View Full Version : What are your bad habits
So... I'm thinking that I have a lot of what would be considered bad backpacking habits...
1. I sleep with my food.
2. I don't treat my water.
3. I hide my pack in the woods and walk into town without it (for a few hours at most...).
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.....
Am I the only complete misfit? What, if any, bad habits do you have?
I sleep with my food too.
I also tend to not do too much research before a hike. I wing it. Which can sometimes be pretty bad if I'm not physically prepared for it.
I also don't eat a good breakfast.
This work?
ekeverette
05-28-2011, 11:09
10-k, the seasoned hiker. you,ve hiked enough and know your way around the wild. you aint got no bad habits. one day,maybe by the time i,m 65 i'll be like you!
10-k, the seasoned hiker. you,ve hiked enough and know your way around the wild. you aint got no bad habits. one day,maybe by the time i,m 65 i'll be like you!
If you're really-really lucky.... :)
ekeverette
05-28-2011, 11:19
i'll get there..... i'm a country boy. lived on squirrels and deer for 2 years!
I don't go more than 20 feet from the trail to take a leak, though I am mindful of water sources and bury my tp.
I cook and eat in the shelters.
I'll use a bear box if provided, but won't hang my food unless I know there's a bear near by.
WingedMonkey
05-28-2011, 12:42
So... I'm thinking that I have a lot of what would be considered bad backpacking habits...
1. I sleep with my food.
2. I don't treat my water.
3. I hide my pack in the woods and walk into town without it (for a few hours at most...).
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.....
Am I the only complete misfit? What, if any, bad habits do you have?
4, I seek reinforcement that what I do is just fine.
;)
not particularly impressed that you described these as bad habits, but i guess to each their own.
not particularly impressed that you described these as bad habits, but i guess to each their own.
They're obviously not bad habits to *me* but based on what I read here a lot of people would consider them bad habits.
Good thing I don't take my dog hiking.
hikerboy57
05-28-2011, 13:09
theres been a few times i buried my tp instead of packing it out.
My worst habit is going on the WB ultra light forum to see how I can get my pack weight from 30 lbs to 3, without doing away with my luxuries(food, water, gear).
kolokolo
05-28-2011, 13:13
* I tend to not drink enough water on hot days, and get dehydrated.
* I try to go too fast and too far. I live 5 hours from the closest point on the AT, and have to make every hiking day count.
* When I come to a place where another trail crosses the AT, I usually go the wrong direction because I don't stop and look carefully at the signs, or get out my map.
ChinMusic
05-28-2011, 13:30
1. Tend to not eat enough.
2. Tend to not drink enough.
3. Tend to eat and drink too much when off the trail.
Jonnycat
05-28-2011, 13:40
I get up late at night and pee on other people's tents.
I get up late at night and pee on other people's tents.
That's definitely a bad habit.
TallShark
05-28-2011, 14:30
-Not putting enough gummi bears in the gorp.
-Not watching my form/ technique after a long day.(sometimes resulting in injury)
-camping in lightning prone areas.
-not applying sunscreen as often as I should throughout the day.
In addition to a couple of 10-K's habits that I share also:
-I don't care how long it takes me to complete a section or hike.
-I live too far from the AT.
Jim Adams
05-28-2011, 16:33
I don't do anything wrong.
I am the perfect hiker...but I do piss off people on WhiteBlaze!:)
geek
aaronthebugbuffet
05-28-2011, 16:43
So... I'm thinking that I have a lot of what would be considered bad backpacking habits...
1. I sleep with my food.
2. I don't treat my water.
3. I hide my pack in the woods and walk into town without it (for a few hours at most...).
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.....
Am I the only complete misfit? What, if any, bad habits do you have?
I do all of those at times.
aaronthebugbuffet
05-28-2011, 16:44
Hiking alone and not telling anyone where you are going is considered bad form to a lot of people.
I often do this.
hikerboy57
05-28-2011, 16:50
Hiking alone and not telling anyone where you are going is considered bad form to a lot of people.
I often do this.
same here.I live alone,and last month did an overnight in Harriman state park. I speak to my mother twice a week(wed and sundays), told her if she didnt hear from me by friday, gave #s for park police, along with my route. I got off the trail thursday as planned, never called her till sunday, we had both completely forgotten-me to call and her to alert the park police. great backup.But i do dayhike quite often without leaving anyone an itinerary.
long island bob
05-28-2011, 17:02
1. Tend to not eat enough.
2. Tend to not drink enough.
3. Tend to eat and drink too much when off the trail.
We could be long lost brothers
long island bob
05-28-2011, 17:07
Hiking alone and not telling anyone where you are going is considered bad form to a lot of people.
I often do this.
Hmm, yeah bad form.
Not a terrible crime, but a minor safety issue nonetheless.
Eons ago in cave scouts I was taught always to give a written hiking plan to someone not going on the hike woth you and contact them when you return. Once it becomes a habit, it's not too hard. Heck I even do it on short day-hikes.
Sometime this summer I've got a 20-mile (cross long island) day hike planned with my son's scout troop (I'm the hiking MB counselor). I guarantee you every scout will write a 4-5 sentence hike plan and leave it with someone not hiking (probably their parents.)
World-Wide
05-28-2011, 17:24
Have to admit I don't have any bad habits!! (not often truthful with myself, is that bad?)
Pedaling Fool
05-28-2011, 18:50
So... I'm thinking that I have a lot of what would be considered bad backpacking habits...
1. I sleep with my food.
2. I don't treat my water.
I have those same habits, but my worse habit is that I pick out and eat all my m&m's from my bag of gorp; I don't mean to do it, it just happens.
TallShark
05-28-2011, 18:56
my worse habit is that I pick out and eat all my m&m's from my bag of gorp; I don't mean to do it, it just happens.
I do that with my delicious haribo gummi bears, maybe i should just bring a seperate sack full of 'em.
tigerpaw
05-28-2011, 19:02
If you aren't leaving your plans with someone, at least be sure you have an adequate knife/saw combo, in the event you need to dismember yourself in order to return.
mweinstone
05-28-2011, 19:23
put on one croc and one boot while hitching to make drivers think im hurt. then ham up the story when they stop.
when leo's ask where your headed, while walking the parkway or the drive at dusk, lie and say your not sure if you will make it to the next shelter near the road then accept a ride.
cook steak ,and bacon pancakes constantly in front of starving hikers mixing their sides and be remorseless about it. then give them enough to hate their own food forever.
be really really healthy and full of cheer and allways dripping bacon bits from your stuffed mouth in front of wet starved arguing couples.
be absolutly dry and warm when all others have succumbed to scrotum patch failure. that point in a soaking when even that is wet. that is the humiliation point. at that moment, sit in your dry tent cooking bacon whisteling .
in each and every town while your hiking buddys struggle to make lodging arangements, waltz into one of a dozen homes open to you by angel friends. later, visit them in their cubbys looking as if you were a local. with a bike and a kite and guitar. freashly laundered and fuller of cheer than one should be while friends crash on hard bunks with pop tarts searved cold.
allways have booze folks give you to pull out and give away. in dry countys. on nights your not drinking so they can have it all.on the mountain camp furthest from the possibility of a drink.and only after leading them into a conversation about how good booze would be. and carry the heavy bottle for effect. hell, their carryin it out!
allways have something great to share that no one ever thinks to bring. like a pound of real fudge.
I have those same habits, but my worse habit is that I pick out and eat all my m&m's from my bag of gorp; I don't mean to do it, it just happens.
I eat all the dried fruit first - can't help myself. Every time I tell myself, "Don't eat it all at once now..." and every time I can't stop once I get started....
One Half
05-28-2011, 20:03
I don't hike enough.
garlic08
05-28-2011, 20:16
Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I don't carry all ten essentials.
Sierra Echo
05-28-2011, 20:18
Have to admit I don't have any bad habits!! (not often truthful with myself, is that bad?)
Well thats boring!
aaronthebugbuffet
05-28-2011, 20:33
Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I don't carry all ten essentials.
whoa there are 10?
I thought I was well prepared with 3.
Skidsteer
05-28-2011, 20:53
I don't hike enough.
Now that's a bad habit.
elmotoots
05-28-2011, 21:19
most of the above, and SNORE like a buzz saw................
Leanthree
05-29-2011, 00:17
Not a morning person. I sleep in. I stay in my bag for awhile. I stare at the pot when boiling water for my oatmeal rather than get packed up.
mweinstone
05-29-2011, 05:26
I eat all the dried fruit first - can't help myself. Every time I tell myself, "Don't eat it all at once now..." and every time I can't stop once I get started....
replace "dryed fruit" with " good food".
OutdoorsMan
05-29-2011, 10:03
I spend too much time on WB when I should be hiking.
beartripper
05-29-2011, 11:06
Not picking up all the trash that others leave on the trail. I can only pick up so much.
atraildreamer
05-29-2011, 12:14
I don't do anything wrong.
I am the perfect hiker...but I do piss off people on WhiteBlaze!:)
geek
...and you are the humblest backpacker on WhiteBlaze ! :rolleyes:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned not bringing maps..
flemdawg1
05-30-2011, 10:16
Snore like a wounded moose.
Pee near the trail.
Pack explosions in shelters.
Graywolf
05-30-2011, 10:26
I guess all the above for me.. Especially heading out with ot telling anyone. Hey, if their not here when I go, thats there problem. When its time to go, Its time to go!!:D
mweinstone
05-30-2011, 12:28
not telling my parents where i was for weeks at a time hiking never worked for me. i was running away , and whenever i called from the doyal or dwg to ask for busfare home and to appologize, mom never got mad, never was at a loss for where i was, allways figured i was hiking my trail, and so i was defeated time and time again trying to hurt my family by being a runnaway like bro and sis were. when they ran away, folks chased them and hunted them and worried. when i tryed, they were fine with guessing i was hiking, even if they werent sure how long id been gone. so they never thaught of me as a runnaway. something i longed for.lol.
WingedMonkey
05-30-2011, 12:49
I'm surprised no one has mentioned not bringing maps..
They never came back to tell about it.
I pee in privies.
Sometimes when I run into a hiker coming toward me and they ask about the terrain or location that I have just passed, I can't resist the urge to be a little less than truthful.:o
Sierra Echo
05-30-2011, 13:09
I pee in privies.
Sometimes when I run into a hiker coming toward me and they ask about the terrain or location that I have just passed, I can't resist the urge to be a little less than truthful.:o
You're not a very nice person.
I don't hike often enough.
I stay off WB too long.
I don't camp the recommended footage from water sources, but I try to obey staying off the trail.
I don't pee on peoples tents at night or poop in fire rings as some have previously stated...
That's about it. I am better at pointing out others mistakes than my own. If my wife was on here, she would have a long list!
sheepdog
05-30-2011, 18:59
I run with scissors.
Pedaling Fool
06-01-2011, 18:25
I remembered another one. I get lolipops when in town...I stick the paper handles into the ground. If you ever saw about 1/4-inch of white stick poking out of the ground that means I passed that spot.
Beachcomber
06-01-2011, 18:45
Is it a bad habit to ask strangers how long their cheese lasts?
Skidsteer
06-01-2011, 19:18
I remembered another one. I get lolipops when in town...I stick the paper handles into the ground. If you ever saw about 1/4-inch of white stick poking out of the ground that means I passed that spot.
Dumb.
Use them for ultralight tent stakes instead..
1. I smoke
2. I drink
3. I chew
4. and I hang out with women who does those things two
Patrickjd9
06-01-2011, 21:20
If I'm not leading the trip, I don't study the route as much as I should--and occasionally don't carry a map.
I sometimes don't carry enough water. Then I end up thirsty. Oh well.
I never hang my food. I always sleep with it. I hiked part of the PCT in the Sierras without a bear canister.
I don't bring a rain jacket and then I get miserable and wet in the rain.
I don't use a headlamp and instead fumble around in the dark.
I'm not very good at reading maps. I usually don't have a compass. I sometimes take a wrong turn and end up lost. Once I was so incredibly lost I didn't even have a clue where I was. Another time I went the wrong way but after a few hours I figured it out and at least I knew where I would end up. Worked out both times just fine.
Sometimes I just push over a rock to take a dump and then push the rock back on top after.
Sometimes I'll put on the most dejected, sorrowful, pained expression, and limp a bit, as I'm attempting to hitch a ride into town/back to the TH. Is that bad?
... I get lolipops when in town...I stick the paper handles into the ground. If you ever saw about 1/4-inch of white stick poking out of the ground that means I passed that spot.
You're the SOB that does that shart! LOL! I've taken in a couple of your works of art. At first, I wondered what the heck are those! Took me a while to figure it out.