Hike Hacker

Many fine tips came arrived over the weekend at the Lend a Hack page:

From Dicentra:
• Take smaller steps. Those big long strides are hard on your knees and lower back (they compress your lower vertebre!). You may have to take a lot more steps with a smaller stride, but it will take a lot of pressure off of your knees and back.
• Look to your local pharmacy for TINY zip lock bags. They are designed to hold daily med, but are also great for carrying small quantities of things – like spices or safety pins.

From Susan Alcorn:
• It’s always important to have clean dishes, yet sometimes water while backpacking is at a premium. I recently wrote a piece for Backpacker Magazine (April 2008) on keeping clean, etc. Funny thing is, they made some additions to my article. Interestingly, one of them was something I always do but hadn’t mentioned: lick (or use your clean fingers to wipe out) your bowl before you start washing the dishes–more food for you, less dishwashing required, less garbage to dispose off.

From Justin Poehnelt:
• I have all my trail crews add a quarter cup of water to their personal dish and use their spork to brush the food scraps into the water. Then they get to drink it.
• Limit ankle flex on steep trails to reduce the strain on the Achilles tendon and the chance for tendinitis. Use the larger leg muscles to do the work instead.
• Do not dry leather boots by a hot fire or in the sun. The extreme heat leads to cracked leather and reduces the life of the boots. When out of the backcountry after a hike, use a balled-up newspaper to get the rest of the moisture out of the boots.

Got a groovy idea for your hiking buddies? Let us all know.