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Just got a hard truth about my camp stove setup from a ranger in the Tetons
I was boiling water at a site in Grand Teton last fall, and a park ranger walked by and said, 'You know, that wind break is a fire hazard... it's trapping heat against the fuel canister.' I had no idea. I always used my pot's foil windscreen like that. I switched to a proper, separate windscreen that stands off from the canister, and it feels so much safer. Has anyone else had a ranger or another camper point out a gear mistake you didn't even know you were making?
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nina_sullivan6114d ago
My uncle Bob insisted on storing his sleeping bag in the stuff sack to save space. Did that for a decade before I learned it wrecks the loft. We all have these little rituals we never question, like using a bandana as a coffee filter or thinking duct tape fixes every piece of gear. Half the stuff in my pack is probably there because of some old habit I picked up from a guy at a trailhead twenty years ago.
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butler.mark28d ago
My old man taught me to put a rock under the fuel canister in cold weather. Did that for years before someone told me it just steals heat from the ground, lmao.
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mason.julia28d ago
My grandpa swore by putting a brick on the car battery in winter. These little family tricks get passed down like gospel, don't they? It's funny how we just trust them without a second thought. Makes you wonder what else we're doing just because someone we loved told us to.
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