Consumables

[Diane Pinkers]

I'm in the process of making up a gear list. Often I see sunscreen, hand sanitizer, soap, etc., listed in the base gear weight, usually as part of a personal kit. Wouldn't those qualify as consumables, and therefore be cited elsewhere? Water purification tablets, TP, insect repellent?

Also, on the subject of insect repellent, what do people use to re-package it? I have some of the BPL dropper bottles, but find it difficult to get sufficient out for using. I get eaten alive by bugs, so I ALWAYS have some, no matter where I go in the summer.

[James Marco]

That depends. Consumables are anything that you use up on a trip.
Do you use up your insect repellent? I usually don't. Same for water treatment and TP. I bring enough and a bit extra. It is always in my pack, 'cept winter months (but I don't hike then.) In the ADK's I don't use sunscreen. Too many trees, too many bugs means not enough skin to worry about. Some hikers say food, fuel and water, only.

I used an older eye drop bottle one time…it melted. Well, not melted, but got quite soft after a couple days, so be carefull repackaging it. Most bottles are fine, though. If in doubt, fill it about a week ahead of time and leave it on a saucer in your closet.

[Mary D]

That is a question I've pondered, too! Here's my take: These could qualify as consumables except that the difference between the amount needed for a week and the amount needed for a weekend is pretty insignificant. It's also difficult, as well as messy, to fine-tune the amount needed for different trips of varying lengths. I did run a test of how much (by weight) I use per day of each liquid so I have an idea of how much is needed for a long trip. For a short trip, I take whatever is left in the bottle.

Re the dropper bottles: If the liquid is too thick to come out of the dropper insert, you can use the bottle without it–just put the cap on. I prefer translucent dropper bottles to the ones sold by BPL so you can easily tell how much is in them. If you order a set from Gossamer Gear, half of those are translucent. US Plastics sells the translucent dropper bottles, but I haven't tried ordering from them, so I don't know if there's a minimum quantity per order.

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[Bob Gross]

Lately I have been finding a wide range of tiny travel containers at a store called Daiso.

There are small, flat containers for solids, others for gels, and lots of them for liquids. The capacity ranges from 5ml up to about 100ml. The smallest ones are all plastic, and the largest ones are aluminum. Some are straight bottles, some have a roll-on top, and some are atomizers.

I had bad luck with lots of the standard dropper bottles. They seem to leak.

–B.G.–

[John S.]

As far as consumables go, a more standardized FWF, food/water/fuel, is easier to categorize since they have significant weight that will vary on any given trip. Nonstandard "consumable" items could include tp, insect repellent, water purification, lip balm, sunscreen, lighter fluid ; ), first aid kit items, matches, firestarter, medications, baby wipes, toothpaste, soap, etc. You see how the list gets crazy and might cause alot of differences in gear category weights. Items like tp and baby wipes (used but not consumed) should never be left in the backcountry and have no place in a consumable list, imo.

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