View Full Version : "Found Art" Gear
flyfisher
03-20-2004, 20:17
What is single, coolest piece of gear you have found for ultralight hiking, *not* designed for hiking? I'd love to hear lots of new ideas from all you different drummers!
I have to disqualify one item, because everyone knows about it... The WalMart Grease Pot. Designed to be a grease trap, this pot was/is one of the best lightweight pots I have ever used. If TinMan had not come up with something better and just as cheap, I would still be using it.
My entry, to start what I hope will be a blizzard of replies, is the HandiWipe Towel. Light, fast to dry, and plenty good to dry off after a shower. I thought it was so cool, I reviewed it at BGT. That review can be seen here:
http://tinyurl.com/ngwh
So what great gear have you found? Pot, hydration system, pack, stick? Let me know. Maybe some of us will hear your idea and use it ourselves.
Rain Man
03-20-2004, 20:36
What is single, coolest piece of gear you have found for ultralight hiking, *not* designed for hiking? I'd love to hear lots of new ideas from all you different drummers!
I picked up this idea somewhere-- Campbell's "Soup in a Cup" (plus their bowl-of-soup thingie) are great, cheap, lightweight, and insulated, plus have a lid. You microwave it at home, enjoy, then wash it out and take the container backpacking with you instead of a heavy steel cup.
:)
HINT: The tomato-based ones have stained insides, but the potato ones come clean nicely, if that bothers you.
Rain Man
.
Dances with Mice
03-20-2004, 21:57
What is single, coolest piece of gear you have found for ultralight hiking, *not* designed for hiking? I'd love to hear lots of new ideas from all you different drummers!
I'm not ultralight, but lessee what's in my pack - Tyvek for a groundcloth. Lipton's Soup on the Go container for a cup, just like Rain Man said. My hiking stick is a dogwood sapling from my yard, it doubles as a tent pole for my MegaLight. A tiny carabiner sold for a key ring holds my flashlight & etc. from the clothesline in the tent. Hotel shampoo bottle & a 35mm film container hold Dr. Bronner's soap and foot powder, respectively. A plastic Lite brand beer bottle is my fuel bottle, empty Gatorade bottles are water bottles.
wspartykid
03-21-2004, 01:18
The coolest new piece of gear I've got are some sweet chopsticks from Snowpeak. They're stainless steel and wood, collapse in half and have a little pouch you can hang around your neck. They're are so many uses you could find for them I don't even want to begin. But if you're interested then check out www.snowpeak.com (http://www.snowpeak.com) .
One of my "not intended for backpacking" pieces of gear is a "Disposable" sheet we use at work. It is sized to fit over a person on an ambulance cot & is about 4' x 7' just the size to use as a ground cover under my tent, or my sleeping bag in a shelter. It is (reportedly) made of paper, but is very sturdy (Have lifted a 200+ Lb Patient on it) and "water proof" Weight seems to be about 1/2 my tyvek ground cover (at 3 Oz vs apx 6 Oz) AND is almost totally silent, something you could never say about the tyvek ;)
I get them free: they come in a set; fitted sheet, cover sheet (the one I use) and pillow case. sometimes when a PT already has covers (Hospital transfer) We don't use the cover sheet, so I keep it.
They remind me much of the Neet Sheet(R) without the weights in the edges.
Another piece of art gear I carry is my pot "scrubby" it is the plastic netting from around a large ham (or turkey, bag of potatoes, etc) I waited for a white one as it is easier to find, , , , , sometimes :rolleyes: This is a great tool, works well to scrub my pot, weighs almost nothing (it dosn't even move the scale I use which is graded to 1/8 Oz) very durable my current one is 3 years old showing no signs of wear, and is easy to clean on the trail.
Doctari.
I use arm warmers when cycling in the cool, early mornings...when it's too warm for a full jacket. I used these on my last hike, too. They are basically sleeves...go from wrist to upper arm (they don't cover your shoulder) and have gripper material on the inside of the upper arm part so they don't slide down. The material is similar to cycling shorts (spandex) and they're wind resistent. It's the perfect item when you're warm hiking uphill, but cool off quickly on the descent. So, instead of stopping to put on/take off a jacket, you can push the sleeves down or pull them up and never bread stride. Probably not on an "ultralight backpacker's" list, but it works for me.
Almanac
flyfisher
03-22-2004, 15:16
Campbell's "Soup in a Cup" are great, cheap, lightweight, and insulated, plus have a lid.
Rainman,
I bought one over the weekend. It worked great for the soup that came in it. I made the mistake of taking the "styrofoam paper" label off. It lost all its insulating qualities when I did this. I was also disappointed that the pop on lid leaked my tea between the lid and the cup, letting it dribble down my hand on each sip.
I also bought one of the bowls of soup. The cover on this already has holes punched in it. I need to do a little more thinking about this.
For a cup, I think I will stick to my old green boy scout cup from an official mess kit, now about 30 years old.
schrochem
03-22-2004, 16:32
Well it is something I just made last friday. Wouldn't say it is the "greatest" thing but pretty nifty nonetheless. We'll see how it actually works in the long run. It is a prefilter for water (when using chemicals). I basically took the reusable filter from a coffee machine (small one 4cups) and sewed a silnylon cone to put around it. Then sewed two pieces of elastic across the top so it would stay in place. I also sewed some no-see-um on the inside of the cone but don't think that helps much at that point.
To use, place silnylon "sleeve" around coffee filter, put a bandana (1st level of filtration) over the top or under elastic and pour water through. This worked fine this weekend but the water wasn't very chunky. It doesn't weigh much, probably just over what the filter weighs...mine is about 0.6oz. My filter was plastic with nylon mesh and I also had a gold foil type. They both weighed about the same (again these are the ones for 4cup coffee makers) but the nylon seemed to have a finer mesh. You can find them for about $10 at BedBath and Beyond. Krups sells them.
Sorry I don't have a pic, but might upload one later
Scott
When I go to business conferences and get one of those plastic name badges with a pocket clip, I keep them and break the clip off the plastic name tag holder. Sometimes I hike with a string of 4 badge clips tied on the back of my pack for drying socks and other items. Just decided to hang some on my hammock ridgeline for storing glasses and headlamp overnight.
Kerosene
03-22-2004, 18:39
For a cup, I think I will stick to my old green boy scout cup from an official mess kit, now about 30 years old. Hey, I carry this same 8-ounce plastic cup from by scouting days in the 60s/70s, weighing in at 2 ounces!
flyfisher
03-22-2004, 21:38
Hey, I carry this same 8-ounce plastic cup from by scouting days in the 60s/70s, weighing in at 2 ounces!
Yeah, terribly heavy. But it is nice to have something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
At least it does not craze with boiling water, like my lexan measuring cup did.
Texas Dreamer
03-23-2004, 11:20
"Golf ball retriver" trekking pole/tent pole. Telescopes to 12 feet, $10 at golf store. Only needs a little modification at tip.
Kozmic Zian
03-23-2004, 13:14
Yea.....Found Stuff. On the top of some 'Columbo' yogurts, there's this little plastic spoon made into the lid. You pop it out to use it with the yogurt. It makes the neatest little Trail Spoon, I think I ever saw. Weighs nothing. Check it out! KZ@:cool:
flyfisher
03-23-2004, 14:25
"Golf ball retriver" trekking pole/tent pole. Telescopes to 12 feet, $10 at golf store. Only needs a little modification at tip.
Did you have success with this project? I tried it almost two years ago, following the directions I found on the net. I started with the ball retriever at WalMart. The telescoping sections just were not strong enough for the amount of push I needed to put on the pole, going up and down hills. It kept getting short.
I gave it to a friend, who had the same results. We ended up throwing it away.
Jersey Bob
03-23-2004, 15:12
at least 10 characters
StoveStomper
03-23-2004, 15:23
Kids' swim wings as backpacking pillows.
http://www.datasync.com/~wksmith/pillow.html
Cheers,
StoveStomper
Texas Dreamer
03-24-2004, 15:26
Flyfisher--
I haven't had it very long, but so far so good. I cut off about 2 sections, as I didn't need it that long. Also, I am very short, so I don't have to have it extended so much during use.
Texas Dreamer
04-07-2004, 17:13
Today a group of 4th graders were picniking at the museum where I work. One set of kids was sitting on a way cool "pic-nic blanket". I had a look at it--and it seemed to be a similar material to Frogg Toggs, but doubled. It also had little weights in the corners to hold it down in a breeze, but they looked easy to remove. The darling child even still had the label, which he gave to me. The brand name is the Neat Sheet, and it was purchased at Wal-Mart. I am going to go get one tomorrow and I'll weigh it on the postal scale, and I'll let you guys know how it worked as a groundsheet after the weekend.
SGT Rock
04-07-2004, 17:26
I second doctari's mesh bag as a scrubby and a sack to carrymy mess kit in.
My favorite is a Country Time lemonade jar that has been converted to a cup, mixing bowl, tupperware, measuring cup, re-hydration chamber, etc.
Aluminum gutter nails at teant stakes are another cool idea.
I used to use a zip lock bag for my pillow. I would keep my spare socks or something like that in them and then blow air into the bag before sealing it up. Then I would use a bandana over it tied on the underside so I wasn't sleaping on plastic. It worked real well untill they started to make zip lock bags out of inferior plastic. Now I use a sil nylon sack and do the same thing but it doesn't hold air.
While they can be rather heavy to carry around, a rhododendron bush can sometimes serve as a substitute for those fancy zipper-pull thermometers:
"When the temperature drops below 35F, rhododendron leaves begin to cup and curl at the edges. At 25F, the leaves have curled so tight that half the leaf surface has disappeared and the leaves droop. When temperatures hit the teens, leaves shrivel even tighter, turn brownish-green and dangle like stiff string beans. This response to temperature changes is a rhododendron's method of preventing loss of moisture through the leaves."
This post notwithstanding, this is a great thread.
Don't forget the miracle called a garbage bag.
I almost forgot:
My windscreen. While I made it for backpacking, it's made from something not usually intended for camping, & I would almost bet I'm the only one that has one like this: It is made from a used newspaper printing plate (aluminum) You can still read the comics on it :jump
And of course my camp shoes were NEVER intended for what I use them for, at least I don't think dance shoes were made for use as camp shoes :-?
Doctari.
I have a lot of cycling gear which can be used for hiking also. Arm warmers are great to use. Light weight and very compact to store. Bicycling jerseys are also useful. Most are wicking and have long zippers. The rear pockets can be used to hold small items. Such as arm warmers. For cool weather hiking I really like using a Pearl Izumi heavy kodiak jersey. It is more like light weight jacket.
sakkit
nthadley
08-29-2004, 00:14
I bought a bucket of marguarita mix, in which the fluid was contained in a plastic bag with a removable plastic cap. It looks similar to the 3ml plastic sheeting found in hardware stores, but was sealed very well along the edges and around the cap. I think this would be cheaper than a "platypus" brand water holder. And if it eventually wears out, I guess you'd have to get drunk again. My only concern is that the inside takes forever to dry out, and I don't know how sanitary that is...
:-?
Plastic Gaterade and Kool -aid containers. I "cook" in them, use them to carry extra water in dry times, rehydrate food over night and during hiking, and the Kool-aid cover makes a nice cup. My Brasslite fits nicely into the Gaterade container as well.
Cheers,
PKH
grrickar
08-29-2004, 11:47
My best finds have come from my extensive list of stays in various hotels for work trips. Miniature shampoo, mouthwash, moisturizer, and conditioner bottles from the bath have 100s of uses. One stay at a Hampton Inn Suites I discovered some rectangular bottles (nice because they can be easily organized with a rubber band) that I use for salt, pepper and tabasco shakers. You could also use them for shampoo, Dr. Bronners soap, olive oil, butter flakes, iodine, pill bottles, etc. - well you get the point.
My spare water bottle is a 20oz Propel water bottle with what I call the 'lips' type cap (no unscrewing the top to drink, just twist and sip).
A cotton mitt (one read Neutragena (sp?) so it was likely intended to be used for washing of the face, but a similar find at another hotel had the same piece of cloth labelled 'shoe shine cloth') is a good lightweight washcloth. It is just a piece of cotton cloth stitched at the sides that you can slide your hand into.
Film containers also make excellent pill containers, and are good for many uses. I tried using one for a waterproof match container but found they are not tall enough to put matches in withough having to cut the matchsticks shorter.
We used to make mini first aid kits in 35mm film bottles when I was in Scouts. You could put bandaids, needle and thread, moleskin, small tube of neosporin, alcohol wipes and some butterfly bandages in one for a minimalist personal first aid kit that would fit in your pocket.
flyfisher
08-30-2004, 09:31
I bought a bucket of marguarita mix, in which the fluid was contained in a plastic bag with a removable plastic cap. It looks similar to the 3ml plastic sheeting found in hardware stores, but was sealed very well along the edges and around the cap. I think this would be cheaper than a "platypus" brand water holder. And if it eventually wears out, I guess you'd have to get drunk again. My only concern is that the inside takes forever to dry out, and I don't know how sanitary that is...
:-?
I have found the best way to dry out a playtypus container is to empty as well as possible and then blow it up with my mouth and leave it in the sun with the top up. I usually leave it propped up in a sunny window. I do not know if this will work for the bag you used or not. I have heard of people emptying the bladder as well as possible and then freezing it until needed again.
David S.
08-31-2004, 22:14
If you've seen those huge heavy duty ziplock bags...that kind that hold about 4 Gallons, those make a great washing machine. Put a few smelly articles of clothes in, add enough water to just wet the clothes plus have some sloshing around, add a insy bitsy bit of soap...just enough to break the surface tenson of the water, squeeze most of the air out and zip it up. Now just just play with the bag and watch the water turn brown. Need it, squish it, rub it, toss it around. Add a few iodine tablets to the water before hand if you want to kill some smelly bacteria...I'd rather smell iodine anyday than BO. Rinse in the same fashion. When your done, you can use the same bag to protect your sleeping bag. :banana David S.
I_think_I_can
09-02-2004, 13:26
The coolest new piece of gear I've got are some sweet chopsticks from Snowpeak. They're stainless steel and wood, collapse in half and have a little pouch you can hang around your neck. They're are so many uses you could find for them I don't even want to begin. But if you're interested then check out www.snowpeak.com (http://www.snowpeak.com/) .
I have those and they're the greatest thing EVER!
Erin :banana
Texas Dreamer
09-02-2004, 18:22
David---Cool Idea!!!
I found the plastic cups with a lid that cake icing comes in make a super light weight container for crushable foods, crackers, chips and the like. Also makes a great cup.