If I only knew this when I first started backpacking....

This...that stuff just plain works.

I add Leukotape/Kinesio tape...you don't need a lot but a few strips will help with rubs and hotspots. It sticks to your skin really well and stays there even if you get it wet.
I repaired a 8” tear in my rain fly that was the result of an errant piece of firewood during the breaking process. Held up for years.

Leuko tape is flat awesome.
 
Lots of good info already. I like to wrap my lighters with A bunch of wraps of duct tape or electrical tape. Keep it handy and compact.
Also one luxury besides a chair I always pack is a luci light. Works great.
 
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Alright here's a question, I always hear of it but haven't experienced it yet. Frozen boots in the morning, is there a remedy or is this something you just have to deal with?

I tried activating some large handwarmers before bed, and once they were warm i threw them inside my boots and then stuffed my socks in the top. They were still pretty stiff from the outside but not frozen all the way through to the inside by morning. This was in single digits with no stove / fire.
 
Kind of a "you don't know what you don't know situation"

VACUUM SEALERS SAVE TONS OF ROOM. There not just for storing food!

Vacuum seal things you don't use regularly or only in an emergency (emergency gear, kill kit & so forth). I run a load shelf pack so vacuum sealing items in a 11x14 (legal size paper style) is perfect for sliding in a load shelf or behind a water bladder in the bladder compartment. Even mountain house or dehydrated foods can be vacuum sealed to save room (two meals per seal and the seal bag gives you a garbage sack to store your garbage as a 2nd use). I always carry an extra pair of wool socks, hat and wool gloves regardless of day hike or pack in and always 11x14ish seal that slides directly into my water bladder pouch behind the bladder. Things like game bags and so on are also perfect for this option.
 
One trick I have used for food if using a Mountain House type meal is to only keep one in the packaging and all the rest in individual ziplock bags. Then just reuse the one original packaging to cook them in.
Hadn't considered that. Interesting thought.
 
One trick I have used for food if using a Mountain House type meal is to only keep one in the packaging and all the rest in individual ziplock bags. Then just reuse the one original packaging to cook them in.

That's a good point... now there's not all the extra bag that doesn't easily fold up.
 
When I was training for high altitude climbing, I adopted the attitude of, as said earlier, embrace the suck. If it was raining, I trained with a pack and no rain gear. I got in the habit of just crossing streams and not worrying about stopping or getting wet. From a mental perspective, once I embraced the suck for training, whatever happened on the trail didn't get me down. I'd been through it already and knew what it was like and that I'd survive. My last climb was only a 14er. I spent two rain days straight in a 1 man tent at 12k. 40 during the day and teens at night. When it cleared, I made my attempt only to encounter hail at 13k and rain back down to camp. It rained the entire 6 miles out and for the three hours I waited for the train. I just squatted on the ground with a rain jacket draped over my head and the pack. The moral was, by the time I did that trip I had spent years training during the suck, so it was no big deal. All I had to do was not freeze to death. As said, good sleeping pad and good boots. I've always used hiking shoes and gators. Their much lighter and if you train your ankles and your core correctly, you don't really need the extra support of high top boots.
 
That doesn’t necessarily take into account having some extra support and protection when you have a 110 pound pack on.
I agree, although at my age anything over 60 lbs has to go on the back of an animal or as a second trip. All things considered, I prefer lighter footwear over heavier. That means I don't use waterproof footwear or high tops unless weather conditions demand it. Crampons would require a stiffer sole but if I could get away with it, I'd wear hiking shoes with some kind of strap on traction. As I get older, it doesn't seem to be my bones, ligs or tendons that suffer first, it's my muscles. The hunting trips where we are packing camp every day and hunting with full camp on my back are likely behind me. I have to more carefully consider my limitations and unless I have pack animals, the hard truth is some elk and all moose will get a pass.
 
One trick I have used for food if using a Mountain House type meal is to only keep one in the packaging and all the rest in individual ziplock bags. Then just reuse the one original packaging to cook them in.

You can replace all the packaging with Ziploc brand freezer quart bags. You can dump boiling water straight into those. I've got an insulated freezer bag cozy that I put it in to rehydrate.
 
Bacon Jerky - take a pound of thick sliced applewood smoked bacon and get a broiler rack and pan. Cut bacon in half lengths and load it on the pan. Set oven to 170 or 180 degrees and wait 12 - 18 hours.

I can literally eat a pound a day for 10 days and not get tired of it. I usually lose appetite at altitude and wind up losing a bunch of weight (slender already, so I don't want to). Bacon jerky helps me get calories.
 
You can replace all the packaging with Ziploc brand freezer quart bags. You can dump boiling water straight into those. I've got an insulated freezer bag cozy that I put it in to rehydrate.
You have a pic of the cozy used that retains the heat that matches the mtn house package?
I'd be curious of the trade offs of one mtn house bag and rest in ziplocks or all ziplocks and one cozy.
 

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