Best Overnight Backpacking Tips/Tricks/Hacks

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DayTrip

DayTrip

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I've finally accumulated all the stuff I need to start doing some backpacking overnights after a very lengthy hiatus (i.e. been a decade or two :( ). I'm curious to get some suggestions, tips, etc for the following areas:

1)Personal hygiene/cleaning of cooking gear and similar-I know there are all kinds of unscented deodorants, soaps and bio-degradeable blah blah blah stuff out there now. Are they worth it? How do you manage scenarios where water is not available (i.e. tops of ridges, limited water that needs to be preserved for cooking/drinking). Are any of these products multi-use, i.e. soap that you could clean yourself and dishes with versus carrying one for each? Safe for use in mountain streams or harmful?
2)Tent care in poor weather. If you're packing up on a wet, rainy morning do you do any type of preventative care/cleaning to your tent or do you just pack it wet and air out when you get home? Lugging an extra towel or other stuff seems like wasted weight but I don't want to permanently damage my gear through negligence either. I had a North Face tent (which had been packed up a VERY long time) that the coating on the rain fly flaked off of and made quite a mess. Not sure if I did something wrong or just the extended storage time was bad for it.
3)Keeping feet dry. Is it as simple as bringing extra socks in a dry bag? Are there powders or other products that can be used to accelerate the drying of wet boots in the field while you're sleeping?

Just curious what everyone's "best tip" or two they've learned over the years for overnighting in comfort would be. Not expecting huge detailed responses but by all means if you have the time I'm more than happy to read and learn. Appreciate any advice as always.
 
Here's my thoughts on your questions:

1) I try to limit my personal hygiene to a tooth brush and paste. Leave the deodorant in the car! Take a shower when you get home. Or use body wipes at the trailhead when you get back. When it comes to cleaning cooking gear, I like to plan for meals that require as little cleaning up as possible. Think boiling water only, or maybe boiling pasta only (add sauce after). If a paper towel won't clean it, I won't cook it. That being said I have in the past carried a small scrubby sponge and a small bio-degradable camp soap. It's best to camp close by (but >200') to a water source, if not water needs to be gathered before you make camp at the last available water source. DON'T wash anything IN a mountain stream! I drink that water! Take the water and wash AWAY fro the stream.

2) Tent care is very important, when you get home. In the field a simple shake out/off is best before packing it up in the morning. A tent can be wet and muddy while you're hiking. It's mostly important not to store a tent wet and dirty at home. Tents should be clean and dry before loosely storing in larger bag (than the org. stuff sack). Think sleeping bag storage. The sun is what tends to kill a tent (coating flaking off etc.)

3) Ah, dry feet; often desired, rarely accomplished! Extra socks are key. The only way to dry out your wet boots is to wear them. I can recall many a cold damp morning that I've cringed as I slipped on a pair of wet muddy boots. Once you get moving the boots start to dry. This is were extra socks come in. Change those socks when they get wet. Wring them out and then wear wet socks over dry ones (or visa versa!) to bed and both pairs will be dry in the morning. The body is the best dryer of wet clothing/boots. Hanging things up tends to not work as well as wearing said damp garments over dry ones. It may be uncomfortable, but it surely works. Of course avoiding hypothermia trumps drying clothing, so be safe in colder temps.


Well, that's just my opinion. Hope it helps. Cheers!
 
1) I agree with Chachie - there's no need to carry lots of soaps with you. I don't bother bathing if I'm only out for a couple of days. On long trips, bar soap is lighter than shampoo. Make a lather in your hands, work it through your hair, rinse (away from ponds and streams). I frequently eat my meals directly from my cooking pot, which means I generally don't need to clean the pot with soap. Rinse (again, away from water supply) and scrub to remove visible food, then heat-sterilize before your next meal.
I generally avoid campsites where water is not avaiable. Nothing is less enjoyable to me than carrying extra weight (water jugs) for significant distances.

2) Tent care - see Chachie's reply

3) Foot care - here I disagree. First off, why are you wearing boots in the summer? Wear light shoes, they dry faster. If your feet get damp, take off your shoes, air them out. If the trail is gentle, go barefoot or wear flip-flops. Don't wear wet socks to bed, it's more important to dry your feet than to dry your socks. In good weather, three pairs of socks are enough to guarantee that you can always switch into a dry pair. Wring out the pair you take off, and tie them to the outside of your pack (or tent) to dry in the sun. If it rains for days, you'll need more socks, and/or you'll have to live with wet feet. It is possible to dry socks over a fire or stove, but you have to get the distance right...
 
My opinions:
1. A toothbrush, toothpaste, and small deodorant are worth it. I also bring a few tablespoons of Dr. Bronners and when possible I give myself a shower. It's not always possible. To do this, I have a friend (preferably the one I'm married to) fill a gallon zipper bag with water. I wet myself, walk away from the stream, soap up, and then have said friend slowly pour the gallon of water over my head. On long trips, this is priceless. On extended trips in AK and MT I've even "done laundry" by shoving my most offensive clothes into a jumbo zipper bag and shaking it with soap and water, soaking, rinsing and drying on the back of my pack. I like being clean. Others like roughing it and looking and smelling the part. No shame either way, you get to decide where on the scale suits you best!

In the summer, I almost always prepare meals that only require the addition of hot water, and I "cook" these in a quart-sized freezer bag with its own cozy. No cleanup required. See freezer bag cooking. One of my staple meals lately is teriyaki noodles with a pouch of smoked salmon (can get at REI) or can of chicken added. Just add hot water to the noodles in a freezer bag, let it sit 10 min, add salmon, done! For breakfast, oatmeal with dried cherries, cinnamon, brown sugar, a little powdered milk. Again, just add water, let sit for 5 min. There are endless variations on both of these themes.

On very long trips or when I've wanted to go gourmet (with simmering, baking, etc.), I've carried a small scrubby sponge and some biodegradable soap. Pretty much any "biodegradable soap" you find in any outdoors store functions perfectly well as dish soap, body wash, shampoo, etc. But don't use it directly in streams - even though it's biodegradable, it's not so good for the fishies. Again, get some water, carry it away from the stream, and do your cleaning there.

Camping someplace where there is not water available is a PITA. Worth it sometimes, but never easy. In the Whites, it's pretty rare to have a legal spot on top of a ridge, so might as well find a good spot near water. That's where most of the hardened legal spots are anyway.

2. Packing up a tent wet is fine. Not that fun, but not bad for your tent. Storing it wet is VERY VERY bad. If it's stored wet in a warm place, mildew will grow in a matter of days. But the flaking you described is probably just deterioration of the fabric coating, likely just from old age.

3. If it's going to be especially rainy, I bring gators. These keep my boots much drier. But I only do this for serious rain. Otherwise my boots get a little wet, I put on dry socks in the morning and deal with it. No biggie.
 
Last edited:
hikerbrian said:
My opinions:
1. A toothbrush, toothpaste, and small deodorant are worth it. I also bring a few tablespoons of Dr. Bronners and when possible I give myself a shower. It's not always possible. To do this, I have a friend (preferably the one I'm married to) fill a gallon zipper bag with water. I wet myself, walk away from the stream, soap up, and then have said friend slowly pour the gallon of water over my head. On long trips, this is priceless. On extended trips in AK and MT I've even "done laundry" by shoving my most offensive clothes into a jumbo zipper bag and shaking it with soap and water, soaking, rinsing and drying on the back of my pack. I like being clean. Others like roughing it and looking and smelling the part. No shame either way, you get to decide where on the scale suits you best!

In the summer, I almost always prepare meals that only require the addition of hot water, and I "cook" these in a quart-sized freezer bag with its own cozy. No cleanup required. See freezer bag cooking. One of my staple meals lately is teriyaki noodles with a pouch of smoked salmon (can get at REI) or can of chicken added. Just add hot water to the noodles in a freezer bag, let it sit 10 min, add salmon, done! For breakfast, oatmeal with dried cherries, cinnamon, brown sugar, a little powdered milk. Again, just add water, let sit for 5 min. There are endless variations on both of these themes.

On very long trips or when I've wanted to go gourmet (with simmering, baking, etc.), I've carried a small scrubby sponge and some biodegradable soap. Pretty much any "biodegradable soap" you find in any outdoors store functions perfectly well as dish soap, body wash, shampoo, etc. But don't use it directly in streams - even though it's biodegradable, it's not so good for the fishies. Again, get some water, carry it away from the stream, and do your cleaning there.

Camping someplace where there is not water available is a PITA. Worth it sometimes, but never easy. In the Whites, it's pretty rare to have a legal spot on top of a ridge, so might as well find a good spot near water. That's where most of the hardened legal spots are anyway.

2. Packing up a tent wet is fine. Not that fun, but not bad for your tent. Storing it wet is VERY VERY bad. If it's stored wet in a warm place, mildew will grow in a matter of days. But the flaking you described is probably just deterioration of the fabric coating, likely just from old age.

3. If it's going to be especially rainy, I bring gators. These keep my boots much drier. But I only do this for serious rain. Otherwise my boots get a little wet, I put on dry socks in the morning and deal with it. No biggie.
Click to expand...

Those are some good tips. My hikes will all be 1 nighters (at least for the foreseeable future) but I am hoping to ridge camp and do sunset/sunrise hikes so I am trying to plan around limited water availability. I think I read your freezer bag suggestion before and bookmarked before a computer incident wiped out my bookmarks. Glad to have my memory refreshed. I think that is the way to go for me. Thanks.
 
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