mistakes i have made

[Don R]

Many years ago at camp I fIlled my Optimus 99r ( remember them ?) with the spirit from an aluminium Sigg bottle which looked identical to my fuel bottle.

Two problems, one the fuel didn't burn properly and stuffed up the chuffer ( no dinner). Two, my friend Alison was VERY angry about what I had used her expensive dram bruie whiskey ( I am a non drinker so can't vouch for the spelling) for.

[Strider]

Drambuie is quite a viscous liquid, and honey yellow in colour. Not quite as nice as Glayva, but certainly a bit wasteful to use it in a stove!

[JohnStrider]

Not packing that extra pair of socks and finding out the pair you were wearing are now wet.

Boy did I have some whopping blisters on my two small toes by the end of the day.

[Lophophaps]

Going on an extended walk and discovering at the end of the first day that the very comfy runners for camp are two left matching shoes. Oops.

[walkerchris77]

Taking the roll on deodorant instead of the roll on aeroguard.

[puredingo]

Not if your walk ends at a country pub after being bush for 2 weeks....

[Lophophaps]

Camped in a valley under the Bogong High Plains at Easter, expect it to be cool or cold as cold air sinks. But I cannot recall it being this cold. Must be getting old. Then I found that if the zip of the sleeping bag is done up more than half way - preferably all the way - it's a lot warmer. At dawn I saw that there was ice on the ground.

[Suz]

Not having rain pants or enough insulation for Fiordland NZ. It was mid summer. I did not understand alpine weather - it was 2 degrees, windy and rainy. By the time I got to that hut panic had set in about how cold I was. THANK GOD someone lent me a spare set of woollens at the emergency hut. Lesson learned.

[wayno]

Not having rain pants or enough insulation for Fiordland NZ. It was mid summer. I did not understand alpine weather - it was 2 degrees, windy and rainy. By the time I got to that hut panic had set in about how cold I was. THANK GOD someone lent me a spare set of woollens at the emergency hut. Lesson learned.

someone collapsed with hypothermia on the kepler ridgeline in a storm at new years last year... panic set in amongst the other hikers and they dumped their packs to high tail it down to the hut in the valley. most were foreigners.

[GPSGuided]

Dumping their packs? Was that wise?

[wayno]

Dumping their packs? Was that wise?

well I'd kind of equate it to getting out of your life raft and start swimming in the middle of the ocean myself because you can see a ship on the horizon... it might feel like the right thing to do at the time to head in the right direction....

[Suz]

someone collapsed with hypothermia on the kepler ridgeline in a storm at new years last year... panic set in amongst the other hikers and they dumped their packs to high tail it down to the hut in the valley. most were foreigners.

ooohhh noooo --- I hope they helped the hypothermic person down. Yeah pack dumping seems crazy - 'what ho we've hit hard times, let's abandon all supplies!'

[Snowzone]

Dumping their packs? Was that wise?

well I'd kind of equate it to getting out of your life raft and start swimming in the middle of the ocean myself because you can see a ship on the horizon... it might feel like the right thing to do at the time to head in the right direction....

Yep funny how the mind doesn't work too clearly for a lot of people when under stress.

[Hishy P]

Left a cosy sleeping spot just before subset to get to our destination spot walking the last section in pitch black. didn't drink enough water, not enough food, didn't put my jumper on when it got cold (didn't want to waste time). Ended up in saturating drizzle, in the dark in metres of visibility, struggling to find the destination, lugging my pack and my wife's for the last section as she was struggling, while I began to suffer from dehydration.

Found shelter and collapsed into my sleeping bag with the help of my wife. Felt absolutely terrible.

Woke up 10 hours later, felt fine, almost did It again the next night.

[Gadgetgeek]

Not testing a new meal ingredient, turns out it was off, or just plain toxic. glad I had a backup meal, not happy with a meal worth of food scraps in my trash bag. plastic pack, vac sealed sun-dried tomatoes. Don't much care what was actually wrong with them, not doing that again.

[Zone-5]

...two cups of coffee before I started...
... last time I ever drank coffee before a trip...

I don't think it was the coffee that hurt you... maybe the 'salt & vinegar' chips!

I always start with a lite continental breakfast including two cups of coffee with cubed brown sugar because it gets me up and going and generally improves my long distance endurance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9132918
At uni I was a gym person in repetitions for strength not bulk. The sportz med chappies showed us how fresh coffee is good for muscle endurance and so I have always kept it part of my hike routine...

[wayno]

...two cups of coffee before I started...
... last time I ever drank coffee before a trip...

I don't think it was the coffee that hurt you... maybe the 'salt & vinegar' chips!

I always start with a lite continental breakfast including two cups of coffee with cubed brown sugar because it gets me up and going and generally improves my long distance endurance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9132918
At uni I was a gym person in repetitions for strength not bulk. The sportz med chappies showed us how fresh coffee is good for muscle endurance and so I have always kept it part of my hike routine...

its a diuretic, when you drink more than usual as I did that day. when you have a limited supply of water, its speeds up dehydration, as it did that day...

[Zone-5]

its a diuretic, when you have a limited supply of water, its speeds up dehydration, as it did that day...

So you are not a regular coffee drinker then. For me coffee is not a diuretic...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19774754

The available literature suggests that acute ingestion of caffeine in large doses (at least 250-300 mg, equivalent to the amount found in 2-3 cups of coffee or 5-8 cups of tea) results in a short-term stimulation of urine output in individuals who have been deprived of caffeine for a period of days or weeks. A profound tolerance to the diuretic and other effects of caffeine develops, however, and the actions are much diminished in individuals who regularly consume tea or coffee. Doses of caffeine equivalent to the amount normally found in standard servings of tea, coffee and carbonated soft drinks appear to have no diuretic action.

[wayno]

i only ever drank it sporadically when i was offered it.. I noticed the difference, it was a diuretic as i have stated repeatedly.

[Zone-5]

Agreed, it is a diuretic for occasional drinkers like yourself but not so for regular drinkers. It does impart a muscle endurance edge as it dramatically delays lactic acid buildup over time! You should try it say over a week before a big hike, have a coffee or two during each of the preceding days and two coffees on the day of hike. The endurance difference is quite noticeable...

[wayno]

Agreed, it is a diuretic for occasional drinkers like yourself but not so for regular drinkers. It does impart a muscle endurance edge as it dramatically delays lactic acid buildup over time! You should try it say over a week before a big hike, have a coffee or two during each of the preceding days and two coffees on the day of hike. The endurance difference is quite noticeable...

start your own thread if you want to lecture people.... you're not telling me anything i don't know. I've been studying nutrition for twenty five years..

[Zone-5]

Oh, I didn't know that you were a doctor...

[corvus]

OOPS!some sensitivity wayno,
I am a Tea drinker with the occasional coffee ,a little googling shows this
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifes ... 057965http:
Plus plenty of others ,looks like Water is the go eh!