# Backpacking!



## FromTheFuture (Dec 9, 2012)

Most of my survival preparedness is surrounded by my love for backpacking. Where have you gone and what tips do you have to share?


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

When in bear country keep your food separate from your sleeping tent.

When cooking or processing game wash and wipe your hands on a towel not your shirt or pants. Would not be any good if your clothes smelled like bacon.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

If you are backpacking with a friend in grizzly country, be sure that you can run faster than your friend can!


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## webeable (Aug 29, 2012)

Rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon are pink.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Jezcruzen said:


> If you are backpacking with a friend in grizzly country, be sure that you can run faster than your friend can!


You know that is why divers carry a knife. Shark comes around just cut your buddy and swim away... LOL


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## cazetofamo (Mar 18, 2012)

cnsper said:


> You know that is why divers carry a knife. Shark comes around just cut your buddy and swim away... LOL


Zombie version!!


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Haven't gone nearly as far and as many places as I have wanted seems my body gave out before I got far enough along to have that kind of free time. The few Back packing trips I made I did when I was 16 or 17 they were all local missouri hikes. Mostly I learned that lighter is better, And you don't use half or more of the gixmos and gadgets that look soo cool on the hooks at the store. And Cheap gear is cheap for a reason and not what you want when you are 12 miles in and would prefer a good nights sleep for the 12 miles your doing in the morning. From just basic camping which I have done tons of I leaned Sleeping pads are your friend, (this came about at about 30 years old for some reason the ground started getting harder) Saws save alot of effort when gathering and prepping fire wood. (chainsaws are tops  ) Kids out in the woods eat twice the beanie weanie they do when they are at home. Coffee tastes much better early in the morning when the birds are waking up after cooking it over a fire and sitting close to that fire on a frosty morning. Blue jeans are much more comfortable to put on on a frosty morning if they were in teh bag with you all night. Hmmm sure there are tons more that escape me


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## FromTheFuture (Dec 9, 2012)

From the family for Christmas!


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

PUt it back it's not christmas yet!!!!!! 

Wonder how many of the things in that book are things I learned from my dad and just take for granted and never counted them as lessons learned?


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Two weeks at a time packing into the Sierras starting at age eight. Various hunting trips in Alaska. Think it out first. It is a long way to the store or a hospital.


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## FromTheFuture (Dec 9, 2012)

jsriley5 said:


> PUt it back it's not christmas yet!!!!!!
> 
> Wonder how many of the things in that book are things I learned from my dad and just take for granted and never counted them as lessons learned?


Haha, moms and her bf are heading to Nashville to see my brother and sister for Christmas. So we had an early Christmas up here.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

I've done alot of back packing & camping with the scouts, the only reason I would do it in a survival situation is so I could get to my BOL. I am a minimalist and would have the lightest pack possible to get from point A to point B.

As for living out of a pack with next to nothing I would eventually have to settle down into a more secure permanent shleter accessable to a food and water source.


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## FromTheFuture (Dec 9, 2012)

From my last trip, my best advice is to plan! I spent half a day hacking through thick brush. After 6 hours I found a clearing and made camp. 30 ft from my camp was a very old non maintained road....took me 15 minutes to get back to my car


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

Plan for wet and cold, miserable weather, even if the forecasts are for warm & sunny days and balmy nights. My first solo outing into the Bridger-Teton Wilderness Area for fly-fishing at a trout lake in late August 1994 could have been worse, but had I known the weather was going to turn on me, I likely would have delayed the trip, and also would have lightened up my pack a lot. I spent 8 hours on the trail in steep terrain (6,000ft elevation @ trail-head, 10,200ft @ lake) for 6 miles with a 93lb pack. I pulled a ham-string about 1.5 miles from the lake and hobbled the rest of the way with a make-shift walking stick. Upon arrival, I was exhausted, and torn-up a bit. An hour later, a somewhat brutal thunderstorm with heavy rain had me pinned-down. Timing was OK though, as all I had to do was a quick-up with the tent and rain-fly, and a poly ground cover. I spent the rest of the day and night in a 6.5' dome tent next to the tree-line as my only real cover, even though I had my water-proof insulated jacket and wool-felt hat to help me stay dry. Overnight temps dropped to around 20* that night, judging by the amount of frost inside the tent and ice everywhere from the earlier rain. I never got my fly rod out...came down off the mountain in 6 hours the next day. For some reason, going down seemed easier than going up at first, then later, my knees thought otherwise.

So, terrain, elevation (thin air), weather and pack weight were all working against me on that trip...and, I should have taken an extra day off work to make it worth my while, as 2 days was not enough time to really enjoy the experience...it was a brutal way to learn some valuable lessons.

Don't bring anything you _*think*_ you'll need..._*know*_ you'll need it, or don't pack it. Exceptions being a small supply of first aid and basic survival gear...the stuff you hope you'll never need, but will be glad you have when/if things turn ugly. Oh, I found out that there is no substitute for a quality, light-weight sleeping bag. I had 2 cheapo bags that were actually not worth the weight (8.5lbs total), and was marginally warm that night...just warm enough to sleep well, but woke a bit on the chilly side and had to get busy and get food in me to get my core temp back up...not very far from hypothermia trying to take a big bite out of me.

In that particular scenario, there was a burn restriction...no open fires, so I had my Coleman Dual-Fuel pack stove and a stainless mess-kit to fall back on. The stove took the chill off after the rain started, and was a welcome need in the condition I was in. I had several things in the pack which were dead-weight, including a camp axe (no fire, no need). Had I checked with the forest service ahead of time to learn of the fire-ban, it would have changed my priorities.

So, lots of opportunity to plan better on my part before I went out...and since then, I spend more time planning...much more time.

Oh, and what did I really mean when I mentioned that the trip could have been worse? That thunderstorm could have turned into a snowstorm overnight...then WTF would I have done??? Trying to slide down that steep trail littered with dead-fall and switch-backs with a heavy pack? Yeah, right!!! And, I had no run-ins with any black bear, either.

All in all, I got a long night of peaceful sleep on the mountain, my ham-string felt pretty good the next morning, and I learned a few things about myself (mainly, that my determination to make the round-trip all the way to the end was stronger than the adversarial weather, elevation and pack weight) and why minimal (or ultra-light) gear can be an asset on steep terrain and long distances...so it wasn't a total loss......I can say "I did it", and, I can say "I learned a lot as a result". Taking some of these lessons into my BOB planning has gone well, btw.


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## gatorglockman (Sep 9, 2011)

Meh...I luv hiking and the outdoors. However I know this is this a fraction of the equation of true prep. There are so many skills to learn, hiking doesn't hit a lot of em'. 

Hiking builds self reliance confidence, peace of mind and reminds us there is so much more to life than our jobs and the technology we absorb ourselves with each day.

I have my winter hike set up in 3 weeks...can not wait.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

One of my favorite passtimes. The Virginia section of the AT was one of my favorite sections. Just beautiful. Love getting out in the Cohuttas of North GA for little 1-3 day hikes and fishin. Did some really fun hike/hunts in northern Zimbabwe. Some as long as 3 weeks with light pack and a shotgun. Cant wait to make it out west in the US one day. Would love to see Denali if I could find a way to avoid the mass of tourists that go there 

Tips for Zimbabwe. Change the bones in the hunters pot every three days. Fires keep the leopards away at night. Elephants have a frightening way of sneaking up on you even though they are rather large. Avoid all snakes. Dont antagonize monkeys or baboons but be firm when keeping them out of your stuff. Where there are baboons there are leopards. Dont leave camp without your rifle for any reason at all. Crocodiles eat humans on a regular basis so avoid them. Water buffalo cant see you so stay down wind and dont make sudden moves. Dont sleep with the locals they most likely have AIDS. Just in case you visit. Oh, and if you cross into Mozambique stay on the roads as the surrounding land is still littered with old land mines.


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## gatorglockman (Sep 9, 2011)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> One of my favorite passtimes. The Virginia section of the AT was one of my favorite sections. Just beautiful. Love getting out in the Cohuttas of North GA for little 1-3 day hikes and fishin. Did some really fun hike/hunts in northern Zimbabwe. Some as long as 3 weeks with light pack and a shotgun. Cant wait to make it out west in the US one day. Would love to see Denali if I could find a way to avoid the mass of tourists that go there
> 
> Tips for Zimbabwe. Change the bones in the hunters pot every three days. Fires keep the leopards away at night. Elephants have a frightening way of sneaking up on you even though they are rather large. Avoid all snakes. Dont antagonize monkeys or baboons but be firm when keeping them out of your stuff. Where there are baboons there are leopards. Dont leave camp without your rifle for any reason at all. Crocodiles eat humans on a regular basis so avoid them. Water buffalo cant see you so stay down wind and dont make sudden moves. Dont sleep with the locals they most likely have AIDS. Just in case you visit. Oh, and if you cross into Mozambique stay on the roads as the surrounding land is still littered with old land mines.


Pretty cool stuff my friend! That adventure definitely taught you some self reliance and wisdom!

Spinning this thread, one thing I have taken up this year is adventure motorcycling. Doing UT next late summer/early fall as I want to see the West too (vs when I travel there for work and have no fun/exploration). ADV bikers are an interesting breed.....it just purely attracted me as a prepper and hiker kinda guy. Basically hiking on wheels (so toss in self reliance of motorcycle repair in the field if/when needed as the extra wrinkle).


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Is the UT that adventure trail for dirt bikes that goes from CO to the west coast? Would love to trade the harley and head with ya! Cant swing it now but if lotto tix hit ill send you a pm


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## gatorglockman (Sep 9, 2011)

The transamerican trail goes from TN to OR...about 95% dirt! The UT trail goes from bottom to top, all dirt, lots of awesome rocks/elevation, etc. 

Pretty cool stuff....dual sports are pretty cheap on the used man...keep that hawg and add another bike to the herd and come on!


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

I backpack sections of the Appalachian Trail. Good socks are a must. Don't ever be cheap about your socks.
Having layered clothing that is easy to remove during the changing temperatures is a good idea. 
You can go from hot and sun-burned in a field to windburned and freezing on a mountain peak all in the same day. 
Have a way to get warm and dry. Space blankets are excellent for this.
You can run into many creatures on the AT. Coyotes, Bear, various venomous snakes and spiders. Just be careful where you step and be sure to shake out your shoes before putting them on.


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