Backpacking tips

This is a collection of some more backpacking tips and survival techniques for camping and hiking - in the wilderness.

In the end, all backpacking trips boil down to proper planning. You should plan for the best quality tents and other equipment. That may be the easy part. The hard part is that you can rarely be able to plan for the company you keep.

- Be careful with backpack stabilizing straps that cross your chest. These are supposed to keep the pack from sliding around and throwing you off balance, but if they are too tight, they don't let your chest expand enough when breathing. See if you breath more fully or easily when these are loosened.

- If you twist an ankle badly or injure your leg, you may need to make a crutch. Find a branch or trunk of a small tree with a "y" in it. Cut it a few inches above each end of the "y" (this will be where you rest your armpit). It is better to cut the crutch too long, and then cut it to size once you can work with it and test it.

- Lost and in danger? Want to be a survivor? Read some survival stories. Recalling true stories about how others survived can be very motivating in an emergency situation. Help others in the group by telling them the stories.

- Get dental work done before taking a long backpacking trip. An annoying toothache can become an unbearable pain within a couple days. That can ruin the trip for everyone.

- If you are short on water and unsure when you'll have more, avoid high-protein foods. They take more water to digest. Eat the crackers and save the beef jerky for after you find water.

- Wash your hands often. You can go weeks without washing your hair with no real danger, but hands transmit bacteria and viruses to yourself and others. Soap isn't necessary, but scrubbing with something helps. Use sand or spruce needles.

- To make an emergency stretcher, cut two poles about eight feet long. Use saplings that are about two to three inches thick. Lay them about twenty inches apart on a blanket or tarp, and fold the sides of the blanket over the top. They weight/friction of the patient should hold the blanket in place, but you may want to pin it or tie it together for long carries.

- If you have an external-frame backpack, be sure to different adjustments on it. Some packs let you adjust the spacing between the straps, how high or low the straps are, as well as the usual length and hip belt adjustments. Backpackers often leave these the way they find them, when it might be much more comfortable with a bit of experimentation.

Yes, it's true that you can start fire using ice and the light of the sun. It just isn't easy. The idea is to mold a piece of clear ice into a lens, using the warmth of your hands. Then you use it like any magnifying glass to concentrate the rays of the sun. Just be careful not to drip on your tinder.

Bird eggs are often the easiest-to-get high-protein food in a survival situation. I once ate seagull eggs, when stuck on a small rocky island. They weren't bad, and interestingly, they are larger than chicken eggs. Cook bird eggs if possible, and try to leave one egg in the nest, unless it truly a life-or-death situation.

- Just because animals eat a plant doesn't mean it is safe. Squirrels eat mushrooms that are poisonous to humans, and many animals graze on poison ivy. In a survival situation, stick to plants you know, and test new potential food plants carefully - and only as a last resort.

- Backpacking or camping in winter? Remember the army survival guide acronym for cold weather wilderness travel: COLD; Clean clothing; Avoid overheating; Loose, layered clothing; and Dry clothing. This is a recipe for staying warm.

- Winter backpacking can mean using a lot of stove fuel to melt ice and snow for drinking water. To use less fuel, carry a piece of black plastic, like an opened-up garbage bag. Lay out the plastic in the sun and scatter snow on it. The black plastic absorbs the sun's heat and should quickly melt the snow if it is near freezing. Carefully pour the water off. If the snow is clean, you can forego purification.

- Need to cross a large river during your hike? A rain jacket can be used as an improvised flotation device. Tie the sleeve-ends shut, to trap air. Hold the jacket closed so that one sleeve is on each side of you.

- In an iffy situation, start gathering knowledge before there is real trouble. For example, perhaps you lost your compass, but are on a trail and still know which direction is which. At this point you should start noting which sides of

hills certain plants grow on, so you can later determine direction if you get more lost.

- To bring a cell phone or not? However, they save lives - there is no doubt about it. Turn it off when you start hiking, so the batteries will be fresh if you have an emergency.

Weapons, Tools and Equipment

In survival situations, you may have to fashion any number and type expedient tools and equipment to survive. Examples of tools and equipment that could make your life much easier are ropes, rucksacks, clothes, nets, and so on.

Weapons serve a dual purpose. You use them to obtain and prepare food and to provide self-defense. A weapon can also give you a feeling of security and provide you with the ability to hunt on the move.

Clubs

You hold clubs, you do not throw them. As a expedient weapon, the club does not offer much in the way of combat however in the wilds it can be rather useful. It can extend your area of defense beyond your fingertips. It also serves to increase the force of a blow without injuring yourself. There are three basic types of clubs. They are the simple, weighted, and sling club.

Simple Club

A simple club is a staff or branch. It must be short enough for you to swing easily, but long enough and strong enough for you to damage whatever you hit. Its diameter should fit comfortably in your palm, but it should not be so thin as to allow the club to break easily upon impact. A straight-grained hardwood is best if such material is available.

Weighted Club

A weighted club is any simple club with a weight on one end. The weight may be a natural weight, such as a knot on the wood, or something added, such as a stone lashed to the club. It often resembles a blunt axe.

To make a weighted club, first find a stone that has a shape that will allow you to lash it securely to the club. A stone with a slight hourglass shape works well. If you cannot find a suitably shaped stone, you must fashion a groove or channel into the stone by a technique known as pecking. By repeatedly rapping the club stone with a smaller hard stone, you can get the desired shape.

Next, find a piece of wood that is the right length for you. A straight-grained hardwood is best. The length of the wood should feel comfortable in relation to the weight of the stone. Finally, lash the stone to the handle.

There are three techniques for lashing the stone to the handle: split handle, forked branch, and wrapped handle. The technique you use will depend on the type of handle you choose.

Old raincoat sleeves can be made into lightweight water-resistant stuff-sacks with a little sewing. Old nylon jacket sleeves will work too, and make lighter stuff sacks, though not water resistant.

Club moss spores were once used as 'flash powder' by magicians. Drop a pinch over a flame and it create an instant and large flash for signaling rescuers. It is also just fun. The flower heads often give off little puffs of the yellow spores as you walk through them. Collected green, they will open and release their spores in a day or two if kept in a warm dry place. I have collected more than a pound this way, for just a few hours work.

Don't fold tarps and tents. Stuff them into their stuff sacks. Folding repeatedly in the same way creates weak spots in the fabric.

 

 

There are different types of camping and hiking backpacks as well, including a camel pack, which has limited room inside of it but allows the hiker to carry a small water supply on his back, usually attached to a drinking tube for easy access on the hike.

Synthetic Sleeping Bags

A good synthetic sleeping bags will take abuse well, and keep insulating even when wet. Well-designed ones are getting close in weight to down bags. They do still take a lot more space in your pack, however. The insulation also breaks down and loses its loft after a few years.

Down is lighter and more compressible. Synthetic bags are so worry-free - at least while they are relatively new. It is truly a tough choice. If you regularly get wet, go with a good synthetic bag.

- There are three basic styles: mummy, semi rectangular, and rectangular. They get less confining in that order. They also get heavier, meaning less warm, ounce-for-ounce, in that order. Use a mummy if you are comfortable in one.

- You generally get what you pay for with sleeping bags. The best are expensive. My own down bag cost over $200 almost ten years ago.

- Make sure the bag is long enough for you. This is especially important with mummy style, because your head needs to be inside the hood of the bag to use it properly.

- Try bags with a left-zipper and right-zipper, to determine which is more comfortable for you.

- If you plan to zip your bag together with your partners, one will have to be a right-zipper and the other a left-zipper.

- A two-way zipper lets you ventilate your feet, so you don't sweat into the bag as much.

- A differential cut, meaning the inner lining is smaller than the outer shell, allows fuller lofting of the insulation, which means more warmth. Winter camping You actually can make snow-block shelters without tools when the conditions are right. I have made trench-shelters of 2 x 3 foot snow-blocks with no tools. I stomped rectangles in the heavily-crusted snow and lifted up the resulting blocks. Stacking them on either side of a trench in the snow, and then across the top for a roof, you can make a shelter in twenty minutes.

Diarrhea? You can used the twigs from an oak tree to stop diarrhea . Just make tea with a spoonful of the bark or chopped-up twigs. Tannins in oak can be hard on the kidneys, so drink just one cup of tea, and use oak only if you don't have other options.

If you carry one of those multi-tools that has pliers, take the handles off your pots. The pliers will work fine for handling the pots, and you'll save weight and space. Planning to have a fire at the end of the day? As you hike, collect some dead pine needles, dried moss, etc. This way you'll be ready to start a fire when you stop for the night, even if it is a bit wet by then.

Does the color of your clothing matter? Light colors attract fewer biting insects. Flashy bright colors have been shown to attract grizzly bears. On the other hand, having something bright and easily visible to rescuers from the air could save your life if you are lost."Fold and roll up clothes, stick them in Ziploc bags and get all the air out,"This is a great way to organize, keep things dry, segregate dirty and clean clothes and keep things compressed."

Finally, avoid leaving anything on the outside.

Whether you're planning a backpacking hiking trip or just a day hike, backpacking gear is essential. When you're shopping, you want to be sure to find the right gear for the right trip. It's a good idea to have the trip plan generally sketched out and bring it to the store with you so the store personnel can lead you in the right direction.

Clip one or two carabiners to the loops on the outside of your pack, and use them to hold your boots during a stream crossing or to tie down exterior items."Typical tent stakes won't work in the snow," "They'll pull right up." However, SMC Sno-Tent Anchors are wider than traditional stakes and have holes that fill with snow so they'll stay in place.

All sleeping bags aren't created equal. Not even close. You should know your sleeping bag's rating before you go winter camping. I would recommends a bag rated to zero degrees, such as the Marmot Never Summer. I also recommends a synthetic bag over a down bag. Synthetic bags are heavier and take more room in your pack, but they provide more insulation than a down pack if they get wet.

Winter backpackers don't have the luxury of 15 hours of daylight as they do in the summer. A good headlamp is a must. The Black Diamond Spot has four LED lights and runs on three AAA batteries. The headlamp has three levels of brightness and a strobe setting for signaling for help.

Consider something as simple as resting alongside the trail for ten minutes. Even while it is a needed rest for one, it can be an unatural break in the rhythm for another, and yet a decision must be made to stop or not. On the other hand, decisions flow almost without thought when you are alone. What a wonderful relief from the complications of ordinary life. If you haven't yet tried solo backpacking, get out there and do it.

For children age two to six, most women, and some older people, the government recommends two daily servings for a total of five ounces.
For older children, teen girls, active women, and most men, the guidelines give the nod to two daily servings for a total of six ounces.
Everyone who eats an eight-ounce steak typically served in restaurants is getting more protein that their bodies need. Plus they're getting a hefty amount of artery-clogging saturated fat as well.

High protein foods