The worst things to bring on a camping trip or a hike

[TheNewCatfish]

Everybody crams useless junk and gadgets into their backpacks. We're all guilty of it. Some of this stuff has travelled with us for decades and thousands of miles and never seen the light of day once. But perhaps the worst stuff of all is the junk that actually works AGAINST us. At this point i'm going to rant on a bit about the "Zip Lock" bag. The most insideous thing a backpacker can put in their gear. Sure they can hold alot of odds and ends.. like that tube of toothpaste the lid always comes unscrewed from and everything in the zip lock bag gets covered with paste. They're also watertight, until the noon day heat expands the bag, or something bumps into it, or it is crushed and the seal breaks. Apparently everything will puncture a hole in a zip lock bag. Even a flat rock surface, or a blade of grass. You can't lay one down on anything. No matter what you put in a zip lock bag, they all feel IDENTICAL in the dark. You either have to turn on a light, or open every zip lock bag to find what you're looking for. NEVER PUT THE MATCHES OR THE BATTERIES TO THE FLASHLIGHT IN A ZIP LOCK BAG.

What's the worst thing you ever packed in your backpack ?

 

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[TheHarleyMan2]

HMM! This is a tough one! Well, if I could fit my ex-wife in one I guess it would have to be her!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

pajamas

 

[savant365]

Not really on the subject but it kinda goes with the jist of your post. I used to travel for my job, I lived in hotels 9-10 months a year. I did my own laundry and used liquid detergent and kept it in my duffel bag with everything else. Well thinking that plastic jugs were shatter proof I would just throw my bag off the truck and not worry about it. While the jugs are shatter proof their hard plastic lids are not, so I found out the hard way. I ruined a very expensive pair of elk skin boots by not knowing this fact before hand. I still laugh at myself for wearing them in the shower that night trying to get the soap out of them.

HH Charlie

 

[spartacus53]

Honestly, I can't thing of a thing I packed and didn't use. I always took the bare minimal to carry, except for several extra pairs of socks. You can never have too many of those My pack was an old scout pack, and boy could that take a beating.. It did have a little flap where you were able to dump all the smaller goodies.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

pillow?

 

[spartacus53]

bigcypresshunter, a pillow would go on my list of things I would never bring

 

[savant365]

In-laws

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I always bring too many clothes.

 

[Produce Guy]

Cans of beans! and people who don't like to camp.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Cans of beans!

Need some meat in those beans. Spam and beans is a mouth watering camp delicacy.



Spam breakfast, lunch & dinner.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Historical Note. Spam was credited by Jospeh Stalin as Americas most important contribution to helping the Soviets defeat Nazi Germany in WWII.

 

[FarmerChick]

anything HEAVY!

 

[RGINN]

I thought about it, and I can't think of one thing I take campin that doesn't have a use. If it's just me, I can be ready to go in 15 minutes. Half an hour if the wife is goin. I never take a pillow when it's me. I usually wrap my boots up in my jacket and use that. That way porcupines won't chew them up in the night. People that bring big boom boxes campin disgust me. I never had a radio in camp, but to please Maria I bought a little combo alarm AM/FM radio. I rationalized it by thinkin I needed an alarm and the radio would be good for weather alerts. Right. You can use your bladder as an alarm and just look at the sky for the weather, but it keeps her happy.

 

[truckinbutch]

I thought about it, and I can't think of one thing I take campin that doesn't have a use. If it's just me, I can be ready to go in 15 minutes. Half an hour if the wife is goin. I never take a pillow when it's me. I usually wrap my boots up in my jacket and use that. That way porcupines won't chew them up in the night. People that bring big boom boxes campin disgust me. I never had a radio in camp, but to please Maria I bought a little combo alarm AM/FM radio. I rationalized it by thinkin I needed an alarm and the radio would be good for weather alerts. Right. You can use your bladder as an alarm and just look at the sky for the weather, but it keeps her happy.

You , Sir , are wise beyond your years

 

[infotraker]

I actually did not pack it but found a one pound rock at the bottom of my pack during a prospecting trip. It may have been there for a while put in as a joke by one of my hiking buddies.

 

[tonyc10k]

I just got back from a backpacking trip and I learned a valuable lesson.. Always check your pack before leaving unload and reload everything. forward with the story. 2 miles into my backpacking trip I got to thinking damn my pack is heavier then usual. Another mile to camp I get there unload my pack and find 8 100 round packs of 40 Cal ammo 3 50 round packs of 45 ammo. I forgot last year I took my pack shooting and never took my ammo out... On the plus side I found my missing ammo lol

 

[jeepGold]

Tell you what.... I spent a week in big bear ca doing some gold dry washing. Found a roof rack on CL for the jeep so I decided to go luxury style this time instead of bare minimums since the jeep is so storage deficient. I loaded my tent, air mattress, 3 sleeping bags, (for myself because it was 37 at night), folding table, 4 buckets, drywasher, gas blower, bag of clothes and hygiene stuff, a 45 qt yeti cooler packed with 21 meals worth of stuff, a box of dry goods, 10 gal of water for panning, 5 gal water for myself, my panning equipment, large shovel, small shovel, large pic ax, rock ax, propane stove,metal detector, and one of the most comfortable choices that I made this time was to also bring my heavy throw down blanket and a pillow wrapped in a trash bag to keep the dust out. When I slept at night it was like I was in my bedroom at home. It was amazing.

 

[Rustynailsandscrews]

Cans of beans! and people who don't like to camp.

Spam is a must have on any backpacking trip. I'll pass on the beans because they are way to much trouble and fill my small tent with obnoxious odors at night.
Last time I did beans, me and the dog woke up in the middle of the night fighting to get out of my small tent and the zipper stuck closed!
God it was awful !!! I mean really bad !!! Had to let it air out for half an hour.
No beans in my backpack since then!

 

[austin]

Never bring Food or WATER. W.C. Fields once said, "Once on a trek through Afghanistan we lost our corkscrew and were forced to live on food and water for several days". Maybe camping/deer hunting in Texas is different from where ya'll live...