As The Crow Flies

One really windy night in the Sierras, I was camping with Just Dave. He gave me this staking advice.

1. Brush the surface duff away so that you are staking in as solid ground as you can.

2. Put your stakes in at an angle towards the tent.

After those two things failed me, I went searching for some big rocks to anchor my tent with. Only able to find two rocks, I decided it wasn’t going to rain, took down my tent and slept under the stars. Just Dave was afraid that the wind was going to rip his tarp so he did the same.

I bought some red reflective tape at Wallmart and wrapped very thin pieces of it around my tent stakes in hopes that when the wind blows hard in the night and rips out my tent stakes, I can find them.

The little ones are orange titanium stakes from backpackinglight.com. They weigh 6 grams or .20 of an ounce a piece. A big wind can pull them out easily. They are painted orange because if they weren’t, there would be little chance of not losing them–I know this from first hand experience. Still, orange may as well be black, at night, so I have improved them by taping the red reflective tape on them.

The bigger ones, I believe, are Kelty’s Hexagonal aluminum stakes. They weigh 14 grams or .50 of an ounce each. I like the bigger ones because the wind doesn’t pull them out as easily and because they aren’t as easy to lose. They also are stronger.

In a comprise of light weight verses function–and because it’s what I have and I don’t want to buy anymore gear–I’m going to carry 3 of the big ones and 3 of the little ones.

Tent floors are not really necessary. I like one to keep bugs and rodents from bothering me.  It’s sometimes nice to feel cut off from the world and be left un-harassed while I sleep.

I don’t need a tent floor to protect me from the wet ground I have a full length Z-Rest for that. Tent floors do a poor job at protecting you from the wet anyway because what happens is condensation rolls down the walls and puddles on the floor.

I was thinking, it might be best to make tent floors out of breathable nylon instead, so the water doesn’t puddle in the tent.

I have this travel tent that fits on the a single size bed. I use it when traveling to foreign countries. It has a breathable nylon floor. It weighs 1.9lbs (.86 kilograms) with aluminum poles but it doesn’t have a rain fly. I was thinking if a person rebuilt one of these with carbon fiber poles and lighter weight materials and made a fly for it, you would have this great light tent that would do for wherever you go. If the tent fly was also a rain cape that would be even better.

That’s what I’m always looking for–the ultimate gear. The gear package that you can walk out your door and away from your home, travel the world, and never come back to change gear.

For the last couple of winters I have been screwing sheet metal screws in to my running shoes. It makes a world of difference. When the ice is all gone, I can take the screws out or just let them wear down.  I put screws in shoes on  the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) before heading into the Sierras. It worked great on ice or trail but it made walking on rock more slippery.

Anyway it costs a dollar or two in screws depending on how many you put in and then you need a five dollar screw driver that can screw in hex screws. On The Goat’s site, I see there is a company selling this arrangement for 40 dollars.

Check out this tent: Titanium Goats Vertex.   It weighs less then 4 lbs and then for another pound they sell a small titanium wood stove that goes inside of it.    How cool would it be to spend the winter in this tent?  Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

I’m seriously thinking of buying a new tent– The Six moon Designs Wild Oasis. They say it weighs 13 oz. That’s a 10 ounce saving over the one I have– the Lunar Solo. I don’t know if it would be better to have 175 more dollars in my account or 10 ounces less on my back.

I do know, that of everything I own, my backpacking gear is what I value the most. Even when I was tied to a house, a job, and responsibilities, it was what I valued the most. I used to set up all my gear in my bedroom and imagine the day that I would be out there. That’s why I don’t mind buying gear– as far as material possessions go, it’s the most valuable thing to me.

Update: Wait, there is no floor in this tent. That’s no good. I want a floor in my tent so the ticks, ants, and spiders don’t bite me. Well, that dilemma is over.

I carried hiking poles for 6000 miles. I rarely used them. I carried them across my back with my hands hanging over them like it was my aluminum/titanium cross to bear. It just seemed liked a lot of extra work to swing poles around.

I carried them because my tent was the Nomad Light and it required hiking poles. When I got my Lunar Solo, I ordered the carbon fiber pole with it so that I could leave the hiking poles at home.

What freedom to not have to carry poles. My arms are free to swing by my side. They can reach back and grab my water bottle. I can eat snacks on the go. I can get out my navigational data. I can mess with my MP3/radio. The minute I started hiking without poles, I knew it was an improvement.

I wore my jacket backwards a lot last summer–Ray Jardine style. In the mornings, I’m cold and then after 10 minutes of hiking I’m ready to take my jacket off. By wearing my jacket backwards, I could slip it off without stopping. I then would just hold it in my hands or loop it through my hip belt and carry it that way. If it got cold again I could slip it back on with out having to stop.

It’s a good idea Ray Jardine had, because your front stays warm and your back doesn’t get all sweaty.

An odd thing about long distance hiking is that you could line everyone up at the start of the trail and you wouldn’t be able to pick out who was going to make it with any more accuracy than if you guessed.

The young super fit hiker that you thought for sure would make it, drops out and the old fat guy makes it.

Here’s what I think: Everyone comes to the trail with a handicap. It’s how easily you except yours and work around it that makes the difference.

For the last 3200 miles, I have been carrying a liteflex swing trekking umbrella. 3200 miles is 2700 more miles than any other umbrella I have carried has lasted. It has some holes at the top of it and the silver is wearing off but structurally is still good. The silver coating is to reflect the sun back. It weighs 7.8 ounces (220 grams) and has no logos on it.

I don’t carry poles and I don’t mind holding it in my hand but if you do mind, “Switchback” has this idea for an umbrella holder.

Related post: Hiking in the rain

Microplane Foot File–before modification 2.10 ounces(60 grams)

Microplane Foot File — after modification .75 ounce (21 grams)

Related Post: Tools for your feet

I carried a foot file for the entire Pacific Crest Trail(PCT). Foot files are not all created equal. The ones you get in the bath stores are much better then then ones you get at a drug store. They are paddles with what looks to be sandpaper on them. The problem I had with mine, was that its wide paddle made it hard to target the calluses I most wanted to lose– the one on the ball of my foot and the one between my toes from wearing Chacos with the toe strap.

I found a better one then the one I carried. Better because of it’s narrow shape and courser file. It called the Flowery Swedish Clover Fot Fil * #530

Another file I used, to get rid of the remnants of my hike, is one made by a company that makes wood rasps and vegetable peelers. It is a sharp metal rasp. It works amazingly well but you need to exercise a little restraint or you may take off too much skin. It’s called the Microplane Foot File.

I used a hacksaw to remove the handle off the one I carried on the PCT. It weighed .5 ounce (14 grams) after I removed the handle. The Flowery Swedish file weighs 2.20 ounces(62 grams) with handle and the Microplane foot file weighs 2.10 ounces(56 grams) with handle. I would guess half the weight is the handle.

A pumice stone is not in the same league as a foot file. A foot file sands away callouses on dry feet in one sitting and there is no need to soak them first.

Related Posts:

Foot Care

Cracked Feet

Hacksaw improvements

1) They will always eventually fail.

2) It will always be when you need them.

In 2001 when I first hiked the PCT(Pacific Crest Trail), I had one of those plastic bladders hooked up to a hose system to drink out of as I walked. Even though I bought several of them while I was on the trail everyone failed. On 2 of them the bags leaked, one the bite valve leaked and water dribbled down my shirt, another the bite valve came off.

I shucked the hose system for “disposable” Aqua Fina bottles. However, I did buy a new 2 liter platypus in case of a long waterless stretch.

After the first 700 miles of desert on the PCT, water becomes more plentiful until you hit Oregon and then it dries up again. I carried that platypus for probably 800 miles until the day came that I needed the extra water capacity. I filled it with water and…. it leaked.

Sure Platypus will replace your bottle if you send it to them but that’s of no use to me when I’m sitting at the last water source for 33 miles with a leaking plastic bag.

Related post: Water Treatment and Containers

I good place to shop for your shoes whether you are out on the trail or at home is Zappos. They have free overnight shipping and free return shipping. You can order as many pairs of shoes as you want, try them on, and return them for free, if they don’t work out for you. I once ordered 5 pairs of shoes and returned all of them with no hassles. You need to be able to access the Internet and a printer to print the return labels.

Their phone number is 1-800-927-7671.     They take orders 24/7 and they will ship, Fed-ex, UPS, or USPS.

I thought Crocs were just camp shoes and since camp to me is usually a wide spot on the trail to sleep on, I figured they weren’t much use. Then I read this article on the Happy Feet blog that said people are running marathons in them.

I’m investigating Crocs. Can anyone answer these questions?  Does anyone have first hand experience long distance hiking in Crocs? What is the best style for hiking? How many miles does a pair last?

One of the gear decisions I obsessed the most over, for my last PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hike, was the decision to carry two pairs of shoes: a pair of Chaco sandals and a pair of running shoes.

I spend a lot of effort to get my pack weight down, to add a pound and a half was tough. Also, everything has a place in my pack, adding a pair of shoes took an adjustment to my packing.

I brought them because of two realizations: I like to do 30-mile days and my feet hurt after 25.

I thought maybe once I was on the trail for a while, I could send one pair home, but a day never went by that I didn’t have both pairs in use. Some days I would switch shoes at every break.

I never got any blisters and I never spent a night moaning from the pain shooting through my feet, like I did the first time I hiked the PCT. I think it was a pound and a half well spent.