By: Blonde Two
Today I am afraid that I am going to use you lovely Blondees and Blondettes for a bit of market research. You may feel a bit uncomfortable during this process because I am going to have to ask you a very personal question about your … wait for it! … about your rucksack.
I hope you don’t mind too much, but I would like to find out which little bits and bobs you always carry with you. I am not talking about the obvious (and very important) outdoor gear; like waterproofs, compasses and first aid kits. I am much more interested in those little things that lurk in your yellow dry bag (well mine is yellow) and only get used once in a … well actually, do they ever get used?
In a spirit of openness and fairness, here are my Top Five Hiking Must-Haves:
1. Emergency hair elastics – I attach them in weird places to my rucksack and then forget where they are. I have almost certainly doubled my rucksack weight in this way.
2. Cable ties – These must surely be extremely useful. I am not sure what for yet, but it will come to me one day. Mine are very clever because they are reusable ones; just in case I get two ideas about what to do with them on the same day!
3. A ball of red rubber bands – This bounces quite nicely and isn’t as big as it once was; this means that I must have found something useful to do with them at some point; but I am blowed if I can remember what it was. They are red, by the way, because I have collected them off the pavement where the postman has left them.
4. Flashing arm and thingies. I have been out in the dark on the moor and in the lanes many times; but have never remembered that I have some special arm whatsits to keep me safe. They sometimes cheer me up by doing unexpected flashing inside my yellow dry-bag.
5. Waterproof matches. These are truly hopeless devices, clearly invented by a man (sorry men). They may well be waterproof, but they are also fire proof and refuse to light. I always carry a lighter, but for some reason, feel that I am less than of an adventurer if I don’t have the obligatory non-lighting matches.
I always carry a Leatherman, although I am not sure why I need pliers and a screwdriver when in the middle of nowhere, although I believe the Hammocker uses one when cooking.
The Hammocker has a fine collection of such implements. I have a girlie Leatherman (Leathergirl?) but to date the scissors have been the most useful.
A fine example of “the thing that you must have!”
I have a dry-bag labelled “Miscellaneous” – it contains:
Yes, zip ties, Velcro, your kind of hair elastics, some fuse wire, a lighter, some rubber bands, a couple of mini Carabiners, some plastic bags, and a repair kit for my Thermorest
I also have a waterproof waist pouch made by Overboard (they have an excellent website). In there:
Swiss Army Knife, clip on sun specs, notebook, wallet, pen and pencil, mini tin opener, small shoehorn, spare varifocals, plastic knife and fork, and lip-sun-block-stick.
On my LEJOG the Vibram sole on my boot became detached at the heel. I made a holes through the welt and the sole with the spike on my Swiss Army Knife and with great difficulty threaded a zip tie through both and it held for the last ten days or so.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i6q3ln9o582d1qg/Slide104%20copy.JPG?dl=0
Thanks Conrad, a comprehensive list.
Excellent boot repair work, we know from experience that duct tape just doesn’t cut it for flappy boot soles (we have seen a few!) Maybe I will keep those cable ties in my bag!
What are those pink sticks for – hanging dead moles on perhaps?
They would probably be better at mole hanging than they are at lighting fires!
Sorry – no longer have a rucksack, but I do have ‘pink bag’ packed and ready to go on emergency missions (Haven’t had one of those since husband died!)
Do handbags count? There’s allsorts in there, (not the licorice kind!)
Handbags definitely count. What are the three things that you always carry but hardly ever use?
A bunch of safety pins (you never know when you might need a bit of safety!) A GNT spray – rarely have angina attacks, last spray went out of date, only used for three attacks thank goodness!) A pack of toothpicks – free gift from a friend who got them free on a flight to America. (Never look gift horse in the mouth = never use a gift pick in your mouth?)
Toothpicks are a definite must. You never know when you might get the urge to make a pineapple hedgehog!
The tiny penknife on my keyring has the tweezers, screwdriver, scissors, toothpick, etc. I find the scissors and blade really useful and someone borrowed the screwdriver once. In most of my rucksacks you will find a tick hook for K9’s unwanted stowaways, and a pair of thorn-removing tweezers for K9 paws, along with children’s socks and Elastoplast fabric strapping (the only kind I have found that sticks when wet.) My backpacking rucksack has a small flashing light that will clip onto the top of my tent, the reason being that I once decided to watch the sunset from the top of a beautiful mountain and when I came back in the dark, could not find my dark green tent among the rocks, even with a headtorch. I have a spare bootlace in most bags, which in theory doubles as an emergency dog lead or guyline, and a roll of cloth tape so that I can repair the tent at 2 in the morning (Works well as long as you stitch round it, but the needle will suffer from the glue.) I have long abandoned waterproof matches but there is always a spare polythene bag (for K9) and a carrier bag (in case the rucksack gives up the ghost), and a small packet of GoCat. If there is anything else lurking in there, other than genuine kit, it has been there for several decades undisturbed, and may as well remain! As long as it isn’t alive.
Spare boot laces is a good one. I try to have some in my bag but they have often been given out to youngsters. Probably my most used ’emergency item’. I always have a dustbin bag or rubble sack with me to – also usually used by youngsters.
SOL bivvy bag (still new), five laminated cards with wind chill, pacings etc (rarely used), OHP pens for emergency map markings, hair bands (despite short hair now they’re still on rucksack straps like you!), dextrose tablets, small bear with his own whistle. And lipsalves – any one of my rucksacks will contain between 2 and 5 lipsalves in various pockets, but the law is that if I have sore lips I will NEVER be able to find one, and will have to buy new. A 2013 post-DofE Gold lipsalve amnesty in my house yielded in excess of 35…and now you can calculate the number of rucksacks that they came out of!
I forgot the pens. I have two Sharpies – but the Young Leaders know where they are and like to sneak them out of my rucksack whilst I am walking. Lipsalves are an absolute must, although I always know where mine is (next to compass it is that important); B1 has a lipsalve with its own carrying device!
I have no bear but am considering one; feels wrong not to somehow!