Your top 3 bushwalking tips.

[wildwanderer]

I'm sure we all have those little gems we picked up through experience or learn't from others.

Share your top 3 bush walking tips.

1. Put everything your planning to take on a tarp. When you've checked its all there, only then put it in your pack. So you don't forget stuff !

2. Cotton wool rolled in petroleum jelly make excellent firestarters. Carry for cooking and in your first aid kit (which you even take on a day walk).

3. Elastoplast tape is the epitome of multi-use. (taping hotspots and blisters, tent/pack hole repair, securing a splint, holding a wound closed, shoe/clothing emergency repair, shutting up annoying companions , the list goes on )

[davidf]

Ditch down go synthetic

Just by some hexy tablets to start fires

Sack up and by a good light weight large pack for long trips like HMG and a good tough smaller pack for more general use

[ChrisJHC]

Use a packing list

At the end of every trip review what you took and adjust your packing list accordingly

Remember that, while there is no "right" way to go camping, there are lots of wrong ways.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[crollsurf]

Learn to enjoy being lost. Even finding water isn't that important. Finding your way back is, so just make sure you have those skills.
1. Compass
2. Map
3. Orientation
4. Don't panic

[Orion]

Packing list, smacking list!


Just don't forget the whisky.

[ofuros]

Compact, light gear makes for a small light pack...

[ribuck]

1. 100 to 150mm deep, and away from watercourses.

2. Never abseil without a rope.

3. There's no need to walk with a club. A stout stick is lighter and just as effective.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

2. Never abseil without a rope.

^^^Words to live by.

1. Know your limitations, and don't be afraid to turn back or wait
2. Go as ultralight as the conditions (and your budget) allow, but don't skimp on luxuries... The extra 2kg attributable to wine is completely worth it
3. If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid (apologies to Murphy's laws of armed conflict)

Everyone has their own unique preferences that might manifest as tips - pack liners vs individual dry bags, boots vs trail runners, poles vs no poles, down vs synthetic, tarps vs tents etc. - each to their own really. One of my own quirks is that for hikes with lots of long uphills I like having a watch with an altimeter... neutralizes the "are we there yet" psychology of false peaks and the like and facilitates scheduling of rest stops based on meters gained. Weird I know.

[slparker]

With apologies to the Velonomati.

1. Boots should weigh more than 2kg.
2. Only cheap baggy kneed stripy polypros are acceptable and must be worn under shorts.
3. Tents used for overnighters on the NSW coast should be able to withstand arctic blizzards.

[Mark F]

1. Get
2. Out
and
3. Walk

[scroggin]

Apparently when most of us read we look at the start and end of the word to decipher what the word is. So I was thinking of my top 3 bushwalking trips.

But anyway
1. Mount Loch carpark to Hotham Village gradient is not enough to roll start a car with a flat battery due to headlights being on for 4 days.
2. Just because it looks like some type of bush herb doesn't mean it is
3. A cheap blow up dingy (visiting Lake Tali Karng) is no substitute for a ground mat.

[Moondog55]

! 1 What Mark said
!! 2 Also what Mark said
!!! 3 Wear comfortable boots or shoes to do what Mark said

[GPSGuided]

1) Look
2) Listen
3) Think

[Happy Pirate]

Your pack can always be lighter (even with nothing in it).
Pack multiple lighters - one will always get wet or go missing (I keep a spare in my 1st Aid Kit)
Pack completely before you stash your pack in the car - if you keep your tent poles and cooker fuel in a separate bag you are bound to forget it. (And then spend a hungry sleepless night on St Mary's Peak with your legs in your pack and the tent wrapped around you as a blanket )

[Gadgetgeek]

1. you know less than you think you do
2. you are more physically capable than you think you are
3. mother nature doesn't care how flash your gear is, only if it works, so do likewise.

[Neo]

1: start and finish at the same pace
2: compare weight/function/price/diy/double-duty and then shop the sales
3. remember to look sideways, up and down!

[wayno]

Do your homework
dont be afraid to cut the trip short
don't be over ambitious

[Neo]

Do your homework
dont be afraid to cut the trip short
don't be over ambitious

That's Sage advice right there!

[Luc-Porter]

1. Everyone makes a pact not to slip off a ledge, ridge, or cliff and tumble, roll or fall 100's of metres into valley below. ( pact to be made at start of trip ) so far, It's worked everytime.
2. If walking with me and I tell you " Nearly there, It's just a little kicker of a hill or It's just over this ridge " I'm not lying, It either seemed shorter in my memory, or the map was wrong.
3. Map was wrong, ( it's not my underestimating distance ) would also like to add, contour lines on a map, especially when off track and in an area I've never been, do not fully detail how thick and nasty the scrub might be, the fact that there is a kilometre of 10M cliffline to skirt around, or is steeper than first thought. Its not my fault.
( mostly, there have been exceptions )
Swearing at me and calling me names is just hurtful. The fact that where we should be and where we are, are not the same thing, does not mean we are lost ( mostly )

[jeremyw]

1. Everyone makes a pact not to slip off a ledge, ridge, or cliff and tumble, roll or fall 100's of metres into valley below. ( pact to be made at start of trip ) so far, It's worked everytime.
2. If walking with me and I tell you " Nearly there, It's just a little kicker of a hill or It's just over this ridge " I'm not lying, It either seemed shorter in my memory, or the map was wrong.
3. Map was wrong, ( it's not my underestimating distance ) would also like to add, contour lines on a map, especially when off track and in an area I've never been, do not fully detail how thick and nasty the scrub might be, the fact that there is a kilometre of 10M cliffline to skirt around, or is steeper than first thought. Its not my fault.
( mostly, there have been exceptions )
Swearing at me and calling me names is just hurtful. The fact that where we should be and where we are, are not the same thing, does not mean we are lost ( mostly )

Your trips sound a lot more entertaining than mine

[anne3]

1. They put tracks in on the best line. Your line is going to be longer and harder.
2. Before the camp site there will always be an uphill.
3. When it is sunny the track is well defined, when it is raining you will need a compass and map.

[wildwalks]

Don't pee into the wind.

[davidf]

To quote Greg Child don't put your bannas in the bottom of the pack

[puredingo]

Solo Specific:

1. Before you leave your car to begin your walk make sure the last song you heard is one you like. Because it's going to be replayed on a constant loop in your head for the next few days. Maddening.

2. Never settle for an "ok" camp spot, there is usually a better one 5 more minutes up the track, river, hill....( this is only ever apparent 5 minutes after brekky the next morning).

3. The best GPS unit in the world with faultless "backtrack" function is a dog. True.

[Hallu]

I would say
1) Learn when to give up and turn back. Especially in winter.
2) Never split a group, go as slow as the slowest person.
3) Always bring more water than you think you need.

[wildwanderer]

and some more...

- When bashing through scrub its often useful to tilt the brim of your hat so you can see that branch at forehead level. Looks at gash across my forehead..

- Walking/wading in the river is often more pleasant than attempting to bash through scrub on the banks of the river.

- When a snake decides to investigate a tarp/pack.. its polite to move aside and let it peer through your stuff. Its not a time to worry about property rights.

[Happy Pirate]

If it hasn't been said before:
1. Just do it
2. Do it carefully
3. Learn to Do it before you do it

[davidf]

vodka
vodka
beef jerky

[north-north-west]

1) Don't
2) Bother
3) Me

[Ant71]

Water proof is a relative term
Let the slowest person lead
Enjoy yourself