Dead Weight Items

[oldranger]

I find it interesting that several people carry extra stakes. I have never found rocks to be a rare commodity in the Sierra and I actually delete a couple of stakes from my tent package and find that when needed rocks work fine. Stakes are really just a convenience. Gdurkee taught me that lesson years ago when I was a novice BC ranger. I loaned a tent to a friend for a week long trip in September. And he was quick to point out that a stake was missing and I said, "yep, I know. If you need it use a rock."

Oh yeah remember you do not have to carry the rocks with you! And try to leave them where you originally found them, not as a rough outline of where you placed your tent.

Mike

[RoguePhotonic]

I suppose it all comes down to how much time you want to spend on it. In the tree line that is a good way to cut out stakes because running your lines on sticks and then held by rocks is easy but above the tree line it's a bit more difficult to get it right.

I don't bring any extra stakes with me though.

[fishmonger]

What item/items have you packed for years/decades that you have never had to
use and never make it out of your pack?

Until 2008 I could have added emergency blanket to this list. However, the one-in-20-years storm on July 12 2008 changed all that - hypothermia setting in for my kids and myself, it was THE item that made the difference as we cowered in a tent set up on a cascading switchback just below Donohue Pass, with a foot of water standing in one end of the tent. 6" of hail outside the tent, mixed with icy rain. We huddled together wrapped in a semi dry sleeping bag with the emergency blanket around it. I will never consider leaving that item behind again, even though it only was used once in 30 years of hiking. In fact, I'd carry it on a short day hike - it can be more important than a water bottle.

[markskor]

Yes, I too carry one extra titanium needle stake for my Rainbow...
Forgot all about that extra luggage.

On another note, I do not consider a needle and thread, or a couple of small super-glue tubes, or even extra Bic's as dead weight items. To me these are part of my essentials and as such, always carried.
Chances are, even though not used for a few trips, they can also save the trip.

A few recent examples...
Last year, we were backside Bernice, just getting ready to hoist up and head out towards Florence. My gear-challenged, fishing buddy - Mike, OldRanger, ripped out some (necessary) suspension strap on his cheap pack...(why he carries 40+ pounds in a 35-pound-max pack mystifies me, but...), anyway, I broke out the Betsy Ross gear and saved his a$$, again.

Boots are my bane - tear them up. My Lowa Renegades had barely 400 miles on them and the toe-seam stitching started seriously unraveling, (Coming down just past Cony Crags and we still had 10 days to go, most off trail). I thought I was in serious trouble. Took a good hour or two but - Super glue atop stitching...cowboy camping at the Lyell Fork among the granite erratics and ferns...Cocktails and cheese on the river - full moon - problem solved. BTW, I bet there still is another trip in those boots.

Everybody carries multiple Bics...usually orange.

[oldranger]

Markskor

you were a life saver! Of course after a half an hour more pondering I would have figured it out. I always carry different colored bics. Then use the same color all summer so that one will be full. Problem is over the winter I forget which is which! :retard:

mike

[Scouter9]

I think there's a difference between "dead weight" and "something not used".

Let me explain: I eliminated my old Boy Scout Knife from my "go bag" that rides in the outside pocket of my Kelty, because it was heavier than alternative "backup" knives. I deleted my old, canister style emergency kit with blanket, dried food, survival card reading material and a tube tent in it: it was heavy, had never been used and wouldn't be that useful in a bad situation. It was unused and not likely to be.

Now, contrast that with the little bottle of Potable Aqua I've carried in my pack for 30 years and never needed to use, because I always had a functional filter or could boil. This past summer, my brand-new Katadyn grenaded 3 days into a 7-day trek, leaving our group with only boiling or... treatment. With an intentionally limited supply of fuel, treatment it would be for drinking water. It was a beast to get that old bottle open, but it "paid for itself". I have a tube and a half of hexamine (like esbit) that's been with me for 30 years, too. The "half" part is because of a couple of days where it also paid for itself in terms of that weight and volume. I might not use it this time, but is sure isn't "dead weight".

[flyfisher70]

Dead weight? Extra clothing, extra food, extra batteries, magnesium stick, extra fuel canister, *paracord although I have used it in the past but not all the time, and a compass.

[FeetFirst]

On another note, I do not consider a needle and thread, or a couple of small super-glue tubes, or even extra Bic's as dead weight items. To me these are part of my essentials and as such, always carried.

Chances are, even though not used for a few trips, they can also save the trip.

I'll always carry them because I too consider them essentials, but when I look at my past 5 years of trips I've not used them once. So with that I'd say they're dead weight. Do I carry that dead weight? Yes and I dont' mind doing so.