Things I have learnt.

[north-north-west]

Many years ago a 4WD went down a track for some distance only to find a locked gate which should have been open. From memory they thought that the gate at the other end may have been locked after they went in, so they decided to rationalise the gate to allow an easy passage. Surely land managers would drive down the track to make sure that nobody is trapped.

Apparently the road was officially closed, but the gate was open because they were doing roadworks (strange time of year for it, I would have thought). And yes, I found it weird that no-one drove in for a quick check that it was clear before locking the gate at the end of the day.

[keithj]

Check expiry dates on First Aid Kits more frequently than every 25 yrs. My anti-septic swaps expired in '97 (for reference turns to tarry black goo). I guess the band aids have sub-optimal stickiness too. Asprins had lost the ink showing their use-by date.

[crollsurf]

Just because BOM reports "Sun protection not recommended, UV Index predicted to reach 2 [Low]" doesn't mean you wont get sun burnt. 5 hour walk today, no hat, got burnt. Not by any means badly but still, even for someone who doesn't have pale skin, it can still happen.

[rcaffin]

Just because the sun is shining brightly does not mean the ambient is >0 C!
(Sydney north)

Cheers
Roger

[north-north-west]

A little bit of snow visible from a distance is one hell of a lot when you're walking on/through it.

[Ms_Mudd]

Don't let your 12yo stash cardboard packaged gobstoppers in your pack where melted snow will soak/dissolve them into a sticky, food colouring rich syrup that will run down your butt crack.

[north-north-west]

Don't let your 12yo stash cardboard packaged gobstoppers in your pack where melted snow will soak/dissolve them into a sticky, food colouring rich syrup that will run down your butt crack.

Note to self: newer have children.
Oh, hang on ... menopause was around fifteen years ago. Whew! Safe.

[Ms_Mudd]

Note to self: newer have children.
Oh, hang on ... menopause was around fifteen years ago. Whew! Safe.

Yup, pretty safe then, I reckon. An excellent strategy to mitigate weird sticky melted lolly runoff spoiling your pack or underwear.

[jobell]

Don't let your 12yo stash cardboard packaged gobstoppers in your pack where melted snow will soak/dissolve them into a sticky, food colouring rich syrup that will run down your butt crack.

Eeeeew

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[puredingo]

Don't let your 12yo stash cardboard packaged gobstoppers in your pack where melted snow will soak/dissolve them into a sticky, food colouring rich syrup that will run down your butt crack.

Also don’t blindly accept to carry a pack that your dad has packed for you. When I was 14 I did this when on a walk with dad and his mates and found out when we got to the first nights camp I was being used as a pack mule for their weekends grog supply...and my bedding was a bunnings style blue tarp!!!

[Ms_Mudd]

Isn't that why you have kids though Pure Dingo, to do your bidding?
Clearly my parenting not on point yet due to me being the pack mule for my sons confectionery.

[puredingo]

Yes, true. But you got off easy, a couple of chuppa chups Vs a 4ltr goon cask and assortments...I’d take the sticky bum crack !!

[wildwanderer]

Also don’t blindly accept to carry a pack that your dad has packed for you. When I was 14 I did this when on a walk with dad and his mates and found out when we got to the first nights camp I was being used as a pack mule for their weekends grog supply...and my bedding was a bunnings style blue tarp!!!

[Lophophaps]

Many years ago the most popular XC ski binding had three pins, with boots and bindings left and right. One trip a mate bought two left or right boots. Not only was it hard for one foot to squeeze into the boot, but that ski pointed in the wrong direction. Check the boots.

A couple had a tent with two separate flies, one for the tent and one for the vestibule. Due to the fine weather prediction they decided to leave the main fly behind. They bought the vestibule fly by mistake. It poured that night, and they got quite damp. Check that you bring the right fly.

[Ms_Mudd]

Oh dear. My trips must be a little more slap happy, poorly run events than most as I seem to have a contribution to this thread quite regularly.

I have learnt....

If you decide to pee in your cook pot in desperately cold and rainy conditions rather than going outside, make sure the capacity of your cook pot is larger than that of your bladder. Enough said.

[norts]

On the same vain , ensure your pee bottle is intact and not cracked.

[ChrisJHC]

Don’t leave your headlamp fully submersed in water for an hour.

Luckily it’s Christmas and my family are wondering what to get me!

[GregG]

Don’t leave your headlamp fully submersed in water for an hour.

Luckily it’s Christmas and my family are wondering what to get me!

A very cunning plan. I'll go an soak my phone - it needs replacing !!!!

[Neo]

A pee bottle is a total game changer, for any type of camping.

[WestcoastPete]

Don't let your 12yo stash cardboard packaged gobstoppers in your pack where melted snow will soak/dissolve them into a sticky, food colouring rich syrup that will run down your butt crack.

Note to self: newer have children.
Oh, hang on ... menopause was around fifteen years ago. Whew! Safe.

I decided I didn't want children so went and had a vasectomy. When I got home, they were still there though

[puredingo]

Just because you could handle walking the heat when you were young...doesn't mean you can when you are old.

[johnw]

Just because you could handle walking the heat when you were young...doesn't mean you can when you are old.

I hear you, that's why I now avoid walking in anything over 25 degrees unless:
It's an alpine area where elevation and a stiff cool breeze usually offsets the heat
It's in a deeply shaded rainforest, gorge, canyon etc
It's very coastal/ocean facing with a continuous sea breeze

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

I decided I didn't want children so went and had a vasectomy. When I got home, they were still there though

Pete I just read this and spilt my coffee on my lap. Thanks for the laugh!

It was a laugh wasn't it?

[Son of a Beach]

If you're smart enough to know that carrying canned food is a reasonable idea when you'll be camping where there's no water supply (means you don't have to carry water for cooking, as the food already has exactly the right water content), then you should also be smart enough to either:

• select cans with a ring-pull lid
• bring a can opener

Failure to do so results in using the dangers of applying excess pressure repeatedly on a sharp knife, followed by stirring and eating around jagged sharp can edges. And do NOT attempt to wash up the can at all!

[Son of a Beach]

If you get to camp early, and there is no shade anywhere, and the sun is beating down on the tent, and all you want to do is lie down somewhere cool for a rest, and the tent is radiating heat at you like a furnace if you get in it...

Draping the sleeping bag over the top of the tent (and in this case the pack liner across the front), works wonders. Lying in the tent like this was cool and relaxing.

Of course it only works if there is little or no wind. It may be possible to shove the sleeping bag or bits of clothes between the tent and the fly on a windy day, I suppose?

[north-north-west]

Works a treat, doesn't it? Also airs out and lofts the down. I've used the groundsheet as well, but only when the inner isn't attached. Easy enough to put it down before clipping things on.

[Son of a Beach]

Works a treat, doesn't it? Also airs out and lofts the down.

Yes, in fact, that's how I got the idea (all the best ideas happen by accident). The sleeping bag was a bit damp, because I'd foolishly packed the wet tent within the pack liner instead of outside of the pack liner, and the tent water had seeped into the sleeping bag during the day's walk. So I draped the sleeping bag over the tent to dry out, and realised that this would also make the tent much more comfortable to lie in when the sun was beating down on it.

[crollsurf]

You don't need all the bags your gear comes in, you only need 2 bags, (not including your pack)
1 bag to keep all the stuff that needs to stay dry.
No bag for all the other stuff.
1 bag to stop your tent getting everything in your pack wet.

So no putting everything in it's own bag. Just 2 bags. Dry stuff, other stuff, tent.

Still pack your cookset and ditty bag, but throwing your quilt, mat, clothing randomly in one bag and stuffing your tent in another bag makes tearing down in the morning easy pleasy

Forget the bag your tent come in. They are always a nightmare. Just get a plastic bag that's easy and crush it into your pack.

[rcaffin]

I use a plas bag inside a silnylon stuff sack, but lots of them, for each bit of gear. But my pack is largely waterproof anyhow (seam-sealed X-Pac). So 'dry' gear is actually triple-screened.

As for the tent, that goes on top of a small square of silnylon placed on top of the folded throat of the pack but under the pack lid. Any water leaking from the tent runs off the small square, outside the pack, and the lid protects the tent from the scrub.

Works for me.

Cheers
Roger

[ChrisJHC]

I think “Bags” vs “No Bags” is another religious argument and you’ll never get people to change their minds .

Personally, I use bags to keep all my gear organised. In many cases this also makes my gear waterproof as an added bonus.
Eg: hammock in a bag, top quilt and underquilt in their own bags, tarp in a mesh sleeve that I could call a bag, food in a bag, cooking gear in a bag, first aid kit in a bag, toiletries in a bag, “assorted” in another bag.

Just to prove I’m inconsistent, I tend to just stuff my spare clothes in to fill voids.

It works for me and that’s what really matters.