First Trip: Lessons Learned

[mbiraman]

When you start climbing you don't hop on a 10c multi pitch. You start at 5.7 top rope. You gradually build up your skill base , and your strength, endurance etc. Eventually your climbing harder and with confidence and a skill set. As a climber you know how that goes. Hiking is similar in that it takes a while to build up confidence in other ways ,cardio endurance, and have a new skill set. I personally think its good to start with small achievements and build confidence. You'll build your skill set each time you go out and feel comfortable.
Its different for everyone.
Good luck

[stefprez]

When you start climbing you don't hop on a 10c multi pitch. You start at 5.7 top rope. You gradually build up your skill base , and your strength, endurance etc. Eventually your climbing harder and with confidence and a skill set. As a climber you know how that goes. Hiking is similar in that it takes a while to build up confidence in other ways ,cardio endurance, and have a new skill set. I personally think its good to start with small achievements and build confidence. You'll build your skill set each time you go out and feel comfortable.
Its different for everyone.
Good luck

All too true. Sometimes you gotta be smacked down and learn the hard way. In my case, I didn't have to be, but I was a bit overambitious, and that's what I got. 10c multipitch you say... as long as there's no offwidth/squeeze chimney, count me in!

[beep]

Ah yes! The lessons obtained from actually doing the stuff you read about or see on video!.

It's an on-going reminder of why "training" for these activities has value...actually doing the tasks that you are/will be required to do while out and about is invaluable.

Good post! Keep at it! It gets easier with practice!

[futbolfreak08]

[/QUOTE]1. First time bear bagging is a LOT harder than it looks. Used the PCT method.

-Sub mistake A... Mason's line as throw line. That stuff ... is so thin that it hurts to pull, [/QUOTE]

i remember using paracord the first time i hung a bear bag. i had so many rope burns by the end of a 2 night trip i could barely hold my paddle when we canoed out. a little trick i learned for pulling thin line is to wrap a stick in the paracord (or whatever you're using) and use it as a handle to pull on. it saves on a lot of pain and makes raising the bag a whole lot easier. hope this helps.

[BillyBob58]

2. Mosquitoes don't care what percentage of DEET you are using, they will still eat you alive. My 100% DEET kept the small sections of my body that got sprayed with it protected temporarily. They flocked to any square inch that wasn't coated. For example, my butt has three bites. (That's through hiking pants and boxers!) I just ordered some Pemethrin, which should hopefully help alleviate that issue.

It will change your outdoors life! Really. That was always my experience with DEET: they would not bite skin sprayed in a reasonable amount of time, but they sure would swarm around trying to find a spot, and I've had them cover an arm in a sleeve, though I had DEET 100% on exposed skin.

Are y'alls skeeters much worse than MS skeeters? Might be, hard to say. But since using Perm treated clothing along with a little bit of odorless Picaridin 15% or greater, I virtually never even see any bugs. Ticks or mossies.

The other day I was out with treated clothing(big sun hat with neck sun blocker, shorts, socks all treated in the last couple of weeks and a shirt treated a much longer time ago- maybe 5 or 6 weeks- and washed several times) plus some Picaridin on exposed skin. It was real hot, I hiked and found a nice shady spot and set up my Speer hammock. Too hot to use the net, as usual.


I never saw or heard a single bug, with one huge exception:
Big red ants that were crawling all over the trees I hung from. It didn't take them long to travel right down my untreated straps and into my untreated hammock. I saw one on my shirt, acting kind of all shook up. I tried to get him off of me, and he landed on my shorts, and really started acting crazy. Again, as I am trying to get him off of me, it appears as though he falls down the legs of my shorts heading towards areas where I sure don't want a bite. This causes me to jump up and try to find him before he bites in a bad place!

Well, no sign of him. I look in my hammock, and there he is. Dead. So I flicked him out of there, laid back down and finished my break/reading. What a pleasant afternoon! No more ants and no more bugs period. Evaporative cooling from my sweat, with just a slight breeze blowing under my hammock, kept me reasonably cool considering temps in mid-high 90s.

When I got home I sprayed that hammock and straps. Once a couple of years ago or more, I was hanging in this very same hammock, sitting up in the hammock and kind of frog legged, reading, net off. A monster black/red ant fell out of a tree and onto my bare leg and bit the fire out of me before I could kill him!

[stefprez]

Are y'alls skeeters much worse than MS skeeters? Might be, hard to say. But since using Perm treated clothing along with a little bit of odorless Picaridin 15% or greater, I virtually never even see any bugs. Ticks or mossies.

I'll have to try that Picaridin stuff. Mixed reports around the web, some saying better, some saying same, some saying worse than DEET. At this point, DEET ain't doing me much, so might as well give it a shot! Also, have you ever seen the Don't Bite Me patches? They use an applicator similar to a nicotine patch, and give your body excess Vitamin B12. That's supposed to be excreted through your pores, masking your odor that mosquitoes use to smell you. I've used it with quite great success. Still a bite here or there, but not a single drop of bug spray, and they last for 36 hours. Only down side is that, if it's hot, when you get sweaty, they like to slowly peel off. Usually you can make them last, but location of where you put them is key. If it's a spot that moves back and forth against clothing or something of the like, it won't last for long. Here's the site. http://www.dontbitemepatch.com/ Definitely worth a try.

Once a couple of years ago or more, I was hanging in this very same hammock, sitting up in the hammock and kind of frog legged, reading, net off. A monster black/red ant fell out of a tree and onto my bare leg and bit the fire out of me before I could kill him!

Aerial attack!? They are getting smarter!! **** those little buggers!

[3club]

lol, I laugh only because I've been there and it brings back memories! lol

The first time my friends and I tried to keep our stuff from the bears, we through a pulley over a branch first, and then it still took a couple of up to hoist the stuff up there. We later realized that we only needed to put our food up there, not our whole packs! LOL

Regardless, we eventually got them way up in the air, at least 15 feet. We were in the mountains, not level ground. I later walked up the hill and found that I could reach out and touch the packs. We all learned a lot on that, our first, backpacking trip. :-)

[stefprez]

lol, I laugh only because I've been there and it brings back memories! lol

The first time my friends and I tried to keep our stuff from the bears, we through a pulley over a branch first, and then it still took a couple of up to hoist the stuff up there. We later realized that we only needed to put our food up there, not our whole packs! LOL

Regardless, we eventually got them way up in the air, at least 15 feet. We were in the mountains, not level ground. I later walked up the hill and found that I could reach out and touch the packs. We all learned a lot on that, our first, backpacking trip. :-)

Hahahahaha great story, man. Glad I'm not the only one.

[body942]

Hey StepFrez, yes, bearbagging is a PAIN IN THE A$$, but after years of using un-sat cordage, I found a miracle. I'm a recreational fisherman and got to thinking about the "coated" slick braids we use in kelp that cuts right through it. Found THIS and have never looked back. It is SWEEEEET and slick. This stuff doesn't even snag on old-growth large oak, which is the gnarliest most non crumbly bark I've encountered.

NOTE: the link is for 30' lengths, I ordered a 60' length from the same company but couldn't find a link for it real quick (got it through Amazon though).

I've no experience with lash-it or zing-it, maybe they're they same kind of thing, but I can absolutely vouch for this stuff.

PS: Tie the tag (loose) end to a belt loop or your ankle before you throw your weight; I've had an inadvertent birdsnest go whizzing by me up the tree as the weight comes sliding down the other side.

[DuctTape]

Definitely treat your clothing with permethrin. I rarely have to use anything directly on my skin anymore. When I do, I use Ultrathon. It is a Deet based product suspended in a lotion so the application of it is quite easy to cover all your skin, plus it last much longer. 3M developed ultrathon for the military. In fact the first version I ever had came in the olive drab squeeze tube. You can get both the permethrin treatment and Ultrathon at Gander Mt on Jefferson Rd.