Lighter, smaller paperwork.

[David Thomas]

In a thread about fire starters, I mentioned that you could skip bringing wax paper if you coat a paper map or permit printed on computer paper into both a more weatherproof permit and an emergency fire starter.

Which got me thinking of paperwork.  If I stay in a USFS Cabin, I am required to carry a copy of the reservation which prints out on a full 8.5 x 11 page.  If I’m traveling overseas, at a minimum I keep a few hard-copy pages of car reservations and airline itineraries with me in case my electronics die or lose charge.

Nothing about that paperwork needs to be on 8.5 x 11 paper.  If I print at 50%, it is 1/4 the size, 1/4 the weight and still readable.    And fits nicely in a pint ziplock bag instead of a gallon size.  And if you do double-sided. . . . then 1/8 the weight.

I used to do that a lot in the mid 1990’s: my wife and I were traveling a lot around the world, and eBooks hadn’t happened yet.  I’d spend an hour after work at the copy machine, set to 50%, and micro-print whatever novels and guidebooks we were bringing.  Another benefit: since it was just a copy and the original was still at home, we’d just throw away the pages as we finished reading the novel or had passed through that town in the guidebook.  Also, most of, say, the Italy Handbook or Rough Guide to New Zealand didn’t apply to our trip, so I’d only copy the pages that apply.

The one thing I’d copy at 100%, or sometimes 150% or 200% were the little maps of a town and of city center from a guidebook.  I liked having a little 3″x5″-sized quick reference map in m chest pocket without unfolding a big version and looking like the lost tourist I was.  I still do that at times, because a quick glance at a piece of paper is easier than getting into my iPhone’s mapping app and, especially in the Second and Third World, flashing your $800 smart phone isn’t always smart.

[David Thomas]

To clarify my first, un-editable paragraph above: you can coat regular paper with paraffin to make it more weatherproof.  Thompson’s WaterSeal and the Rite-in-the-Rain goo work better but are messier and take a while to dry.  And I suspect they don’t burn as cleanly.  The paraffin can be applied like coloring with a crayon.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

seems like you should be able to take the paraffin rubbed paper and heat it with an iron between to sheets of wax paper to get an even, uniform surface.  Just a thought.

[David Thomas]

Jon, You mean to transfer some wax or to seal the sheets together like pressing Autumn leaves between sheets of wax paper?

One of many reasons why she has her iron in the house and I have mine in the garage – it avoids a lot of marital conflict.

I think if you did get the wax to melt, it would more thoroughly impregnate the paper and make it weather- / waterproof for longer.  Maybe just use the paraffin as a crayon and then warm it in a low-heat oven?

Which is the kind of task I keep a toaster oven in my shop for.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

One of many reasons why she has her iron in the house and I have mine in the garage – it avoids a lot of marital conflict.

David,

I always thought that you were an wise and insightful person and this just proves it.

[John Rowan]

Interesting that you bring this up- on the PCT, it’s relatively common for folks to print the thru-hike/long distance permit (8.5×11) as a credit card-sized document (with the CA fire permit on the back side), then laminate it and keep it in their wallets. It’s JUST readable enough.

I have absolutely no idea if a ranger would be amused by this or not (PCT hikers spend more time showing their permits to businesses to get discounts than they do to authority figures), but it’s very functional.

[Ken Thompson]

People get a discount with their permit? This is the first I have ever heard of that.

[John Rowan]

I mean, not everywhere, but it’s definitely a thing. Other than that, I’ve never talked to a hiker who was carded anywhere other than Lyell Canyon.

[Adam G]

Take a photo on your phone. The extra electrons barely have mass.

[Author]

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