Super-Awesome TIP OF THE DAY!!! (warning, thread may be too awesome for some viewers)

peter's hints and tips on better living …

" call you mother " (for younger people)
because even after you'v culled thru a stack of girlfriends, you'll still be stuck with the same mom. she's not going away, so make it a habit of treating her decently.

" be nice to the ladies in the office "
because a peeved office girl can ruin your world. and, even if you try to sleep with one (or more) of them, once that does't work out, you'll still be needing them to protect you from the lunacy that is upper management. if necessary, bribe them with wine and chocolates.

" tenderly care for, learn about their children, and come to love your machine operators "
because, they have dead boring jobs, and you don't want to do it after they quit.

" say whatever drivel is necessary to land a gov't job "
in the interests of forum manners, i removed that multiplicity of reasons you'd want a gov't job.

" take all the time off you can afford "
because if you know what you are doing, there's always more jobs out there if the current one drops you for taking time off. (push comes to shove, they almost never actually do that)
obviously, no cable tv payment = more time off.

" learn about household electricity "
because if you don't, and you survive a problem with yours, then you'll have to deal with people like peter. so quite clearly, it's a bit smoother ride if you take the necessary steps to learn what everybody should know in the first place.

cheers,
v.

"'say whatever drivel is necessary to land a gov't job '
in the interests of forum manners, i removed that multiplicity of reasons you'd want a gov't job."

Ha ha! Bravo!

+1!

When pooping on a hill or steep incline, always point the cannon downhill so you don't have a runaway roll into your dropped pants.

Ben

"When pooping on a hill or steep incline, always point the cannon downhill so you don't have a runaway roll into your dropped pants."

I'll add to that, don't lose your grip on the tree either. Apparently no one wants to see a backwards somersault with full moon finish.

Long story.

On my wedding day, Dad gave me this advice: "You can be happy or you can be right".

Still learning to apply that tip more often…

Don't think that this tip is backpacking or camping related? Then you have not backpacked with Mrs Mags :)

If you are taking your kids on their first overnight trip, bring stuff for s'mores. Event if you get lost, they have blisters, crap their pants, or catch giardia, they will go on the next trip if you tell them you are bringing s'mores again.

1. Learn to use a compass. I know its not really a specific tip….but GPS fails, batteries die….its a life skill to use a compass. learn to take a bearing and reverse bearing, learn to triangulate and learn to orientate a compass to a map.

2. The Perfect pillow. Stuff extra clothes and stuff sacks into sleeping bag stuff sack. Put just the right amount in to achieve desired firmness. Can also use a larger or smaller stuff sack. The trick is to save your down on fleece to wrap around the outside to make it soft to the touch. I put the filled bag into my zipped fleece all the way up to the neck hole (sitting length wise where your shoulders would be), then wrap the bottom part up and around and finally tie the sleeve together to hold it all together….best pillow!

3. When hiking with a group consider setting up hiking intervals. Each day, designate a leader and a person to take up the rear. Set an interval such as 15:2. Hike for 15 minutes and then take a 2 minute break..but the break doesn't start till the LAST person arrives. This technique gets a good rhythm going for the group and minimizes long breaks. it also allows the people struggling in the group to get frequent breaks and keep up.

Only where appropriate…

Low impact pocket fire cooking.

Lift a rock out of it's hole, and lay it next to the hole as a pot support. Place another similar height rock on the other side. light a tiny fire in the pocket out of brush and tiny kindling, just big enough to cook your meal. Choose a slightly elevated place for this to help the fire breathe. burn the kindling completely to ash and push it neatly down and place the rock back on top of it.

…

If you run out of fuel for your alcohol stove, try using hand sanitzer. It's liquid alcohol! Also makes great fire starter…

Suddenly not feeling well after climbing to higher altitude?

I remember my "hangover rule"…

If it feels like a bad hangover, rest and DO NOT ASCEND until symptoms pass. If it feels nothing like a hangover or is getting worse even at rest, DESCEND IMMEDIATELY. This is a life threatening emergency, descend in the quickest safe direction possible.

Alternatively, remember this from the CDC website..

"Three rules can prevent death or serious consequences from altitude illness:

Know the early symptoms of altitude illness, and be willing to acknowledge when they are present.
Never ascend to sleep at a higher altitude when experiencing symptoms of altitude illness, no matter how minor they seem.
Descend if the symptoms become worse while resting at the same altitude."

Source: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-2-the-pre-travel-consultation/altitude-illness

…

useful for NH and other places that use tent platforms. If they don't have the Eye bolts you can do the same thing but through the slots at the end of the boards.

In reply to Michaels post. You can add a little bit of salt to alcohol based hand sanitizer, give it a little shake and it will turn to liquid alcohol and becomes much more flammable.

When I first started bear bag hanging with the PCT method, I used a stick as prescribed and the next morning I would break the stick to release the knot. However, the break would occur just lateral to the knot and the knot would remain firmly attached to one half of the stick. Now I carve a notch to create a stress riser and tie the hitch centered over this notch. Each time I snap the stick it breaks right in the middle of the knot for an instant release!

When using compression straps, you can get a lot more compression (and extend the life of your plastic buckles) by using your knee or another body part to compress the item, then just use the plastic buckles to cinch up the straps. For pack compression straps, you can kneel on the pack while you tighten up the buckles.

Note that if you're putting a sleeping bag in a compression sack, doing this could lead to an undesirable amount of compression!

What would you be putting into a compression sack besides a sleeping bag, or perhaps a large winter puffy?

For either down or (esp!) synthetic, if you can't manually compress it into the stuff sack then it definitely reduces the life span and effectiveness of the insulation to repeatedly crunch it down and deform the fibers with aggressive compression.

Better to get a larger volume backpack that can handle the increased bulk of winter puffies…

When I use this most is with not with actual compression sacks (I don't really use them anymore), but with the side compression straps on my pack. So I'm really compressing everything at once – sleeping bag, food, layers, etc. I don't think this is negatively affecting the insulation very much. My sleeping bag is just stuffed into the bottom of my pack, rather than being in its own sack.

The other place that it really comes in handy is for bikepacking bags (seatbags in particular). Sucking a seatbag tightly up against your seat will result in much better handling.

I once bought a sleeping pad from someone when mine failed on the first night of a week long trip.

Luckily we had met some guys who were on the last night of their trip. I overpaid a little but it was worth it.

This maybe an old tip.
I use a self adhesive screen protector for all my electronics, watch crystal, GPS, camera screen and phone screen.

"If your trail head is near a stream, bring a plastic net shopping bag, like they use in Europe, with a couple of beers, and tie it off in the stream in a concealed area. That way you'll have an icy cold one waiting for you when you come off the trail. "

I think this method is more fun than a cooler. Retrieved these after a week long trip in the Winds out of Big Sandy TH. Pretty popular place so I left a note inside a ziplock saying "Backpackers returning for these, feel free to drink after MM/DD." That way if something happened to us, at least the beer wouldn't go to waste. :)

This is controversial for some people (and even bringing toothpaste stirs up controversy on BPL) but…

Swallow your toothpaste. It lets you brush your teeth in your sleeping bag and it's more LNT.

"even bringing toothpaste stirs up controversy on BPL)"

Some might even call it TP lite.

I wonder how many calories are in a single serving of toothpaste. But then we would probably need to calculate the number of calories consumed to brush your teeth with said toothpaste. There is probably someone here on BPL that knows the answer to both.

Just brush, the paste is not necessary.