Topic
Single best piece of advice ever given? What’s yours?
Forum Posting
A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!
Home › Forums › General Forums › General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion › Single best piece of advice ever given? What’s yours?
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
Jan 2, 2010 at 2:32 pm #1558846
Buy a Digital scale with Oz and Grams plus a hanging fishing scale so you can have a total of the whole pack…
Less is more!!!!!!Jan 2, 2010 at 3:19 pm #1558867Never inhale.
Jan 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm #1558870@Ben Wood: I use the same piece of advice in my ultrarunning. It's modified slightly, like getting to the finish is optional, but racing another day is mandatory. It prevents me from running myself to injury
Jan 2, 2010 at 3:30 pm #1558878Well put Matt! I'm in limbo right now as to whether I will even run on Jan. 17th for my first ultramarathon as I tend to this stupid IT band inflammation. However like you said, running another one is much more important than crossing the finish line which is optional so I'm treading lightly right now. By the way, what is the link to your blog? I remember checking it out sometime back.
Jan 2, 2010 at 3:31 pm #1558880Jan 2, 2010 at 3:42 pm #1558885Thanks Matt.
Jan 2, 2010 at 3:43 pm #1558886Bill:
Same to you. My reply was tongue in cheek too — as evidenced by the smiley at the end. Too bad this forum doesn't allow for winking icons…
Jan 2, 2010 at 4:09 pm #1558888"Wealth is not a function of how much you make, it is a function of what you have after all the bills are paid."
The one came from my wife as she was leaving for a business trip, "You have a few days off. While I am gone, go buy a ring."
-Tony
Jan 2, 2010 at 4:33 pm #1558897my college adviser was a former lawyer turned literature professor. he was from L.A. and grew up in the city. our college is in a rural area so he decided to buy a farm house and have a small farm with chickens, goats, and a pig. he had no idea what he was doing.
from that experience came this gem of wisdom:
"stepping in s#!t isn't bad, it's how you deal with once it's on your shoe"
Jan 2, 2010 at 5:01 pm #1558904In life: Keep things in balance; very few people at the end of their lives say "I wished I had worked more and spent less time with my family."
In backpacking: There's usually a good reason places pick up names like "Dry Creek" or "Rattlesnake Gulch," you might think twice about aiming to go to places with those kinds of names.
Jan 2, 2010 at 5:12 pm #1558911Here it's been a bit modified to:
It's not a good trip until you can talk about it over beers and burgers next week.
ie, don't die on the drive home either.
My hiking mates one is always
"Standing up at someone's funeral saying that they died doing what they loved is a crock of sh*t. If I die in the bush, I want you to stand up and say what an idiot I was, and tell everyone what I did wrong. If you die in the bush, I'm not coming to your funeral!"
Jan 2, 2010 at 7:01 pm #1558933James said, 'In backpacking: There's usually a good reason places pick up names like "Dry Creek" or "Rattlesnake Gulch," you might think twice about aiming to go to places with those kinds of names.'
Agreed!! Always pay attention to the trail name. The classic, Bog Brook Trail (NH), was not a mud free delight.On the other hand, I live on Blood Hill about a mile from Mt. Hunger and still don't know reason for the bleak names.
Jan 3, 2010 at 8:16 am #1559028"Knowledge weighs nothing"
Cash cannot replace common sense, so I prefer to hike with a head full of knowledge rather than a bag full of stuff.
Jan 3, 2010 at 8:28 am #1559032Not really advice, but I love the saying:
Champion duathlete Maddie Tormoen once said, "I only have so many miles in me and I want to use every one of them before my time is up."
Jan 3, 2010 at 11:12 am #1559070As hard as it is for us weekend warriors, try to spend more time on the trail than shopping for trail gear.
Jan 3, 2010 at 3:07 pm #1559120Advice for me hasn't come in a small one liner often. When I focus on the most defining wisdom to sculpt my world view it has been authors such as Thoreau, Hesse, and Emerson, that have left the strongest impression of how life can be lived. To condense it as best I can, the one liner "Live simply, so that others may simply live." Is what I'm left offer to this thread.
Jan 3, 2010 at 5:32 pm #1559145My father used to tell my brother when they'd go on backpacking trips (no girls allowed – this was the late 50's and early 60's and dear ol' dad was from the old school), "you don't have to practice being miserable." Then he'd toss another flashlight or thick, heavy jacket into his Trapper Nelson.
Luckily, I don't have to practice being miserable either, because I use the lightweight skills and equipment I've learned about on this site.
Jan 3, 2010 at 5:46 pm #1559148I've wondered why they named it "Man Eaten Lake". Did it actually eat a man?
Jan 3, 2010 at 6:02 pm #1559153From some book or other:
The lake, which the Karuk call ara u'ipamvaanatihirak, "the place where a person ate himself long ago," is the setting for a legend about a man who, in a fit of cannibalism, ate his entire family and finally devoured his own flesh. At the end, he became a roving skeleton, still seeking food.
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:08 am #1559264Several years ago, the owner of another forum I am active on wrote his "7 Habits for Happy Hiking" – I have these posted in several places for constant reminders, so with all credit to "Neil", here they are:
“7 Steps to Highly Rewarding Hiking”.
1. Know your route.
Whatever means of navigating you use (software, compass etc.) make sure you have studied and researched your route. Guide books, old trip reports, specific requests for beta from other hikers, tracklogs, whatever information may exist, you may as well profit from it. Then, whether it means writing bearings on a piece of tape on the back of a compass or entering a route into a gps (or both!) or printing a description make sure you do it.
2. Watch your nutritional status.
I never used to worry about this but getting older (49) has made me aware of the benefits.
It starts (at least) the day before and for me means simply loading up on carbs and drinking lots of water. If you haven’t been active for a few days prior to the hike your muscles may already be full of glycogen (rocket fuel) and so the importance of eating is a little less.
On the morning of the hike eat well, in the car on the way to the trailhead nibble and drink.
While on the trail eat and drink often and plenty. I often find myself not wanting to eat even if hungry so I carry all kinds of different stuff and try to vary my food supply from hike to hike.3. Stay in shape
If you're like me and can't hike as often as you'd like to then do something to stay in shape between hikes. There's nothing worse than suffering because your out of shape.
4. Bite off a little more than you think you can chew (but not too much!).
Some may disagree with me here but some of my best memories are from hikes that I wasn't sure about being able to successfully complete. (I had potential bailouts)
5. Start real early
For the big trips you can't beat a pre-dawn start. You never know when you'll need those hours. Personally, I prefer taking my headlamp off versus putting it on.6. Never underestimate a mountain.
Approach every hike with the same respect.7. Choose your partners wisely.
The only thing worse than standing around in the cold waiting is to be constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to keep up with the others.
Jan 4, 2010 at 7:11 am #1559284I agree with everything except #5. Yuck. :)
Jan 4, 2010 at 7:30 am #1559288Starting early may not be fun at first, but in the mountains the period around dawn tends to have the calmest and clearest weather. You can often avoid strong wind and rain this way.
Jan 4, 2010 at 7:34 am #1559291and I do agree with Neil's comment that I'd rather start with a headlamp and take it off than end the day by putting it on, although in winters up here we often tend to use them at both ends of the day.
Jan 4, 2010 at 9:46 am #1559312Well, Miguel, if you say so. But can you please start the fire, I'll be up in a few… :)
Jan 4, 2010 at 11:34 am #1559347The key phrases I learned from this site:
"A pound of knowledge is lighter than a pound of gear."
and the corollary:
"We pack our fears."
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Forum Posting
A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!
Our Community Posts are Moderated
Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking. Please be mindful of our values and boundaries and review our Community Guidelines prior to posting.
Get the Newsletter
Gear Research & Discovery Tools
- Browse our curated Gear Shop
- See the latest Gear Deals and Sales
- Our Recommendations
- Search for Gear on Sale with the Gear Finder
- Used Gear Swap
- Member Gear Reviews and BPL Gear Review Articles
- Browse by Gear Type or Brand.