Pocket organization

I’ll probably make changes.

Life is about experimenting :~)

Additional things I add that I’ve found helpful to have within easy reach:

– a strip of Leukotape on contact paper.  If hot spots develop on toes, the easy accessibility avoids the temptation to soldier on which might happen if having to dig the tape out from the pack

– mini scissors to cut the tape with

– mini dropper bottle of sun tan lotion

– a replacement cap that fits both smart water and platy bottles

– 10 Pristine water treatment tabs.   For when I find water that doesn’t need filtering, saving time for almost no weight

– 10 Advil. Same accessibility idea as the tape

– 10 Benadryl.  Same accessibility idea as the tape

I throw them in a ziploc freezer bag (sandwich bags breaks up after a few days) in my right hip belt and put snacks and Salt Caps in the left one, replenishing at lunch

Good thoughts David.

Hey Tim, I was day hiking a trail shared with mountain bikes last weekend and one fella had a serious endo and his whole under forearm was nasty road rash.  I stopped to help but they were intent on the minimum care and getting going again.

Based on that I’ve added a couple alcohol wipes to my hip belt pocket (less than 2g total) using the same logic that if its in easy reach, I’ll be more likely to use it instead of trying to tough it out and so would anyone I encounter that could use the help.

I have a problem.  I have too many Ziploc bags with various stuff. I have at least 10 Ziploc bags. Gallon, quart,…

Jerry, you’ve organized yourself into chaos!

Tim: In the 1980s, I had two organizer pouches from A-16 that were light weight for the time that I used as a First Aid Kit and for my kitchen stuff.  Larger than I’d bring now, except on a group or family trip, but I was leading BPing trips back then.  “A place for everything and everything in its place” is handy when you’re looking for something and also alerts you, pre-trip, if something is missing or low.

For in my car and while flying, I use the zippered nylon pencil pouches sold at Walmart for $1.29 during Back to School season (now) or even cheaper in a lot of 10 on Amazon or eBay.  I use them to keep all the charging cords / wall warts together (rubber-banded to not tangle so much), toiletries, FA/Repair kit, etc.  If I need a bandaid, I reach into the center console and pull out the red pouch.  If I need a charger, I reach for the yellow one, etc.

DavidD: I too, have long carried Benadryl, but any doctor half our age will caution it’s not the best at most of the many things it used to be used for.  As the next best thing to an EpiPen for anaphylaxis (hoping it takes effect before their throat swells shut) it’s still valid.  But as a sleep aid, decongestant, allergy medicine, there are two newer generations of drugs that work better (albeit some need a prescription).

Jerry: I ordered up a 100-bag assortment of mini-ziplocks on Amazon (like 1″x2″, 2″x3″, etc) and shared them with coworkers and hiking buddies.  It’s interesting what Amazon tries to sell when it thinks you’re a drug dealer.   Versus that time I bought three novels written by an XGF and Amazon clocked me as a lesbian for 6 months after.

I have a scale for weighing down.  Intended application is weighing drugs.  They say it’s intended to weigh gold.

Interesting discussion. I use a 1 ounce belly pack to carry:

–a steripen, lunch (nuts, power bar) map.

I can’t use Deet–gives me headaches–so I travel in long nylon pants and long sleeve shirt and head net, or better, a neck drape in the worst mosquito conditions. so no need for deet in with my food in my belly pack.

what more do I need? If I need blister treatment, I sigh and open my pack for the single bag up top that carries all the necessary stuff.

I go off on snowy day hikes into elevation with little more than that, and the belly pack turned around into a fanny pack. I’ll tie a rain jacket around my waist.  lunch, steripen, water bottle,  are in the belly–now fanny pack.  Sunscreen is applied in camp. I bring more in a pants pocket. wait, I include emergency blister treatment somewhere in the pockets of my rain jacket, or pants pockets. But after two days of hiking with a pack, or more, before a day hike, I’ve yet to use that. Blister issues tend to show up early on in hikes, IME.

Jerry:

Some grams of a drug = misdemeanor charges for use.

Some grams of a drug plus a digital scale = felony intent to sell.

Jscott:

If DEET is ruled out, consider lemon eucalyptus oil.  The one time I did a side-by-side comparison on each leg (on a river bank in NZ with mosquitos and biting flies), LEO did better than DEET.  And, as I’m always prattling on about, lighter clothing makes for a several-fold reduction.

David, we have Aleve and Claritin in-house but I default to Benadryl in my kit for its secondary use as a sleep aid.  A terrible night’s sleep can make me dangerously absent minded.  I also carry melatonin but Benadryl is the nuclear option

I gave up on DEET and went with Icaridin, repurposing a 50mL Muskol spray container that easily lasts me a week and stores in my right hip belt pocket.  Variable reports about Icaridin but it works for me

On my recent 1 week trip in July, deer fly were abundant and hungry.  I gave it a go by trying to not touch the bug spray and instead rely on long pants and an Echo top with a 6 week old permethrin treatment.

Donating my body for science, persistent pests could ignore the old permethrin and bite through the Echo but my forearms were covered in festering bites from pulling up my sleeves (humidex was 110).  The bites took weeks to disappear, so score one for team Icaridin.

“If DEET is ruled out, consider lemon eucalyptus oil.”

thanks, David. the thing is, given light nylon pants and a long sleeved nylon shirt treated with Permethrin…and sun grubbies also spritzed with Permethrin and taken off during food preparation…AND given a wide screen head net…I’m good.

skeeters in the Sierra can reach levels to rival those in Alaska, according to folks I’ve met on trail. during that period of skeeter time.

there’s a ton of hats with face drapes available these days. I assume that most will keep mosquitos off your neck, face and ears. they hang loose, off your face and neck. the best will pull up over your nose, and then open up entirely when in the clear. Check out Solumbra neck drapes. they can be velcroed up above your nose if necesarry, and let hang loose on your shoulders and off your face entirely otherwise. Great insect protection!

jscott, the Ben’s UL bug net handily fits over the Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat as well (my preferred combo).  The flies can get biblical here

One thing I don’t like about permethrin is it’s toxic to fish, and this is why I was experimenting without it.

When on a hot sweaty week long trip, its nice to be able to jump in a lake wearing a hiking outfit that’s already soaked through with sweat.  I won’t do that with a fresh permethrin treatment due to the toxicity to fish.  Permethrin is also quasi-illegal in Canada so its not possible to have clothes sent away for a more durable professional treatment, or to buy it pre-treated from the US

It’s not the end of the world taking the sweat soaked clothes off and rinsing them in a ziploc 200′ from a water source, but to go full circle, while that’s happening you’re being feasted on by every nasty biting winged critter in the vicinity.