Triad Hiking

A PBS comedy show named The Red Green Show put two dorky guys in charge of the Possum Lodge somewhere north in Canada. With nothing to do and plenty of time for fix-it-up projects, the duo cooked up some bewildering gadgets, mostly affixed with plenty Duct Tape. In any case, Red Green used to say, “If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” So it is true on the trail: If there’s anything you should be ready for, it’s the unplanned. Anything that can go wrong mid-hike usually will go wrong mid-hike (or sooner). Ergo, we’re going to tell you here how you too can be handy rather than handsome, for it’s the former over the latter that usually keeps campers and backpackers warm at night.

Red Green would be proud for the first item needed for your all-out, Swiss Army style backpacking repair list—Duct Tape (Duck Tape). Though heavy and cumbersome, duct tape (or Gorilla Tape or the like) can pretty much fix anything that breaks. The problem most people have with bringing along a roll of this gray magic adhesive is its weight. One roll of duct tape can weigh more than 2 pounds, or almost two full days of dried food. Really, though, unless you fall off the side of a cliff and shatter everything in one go, you won’t need an entire roll. You can simply unravel some strips of the stuff around your Nalgene water bottle or use an old toilet paper tube and wrap it in six to ten layers. That should yield around two square feet, enough to mend a broken bone or failed backpack strap.

Red Green would probably advise to bring along the broadax; however, a simple military style knife should do fine. A knife is needed for nearly ever task from chopping up an onion to dissecting a tick from your leg. The famous present day survivor Bear Grylls never leaves behind his knife when entering the unknown. If he brings it along, you can bet your life that the knife could someday save yours.

Another most-important must-have item to bring along when entering the wild is nylon cord/rope. This can be used for anything from dangling your food from a tree to keep animals and bears out to constructing a drying rack for clothes or fish or meat should you become stranded for days on end. Rope, too, can tie poles or small trees together for makeshift shelter and works well to lower yourself down from a precipice (climbing rope).

Other must-carry repair list items might include stove repair kits and extra bulbs and batteries for flashlights. It’s always smart to have a backup plan for anything you’ll have to have for survival. Some suggest that sleep is necessary to survival, so bringing along a mattress repair kit (Thermarest for example) may help you think clearly in the morning without the backache. Repair kits, too, should be kept in a separate compartment or sack and kept waterproof. Wrapping the kit in Duct Tape may prevent it from contamination by rain or snow. If you’re as anal as Red Green and as careful as Bear Grylls, then it’s also a favorable idea to bring along safety pins, cash and tent pole repair kits (in no particular order). The next time you’re in nature and the handsome man carries his dainty pack of ultralightness, you can be the handier of the two and unroll the Duct Tape, break out the knife and repair the tent all in the same day. “Oh, my Hero!”

September 8th, 2009 | Tags: backpack repair kit, hike repair list | Category: gear | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL