Things you learned from your actual /out/ings

Yea ssecondoutting I learned that it can get cold at night up on a mountain.

Also Sawyer mini is slow af for two people.

>>863356
Katydyn hiker pro.

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I live in central texas and work on a lot of Speleological research projects, and the number one thing I've learned is don't forget your loppers in Ashe Juniper country.

Sleeping in limestone caves might seem like a good idea, but you can end up wetter than if you just stayed in the open.

>That I need a warming sleeping bag even in the summer.
>Buy the bigger bag saves me from having to clip and tie a bunch of stuff on
>Leave the dry-sack at home when I'm not canoeing

>>863393
Don't go in caves without proper gear please

>>863398

Not very good at following good and sensible safey advice I'm afraid. I take at least a couple of good torches and spare batteries, and normally a rope, when I go exploring. Aware this is not 'minimum safety equipment' - although most caves/mines I have access to are short and shallow. Sometimes I tell someone where I'm going.

>>863356
Get aquamir, used that shit most of the summer and loved it. Easy, quick, and cheapish.

>>863395
Oh also don't shave your nuts right before going on a 7-day hike.

Op here. Hiking commando didn't also worked for me.

>>863427
you shouldn't shave your nuts in general unless your lady really likes it

>>863418
second for Aquamira

>>863354
Hiking is actually fun, albeit spooky at times.

I need to get proper pants with zippers, so I could to not worry constatly about my wallet and phone falling out.

Get a flashlight in case it gets dark.

Get something for self defence, I felt a bit nervous empty-handed.

Parents do not give a shit if I'm out "walking" (it was supposed to be a walk, turned into a small hike) for more than hour even if it gets dark, guess they're happy if I get off the computer for a while.

>>863691
Oh and:

Something(spray?) against ticks, never got one, but I already hate the fuckers.

Ten feet wooden pole to check the way in front of me for snakes.

Just finished a 10 day hiking trip at Isle Royale.

>bring an empty 2 gallon plastic jug to haul water.
>bring flipflops to wear around camp so my boots dry out and to bathe easier.
>Get a lightweight quick dry towel.
>Drawstring bags are amazing.
>Dollar store carabiners kick ass for hiking.
>Check your water bladder for leaks regularly.
>keep a water filter on you.

>>863697
>>863691
mild kek

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Things I learned from 2 weeks in Jotunheim Norway (just got back today):
>pissbottles are actually really useful if the night is cold
>you can never have enough/good enough gear with you, learn to work with what you have, that makes a true adventurer
>having a way of warming up water and providing a little bit of warmth will make you extra comfy
>dayhikers, touristfags, richfags, instagramfags, cabinfags are the cancer that ruins nature and/or the sport of being outdoors
>vitamin tabs are really good for well duh vitamins, also taste good, if you get bored of regular water taste
>you can forget about hygiene entirely for the time you are /out/, no one is going to cuddle/fuck/hug you anyway, so save space and weight by not carrying any hygiene articles, maybe a toothbrush and some paste, forget about everything else, just dive into a lake
>collecting your toilet paper is important, as it rots for months if you leave it there, one of the most unpleasent things while out is finding other peoples shitting spots by accident
etc.

>>864302
>dayhikers, touristfags, richfags, instagramfags, cabinfags are the cancer that ruins nature and/or the sport of being outdoors
stop being an elitist fuck

>collecting your toilet paper is important, as it rots for months if you leave it there, one of the most unpleasent things while out is finding other peoples shitting spots by accident
that's way you shit in a hole or in the river.

>>864315
>stop being an elitist fuck
i stop, when they stop polluting nature, because they are the main source of this also forgot the worst one: brohikers, bros who just go outdoors to get drunk and blast music

>>864302
>no one is going to cuddle/fuck/hug you
clearly you've never been on the AT.

switch boxer at least once during a 2 week trip.

That insect repellent kills leeches, used it over the course of a nine hour hike, saved my legs from looking bloody as fuck

>>863974
How was it? I recently went to Duluth to visit family and love the outdoors up there especially when I heard of the island. Plan on going next spring.

>>863697
Must be at least ten and a half feet.

Shave every part of your foot, toe and ankle that comes in contact with your socks.

I had to resort to burning the hair off on the third day because my knife was too dull to get the job done.

>>864472
This so much, so many reasons to shave your feet.

>>864355
It's worth going to, it's prehistoric North America. The island itself is beautiful but don't expect major topographic differences or anything, I'll go into detail later - working on things now.

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i need original husky ink

For critters

>movement is what you see
>hearing is more important than seeing

For basic stuff

>you don't need anything more than a basic Mora or equivalent
>garbage bags, lots of them

>>864472
>>864512
Why?

>>863356
Opinion on lifestraw /out?

>>864574
My hairs get stuck in the sock fabric (or that's my little theory) and gets ripped after prolonged walking. It turns the skin around them red and incredibly painful to the touch.

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>>863427
>>863452
Just trim it. Use the #1 on some clippers.

>>863697
check out permathrin - soak your pants and socks in that stuff and you are tick free for a couple of weeks. some claim it also works on mosquitoes but the mosquitoes around here dont seem to be bothered by it.

>>864574
For me, its mainly if you tape or plaster your feet to prevent blisters. You should air your feet every night to heal wounds or generally prevent any fungus or other infection. To do that you have to remove any type of tape and plaster, and doing that after walking for hours with hair on your feet hurts like hell, and can some times create even more wounds.
At least in my experience.

Also had experience with hair twinning together and being ripped by the sock. Shaving your feet is just generally nice to prevent any of this.

>>863363

That. The only time mine has ever messed up is when I loaned it to another climber on the Teton moraine who pulled water out of the murky runoff - clogged it real good.

>>864302
>having a way of warming up water and providing a little bit of warmth will make you extra comfy

Yes - well in addition to having something to clean up with. Sponging off in 10K-foot snow runoff sucks ass. Get a cook pot with a waterproof carry bag (GSI for instance). Fill bag half with cold water, boil a pot, dump half in bag, re-top pot of half-hot water with cold water. You will have more than enough warm to hot water for whatever.

>dayhikers, touristfags, richfags, instagramfags, cabinfags are the cancer that ruins nature and/or the sport of being outdoors

Many are disrespectful for sure. But plenty are not. Don't confuse them. Some of those tourists, dayhikers, cabinfags, etc., could have a great deal of back country experience and plenty of respect for the outdoors.

>you can forget about hygiene entirely for the time you are /out/

Can't agree with this one. Not being clean reduces the effectiveness of your clothing and sleeping bags (dirt, grime, oil, etc.). Plus you rest and feel better when clean. After many years and trying this and that, I carry a small eco-friendly container of dish soap. A little goes a long way and it works for cooking utensils, clothes, and yourself.

>>864627

The lavender scented dish soap also helps keep bugs away.

>reliable sleeping mat is essential
>then bag
>inflatable mats can eat shit
>self-inflating mats are slightly better
>foam mats are best
>you can improvise a mat with leaves or pine boughts
>but that isn't leave no trace
>leave no trace
>your tent quality hardly matters unless it's life-or-death weather conditions
>then you need the best tent you can get
>ULW stuff will let you down
>cuben gets pinprick holes in it
>silnylon sucks in the rain
>wet down will kill you
>have two forms of fire ignition
>you don't need a trowel to bury your shit, just make a cathole with a big stick
>catholes should be deep
>poke the shit and paper down the hole to the bottom before you bury it
>you can clean your hands with a little metho
>you don't need an axe or hatchet or full-tang knife
>you need a pocket knife and a whistle
>you don't need a ground sheet
>test all of your gear by doing a backyard or local overnighter
>then test it by doing a local double before going deep
>you need good socks

>>864719
>sleeping mat
>essential
bloody hell m8

>>864726
It's an essential item due to heat loss induced from sleeping on the ground.

Not even that guy but for multiday trips a sleeping pad is top 5 most important things for me.

>>864726

Enjoy your freezing cold ass and shitty uncomfortable sleep, who needs to be rested when you've got to walk for eight hours?

>>864735
>>864751
Do you need a sleeping mat when sleeping suspended, like a hammock?

>>864827
Absolutely, unless you have an under quilt.

>>864601
Sounds like nice stuff, I will get it when I will be able, thanks!.

>>864315
>that's way you shit in a hole or in the river.
>river
dude what

>>864870
It's a meme, you dip.

>>864875
> cognitive dissonance

>>864888
Cat hole? Good idea. Shit in river? Bad idea. Each is blatantly obvious as such. I fail to see where cognitive dissonance comes into play here; please enlighten me.

>>864870
>1998+18
>not shitting in the river and washing your bottom at the same time
Seems like you like the smell of shit mixed with sweat on your cloths.

>>864893

> I fail to see where cognitive dissonance comes into play here

Cool pottery bro

>>863354
Boxers are not good /out/ underwear. Sports briefs and boxer briefs are much better.

>>864320
What is AT/PCT?

>>864895
I like to shit up stream from where hikers fill up on spring water, mfw hundreds of hikers have drank my shit. Like you said, washing your bung is so nice

>>865018
Jesus Christ Hillary, control yourself

>>863354
>wool is fucking useless in tropical climates, don't believe the memes; it is good everywhere else however
>cotton is the only good material for tropical countries, linen gets sweaty too quickly

>>864902
why

>>864580

I've played with one for shits at the local animal drinking hole, and it was workable.

Probably good to keep one in your pack just in case IMO.

I keep one in a side pocket and forget about it. Like with several packs of matches in a watertight bag.

>>865124
>Linen gets sweaty too quickly
I thought sweat = good in heat though? It keeps you cool.

Vibram toe shoes are indeed garbage for anything rockier than a flat well-trodden trail consisting of only dirt. They are pretty good water shoes though so they go well with tubing.

taking a bottle of whiskey tubing is a mistake until you end up on the river for more than 8 hours because of a dumbass friend "knowing a good detour." At that point it is a godsend.

Don't shave your asscrack the morning before swimming in the ocean.

Be the guy to bring actual food when you go camping, like meat and veggies or something. You're friends will likely mostly bring candy. You will absolutely have one friend who brings MREs or something similar then complains when it's wrenching his guts.

Shrimp or worms work best for fishing if you don't know shit. Turns out artificial baits and lures actually require you to know something about them.

A good pair of cross training shoes are 10k times better than any sort of trail boots for most types of hiking. Even better if you get high tops.

Bring at least 1 more pair of socks than you think you will need. All socks should be at least mid shin high. Any shorter and somethings gonna nibble at you.

Most cheapo pocket knives will do the trick when you are camping for only a few days. The nicer knives are pretty much just for bragging rights and being cool.

Trauma shears end up being more useful than a knife on about half of my outings as far as a general cutting tool goes. You can half-assedly gut a fish with them pretty well too.

If you plan on hunting, a razor handle/scalpel/xacto knife will always, 100% of the time outperform your best knife. When paired with trauma shears, you basically become an animal surgeon specializing in tasty meatotomies.

I hate to admit the last 3 about knives because I really like my knives but god damn, I'm starting to think I only bring them as toys.

>>865206
No it's bad because as soon as the sun goes down you can get hypothermia; remember your body wants to stay at 98.6 degrees, and even if it's a balmy 67 degrees in the tropical night you can get hypothermic when soaking wet.

>>865140
The looseness of regular boxers makes them ride up your ass from when your walking all fucking day

>>863354
During FTX in basic training while in the army,I learned that tent caterpillars all descend from trees around 4 in the morning. Every tree in the forest around my company seemed to have them all coming out.

Quite a few people going on a "spiritual journey" are pretty dumb.

>finish trip at some waterfall
>some hippies hugging a big tree trying to feel it's life force or something
>big tree is next to a parking lot and an overfilling dumpster
>trash and other people everywhere
>they probably tried to shove their hair into the poor thing

At least put some effort into spiritual connection shit with nature. See people go to the city park trying to get closer with their primitive self. Hike 100 miles into the wilderness and rub against a tree all you want, not 10 feet away from a dumpster.

>>863405
We are two of soul

>>865006
Appalachian trail and Pacific Crest trail.
Pretty popular and very long trails.

>>865206
You want to sweat, you don't want to get sweaty.
If it evaporates as fast as it develops, then it'll keep you cool. If you get drenched in it you just feel like shit. If there's high humidity, your sweat won't evaporate and you'll be walking around feeling like a wet rag.
Fuck you Vietnam

>>863354
Check your compass before you start the trail. Two friends with two compasses that give different readings is a nightmare once the whiteout hits.

Don't expect a "mapped" trail to be easy to follow if you are in a relatively remote area. Even if it is the only official trail in the park, bring a good topo.

Adjust your compass for declination before you set out.

A bivvy bag is not a good subsitute for a tent when it is raining for 5+ days straight. Keep the bivvy for 1-2 night trips.

Hiking poles are helpful with heavy loads on rough terrain, but hands can blister.

If you're bringing a mountaineering axe, bring gloves. One goes with the other.

Chlorinated water can hurt your gut as much as help it. Allow chlorine to evaporate before drinking.

Your woman will always have a meltdown while /out/.

>>865649
>leftards doing anything that requires the slightest amount of effort
c'mon now.

If you are /out/ing overseas, bring and eat food that you know you can handle. You can't exactly drop pants and shit when you are on a ciffside. Diarrhea tablets are a must, but they take time to work.