DIY in the field

[Glogg]

Last week I was doing a section of the AT. (Nobo, High Point State Park, NJ to Greenwood Lake, NY)

My DIY adjustable amsteel ridgeline had slipped and was the wrong length. First night I fiddled with it and slept badly. Next day, I was determined to make a fix. But I didn't have a tape measure. So I was trying to figure out how to measure to get the needed length.
I thought I'd have to take a stick, or my spoon, and use it end over end to get a measurement. I wasn't looking forward to that.

Then I got to my destination (Pochuck Shelter) and sat down at the picnic table to rest and think about things before dinner.
Aha! Picnic table!

So I used the width of the picnic table, to measure the length of my hammock body in boards, got 23. So my ridgeline needed to be 19 boards and I put some stitches of dental floss to keep the bury from slipping again. Slept beautifully that night and the next.

Any good DIY stories from your hikes?

cheers,
Glogg

[hang em' high]

I think I always find something to DIY in the woods, either because I forgot it or I want to practice a little bushcraft at camp. One time I can remember having to improvise / DIY was when we went car camping (which isn't very often) and I forgot a set of suspension straps. I pulled out a couple 1in rachet straps from the truck and used those. Worked out well. A bit to heavy to carry on the trail though!

~HEH

[johnspenn]

Good thinking on the measuring!

I've had to cobble together some cordage for different tasks, I whittle my own toggles (basically just remove the bark), and had to whittle a spreader bar one time for our setup when I left one at home. Nothing too complicated.

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. Hopefully there will be some interesting responses!

[KBr00ks]

Dental floss will likely figure in many of these!

I used floss to repair a big rip in my homemade sheer curtain bugnet, while sitting under a big communal tarp in the rain with my tour-mates, sipping tea with whiskey. It was a pleasant way to pass the time.

[Wanderlost]

I carry dental floss, a needle that I can thread easily, and some tenacious tape. They pretty much cover most repairs I'd need to make in a jiff.

Dumb question: Why didn't you just adjust it to where it was comfortable instead of a firm number? Seems like that'd be the easy fix.

[Glogg]

I was wiped and didn't trust my own judgment about comfort. I knew from past experience the default 83% number works well for me.

And besides, every time I stuffed the hammock into its bishop bag it seemed to slip around. So I put each end of the SRL inside the larks head of the continuous loops upon reassembly and did a little stitching on the bury.

My repair kit is similar to yours; unflavored waxed dental floss, a needle, some duct tape, some gaffer tape. I added a plastic darning needle just in case I have to do some splicing in a pinch.

[GadgetUK437]

didn't have a tape measure. So I was trying to figure out how to measure to get the needed length.

If you have your SRL at 83% it's pretty easy. Because 83% is 5/6, and you can easily find exactly 5/6 of a line: By repeated approximation, fold it into exact thirds. Then fold it in half.)



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Gadget