The 20 Importants (but not essentials)
These are some things that I
think will make your wilderness experience a whole lot more enjoyable. While not
ESSENTIAL, I think they are IMPORTANT.
1. A bandana, a big one. Use it to wipe away sweat, pre-filter nasty water,
cover the back of your neck by putting it under your baseball cap, wash your
face, bandage a wound, surrender to the enemy, mark where you left your pack.
Convinced yet?
2. A whistle. A very good tool for getting yourself found. Do you know when most
people get lost? When they get up in the middle of the night to visit nature.
Put your whistle around your neck at night before you go to bed.
3. 1 gallon plastic zip loc freezer bags. Go to Costco. Go right now! They
sell a pack of 3 boxes of 46 for under 10 bucks. Get it. Make sure it's the
heavier freezer bags. You put your food in it, your trash, your toilet paper,
your wet stinky socks, your bathing suit, your fuel bottle, your maps.
4. Either a bladder with a hose or a water bottle holder to fit on your pack belt. You need to be able to easily
drink whenever you want to. The goal is to have output that is "Clear and Copious",
if you know what I mean. You won't drink
enough if your water is stuffed inside your pack. If your pack doesn't have
built in pockets for your bottle, get one you can hang on the belt.
5. Pre-packaged towelettes. For use after a hard day of hiking when water for
personal cleaning is scarce, or for after using the bathroom.
6. Toilet paper. Yes, you can improvise if you have to, but e-gad, why would you
want to.
7. An old pillow case from home. It's light, and you can stuff if with the
clothes you aren't wearing at night. A lot cheaper than that fuzzy Gore-Tex
inflatable thing from RE-16.
8. 50 feet of rope. Light weight nylon or polypropylene will do fine. It's not to
support your weight, just to get your food sack in the air, pass packs up or
down a steep section, or to lash your tent to a tree when the wind hits.
Look for stuff about 1/8th inch in diameter.
9. Large, heavy garbage bag. Use as a pack cover for rain or as a sled at snow camp!
10. Miniature playing cards. If rain keeps you stuck inside your tent, and you
don't have them, you'll remember this advice and realize how brilliant I am, and
how foolish you are for not finding them. I got mine at the fancy game store at
N.C. Fair.
11. The right clothes. Cotton feels great, but if it gets wet from rain or
sweat, it takes forever to dry. And it will suck the heat right out of your
body. The saying is "Cotton Kills". Listen to the clothing lectures, then do
what they say.
12. Bring food you want to eat. This is not the time to diet. Besides, you will
be working hard on the trail.
13. A strap to keep your sunglasses and hat on. Some places we go, it's a long
way down.
14. Duct tape. You can fix anything with duct tape. Unless it's wet. Then you
need duck tape. I recommend Gorilla Tape, which you can find at Home
Depot. Twice as thick with twice the adhesive of mortal duct tape.
15. Camp chair. How would you like to hike all day, then spend all night sitting
on a rock. Sounds like fun, eh? Get something to sit on/in, but make sure it's
light. I have a Crazy Creek chair which lets you sit on the ground but insulates
you and supports your back. You can also get sleeves that your Thermarest pads
slip into that do the same thing. I've seen little tripod leg things. Try them
out. This is something I've found is worth the weight.
16. A welcome home kit, that you keep in your car. This can have things like
clean socks and sneakers, a clean shirt (cotton is okay now), water, soda,
scotch, food, money for a chocolate shake, a comb, etc.
17. Afoot and Afield, by Jerry Schad. This is the Bible of hiking in San
Diego County, and a new edition has just been published. Jerry is a local hiking
guru who has put together the most comprehensive list of hikes around. They are
rated for difficulty, include trail notes, a map, etc. There's also a CD-ROM
version available which allows you to print out the directions for the hike
you're taking so you don't have to lug the whole book. It also has Jerry's
pictures he took on each of the hikes. Caution: Jerry's hiking times assume you
cruise fairly fast. I suggest you hike a few and compare your times with his so
you know how to interpret his times.
18. Hand sanitizer. You can
find little bottles of alcohol based hand cleaner. A little squirt in your
hands, rub them together, and VOILA - disinfected. Keep your hands out of
my GORP until you clean-up!
19. At least one Nalgene or
Polypropylene water bottle. You can use it to measure a quantity of water
for cooking, it can be easier to pump water into than a bladder, and is better
if you need to use tablets to purify your water. Also, I had critters EAT
the bite valve off my bladder once, rendering it pretty useless. I now
have a new bite valve in my repair kit.
20. An extra set of car keys.
One of you will either loose your car keys during the hike, or just lock them in
the car at the trail head. Happens every year. Don't be the object
of ridicule! Get an extra key and either give it to one of the other
people you drove in with (let them carry the extra weight), or clip it into your
pack. Many packs have a special little clip in the top pocket just for
this. If you have one of those fancy new keys that cost $100 to get a
spare, try to at least get a "dumb" copy so that you can unlock the doors if you
leave them inside.
