20 Tips and Tricks:

How to Light A Fire In the Wet

Insects can ruin a camping trip:

Finding Your Way:

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Simple Hammock Double Up

The Lie of the Land

The Importance of a Roof

Raincoat Shelter

How to avoid being wet & cold while camping

River Crossings:

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Why you should get your feet wet when hiking

Catching Your Breath – Walking Uphill

Tent Stakes and Tricks

Trowel tent peg

If you could only carry two things in the bush, what would they be?

Foot Care

Keen Targhee 2 Sole

Ultralight Personal Hygiene

Carry a Knife

Rope – Don’t leave home without it

Dyneema®, the world's strongest fibre.

Handy Estimation Tricks

How Long Till Sundown

Walking the Line

Naismith’s Rule

How to Light a Fire in the Snow

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Collecting Water

Cookset Woes

caldera toaks

 

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4 thoughts on “20 Tips and Tricks:”

  1. Pack mod question about adhesive.
    Hi, i’m looking to mod my Osprey Exos https://www.osprey.com/us/en/series/technical-packs/exos-eja-landing. Want to add a small pocket to the flapjacket so i can leave the brain at home. Flapjacket is a piece of material that sits below the brain and covers the top of the main compartment over the drawstring. You can use it to cover the back if you leave the brain behind. I want to attach a pocket by adding waterproof material (cut out a small dry bag) to the underside of the flapjacket and then cutting a slit on the top of the flapjacket (the side toward my head) and attach a waterproof or water resistant zipper. i want a dry place to stash headlamp, mini first aid kit, map/permits. stuff for which i don’t have room in hip pockets, don’t want to fish out of pack or even unbuckle to get and stuff i want to keep dry and separate from other stuff. i find i bring the brain just for these few items.
    Sewing the pocket onto the flapjacket isn’t going to work, frame doesn’t come out, too difficult to manoeuvre. So, i’m thinking of using adhesive. trace out a shape that will work on the underside of the flap jacket, cut the dry bag to fit, re-seal the dry bag and then just glue it to the underside of flapjacket.
    the question is what would be the best adhesive to do the trick? i’d also use the adhesive to attach the zipper.

    1. I’m not sure why you would want to carry anything that heavy anyway. The little Amazon & Aliexpress packs we have been using already have a flap with a couple of pockets and weigh around 320 grams. You should be able to get by with a pack which weighs a third to a quarter of that but I can’t see (from the pictures) why you can’t sew it in. It will be awkward to maneuver around some of the corners (someone may have to help you hold it) but once you have done it you will have a much more secure arrangement. I’m pretty sure I could sew it in (even if I had to unpick the flap then maybe hand sew it back on). I wouldn’t be keen on trusting glue where you (clearly) have seams and stresses in all sorts of directions (and also want it to be waterproof). My wife would also like a ‘container’ for similar bits and pieces more or less on the outside of her pack. I think I have convinced her that we can make up a small multi-pocket roll up bag out of (probably .7 oz) nylon which will just sit inside the pack at the top and inside the Sea to Summit Ultrasil Pack Liner Bag. That way everything stays dry, is reasonably easy to access, doesn’t risk losing items and adds very little to the weight – anyway less than an external zippered pocket which she would be swapping it for – where things might get very wet in dense wet bush in steady rain such as we encounter in Gippsland and Fiordland regularly. We also have little strap pockets on our chests for items such as you describe which probably weigh less than 10 grams each. These are much more easily fitted. I have experimented with various glues on some of the waterproof fabrics (particularly silnylon) and have not found anything suitable for your purposes. I am also worried you will spoil your pack. I think sewing really is the best option. Cheers, Steve.

      1. ok, my wife has a sewing machine. i’ll run it by here again. as for the osprey. i really like the pack, esp the mesh back and i’m already invested in it. i do a balance btwn cutting grams and adding luxury. everyone’s got their own algorithm for what to cut and what to add. i’ve been on an ultralight guided hike with everyone having their own ultralight kit, saw other packs, tarps etc., tried a couple and i came away happy with the osprey. i looked at their lighter pack and didn’t like that. so i’m comfortable carrying an extra 1/2 pound or so, but i am looking at ways to keep what i like and ditch what i don’t, hence the obsession over losing the brain. but, thanks. the ‘stick to sewing and avoid glue’ advice sounds like good advice, exactly for what i was looking. hard to tell with the adds and product reviews from the seam grip/seal folks.

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