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Besides Weight, What Are Your Gear No-Nos?


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) Besides Weight, What Are Your Gear No-Nos?

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 60 total)
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  • #3673931
    Eric Blumensaadt
    BPL Member

    @danepacker

    Locale: Mojave Desert

    My gear no-nos are:

    1,)colored “clown”hiking shoes  2.)ti mugs (I like plastic)  3.)urethane coated tents  4.)ponchos  5.)large knives   6.)flashlights (small headlamp instead)   7.)ti utensils   8.)UL running shoes  9.)white gas stoves – except in winter  10.)pack liners (I prefer covers)  11.)tent floor footprints (unless absolutely necessary)  12.)water filters (other than #2 coffee filters to strain out bugs and small children)

    OK, that’s my dozen no-nos.

    #3673933
    dirtbag
    BPL Member

    @dirtbaghiker

    Boots (except winter), pack covers, tent footprints, bear bells…

    #3674147
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    Ti pots, mugs, utensils. I go for aluminum pots and plastic mugs and utensils.

    Knife with a blade longer than 1.5″

    Water filter systems. I go with Aquamira.

    More than one of any clothing item except socks.

    Rain shell and pants. Wore them for decades but went back to ponchos/capes after getting caught in a Sierra Nevada thunderstorm at altitude with three other men. Horizontal rain, then hail and sleet, lightning strikes less than a second away. I had brought a poncho to save weight, they all had shells and pants. To my great surprise, I was comfortable but they were all borderline hypothermic by the time we got back down to the cars. Just started using the SMD Gatewood Cape as poncho, pack cover and tent.

    More than one celebratory shot of booze. Too heavy. I go with…wait…um, never mind.

    Headlamp that weighs more than 2 ounces or cost more then $20.

    White gas or kerosene stoves. Period.

    Chair or stool.

    #3674315
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    Judgmental hiking partners.

    #3674319
    AK Granola
    BPL Member

    @granolagirlak

    Nothing hanging off the pack; everything must fit inside or be securely attached. I do too much bushwhacking to allow things to swing and sway.

     

    #3674326
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    ^^
    Absolutely. Clean outlines.
    I do sometimes permit a covered roll of foam on the outside when ski touring: no scrub you see.

    Cheers

    #3674345
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    Even on big wide trails, swinging gear saps energy.

    My don’t takes:
    Arkoudaphobia gear.
    Pack Covers.
    Knives over an ounce.
    Headlamps (a hiking light belongs at your waist, not on your head).
    Chairs.
    Trekking poles unless there are numerous and wicked stream crossings.
    White gas.  Like ever, anymore.  In winter with a sled, I bring propane.
    Fishing gear, the only point of which is to fill the freezer but I’ll be far from my freezer.
    Any non-LED light source (candles, carbide, fluorescent, Coleman lanterns).

    #3674357
    obx hiker
    BPL Member

    @obxer

    arkoudaphobia

    #3674360
    Todd T
    BPL Member

    @texasbb

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    Whiners.

    #3674364
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    Arkoudaphobia – it’s why I still won’t watch a football game in Soldier Field, and I’m retired military!

    #3674367
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    David & Doug: How can you bear weight then?

    #3674383
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    :-)

    But that would only be me, David said he does not take that fear on trips.

    #3674410
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    I, do however, bring some gear for bears.  A frying pan, oil, onions, potatoes, and carrots.  Manfred can attest to my bear stew and bear hash in camp and there’s been bear pastrami served at a GGG.

    DavidG: it tastes even more like beef stew than the caribou stew I’ve served you in Adak.  In May, they walk around on four legs, eating grass, so they taste like a cow.  Whereas caribou ALWAYS taste remarkably like reindeer.

    #3674422
    Jens Aarnaes
    BPL Member

    @finnmark

    Locale: Rocky Mountains

    Though I have tried them, I don’t use trekking poles. I enjoy the challenge of walking/scrambling without them. This has worked for me for over 50 years of backpacking. I do acknowledge that someday I may actually need them but hopefully that day is a long way off.

    #3674435
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    cheap scotch

    #3674487
    W I S N E R !
    Spectator

    @xnomanx

    Expensive scotch. I find the environs make up for it, though I’m happy to be convinced otherwise with someone else’s bottle …  ; )

    #3674490
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    I’ll keep trying….

    #3674501
    AK Granola
    BPL Member

    @granolagirlak

    Lightweight ankle gaiters.

    I sometimes use regular waterproof gaiters for really wet cold terrain. But the lightweight – Dirty girl type- I’ve tried and they just don’t work very well for the nuisance of putting them on and off, one more thing to wash, dry, pack.  With the type of shoes I’ve been wearing, the mesh is in front of the laces, so the gaiter doesn’t go all the way to the toe. So plenty of dirt gets in anyway. Not worth the bother.

    #3674510
    Alex H
    BPL Member

    @abhitt

    Locale: southern appalachians or desert SW

    Bad bourbon

    #3674516
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    >”Expensive scotch”

    If it doesn’t smell of dirty socks, you didn’t pay enough for it?

    #3674519
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    Re: hiking poles: “I do acknowledge that someday I may actually need them but hopefully that day is a long way off.”

    They’re not a walker. I don’t ‘need’ them in that sense. I like them for stream crossings and other situations. And I like them for going steeply downhill over bad terrain; etc. etc.

    I remember reading one of those climbing books–I can’t remember which one– where the author’s friend says “he can’t go to the toilet without taking his hiking poles”. It does get like that…

    #3674527
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    p.s. I do bear weight on my poles on the downhills, so I guess I bring Arkoudaphobia gear after all.

    Otherwise, the bears and me just seem to have an understanding.

    #3674536
    Chris FormyDuval
    BPL Member

    @chform

    Locale: RTP

    For anything small like a lighter, battery bank, phone case etc I either get bright color or put bright tape on it. Nothing dark if avoidable.

    #3674551
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    Straw-coloured tent pegs and string are another no-no. They are so easy to lose in dead grass!

    Cheers

    #3674702
    Geoff Caplan
    BPL Member

    @geoffcaplan

    Locale: Lake District, Cumbria

    Saws, hatchets, “tactical” knives, flints, wood stoves, fishing rods and other bushcraft/survivalist stuff. I prefer to leave the hills as I found them…

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