beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

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Mike M.
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by Mike M. »

GuyD wrote:
Thinking of having two stoves to speed overall preparation time: one Pocket Rocket and one Brunton Raptor (11,000 BTU)

Oatmeal +coffee/hot chocolate at breakfeast for five.
Breezer Bag Cooking recipies at supper +coffee/hot chocolate for five.

Thanks
Here's what I would do in your situation (cooking for five): have each member of your party pack one fuel cartridge for every four nights you plan to be on the trail. This should give you plenty of fuel for preparing two meals a day (breakfast and dinner). I assume both stove models use the same type of fuel cartridge.

One trick I use is to label (with a Sharpie pen) each cartridge so I can tell them apart. I like to completely use up one cartridge before using another. I always end up with extra fuel.

About bears: the best way to advertise that there are humans around is to light a campfire. It is a bear siren song, a far more effective lure than toothpaste spittle. Don't worry too much about your toothpaste spit. I like to brush my teeth a little ways from my bedpad, near the creek or lake. Bears are smart. If they happen to notice a little toothpaste spittle, they will have noticed other human smells well before that. They know you're there. They're not interested in a little toothpaste spit. It's your food stash they're after and they are smart enough to know the difference. Store your food wisely and you will have a good night's sleep.

Have a great hike!

Mike
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AlmostThere
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by AlmostThere »

gary c. wrote:
I tell everyone it smells like roses in my solo tent by the third morning but now you guys got me worried that I might wake up to a bear french kissing me for the taste of my minty fresh breath.
:p :-#
A friend of mine who used to do trail work in the Whitney area told me a story like that - one of the girls got a care package from home and stashed the candy bars mom sent her under her pillow instead of where they stored the food normally, thinking the other workers would steal them. She woke up to a bear sniffing and breathing on her face.
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

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For the toothpaste and toothbrush, I found the Colgate Wisp, its a modified brush with paste and a toothpick included. I only carry 2 of them and brush every other day. This is kind of big deal as I never carried a toothbrush before. I figure I brush everyday at home, so if I miss a few brushes and showers while I'm out having fun no big deal.

Regarding fuel, I use a Snow Peak stove and I have a 1.5 ltr pot. I plan on 1 oz of fuel for 1 pot of boiled water at 10,000 ft. The equation works well. I usually end up bringing home minimal fuel. One thing I would recommend is buying multiple small canisters, as I have had them leak. If you opt for a single large can, and it leaks, you can really end up in a pickle, with no fuel.

Dub
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by gary c. »

I have never had a fuel can fail me but I carry 2 small ones rather than one large one just for that reason. What I have had happen and have seen it happen to other hikers is fuel leaking because the stove was left on the can. Always unscrew your can from your stove when not in use.
"On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude."
-- Lionel Terray
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guyd
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by guyd »

My wife was also wondering if we should try to encourage one our teenager of switching to a low fragrance anti-perspirant instead of his usual product that smells at 10 feet, but I understand now that it would not be necessary. Any comment on that?
Thanks all of you.
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yosehiker
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by yosehiker »

I wouldn't worry about the low fragrance antiperspirant. You have a lot of other odors coming from your body than just your antiperspirant, and those will identify you as 'human' or another animal. Additionally, a bear just doesn't smell, it can see, hear, think, etc so there are multiple ways for it to figure out your are another animal and it shouldn't mess with you.

Wandering Daisy wrote:I repack all my food so my garbage only contains plastic bags and TP. I see no need to hover over the fire and breath plastic fumes. When the fire is out, if there are any globs of plastic remaining, I fish them out and put them in a bag. This reduces the trash. When you are out for 15 days straight, the amount of trash becomes significant and really starts to smell. For shorter trips (less than 5 days) then I carry it all out. Burning trash is one trash handling option. It is all a matter of judgement. I do not think there is a single answer. A hot fire actually will do a pretty good job of getting rid of trash.
I would disagree with you. What I meant with burning plastic is that it is toxic. I don't have to breath it in directly, but it is still in the air all round. Obviously the air isn't pristine in the sierra's and we all contribute to air pollution it in our own ways, but I would like to think that when given a chance to not pollute just for convenience sake, one wouldn't do that. I keep all my trash in big gallon zip lock bags and within that, smaller zip locks that held my food I've eaten, nesting as much as I can. With that method I haven't had any problems with it smelling, though my longest trip recently has been 8 days. But you are right, there isn't a single or 'right' answer, though I hope you will see it my way and not burn plastic.
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rlown
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

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There is this article on black bear senses: http://www.americanbear.org/senses.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seriously, unless it's a problem bear, and you've taken all the proper precautions, bears are not a problem.. YMMV..

Spend more time on your fuel and food planning..
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Mike M.
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by Mike M. »

rlown wrote:
Seriously, unless it's a problem bear, and you've taken all the proper precautions, bears are not a problem.. YMMV..
Yes and no. I agree the issue of what to do with your toothpaste spittle is unimportant as far as bears go.

But bears can be and are a problem in certain areas. These are habituated bears like you see in Pate Valley and Vidette Meadow, both heavily used areas. Storing food in bear boxes is the best strategy in these areas. Even that is not fullproof (or should I say foolproof!). See this interesting aside from today's Whitney Portal Store Message Board:
- Bears will come into your campsite. We had a bear sneak in around 11pm when two of our guys showed up late and opened the bear cage to put their packs and food in. The bear ran in and we were quite lucky to get the cage shut before the bear got to it. We woke up at 1:45am to eat breakfast and hit the trail by 2:30am; after eating breakfast and putting away all the food, we had out packs on the picnic table and we were standing over by the car, when the bear ran back into our campsite and grabbed one of our packs and started to drag it away. The owner of the pack started chasing the bear and yelling "NOOOOOOO" until the bear let the pack go and ran away. This was in the main "family campground".. apologies to the entire campground who probably thought someone was getting eaten at 2am Friday morning.
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum ... #Post85143" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is from a trail report regarding a recent hike from Whitney Portal to the summit of Mt. Whitney. He is writing here about his experience camping at Whitney Portal, where he obviously ran into a very determined bear. This sort of experience is not uncommon in heavily used areas.

Mike
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rlown
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by rlown »

Ok.. check out Guyd's original post at viewtopic.php?t=6053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is his trip.. Not exactly the whitney portal.. Just in case this isn't all tied together for the readers yet..
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Mike M.
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Re: beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

Post by Mike M. »

huh? Not sure what you are trying to say, rlown. The bear experience described above took place in the campground at Whitney Portal. Read the post. GuyD is asking questions about how many cans of fuel to bring and about toothpaste spittle and bears. If he is planning to hike in Yosemite, the bear anecdote above is most appropriate.

Mike
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