What Item(s) Optimize the Best of Gear Convergence?

1) camera
2) GPS
3) journal device.
4) notepad
5) entertainment
6) alarm
7) compass
8) book
9) emergency flashlight
10) map
11) hammer
12) paperweight

"11) hammer"

id have to rtfm, but that sounds like it would void the warranty ;)

bandana?
floatie filter
pot lifter
washcloth
sweatband
sling (in case of giants?)
wound dressing
Ass cracker

20 Uses Of Baking Soda

1. Baking soda will also put out fires in clothing, fuel, wood, upholstery and rugs.

2. Wash food and drink containers with soda and water.

3.Wash out thermos bottles and cooling containers with soda and water to get rid of stale smells.

4.To remove strong odors from your hands, wet your hands and rub them hard with soda, then rinse.

6. Sprinkle baking soda on your wet toothbrush and brush your teeth and dentures with it.

7. Sprinkle soda in tennis shoes, socks, boots and slippers to eliminate odor.

8. Take a soda bath to relieve general skin irritations such as measles and chicken pox.

9. Take 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1/2 glass of water to relieve acid indigestion or heartburn.

10. Gargle with 1/2 tsp. baking soda in 1/2 glass of water. Freshens and cleans your mouth.

11. Used as a mouthwash, baking soda will also relieve canker sore pain.

12. To relieve sunburn: use a paste of baking soda and water.

13. Bug bites: use a poultice of baking soda and vinegar.

14. Bee sting: use a poultice of baking soda and water.

15. Windburns: moisten some baking soda and apply directly. Soak and wash diapers with baking soda.

16. Use soda as an underarm deodorant.

17. Add to water to soak dried beans to make them more digestible.

18. Use to sweeten sour dishcloths.

19. Use dry with a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.

20. Apply soda directly to insect bites, rashes and poison ivy to relieve discomfort. Make a paste with water.

windshirt- blocks wind- duh :), foils biting insects, blocks sun, sheds light rain, breathes well on the move, used as part of sleep system

it's the SAK of backpacking clothing

Drop it and break it, or a dead battery means you have no…

compass or map. :(

If you carry back ups, then it is not needed :)

Weighs more than my stove, cone, and pot/mug :)

Normally where I hike there is no cell phone coverage, and I wouldn't want to call anyone anyway :)

All the other "stuff" I don't need.

But I do admit that for 4.8 oz it does pack a lot of punch, and has a lot of conveniences that many people want. Nothing wrong with it if it works for you.

Mentioned before, but a few good uses were left out:

1. Sleeping
2. Pack frame
3. Sit/lounging pad
4. WINDSCREEN for cooking (get some rocks/sticks to hold it in place; greatly improves efficiency, especially for canister users).
5. Leg or arm splint
6. Poor man's PFD (wrap it around your torso with rope/straps)
7. CHESS!!!! If it's not the corrugated style, draw your chessboard on it (I have a chessboard drawn on my GG Thinlite). On a Nitelite you can draw your chessboard on the flat side.
8. Make sure to wrap your beer tight in it for the trip in!

How is it that no one has mentioned the JakPak!?!?

Jacket!
Tent!
Sleeping Bag!

ALL IN ONE!

Or, the Moonbow Powerpac 2000, which seems a little less goofy. The PP2k is the convergence of pack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent! Too bad they don’t have a way for the tent bit to pop out and be a poncho, too. :)