What are things you forgot?

[Deadeye]

fuel for the stove, now I include that on the checklist!

[DuneElliot]

Last trip I forgot to test my Sawyer Squeeze water filter. When I went to use it I couldn't get any water through it...well maybe just a few drops, but it would have probably taken an hour to filter a liter at that rate. It worked fine on my previous trip and I had only used it with clear water, so it shouldn't be clogged. Anyway I tried to back flush it with a Smart Water bottle with the squeeze top, but no mater how hard I squeezed, no water would go through. Fortunately I was able to share a friend's filter, so no real issue. When I got home I tried to back flush it with the syringe, with not much luck. I ended up soaking the filter in water overnight and that did the trick. After that I was able to back flush it and it worked like new. Not sure what the issue was.

Anyway, two things not to forget:
1. Test your filter before you leave.
2. Backup method for water purification (aquamira, tablets, etc.)

I had a similar issue. I HAD backflushed it after my final trip of the summer last year. Went to use it on the first trip this year...it barely worked. I believe my issue was hard water and calcium and lime deposits as the water eveporated inside the filter. Now I backflush with vinegar. I don't carry a back-up filter on trips with others but I do add a Sawyer Mini in when I am solo.

I forgot to put my lighter back in my cook-kit one time but I always have a spare in the FAK. I also left my hiking poles leaning against my truck for my very first trip out...and I needed at least one for my tent. A very nice lady loaned me hers as she was just out for the day and I dropped them off on the way home. I ALMOST forgot my tent on this last trip...sitting on the floor in a black bag in a shadow.

I apparently misplaced my headlamp this last trip (swear I packed it, but maybe not) and left my gloves on the ground next to where I'd taken a bathroom break.

I pack the same way every time and I always organize well in advance so there is lower risk of missing stuff as well as keeping cettain things for backpacking only and separate from home stuff...like toiletries. Spoons and water bottles get washed and then put back in the pack as does my pillow.

[Engine]

About 30 seconds after the shuttle drove away I realized I was wearing my camp shoes and had left my hiking shoes at the hostel in Andover, Maine...9 miles away with no cell service at the trail head. After some cussing I started the walk toward town and thankfully got cell service 1/4 mile down the road. THANK YOU VERIZON!

[Leo L.]

The great caravans crossing the deserts had perfect help for the problem of "things you forgot":
Whenever a caravan was leaving the initial starting settlement, or an oasis they had stayed in on their way, they would walk just a few miles out of civilisation, and stop for the first night.
This way, anybody who had forgotten something, could always rush back and come up to the caravan again during the night.

[TTT]

It would have been really embarrassing if you had forgotten to bring your camel with you

[Leo L.]

Your date from the last oasis would ride up to your nearby nightcamp for a very last *** anyway...

[RangerZ]

Your date from the last oasis would ride up to your nearby nightcamp for a very last *** anyway...

Midnight at the oasis, send your camel to bed ...

[Heliotrope]

I never forget to bring this with me

Awesome


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[Heliotrope]

In the desert I can't seem to remember my name.


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[flemdawg1]

Forgot the superfeet insoles to my shoes, right before starting the 100 mile Wilderness. Forgotten the spork a couple of times, tent stakes another time.

[Puddlefish]

I hiked about six miles before I realized I left my insoles back at a hostel. I just left them behind.

The outer sole was glued back together after ripping nearly in half on a rock a few days earlier, and I was near Damascas where I was intending to replace the boots anyway. The extra space in the toe box was actually more comfortable, and convinced me to buy a shoe with a wider toe box.

[Jayne]

Checklists are great and help a lot but after 5 or 6 days of hiking I start doing stupid things. Last spring I left the dirty water bag for my Platypus Gravityworks filter hanging from a tree (I put the rest of it in my pack :P ). I made it about 6 miles up and over a mountain before I realized I had a problem.

[MisterQ]

L


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