Single best piece of advice ever given? What’s yours?

In the never ending quest to find a smart alternative substitute for each piece of gear I've decided that paperback novels make a lousy trade for quality toilet paper.

Try not to die out there. dave

Colin Fletcher (and the boy scouts I guess) gave me all my early wisdoms. For the sake of this forum I would have to say his statement that "When planning a house on your back, the weightiest matter is weight"

40 years later it still rings true!

Always take your compass, because batteries do die.

''dont worry about the small things"

Be Prepared.

Don't s**t where you sleep. -my grandfather.

Don't s**t where you sleep. -my grandfather.

People have to be told that? :)

In the 1950s, My dad and his pal Tom Moore built a big cabin at the end of the road near the east side of the Bob Marshall. Tom's nickname for me was Hubcap. The big people wouldn't let a 5-year old go outside at dark alone when nature called. So one night Tom went with me.

As we stood looking out over the valley lit up by a perfect full moon, Tom said, "Look at that, Hub, ain't it pretty?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hub, whenever you make a tinkle, make sure you're looking at something real nice." (best advice I've ever received, and I've tried to follow it ever since).

Don't pee into the wind.

It's interesting how many of the above posts deal with elimination…

In the immortal words of my drill sergeant (may he burn in hell):

1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. It's all small stuff.

Make noise when trekking into the wind in bear country. I like to sing.

My drill sergeant said:

Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t, you’re upset and you suffer. On the other hand, when you let go of your expectations, when you accept life as it is, you’re free. To let go is to lighten up.

book reference

(That book can change your life for the better)

It's just walking.

I'm waiting for someone to provide the insight that I believe originated from Ghandi (or at least someone of his depth)….

"Don't eat yellow snow."

A Japanese mountain hut owner and mountain guide, who has since become a friend, saw me when I was going through a bad time in my life and was struggling with one particular walk in the mountains, mentally finding everything hard to deal with, sat me down by the wood stove and very quietly and without any judgement whatsoever, said, "Have some tea." That was it. But it said everything I needed to know.

" You can rest when your dead"

Take the time

I read Beyond Backpacking. And it was down hill from there.

"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed."
Gandhi, Mahatma
found on t-shirt sold by e coast climbing store

one of my favorites is
"getiing to the top is optional, but getting down is mandatory" – ed viesturs

it may be overused, and i'm no mountaineer, but it reminds me that bad things can happen and to be ready to make the safest decision when the need arises.

"You can rest when you're dead"

Except for truly extreme cases where loss of life or limb is imminent if one doesn't keep moving….. this "advice" is obnoxious and deserves a good "F O" reply. :)

Hey Benjamin

This year you might want to exercise your sense of humor muscle… a joke… as was " you can rest when your dead"

Sorry for the fly -by