are there in a travel sample tube of toothpaste?