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I went hiking over the weekend with three friends. I told them to bring rain gear even though it was sunny. They got here and we headed out and had a leisurely 7 mile hike in to a nice camping spot. Beautiful weather for the PNW. Anyway, we camp out and of course in the morning there's the patter of heavy rain. Turns out neither of them packed even a waterproof outer shell of a rain poncho. The lady brought hers down but left it on a chair in my house and her boy scoffed and said that he was Canadian and such weather is warm and comfortable compared to where he was raised and he'd be fine. I felt bad for not packing a couple of cheap plastic rain ponchos! We fashioned one out of a big black garbage bag but they decided to tough it out given it was a pretty short distance to the trailhead. My friend and I who actually brought rain gear, we were dry and warm. Luckily the rain slowed a bit for the hike but really opened up by the last 30 minutes or so. The Canadian was shivering but continued to refuse and help though we gave them hand warmers. Please pack something to keep rain off you! You can end up with hypothermia even with temps in the 60s of you are soaked. Everything was fine but if it was longer distance it could have been real unpleasant.
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Mar 22, 2016 20:14
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 04:11 |
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Flambeau posted:In an effort to not be featured in this thread in a few months, can y'all give me an idea of the type of clothing/gear I'll need for beginner-level backpacking in northern Montana in late July? Or things I should definitely avoid? Handy weather records reference: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/weather.htm You will probably be dealing with temps at most high as 80 and at most low as 40. Chances are you will encounter some precipitation. I would wear a moisture-wicking base-layer t-shirt / shorts, a fleece for late evenings / early mornings, probably wear convertible pants... I would bring a sleeping pad if they aren't supplying one, but I'm spoiled and its just 3 days so carrying extra weight isn't going to matter that much. Any wool hiking socks are probably fine... Sierra trading post often has great deals and savings on smartwool if you want those. Just avoid cotton. Don't wear a cotton t-shirt. If you have a back sweat problem with a pack on cotton will just turn your back into a swampy bog. It's kind of bougie but I love the patagonia capilene silkweight stuff, still cheaper than merino wool for a base layer. You will probably want long underwear for sleeping in and you can always roll the stuff up if it's 80 in the daytime. Even with them planning out your trip, you never know what might get left out, or poorly distributed, or you could get lost, or whatever. I would always pack a map of the area you are hiking in a dry bag, a compass, a couple big garbage bags, sunscreen, lip balm, insect repellant, sunglasses or cover sunglasses, a headlamp or flashlight, extra batteries for the headlamp, a minimal first-aid kit (lots of resources on line on how to put a first aid kit together), a lighter, a few rolled up bits of duct tape, a couple good water bottles, I would bring a water filter (Sawyer mini is cool) but if they are sure they're covering it just a couple of water treatment pills or something for emergencies, a tarp, an emergency blanket, an emergency rain poncho, and a multi-tool, fifty feet of paracord, and IDK, 3 days so pack at least 3 pro bars or something, just something to survive on if you get lost. Your personal preference on snacks or whatever. You can shove all the non-food stuff in a ditty bag and compact it down or whatever and shove it to the bottom of your pack and more or less totally ignore it if everything goes smoothly. I don't know everyone will probably say that stuff is overkill but as long as you aren't super heavy in that stuff and it's hampering your ability to hike, you should be fine. You probably will notice there aren't a lot of stories here about assholes that are over-prepared. Don't put DEET on your face. Or at least not around your eyes or lips. I think the merrels will be fine if you're carrying under 30 lbs or so. I would always wear boots for anything heavier (though I wear boots all the time anyway...) Oh and they will probably want to put food up in a tree or something if there's any wildlife concern, don't leave food or anything smelling in your pack if there are wildlife concerns... Racoons are a mother fucker and will destroy everything. joke_explainer fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Mar 30, 2016 |
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Mar 30, 2016 02:28
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Oh! 3 days. Bring hand sanitizer. And a spade. And they'll explain the particulars.
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Mar 30, 2016 08:19
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I love DEET, but if you get it on your lips it is really unpleasant to drink water. And yeah, use permethrin on fabrics a few days before you go camping.
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Mar 31, 2016 02:01
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learnincurve posted:I'm full of I'm stuck in the house for the next week and spending imaginary money on gear questions today...Does anyone here own or know of anyone who owns a Garmin Oregon 600? I have the 450t and it worries me. The screen on the 450t is bevelled and some sort of non-scratch plastic coated e-ink thing, but the screen on the 600 is flat gorilla glass. I don't understand this. Surely it gives it the durability of an iPhone does it not? Since I carry my phone anyway, I just use Gaia GPS on it if I need to use a GPS. Does not require a cellular connection and works great and is 20$. Battery life in airplane mode on the phone with no other apps in standby or anything is like 18 hours of use, so generally more than enough. Not a bad idea to put your phone in a ziplock bag though just in case, they are okay but not super weather resistant. The Garmin Oregon 600 is really cool though. It lost the bevelled edges which were really just a loving nuisance anyway and the glass is tough and the screen is the best pure GPS screen. I've gone through four iphones from my work and it has never been the screen that broke, but if you frequently have a problem with those screens I guess it could be an issue. IDK, just don't hammer your tent stakes with the screen or whatever.
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Apr 7, 2016 02:47
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black children posted:hammocks? gps? fretting about bugs? Can you describe what your typical outing is like and what you pack? Honestly not getting eaten up by bugs is pretty important to me. I would hike a lot less if it couldn't be easily avoided.
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Apr 25, 2016 07:14
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*admiring the insect swarm so dense people are literally sucking mosquitos into their lungs and throwing up/coughing* ah the despoiled beauty of the wilds
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May 10, 2016 01:18
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out on my last hike we were heading back and another group came up and it was a narrow walkway so we stopped to let them pass and this guy tripped on a rock and almost fell off the ledge (about 60 feet of 65? degree jagged rocky incline into a roaring creek). He had a beer in his hoodie apparently open and it shattered/spilled everywhere when he hit the ground, he scrambled up on his own and was red faced and quickly ran off down the trail. Poor dude. Anyway, pay attention to where you are walking when hanging over chasms stay safe all.
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May 14, 2016 23:16
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 04:11 |
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Epitope posted:A thermometer? You're outside, you'll know if it is hot or cold! maybe they have congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis and can't feel that, or any pain or the need to urinate. i admire their dedication to the outdoors despite adversity, but that is a really hard condition to manage.
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Aug 18, 2016 19:01
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