Monday, March 11, 2024

The ABC's of Easy to Forget Hiking Essentials

When I find myself in the backcountry and I'm missing some essential item, it's not usually because I've forgotten it. I mean, sure, that happens. There was that notable time when I grabbed my backpack from the trunk and trudged off for a 3-day backpacking trip, only to realize shortly thereafter I'd never changed into the boots still in the car.

Typically, I remember the item but talk myself out of bringing it. Bug spray? There aren't any bugs at the trailhead, so we should be good. Sunscreen? We put it on at the car, so why would we need to re-apply? Trekking poles? The hike is so short, why bother?

Fast forward a few hours, and you'll find us being bombarded by bugs, scorched by the sun, and Shira hobbling because she rolled her ankle during a gnarly section of terrain. At this point, I'm kicking myself for intentionally leaving essentials behind.

The solution to both forgetting gear and being shortsighted is the same: a checklist. For the last year and a half, I've come to appreciate that not all checklists are equal. A written checklist or checklist on your phone is good. But even better is one that you can mentally tick off. This allows you to confirm your checklist when you're packing, have a moment of downtime as the trip approaches, as well as when you're about to step off for the adventure. It's also possible to make a quick written copy of the checklist for times when the stakes are especially high.

A mental checklist sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially for someone like myself who doesn't have a gift for memorization. And yet, I've found that if I structure the items around a series of alphabetically arranged words, I can remember the list with ease. Try it, you'll be amazed at your brain's ability.

Below is my list of easy to leave behind hiking items and the prompts I use to remember them. This list isn't exhaustive, for example, there's no mention of a map or navigation aids. Instead, it focuses on the items that I'm quick to forget or think I can do without.

This photo shows a minimal version of the checklist below*

Agua - Water.

Boots.

Camera.

Deet & Derm - Skin protection from bugs and the sun.

EDC.

Food.

Gloves & Gripping - Gloves for me, Trekking polls for Shira.

Hat.

InReach - Comms: Garmin inReach and if in a group, Rocky Talkies

Jacket - Extra layers.

Kleenex - Bathroom kit (TP, hand sanitizer and a ziplock bag for packing out used TP)

Light - Flashlight.

Mylar - SOL heatsheet and other surival essentials.

No-Blisters - KT Tape to treat blisters and hot spots.


*Wait, aren't items on the list missing from this photo? The camera is my cell phone, which is being used to capture the snapshot. The bathroom kit, flashlight, SOL heatsheet and KT tape are all part of my EDC. I include them in the list so that I can use this checklist for others.

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

A Little Los Angeles

[Composed 10/29/2023]

A handful of business meetings landed Shira and me some time in the colorful city of Los Angeles. While we didn't really have time to play tourist (next time, tar pits!), we did get a chance to explore downtown and a bit of Griffith Park. What we found in the city itself was a mishmash of contrasts: new construction a few blocks from run-down historic buildings; a diverse collection of architectural themes; a map that promised a mighty Los Angeles River, yet bridges that spanned a trickling spillway; and feelings of safety that ran the spectrum from family-friendly to "we're absolutely definitely getting mugged here" (spoiler alert: we were not mugged). And then there's the graffiti. Or, do they prefer to call it street art?

Either way, I kept raving to Shira about how impressive it was. Every surface seemed to be covered in colorful, detailed creations. Like, seriously, when you stop and think about it: how does one go about creating on an 8 x 12 foot canvas that's situated along the side of a freeway or positioned far out of reach? Factor in that the artist only had the resources he or she could fit into a backpack and the clock of discovery always ticking and it becomes all the more impressive. We stepped into The Broad for a proper art experience one evening, and it was nice and all. But I'd argue that with little effort you could find examples in the neighborhood that were superior.

Shira was not as taken by the graffiti scene. Where I saw renegade artistic genius, she saw the destruction of public property. As this article underscores, local street artists would be the first to agree that not all paint on a wall should be considered street art.

We were fortunate to get some nature time in Griffith Park. We started our walk at the base of the park and hiked up to the observatory. As our luck would have it, the observatory opened shortly after we arrived, so we got to see glimpses of the telescope as well as the exhibits within. I found the whole thing quite impressive. We even caught a Tesla Coil demonstration, which naturally I found, well, electrifying.

After touring the museum, we perused a number of trails in the area and took in the sights of downtown LA from a wide-angle vantage point. Between the trails, views, working observatory, historic architecture and free-to-enter world class astrononmy musuem, Griffith Park has to be among the nicest city parks we've ever visited.

We had a number of fine meals during our stay, including one from Green Leaves Vegan and one from Tulsi Indian Eatery, but the clear winner from a culinary perspective was Donut Friend. On impulse, we stepped in and ordered some fancy donuts and ice cream. It was delicious. And then we realized it was all plant based, or as they call it secretly vegan (OK, it's not really a secret). We returned multiple times, including before heading to LAX to pick up donuts for the road. Nothing eases the hassle of waiting around in an airport like yummy donuts. We worried that TSA might confiscate some of the cream-filled creations, but they let them through without incident.

Thinking of iconic cities we've visited: NY, Boston, Philly, Chicago I find myself wondering if LA really is as unique as it seemed in the moment. Was the graffiti really that much more extravagant? The architecture that much more varied? The vegan options that much more plentiful? Maybe. Or maybe LA was just great at delivering that feeling. Either way, it was a great place to visit and I'd relish the chance to explore the city further.

Friday, March 01, 2024

Thought for Food: Three Tiers of Food Preparedness

Because I'm on a gear posting spree, I thought I'd do one more post in this genre, this time on food.

There are countless videos on YouTube that discuss meal planning from backpacking, historical, and emergency ration perspectives. However, it was Justin Simoni's video on fastpacking nutrition way back in 2020 that really resonated with me. In it, he talks about his strategy for backcountry meal prep. He aims to achieve nutritional balance while also prioritizing simplicity. In his video, he described the food he took on a recent adventure, which consisted of just 4 items. This got me thinking: what would my minimal food setup look like?

Since then, I've been inspired by other videos, most notably Fandabi Dozi's historic survival rations. Additionally, Townsends and Steve1989 have been sources of ideas, with the former focusing on historic foods and the latter on MREs.

I've experimented with these ideas while hiking, camping, traveling, and in our kitchen. And while I don't have a one-size-fits-all food solution, I realized recently that I had settled into a reliable 3-tiered strategy. Here it is.

Tier 1: The EDC, Super Food

My latest man-bag dump reveals my new everyday carry food of choice: Peanut M&M's. Over the years, I've experimented with a number of always-with-me snacks. For a while, it was a Lara Bar, and then for even longer, it was peanut butter packets. Peanut butter packets are dense, so they pack quite a bit of calories in a small volume. But I'm telling you, I've found my super food: the ubiquitous Peanut M&M. Hear me out.

The peanuts in Peanut M&M's provide a healthy source of fat and protein, the chocolate provides quick energy, the candy coating keeps them from melting, and they taste delicious. They are highly available, often being stocked by even the smallest convenience stores. Critically, they are also portionable. This means that I can easily share them or pop just a couple should I start to feel peckish. Try that with a peanut butter packet. They are bulkier than a peanut butter packet, but they are still dense. Consider this: that this small ziplock bag contains 750(!) calories. That's a massive number of calories for such a small space.

Peanut M&M's also have a proven track record, as they are one of Justin's four items from the fastpacking nutrition video I mentioned above.

Tier 2: If A Meal Will Be Missed

When I expect I'll be missing a meal or two, I'll look to tier 2. This includes long hikes, road trips, and most often, flying. It seems that no matter how short a flight is, it's always over mealtime. No worries, I've got a plan. The goal here is to have shelf-stable food that I can easily eat on the go and has some nutritional variety. This tier consists of:

I realized my food strategy was additive, as it builds on the benefits of Tier 1. Ritz Crackers add a savory, salty, carb-heavy component. The Moon Cheese is a great source of fat and protein and adds another flavor profile. I can combine the items into a sort of trail mix, eat them separately, or pair any of the items together. This combination of foods won't check the boxes for your CrossFit Macros, but it does provide at least a variety of carbs, fat, and protein. The crackers and Moon Cheese do fine in both hot and cold conditions and even make minimal trash.

The Moon Cheese is a splurge cost-wise. I've found that buying it on Amazon is most cost-effective. Still, for the nutrition, taste, and portability, I've yet to find a better solution. The Ritz Crackers are mainly carbohydrates, so they aren't nearly as dense as M&M's or Moon Cheese. They can also crumble when stuffed into a backpack. Yet, given how cheap, available, and tasty they are, they are a winner.

Speaking of proven track records, history buffs will appreciate that the Ritz Crackers stand in for the traditional hardtack or ship's biscuit that soldiers and sailors depended on for centuries. I experimented with making my own hardtack as well commercially available options. While these score some authenticity points, in practice, Ritz Crackers are far more convenient and check the carbs box just as well.

For reference, the above photo contains 200 calories in Moon Cheese, 650(!) calories in M&M's, and 900 calories in Ritz Crackers. So this easily covers multiple meals, individuals, or days, depending on the circumstances. When traveling, I'll often use of Shira's old gum containers to store the Moon Cheese and M&M's. This particular container has a flip-top lid which can be used as a dispenser and it saves me on having to use and toss a ziplock bag. I also typically carry a small binder clip to re-seal the Ritz Crackers.

Tier 3: Multi Day Meals

When circumstances call for supplying multiple days' worth of meals, I turn to Tier 3. This covers backpacking, camping, or living out of a hotel room for a few days or longer. I also keep a healthy supply of these items on hand at home, so should we find ourselves sheltering in place due to a storm or some other dramatic event, we won't go hungry. This tier continues the trend of being shelf-stable and relatively nutritionally balanced. It adds the dimension of variety to make multiple meals more palatable.

This tier includes a few items which call for preparation with boiling water. This is typically available in both the backcountry thanks to a stove or fire, and in a hotel thanks to a coffee maker or immersion boiler. However, none of the foods below actually require hot water to be consumed. The instant rice will reconstitute in cold water without a problem, and I regularly drop tea bags into a cold water bottle to make a quick and tasty drink. For this blog post, I even experimented with mixing hot chocolate mix with cold water. The result: cold hot chocolate. I'm not sure this is anyone's first choice for a drink, but it was certainly palatable, and on a hot day, this actually may be a treat.

Here's Tier 3:

Carbs

  • Ritz Crackers
  • Flour tortillas
  • Minute Rice

Protein

  • Moon Cheese
  • Peanut butter
  • Tuna fish packets

Brewing

  • Soup mix
  • Hot chocolate
  • Tea

Extras

  • Peanut M&M's
  • Builder Bars

Like Tier 2, it's possible to mix and match these items to form a variety of different meals. Meals can be as simple as slapping some peanut butter on a tortilla, or as complex as combining rice, soup mix, tuna fish, and Moon Cheese to make a sort of tuna salad. It's equally possible to grab a Builder Bar and a handful of M&M's, or boil water, bust out utensils, and eat a more proper meal.

When traveling, I'll typically supplement these items with whatever else strikes my fancy at the local grocery store. So Tier 3 often serves as more of a base pantry rather than my sole set of food choices. Still, I find it very helpful, especially after a long day of traveling, to go into a grocery store with a tested shopping list. Otherwise, it's very easy to walk out and realize that you forgot some obvious essential. I've also found it reasonable to travel with these items, even though they are available at most destinations. That's because it's possible to pre-portion them to the right sizes at home, rather than having to deal with whatever is available on-site. For example, if it's just a couple of days that I need to account for, bringing four tortillas is often a better choice than having to buy a package of 20 at the local grocery store.

So there it is, my three tiers of food prep. Do you have any go-to camping, traveling, or emergency foods or food strategy? If so, please share!

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Man-Bag Dump, 2024 Edition

I've talked a bit about the philosophy behind what goes into my man-bag, now let's get into the kit itself.

Purse Things

Most of these items are ones that I have carried for years. One new addition is the USB rechargeable dog collar light that gets attached to the outside of my bag. It adds visibility when I'm walking at night and serves as a task light for up-close work. Unlike other small safety lights I've tried in the past, it's USB rechargeable. It's a bit thicker than I'd like, but otherwise, it's just about the perfect marker light.

I've been experimenting with carrying a few compressed towels. I added these because I found myself stepping out of the house too often without grabbing a handkerchief, an item that I find to be absolutely essential. I'm thinking the towels may be able to serve as a field expedient replacement. We'll see if they get any use; if not, they'll be evicted from the bag.

Finally, I'm on the fence about carrying the mini-deck of cards and dice. On one hand, these are great for entertainment and improvisational purposes. They are also quite compact. Yet, I'm still not entirely convinced that their bulk is justified. Time will tell if they prove their worth.

  • Buff
  • Flip & Tumble shopping bag
  • Pepper spray
  • Glasses pouch
  • Peanut M&M's
  • Dice and Cards
  • Marker light
  • Glow in the dark tape
  • Reflective tape
  • Extra cash
  • Backup credit card
  • Fresnel lens
  • Large sewing needle
  • Tissues
  • Res-q-me glass punch
  • Car keys
  • Hair band
  • Nitcore TIP flashlight
  • Compressed towels

Tech Stuff

Recently, I've made a significant improvment in the tech side of things. I replaced three specialized cables, a USB C, USB Micro and Garmin Watch Charger with two USB C cables and teeny tiny adaptors. The adapters turn the USB C cables into the other varieties that I need. My phone makes use of a USB C cable, so having two of those cables is very handy.

I'm still making use of the same relatively small Anker battery. While the battery can only bring my phone to 80% of a charge, I find that's sufficient and allows me to save on the weight that would come with a larger battery.

  • Folding keyboard
  • Anker battery
  • USB C cables
  • Wall adapter
  • Micro SD cards
  • Micro SD to SD card adapter
  • USB C to 3.5mm adapter
  • USB C to USB Micro adapter
  • USB C Micro SD card reader
  • USB A Micro SD card reader
  • USB C Host on the Go adapter
  • SIM tool
  • Backup cell phone
  • Headphones

Drugs

After a hot glue gun incident, I took the hint and added a couple of packets of burn cream to my kit.

Surprisingly, the cough drops saved the day a number of times last year. Who knew how handy they would be?

Not shown below is a 24-hour supply of meds for both Shira and myself. I think it's pretty essential to always have these on hand, as they simplify being stuck somewhere unexpectedly for the night.

  • Cough drops
  • Claritin D
  • Anti-diarrheal
  • Burn cream
  • Cortisone cream
  • Aspirin
  • Benadryl
  • Dramamine
  • Drip-drop rehydration
  • Crystallized lemon flavoring
  • Melatonin
  • Ibuprofen
  • Band-aids
  • Leuko tape

Outdoors and Emergency

Finally, we come to a few odds and ends, many of which make sense in an outdoor setting. Though the plastic bags are especially handy for when we travel with kids and the threat of car sickness looms.

The tea bag is mainly there for its caffeine, so technically it belongs in the 'drugs' section. Yet, this advice I read nearly 10 years ago still resonates with me, causing me to store it among my outdoor gear.

The trauma kit is detailed here (it's the pocket variety). I keep it vacuum-sealed for easy access.

  • KT, Leuko, and Duct tape
  • Portable Aqua tabs
  • Bic lighter
  • True Liberty bags
  • Quart-sized Ziplock bag
  • KN95 Mask
  • Ear plugs
  • CPR Mask
  • Tea bag
  • Trauma kit