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Best Practices: Saving Time in the Morning
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Jun 3, 2010 at 3:45 pm #1616536
> I save time on clothing by sleeping in my hiking clothes.
That's fine as long as your clothing is clean and dry.
Doesn't always happen that way!Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!
Cheers
Jun 3, 2010 at 6:05 pm #1616582I usually take a small white tyvek square (cut from a postal envelope) that serves as the only place I put all small gear, like matches, spoon to photon lights to glasses or contact case to . . . whatever. This helps me find and remember everything before I leave.
This doesn't necessarily save time but it does keep me from losing small gear.
Jun 3, 2010 at 6:24 pm #1616590Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!
10 minutes quickly turns into 2 hours. It's best if I get out of camp so quickly that I don't have time to find reasons to hang back in camp.
Jun 3, 2010 at 6:31 pm #1616597Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical????
Roger, this should be right down your alley… industrial engineering. What is the most efficient and productive way to accomplish a task. Then it is not about minutes. :)
Minutes is just a positive by-product.
Jun 3, 2010 at 6:43 pm #1616599What is the most efficient and productive way to accomplish a task. Then it is not about minutes.
You must start by defining the task. For some people it is having an enjoyable time without unduly infringing on their hiking time.
For others it is about eating only as needed to support their hiking, and maximizing miles per day.
Very different goals; very different solutions.
–MV
Jun 3, 2010 at 8:03 pm #1616626As absentminded as I am, I like that envelope idea, Steve P., a UL placemat!
Jun 3, 2010 at 8:51 pm #1616634Well, I cannot give you advice on how to get started earlier.
But I have some advice for myself to save time in the morning:
"Stop hiking with a partner that must be forced out of bed at 9am with curse words, rocks, or both"
Jun 3, 2010 at 9:49 pm #1616649Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!
It is when you get only a week or two of vacation a year. Or have to head back out on Sunday to get to work on Monday rested because you left for the trailhead late Friday night. A vicious cycle.
Jun 4, 2010 at 6:23 am #1616699> Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!
It depends if you are on a hiking trip or a camping trip.
I posted what I did while hiking the PCT. I awoke every morning with this urge to both maximize cool morning hiking and maximize daily miles, so that's how I got going quickly.
But now that I hike like a normal person, I make coffee, I use the picnic table, I take more time.
It's all a matter of your purpose.
Jun 4, 2010 at 6:57 am #1616708For me, the less I bring, the more time I save due to simplicity and a streamlined kit. On dry and warm summer trips I can literally be fully packed in less than 1 minute, the most time consuming aspect of a morning is probably waiting for all the air to escape my quilt before I twist the pack liner shut. I've eliminated stuff sacs for the most part with the exception of my food bag, everything else goes in my BPL pack liner or on top of my liner in the pack (ex. food bag, sooty pot).
I sleep in my hiking clothes so all my evening insulation goes over what I already have on, so in the morning throwing my few insulation items into my pack is a simple process.
Breakfast is freezer bag cooking for me, prepared oatmeal and a few instant coffees, doesn't take more than 8 minutes from setup>fire> boil> eating and with the hunger I typically have in the mornings I'm done in 10.
Hygiene, or lack thereof, is another aspect of trips that I find slows things down. I used to clean up, wipe down and do some serious dish duty before anything went back into my pack. Now, I'm not so concerned with some dirt and grime on my gear or on me over the course of a short multi-day trip, it can wait until I get home.
Jun 4, 2010 at 10:07 am #1616752I should have clarified my reasons for wanting to save time in the morning: In the group that I take trips with, I have been the one guy making a hot meal, so I am THAT guy slowing everyone down in the morning. So I have been trying to find ways to be more efficient/fast so that I can no lag everyone down.
That said, I am just enjoying seeing what other people do in the morning….lots of good tips and tricks to try out.
I also sleep in my hiking clothing, so getting dressed in the morning is more like removing my insulated jacket, hat, and gloves.
Really intrigued by the idea of just leaving the quilt in the bivy bag and stuffing the whole thing inside the pack.
Sam: Do you use a compression bag for your bivy with the quilt inside of it?
I use a compression bag for my quilt simply to shrink it down. My MLD bivy has a hoop, wire built in, guess I could compress that down too.
Hope others share their best practices.
Yes, being outdoors is about enjoying and relazing….not a race to get up and haul, but still, it is very interesting to learn what others do.
In my opinion, too often we focus on the buying of gear, but little is said about how we use that gear.
Keep the ideas coming!
-Tony
Jun 4, 2010 at 1:12 pm #1616792First, to answer Nick's question about how boiling water while you pack could be less efficient:
I find that the limiting factor on miles for me and most people is not daylight, but sore feet. Ergo to maximize miles (or hiking enjoyment) it is most efficient to take a few off-the-feet breaks a day. Given that you're doing this anyway, might as well brew and eat up at the same time. And while hot food is a nice way to start the day, candy bars are even better.
As for morning routine (presuming no significant snow on ground, temps not too far below freezing, and camping in Griz country):
-Get out of bed, put on hiking socks and shoes (often frozen, now I'm awake and moving!!)
-Stuff quilt in dry bag, close dry bag.
-Roll pad, insert in empty pack.
-Out from under tarp/pyramid shelter, pull stakes and untie lines.
-Shake dew/frost off shelter, stuff into bottom of pack. Stakes in stuff sack go after.
-Drybag in pack.
-Grab small drybag of odds and ends, put spray back on pack belt, walk to food hang.
-Take down hang, coil rope and put in pack, remove 2 bars for breakfast, put in pockets, remove a further 6 bars for day snacks, put in pack hipbelt pockets.
-Place food bag(s) in pack.
-Put small stuff dry bag in pack, remove warm layers, put in drybag, place in very top of pack.
-Put pack on and start hiking!I should add that accessing water in MT is usually dead easy. Just scoop some up in your bottle at the next stream crossing, add Sweetwater, wait, drink. In drier climes water rituals become more complex.
Jun 4, 2010 at 2:40 pm #1616815All we can really discuss is what works best for each individual. What works for me, may not work at all for someone else. All of us might see something that we had not thought about, but would be perfect for us. So keep the ideas coming.
I typically hike all day, and my breaks are very short. I drink water and eat a packaged snack. Then I move on. For others, this won't work.
Regarding quilt and bag packing. Whenever possible, I like a pack liner and stuff my quilt or bag in the bottom. Sometimes when I am using a small pack, I can compress my quilt smaller into a cuben sackm if space is an issue. When I use a bivy, there is often some condensation between the bivy and quilt/bag, and I like to separate them. I will often turn the bivy inside out, and put it in a mesh pocket. I try not to, but ocassionally I need let my quilt/bag air out every few days.
Jun 4, 2010 at 2:51 pm #1616816Read the "A day in the life.." section at the bottom of this article:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/hiking_efficiency_techniques.html
Jun 12, 2010 at 6:05 pm #1619446I first started hiking before eating breakfast after learning about the French "voyageurs", the fur trappers that spent a year traveling the rivers catching beaver:
"the French–Canadian voyageurs. They were the freight haulers of the fur trade. A voyageur was strong but small —ideally, 5-feet, 4-inches because long legs wouldn't fit well in a crowded canoe.
Voyageurs paddled 30 miles or more a day—55 strokes per minute for 14 hours. They paddled before dawn and sometimes long after dark. They stopped every hour or so to smoke their pipes, but breaks were brief because the voyage was long and summer was short in the north.
From Montreal, George and the voyageurs traveled up the Ottawa River in Ontario, overland to Lake Nipissing, down the French River to Lake Huron, overland at Sault Saint Marie, and finally onto Lake Superior.""Voyageurs worked sixteen to eighteen hours a day, paddling the canoes loaded with trade goods through fast-flowing waterways. It was hard work.
Their day began at 2:00 a.m., with a six-hour paddle until breakfast. Lunch was pemmican eaten in the canoe. Once every hour, paddling ceased and each man lit his pipe. They stopped for a smoke every 6 or 8 kilometers, so the routes were measured in "pipes". Paddling continued until well after dusk; when they made camp and ate supper.:
(from various websites)
Before getting out of my bag, I open the valve on the pad. That flattens it quickly.
Jun 12, 2010 at 6:11 pm #1619448Sam: Do you use a compression bag for your bivy with the quilt inside of it?
No, Tony everything inside my backpack is in a pack liner and that is my sole protection for keeping things dry. However if I new a trip was going to include a potential swim I would then put my quilt and insulation in a roll-top waterproof bag as well.
Jun 12, 2010 at 7:50 pm #1619464Maybe a pipe is the key.
Jun 12, 2010 at 11:27 pm #1619500Interesting discussion. Most hikes, kicking back in the morning and taking my time is the whole goal. I love getting on the trail when I feel like it on those trips- camp time is the best!
But other hikes the idea is the joy of high mileage, the challenge, the feeling of going over ridge after ridge. I love those hikes too. For these trips in the summer I often skip the stove. If it's really long, I fuel like an ultramarathon- Hammer Perpetuem all day, some bars, gu every hour, water with Nuun electrolytes, etc. I do cold coffee these trips and survive. No stove= much faster meals on the go.
On these trips, another time saver is going minimal. Fewer items means less planning and packing. No stuff sacks- just one for food and another for small items. Stuff everything else with the poncho tarp on the outside and insulation on the bottom to make it easier to find clothes and food. Works great!
Totally agree with water being ready for the AM. I always guzzle a liter before leaving camp.
All depends on what floats your boat. I prefer both, really.
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