Edible Plants

A great post containing a myriad of edible plants and explanations about them:
http://www.ecosalon.com/foraging-for-food/

This kind of information is always good to know if you're stuck in the wilderness and your food sources are beginning to run low.

Duct Tape

Duct tape is a great tool to keep with you when backpacking, but the somewhat large rolls of tape can be really cumbersome and difficult to pack. I suggest pulling out approximately 6" of tape, folding that in half and then begin wrapping the tape around the folded section. This will allow you to wrap a flat bit of tape and because it's wrapped over itself you'll be able to pull all but the last 6" out when you need it.

Bear Bell and Natural warnings

One of the most surprising things for me when moving to the Pacific Northwest was the high number of people who are mauled by bears while out hiking and mountain biking. One suggestion I've heard and agree with is carrying a "Bear Bell". This is a tiny bell that you can strap to your backpack and that will jingle as you walk or bike through the trails. The noise should be enough to scare off most animals (including bears) and preventing you from accidentally sneaking up on them and scaring them into attacking. While the noise may seem annoying at first you'll quickly get used to it and considering the alternative (getting mauled) it's really not much of a nuisance. The down side is that the bell will scare off almost all wildlife so if your intent was to observe the animals you should instead use the suggestion below.

Another alternative is to listen for warnings from Nature herself. Typically when there are bears or other dangerous animals around you'll hear birds warning their fellow birds of the threat. If you listen closely while you're hiking you can pick up on these warnings (which are typically louder and more urgent sounding than a typical bird call) and alter your course. If you are unable to alter your course you could instead continue on the trail while shouting loudly for the next 100 or so meters to alert any animals to your presence and hopefully scare them away.

Setup your tent first

One mistake I've seen a lot of novice backpackers make is to make dinner before setting up their tent at the end of a tough day of hiking. This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons:

1. After you've eaten dinner a lot of the blood that would normally be bringing oxygen to your brain is now going to your stomach to help digestion. If your tent is even the least bit complex to assemble this will make things much more difficult.


2. The later and darker it gets the more tired you'll feel and the harder it will be to see so you're likely to take less time in prepping your site and you may end up sleeping on twigs, small rocks, etc. that normally should be cleared from under your tent.

Typically the first thing I would recommend you do when you reach your camp site is begin clearing the ground where you plan to set up your tent. Once you've cleared out all the small pokey things you can set up your tent and I usually suggest unrolling your sleeping bag as well (this gives it time to fluff up). After all that is done, make yourself some food and know that when your done eating you can climb straight into bed.

Fight the Boredom

For most things I'm a bit of a gadget guy; I like new shiney gadgets that tout to improve my quality of life, but when I'm Backpacking I still like to keep things simple. Sometimes, however this means that I end up with nothing to distract me from the boredom that can creep up when you've been hiking though 5 miles of uphill trails with nothing to look at but rocks and trees. During one trip in particular the view was so lacking, and the conversation so dried up that each step felt like an eternity. That is until one of the guys I was with remembered he was carrying a tiny AM/FM radio (by tiny I mean the size of a pack of Juicy-Fruit). He turned it on, tuned to the only station we could pick up and lashed it to his pack providing us with "Feliz Navidad" and several other Christmas songs sung over and over again (we were hiking in late December). The point here is not that the Radio saved the day, but that having a small gadget (such as an AM/FM radio) tucked away provided us with many more hours of Converstation (making fun of the songs, singing the songs, making up our own songs) and something to distract us from the drudgery of the hike. So I've realized that, when backpacking, gadgets can have a place among the neccessities packed away in my Bag so long as they are something the whole group can enjoy (and so long as they are only pulled out as a last resort).

Energy Foods

Being the type of person who is disinclined to consume sugary products I've had to find alternative energy foods to pack with me when Mountainbiking or Backpacking. My current top choice is the individual packs of Beef Jerky strips. I've found these provide tons of energy when I need it and don't cause a rebound effect that is typical with sugary energy boosters. The only downside is that these will cause you to consume more water so I also suggest carrying a small water filter. Nowadays these are typically the size of a dual action bicycle pump and will allow you to fill up your water pack as needed. These two things alone have provided me with the energy to make it through some pretty grueling 14 mile trails and still have enough energy to mow the lawn when I get home.

Emergency $20

So here's a trick to make sure you don't get totally stranded when your gas light comes on in the middle of nowhere after a weekend of good hiking. Always carry an emergency $20.00 bill in your car's glove box. Sounds easy right, but here's the hard part. Once you've placed your emergency $20.00 in the car you can never use it. It's best if you can simply forget that it's there until the day comes when you're leaving your favorite backpacking trail to return to the urban jungle and your car runs out of gas in the middle of a town that could've come straight out of the 1960's (i.e. no ATM or pay at the pump). Trust me, you'll be glad you took this advice.