Best Free Stuff?

I get my butter packets from KFC, sauerkraut and parmesan packets from Sam's Club deli.

If heading into the Gila Wilderness, it's customary for me to stop at the McDonalds in Silver City, NM and grab a coffee since it's the only place open early… I steal some sugars to go.

Chic-filet: salsa, hot sauce, honey, jelly

hotels: small inroom coffee packs (use like a tea bag)

arby's for barbeque sauce and horseradish sauce

marvick gas stations for cholula packets
and 59 cent ice cream cones

Oooo, butter packets…. mmmmmm

For most sauces (mayo, salsa, ketchup) I go with McDonalds since they're everywhere.

When I forget TP and remember on the way to the trail, any large fast food chain will do. Actually, the stuff they use in those huge rolls is super thin and I bet it weighs a lot less per yard then the stuff you probably use from home. It seems a bit hard on the underside to use regularly but who knows. If you snatched one of those big rolls and took it home, you'd have a lifetime supply of ultralight toilet paper. Actually, on my first backpacking trip ever (probably 10-12 year ago) I forgot TP so I clipped one of those huge rolls to the outside of my pack. It was probably 5 lbs of TP (take that Mike C!). I balanced it out with a huge bundle of banana's clipped to the other side.

For cutlery the cheap plastic fast food stuff works in a pinch, but it's a gamble on a longer trip since you'll likely break it. McD's McFlurry spoons or Dairy Queen spoons are your best best for lightweight and durable.

White Spot here in Western Canada has amazing take home containers for your leftover food. They are quality, lightweight plastic containers that can easily be used as a bowl/mug. Just be sure to ask that they cram your leftovers into a small one….or just leave 2 fries on your plate and ask that they pack that up :)

"I steal some sugars to go."

Appropriate (verb) is a much nicer word, don't you think? ;-)

I'm also partial to "liberate" or "acquire" . The liberate leads one to believe that the sugars were opressed and didn't really want to be there.

One simply _snags_ some free packets.

–B.G.–

I like the ambiguity of 'acquire'. It leaves others guessing whether you appropriated, stole or liberated the sugar.

Funny thread. In the Marines, it is referred to as STEAL. Strategic Transport of Equipment to Alternate Locations.

Panera Bread has Hellman's Mayo and Golden's spicy mustard packets. They have other brand name condiments which taste way better, in my opinion.

okay… maybe I am a bit over the top… but stealing is still stealing no matter what ambiguous name you put on it. People complain about prices being high and such yet have no problem pilfering that for which they didn't pay. Why not just use minimus.biz?

Let's analyze this. If I walk into McDonalds, buy a cup of coffee, then walk over to their condiments counter and take a packet of sugar for the coffee, there is no problem. Right?

Now, if I walk in, buy the same cup of coffee, then take 250 packets of sugar for the coffee, that is probably wrong.

What is ethical and what is not?

–B.G.–

I believe Panda Express has little packets of red pepper flakes. Mickey Dee's strawberry jam packs have found their wayinto my pack.

"What is ethical and what is not?"

Seems fairly simple to me; if you take more than you use in that cup of coffee it's technically unethical. Not to say I have always been a paragon of virtue, but I like to think that as we age we evolve in the direction of being more ethical, just as we evolve in the direction of pounding a few less beers than we did in our youth. Another way to look at it: If too many people abuse the privilege of taking as much as they want from the condiment stand, MacDonalds will eventually move the condiments behind the counter and distribute them in a controlled manner. Then we will have lost another little bit of our freedom for lack of ability to exercise our freedom with restraint. :(

Where does one draw the line? There is no magic line that always delineates clearly between innocence and guilt. Ethics and judgment go hand in hand.

My own guideline? Don't do to others what you wouldn't want done unto you. In this case, if I own a small diner or fast food restaurant… would I care if my patrons take a few extra packets of sugar with them? Meh. But I would want them to be reasonable and considerate.

So, Benjamin, if you were the restaurant owner, you wouldn't care if your coffee customer grabbed two or three packets of sugar. How about five or ten? But, surely not 250 packets.

Where do you draw the line?

If it is a repeat customer, you allow so many, but if it is a first-timer, you allow less?

–B.G.–

Bob — as a restaurant owner, I wouldn't care at all if my patrons snag a few extra packets of sugar.

As stated above, there is no line. Just exercise consideration and good judgment. Hey, we're all adults, right?

Man…how did this gravitate so quickly into the realm of ethics? Grab a sugar or two and go about your way, no harm no foul… that's how I view the matter. Ok…my apologies, perhaps the use of the word steal wasn't very tactful on my behalf. When an old lady leaves a bowl of pastel mints out on her coffee table then dammit I'm going to grab me a pastel or 2!!!

OK OK don't let this turn into another 'rei return policy ethics' thread:)

Dairy Queen- long Blizzard spoons! perfect for BIB meals

Fast food and ethics? Please.

Yeah, it’s wrong to steal. A few sugars, what the heck.

You CAN buy stuff like that. http://www.minimus.biz is a hiker’s treasure trove.

Not to justify taking handfuls of condiments from a fast food outlet for camping, but at least they will be used.

How many times have you been to a place and seen other people grab a fistful of napkins, ten packs of various condiments hit the salsa bar and then use a fraction of it and trash the rest? I'm appalled by the waste and try to take only what i need…

There is nothing new about this thread.
"It's wrong" turned into "it's O.K. if I just…" right around the end of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt. Here in the 21st Century we just call it "Shrinkage" and add the loss of income onto the selling price. We don't even have "thieves" anymore. No one "steals" anything. We have "shoplifters" and "loss". I'd better stop, this is beginning to sound like a George Carlin routine and someone may be offended.