Ultralight Tip of the Week

[a b]

The composting privies on the A.T. were a revelation to me as a western hiker. For years I have hiked in the Sierra and seen the ridiculous pollution of used TP in places like Rancheria Falls in Northern Yosemite.
It is very un-Edward Abbey of me, but sometimes i wish there were Privies in some of the more popular locations of the Sierra.
One slightly humorous/slightly sad and totally sick story for you: I was summiting Mt Whitney on my PCT thru hike. On the way through Crabtree meadows I noticed a bear locker full of wag bags. Now Crabtree has a privy so it struck me as odd why there would be these wag bags. Anyhow when i passed the ranger station I noticed a pile of wag bags, presumably "loaded", laying all over the front porch!
I don't know it the dry Sierra climate would support the composting privy idea or even if folks would use them.
Anyhow, way back when i was a bury and burn TP user I met Kristin, a fellow hiker in Yosemite. She infomed me that i would not be going to Laurel lake with my uncle but rather going to lake Vernon with here.. naturally I obeyed. While hiking with Kristin the TP subject came up and she produced a squeeze bottle and stated: "This is my solution to pollution." Likewise my Friend Sage also uses the wash the bum teqnique rather than TP saying: "If you got "it" on your hand would you rather merely wipe it off or wash it off?"
Well obviously women are smarter than us.
So I am now a bum washer. The trick is to always carry hand sanitizer and be sure to bring enough water with you away from any water sources to "do the job".
Not carrying TP means i have eliminated 100% of it's weight, 100% of it's pollution, 100% of the fire danger of burning it, and 100% of the worry of it getting wet in my pack.
But all that being said the moral superiority i should feel is quelled by the humbling fact that I am wiping my bum with my hand.

Thanks Mike! I will check out that article. I would have mentioned that sphagum moss makes excellant TP but that would surely bring the wrath of god on top of me.

[Mike Clelland]

Matt,

Well said.

But, please know, I don't advocate wiping with one's hand. Instead I advocate using any number of wonderful and easy to find natural alternatives.

That said, I do teach the skill of washing ones butt in the backcountry, and I don't feel the need to do it daily, but every once in a while it's nice. Read the article, I include both the natural TP alternative and the butt-washing skills (and both are in the book too).
_____________________________________________
Here's a link to an article I wrote in 2006:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/toilet_paper_free.html
_____________________________________________

AND – Your friend Kristen carries a squeeze bottle, correct? This is known lovingly as the Backountry Bidet. Some folks advocate that system, and more power to 'em. But, it involves bringing one extra piece of gear. Or, if you use your water bottle, BE CAREFUL!!!

ALSO – I would advocate to you adding a tiny bit of soap to your arsenal of tools. I've worked with some medical researchers and they all say that soap is preferable to hand sanitizer as a meathod of keeping your hands clean. Also, it is my understanding that to use hand sanitizer properly, you need a lot of it (A dab roughly the size of a peanut m&m). If you take only one hand cleaner, I would strongly advocate taking only soap over only hand sanitizer.

[Jason G]

i second that dale.. not sure how this pertains to UL…

"Re: Changing your shirt

Interesting, but I don't see the weight advantage :) I was reminded of watching a girlfriend changing her swim suit top under her tee shirt.

My question is WHY? Are we so busy we can't stop and take a shirt off? If you can't stop, change your shirt, have a sip, smell the flowers, take a stretch, you might as well stay home. I would probably trip and go head over heels anyway :)"

[Mike Clelland]

Reply about the shirt changing cartoon:

---

As I said before, if the pack is truly light, there is no reason to set it down, and (most importantly) it's FUN!

[Mary D]

I agree with Dale and others–what in the world is so important that we can't take a 1-2 minute break to stop and remove a wrap? For those of us who use trekking poles, Mike's contortions wouldn't work anyway. I'd undoubtedly end up taking a fall if I tried that!

What I generally do instead is to strip down to shirtsleeves just before heading out on the trail in the morning. Yes, I get chilly and may even start shivering, but in 5 minutes of hiking I'm warmed up! In the meantime, I'm wide awake!

I go out to the wilderness to get away from horrid concepts like efficiency and increased productivity with their accompanying ulcers, high blood pressure and sleepless nights! Actually, I retired 11 years ago to get away from such things and haven't missed them at all!

[Dale Wambaugh]

"wet moss is quite soothing, and it exfoliates!"

Never thought about that. I have LOTS of wet moss. MILES of it! It even comes on a stick :)

CLELLAND! Do you see what you have reduced us to? [Colonel Kurtz] The horror……

[Daniel Paladino]

I love this tip. I do this all the time when I'm backcountry skiing and want to shed a layer without stopping. You have really mastered this tip when you can do it while riding a bike…

[Dale Wambaugh]

"I love this tip. I do this all the time when I'm backcountry skiing and want to shed a layer without stopping. You have really mastered this tip when you can do it while riding a bike…"

And not wearing a helmet :) Make sure your organ donor card is filled out completely, eh?

[Mike Clelland]

Right on! Just so y'know – I can do it on a bike, and using trekking poles.

[George Matthews]

rich man, poor man
beggar man, theif
dropped a yam?
wipe with a leaf

P.S.

The book is fantastic and very inspiring
GET IT if you haven't yet
It will change your life

[Addie Bedford]

All I will add to this particular discussion is that Mr. Paladino should keep his eyes on the road while biking.

Hey Daniel: Got a cool scar yet?

[Daniel Paladino]

Haha yes I do Addie. I also have a nice little bald spot on my chin.

[Evan Parker]

I picked up your book while I was across the country and read through the entire thing while still on the plane back to the East Coast. I'm in the process of reading it through a second time and all I can say is wow. This is probably the most comprehensive and definitely the most fun UL book I've read. It's given me tons of ideas to try and I'm urging my girlfriend to read it and subscribe to the UL mindset. I just wanted to thank you for such a great book. Also, I used this current shirt tip yesterday as I was walking back from work. I felt pretty cool about it.

Evan

[Mary D]

Thanks, Mike, for the very clearly illustrated directions on removing the child-proof thingy from the mini-Bic! I've been doing it wrong, and ruined a couple of them. The illustration is very clear even for a non-mechanical klutz like me!

[Dan Montgomery]

I don't know how long these have been around, but I just got some "Thumb-Friendly" Bic lighters. They're 2.5 inches tall and weigh .6 ounces, but I can accept that weight penalty for fire-starting ease and comfort, even with gloves on.

Great book, BTW. Second only to the Golden Book of Camping and Craft Crafts in my pantheon.

[Thomas Burns]

By prying off the metal top when the bic mini is out of juice, you can turn the thing into a pretty good firestarter/ sparker. As I always say, the best backup firestarter to a Bic Mini is the bic Mini itself (and another Bic mini).

+1 on the great, well illustrated instructions, Mike. What a great book you've written.

Stargazer

[Scott Haddon]

I also have these, 1 in cook kit & 1 in first aide kit. I also like that if you keep it lit for any extended period of time, you don't burn your thumb when you try to relight it. Have read the book 3 times and have lost a lot of weight. We owe many thanks to Mike.

Scott

[Rodney]

Mike,

I have a question regarding your recipes in the book. I cannot find where the number of servings is indicated. Could you enlighten me as to how to determine how many servings are made as per your instructions. I can't wait to try these recipes. A great book!

Blessings,
Rodney Mruk

[Chris Lucas]

All my mini bics get the extreme version of Mike's tip which I posted here:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=43084&skip_to_post=366504#366504

You can save another 2 grams with the same needle nose pliers.

[Mary D]

Another really good one, Mike! This is what I try to do for more privacy and to avoid dusty, trodden down, often garbage-strewn overused camp sites. Also, in many wilderness areas, it is required that you camp 200 feet (at least 2/3 of the distance you recommend) from the trail and from water sources. I take it a step further by not camping at popular lakes, often following the inlet or outlet for a quarter mile or more to a more secluded area and then getting well away from the stream.

One thing I hate to see is a meadow full of bright-colored tents! I love "silnylon gray" because it is hardly visible in most places. I dearly wish that shelter makers (even some "cottage" ones) would stop using bright yellow, bright orange, bright green, bright blue.

It's a bit harder to stealth camp in areas where the bark beetles have run rampant. Sometimes the only place that's safe from "widow-makers" is out in a meadow! In those cases, I don't set up my shelter until almost dark, even when I've camped early, and strike camp as soon as I wake up, so my shelter is on the vegetation only during the time I'm sleeping.

There was a recent thread here (I'm pretty sure it was here and not on another site) that tried to equate stealth camping with illegal camping. I always thought that stealth camping was what you illustrate here, being secluded and unobtrusive for others' sakes as well as our own. Nothing illegal about it; in fact it's in line with both wilderness regulations and common courtesy!

Besides, this style of camping really cuts down the problem of snoring neighbors! :-)

Thanks again for promoting a camping style that all too many people ignore!

[Thomas Burns]

I agree fundamentally with this advice about stealth camping — except during hunting season. Then, I want every off-trail gun or bow hunter to know that I'm there. If I could set up, spinning lights and fog horns, I would (having been aimed at a few times too many. ;-)

Stargazer — the guy with the bull's eye painted on his chest, apparently

[Mary D]

Usually it's the hunters who are camped in those dusty, overused spots next to the trail! That being said, I hang a good-sized hunk of blaze orange cloth on my silnylon gray shelter if I backpack during hunting season. I still get well away from the trail, but I camp more out in the open!

One nice thing about living in the Northwest is that Washington state has a 2-3 week break between "high buck" season in mid-September and the opening of general firearm hunting season in mid-October. This gives those of us seeking the elusive Alpine Larch a chance to get out and see it in all its golden glory!

[Antti Peltola]

This is great tip as long as the rules of the area allow it – but why whoud the pack size or cooking make a difference?

I've done stealth camping as long as I remember, even 20 years ago with very heavy backpack and I have never felt the need to start the day without a good breakfast either. I mean, if you don't find a space to cook, it's likely that you don't find a spot big enough for sleeping either.

Waterless campsite could be a problem if you do not prepare yourself at all, but waterless areas can be seen on the map beforehand so you can take the water from the previous source.

[Brad Rogers]

Thomas, judging by your pic, it isn't hard to see why you have been aimed at!

[Alanna M]

Hi Antti, in the book Mike has other tips that tie in and explain his cooking-on-the-trail bit. Don't worry, he isn't advocating skipping breakfast!!! From what I've read I'd say Mike is passionate about good food and eats some hearty & delicious stuff on the trail.

As for pack size making a difference, where I live almost all the big-old growth trees have been logged, so the forest here is relatively young and densely packed with trees. This makes moving off trail a real challenge (and sometimes down-right miserable), especially with a big traditional pack on my back. I have been working on shrinking my pack size, and this is already making off-trail travel noticeably easier.

And lastly, traveling light allows you to sleep in some pretty small spaces. All you need is level earth in roughly your body shape. And as I recently discovered with hammock camping, now I don't even need level ground…

Anyway, hope that helped make the tip a little clearer! Alanna

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