Tips, tricks, words of wisdom.

[billvann]

Drying clothes on your suspension lines is awesome, unless the wind keeps blowing htem off. You can carry three wood or plastic clothes pins to keep them on the line, ...

Plastic bread clips make cheap, lightweight clothes pins.

[Tango61]

Always carry a bandana. They have 1,001 uses.

I use Clorox Handi-Wipes for a washcloth or towel. They soak up a lot of water and dry really fast.

[Shane]

Bandanas rock. Hard to find ones that get soft over time anymore though. The ones I have bought lately stay stiff after washing a hundred times. I've even boiled them with fabric softener. They say 100 percent cotton, but I think they are 100% cotton stems...or worse.


S

[ice man]

I carry a tube of super glue for cuts. Works only on CUTS, no good on scrapes. Once the bleeding slows or stops, hold the cut open and run a bit of glue in it. Then close the cut and dab off the excess. It may sting a bit, but it bonds skin if not instantly, then quickly. Been doing this for years, now I learn they even do it in the hospital. Being on blood thinners after a coupla strokes, I use stick style anti-perspirant as a styptic to slow or stop bleeding. Use anti-perspirant, not deoderant. I use Old Spice brand. crunch some up and rub it into the wound or cut, then apply pressure. Some backwoodsmen claim black pepper does the same, I'm gonna give it a try, but habit makes me grab the old spice.

[Just Jeff]

I read that hospitals use a special kind of superglue...the kind you buy in the store has traces of cyanide and theirs doesn't. But it said that the cyanide level is so low that it shouldn't affect anyone with occasional use, so I carry it anyway.

Never thought about using antiperspirant. I've thought about taking a shaving styptic pencil in my first aid kit, though.

[Hawk-eye]

.... I've thought about taking a shaving styptic pencil in my first aid kit, though.

That's a great idea ... a piece of one would do it ... small, light weight ... wouldn't add much to a carry kit at all.

[Schneiderlein]

It may sting a bit

That is a nice euphemism to describe the excruciating pain you will experience when doing this. It works well, though.

[Strapped-4-Cache]

Pulling this bit of insight from my preference of using traditional wet-shaving techniques and equipment over the modern pieces of plastic shaving cr@p that are now standard:

If you prefer to pack a multi-use item, try packing a small piece of a block of alum. It’s mainly marketed as a “chemical free” deodorant, but can also be used in place of a styptic. I rub a block of alum over my face after shaving, taking the place of after shave lotion. It tightens the skin and closes the pores, and is very effective at stopping the bleeding in minor cuts. I doubt it would close a cut that would require super glue to close, though.

I’ve been using the same two blocks of alum at home (one for shaving, one for deodorant) for almost a year, and they both are only slightly smaller than when I first purchased them. Yeah, alum isn’t an antiperspirant, but if all you need is odor protection it’s fantastic stuff and costs a fraction of the sticks and sprays that people normally use.

Sorry, I shave with a straight razor, or occasionally an old Gillette DE, and it’s not all that common that bits of knowledge from that ‘hobby’ can be passed on in another area.
[/Preaching]

[gnome]

re super glue for cuts. medical grade S G is available but the ordinary works ok. get the fast acting stuff, it will slough off in a wk or so, used it on animals for years,(the medical grade of course!) gnome

[Shane]

I've used super glue for years, and on some pretty major wounds. One thing I've found that's important is not to close the wound by pouring the glue into the cut, but by "painting" a stitch over the wound while it's closed. If the glue goes down into the cut, you will bear a knotty scar, the other way, hardly any scar at all.

S