Multi-purpose as good as single-purpose?

[Dean F.]

Damn.  The moment I saw the OP I was going to answer “most multi-tools are at least not abject fails” but David beat me to it…

 

Further, I think that using your trek poles as tent poles is also a valid “success”- at least in some conditions.  The one that pops readily to mind is as a center pole in a TrailStar or one of the lower ‘mids.  I really don’t see any loss in functionality there.  I personally, at least, don’t find re-adjusting the pole length to be any more onerous that using a shock-corded pole or assembling a segmented pole.  Also, assuming that you are already committed to using a tarp- which in themselves are rather fiddly as a shelter- they work just as well as any other pole for a tarp.

[Alpo Kuusisto]

Toothbrush-spoon, while a bit ridiculous item, performs better for me than a plain toothbrush, because it’s on hand and more likely gets used after every meal.

(Edited to clarify meaning)

[Monte Masterson]

40 inch section Thermarest Ridgerest ccf pad.

Works great as 1) SUL pack frame  2) sit pad  3 ) camp chair  4) sleep pad

I like to cut the Ridgerest into 10 inch sections and then tape them back together with clear Scotch packaging tape. Holds surprizingly well. That allows me to fold the Ridgerest like a Z Pad, but with 10″ wide sections instead of 5″ sections. It never goes flat and it’s 100% waterproof.

The Ridgerest is also much more rigid and durable than the Z Pad.  Far better IMO.

[Stefan Hoffman]

@Daryl

Hells ya i loves me a pulaski! Quick, somebody make an ultralight titanium one the size of my framing hammer! (joking, the edge would be butter)

Not ultralight but in my extensive use it does qualify. Sans Maul, I would rather split wood with the pulaski than a normal fellers ax, and it works just as well for felling. Both tools have FAR better balance, and better follow-through. You can still drive a felling wedge with the side, and you can pry on the ax head by grabbing or stepping on the ho. The use is even dissimilar enough, i believe, because you cant use an axe as a ho and i wouldnt chop roots in the dirt with my nice ax edge.

[Stefan Hoffman]

Ooops, looks like people forgot what we are talking about again.

Is a trekking pole DESIGNED to be used as a shelter support? I think the shelter is designed for use with a trekking pole but not vice versa. Joe’s carbon staff is designed to break down for use as a shelter support. I don’t have one but it looks like a pretty baddass staff……*i might need an EVent wizards robe and titanium ganja pipe to justify using a staff ;)*

[Daryl and Daryl]

John,

Back to the multi-use/multi-purpose definitions.  I see potential slippage, as follows:

I use  a closed cell foam float-coat as a sleeping pad.  The sleep pad use was not part of the original design so I’m left with multi-use as the classification (if I understand your definitions correctly).

But if I buy the same coat from another company who “designed” it as a coat/sleeping pad then it is multi-purpose.

 

 

 

[David Thomas]

What if *I* (or more commonly Daryl) MYOGs something to be multi-use?  Example: a CCF vest as a warm layer / life jacket for pack rafting / sleeping pad (once you replace the cut-out armholes) and (possibly), pack stiffener/support/padding.

For me, it succeeds as multi-user gear if, when I look at it and the pile of gear it replaces, I grab the single item.

[JCH]

Daryl and Daryl – we may be saying the same thing.

I find clarity by always returning to the original intent of the designer. If the float-coat’s design included any elements not required by its use as a coat, but were included in order to make it a “better” sleeping pad, it is multi-purpose.

And I LOVE jimmyb’s nomination of his wife’s’ right side hiking boot. Perhaps the best example yet.

[Joshua L]

I like my exped schnozzel as a pack liner liner, dry bag, inflator, pillow.  Truth be told, I also have an exped pillow, and as a side sleeper I like the schnozzel as a pillow better

[jimmy b]

Yeah, I would have to agree with the trekking pole/center pole entry fitting the true definition outlined in the OP. IMO it would have to be an adjustable trekking pole to add the advantage of easily setting different pitch heights to a tarp/shelter to qualify as necessarily BETTER than available pole which so far as I know does not have that feature. But a single purpose adjustable center pole may likely beat it out if one were available. Again though, the zero extra weight for a trekking pole user is a no brainer here with VERY little compromise if any so overwhelmingly practical despite the discussion.

 

 

[Bob Moulder]

Chapstick, Neosporin, hand-cleaning gel… any petroleum, wax or alcohol-based liquid that also functions as a fire tinder/accelerant.

I forgot to bring Chapstick on one trip last winter and had to resort to my PJCBs (petroleum jelly cotton balls) to get lip balm. Could also have used Neosporin, but the PJCBs were more easily accessible.

But as far as actual “things” designed for more than one job and doing both of them well, those are very rare. And it reaches a point with UL that one is already carrying so much less stuff than the average trad hiker that there’s no need to compromise function on any of the key items that greatly enhance the enjoyment of a trip. If it’s raining cats and dogs, how’re you going to make a hot dinner and tea in bivy? I suppose it could be done, but there aren’t a whole lot of people who would make that choice… probably an exceedingly tiny percentage of an already-small niche.

[Ian]

Ounce for ounce, my bandanna is arguably the best multi whateversemanticmacallit item I carry.

• Pot grabber,
• Sweat remover,
• Pressure dressing (outer portion where sterility is less important),
• Thermoregulation by soaking and wearing on neck,
• Filter,
• Protection from sun when worn under hat,
• Tourniquet, and
• Loincloth.

[Daryl and Daryl]

“Loincloth”

An as-worn photo would be helpful.

[Jerry Adams]

no photo please : )

[Ian]

For the record, I found the best picture ever thanks to Google Images but followed this idea to its logical conclusion, which involves me setting a new record in “not helpful” thumb downs, getting reported/suspended, and accusations of “inappropriate forum behavior,” and have decided discretion is indeed the better part of valor.

But believe you me, it would have been epic.

[JCH]

Thanks for no photo.

However…One could always post a link which could be followed, or not, at one’s discretion.

[Kenneth Keating]

I guess the only items I have as being designed  for multipurpose would be my Swiss army knife, bandanna and Zpacks pillow/dry bag, though I’m not sure the what the original design intent was of the bandanna   The pillow/dry bag works well for both applications as it keeps my items dry during the day and by reversing works as a pillow at night.

K

[Pigeon]

A bandana is at least marketed as multipurpose, and is the best answer yet IMO.

Of course a cotton rag that started as a bed sheet doesn’t meet the rules. :)

[Author]

Posts