Backpacker – August 2019

JULY/AUGUST 2019

108 BACKPACKER.COM

PHOTOS BY TK

YOU DID

STOPPE

It takes 10 seconds

and ensures you

can’t rapp

the end of your

rope—making it

perhaps th

time investment in

the outdoors. Use

the half fisherman’s

knot, whi

require a lot of rope

to tie, and

slide. On d

strand rappels, tie

stopper kn

sides. Ma

backpacker

.com/fishermansknot,

then learn all the

most imp

at backpacker.com/

knotscourse.

You don’t tell anyone where you’re

going. Leave your trip plan with a

responsible party back home. List

trails and itinerary, and what to do if

you don’t return on time.

You allow the group pace to make

you miserable. Nobody wants to

slow the group down or be the fi rst to

complain. Screw that. Speak up if you

need to stop.

You don’t set (or you ignore) a turn-

back time. You didn’t read Into Thin

Air? Another mistake.

You are too eager to hit the trail.

Check your essentials list—and trail

info—twice before you leave home.

YOU’RE

DOING IT

WRONG! SAFETY

QUICK
FIX

Your “I’m dying”

video is blubbering

and ridiculous.

That wrong turn really

snowballed on you, didn’t it?

But before you go to that great

basecamp in the sky, think of

your legacy. The internet outlives

us all. Protect your rep with tips

from TBA Outdoors.

Make it relatable. Could’ve happened to

a nyone, right? Seize the na rrative before you’re

labelled just another “underprepared hiker”

and everyone goes nuts in the comments sec-

tion about how you put SAR lives at risk.

Evoke emotions. If you ca n’t do that while

dying, holster that iPhone.

Keep f ilming. You have no cell ser vice

and have to use that battery for something.

Who knows? Attempting to nail that perfect

Scorsese ending could be your reason to live.

YOUR WAY

WHAT’S YOUR

BIGGEST TRAIL FEAR?

19%

Vicious weather

16%

Getting lost

26%

Mean wildlife “The two-39%

legged kind”

DEB ATA BLE

TO TREAT OR

NOT TO TREAT

Facts: No one wants to get

sick from bad water and no

one likes treating it. Multiple

studies confi rm that most—

but not all—the backcountry

water in this country is pretty

safe. So how to manage that

tiny risk?

TREAT EVERY

TIME.

TREATING IS A

WASTE OF TIME.

As a child, I suffered a severe

bout of gastrointestinal dis-

tress in the Adirondacks. As

an adult, I came back from

a hiking trip in Asia with a

stomach parasite. Anyone

who doesn’t treat water is

basically a lucky idiot.

–Eli Bernstein

Confession: I don’t treat

water. And I’ve never gotten

sick. As long as you steer

clear of livestock and stick to

sources with minimal human

impact, the wilderness water

in the U.S. is really good. Pick

your spots and drink up. –

Maren Horjus

DN’T TIE A

R KNOT.

0 seconds

res you

pel off

f your

aking it

he best

stment in

ors. Use

isherman’s

ch doesn’t

lot of rope

d won’t

dual-

ppels, tie

nots on both

ster it at

ker

hermansknot,

n all the

ortant ones

acker.com/

urse.