Here are 10 mountaineering and backpacking gear upkeep duties to place in your to-do record this November. With the three-season mountaineering and backpacking season winding down, it’s worthwhile to take care of your mountaineering and tenting gear earlier than packing it away for subsequent spring and to organize for mountaineering in colder climate, when it might snow any day.
1. Store your quilts and/or sleeping luggage unstuffed.
If your quilts and sleeping luggage are nonetheless stashed of their stuff sacks, unstuff and retailer them of their manufacturer-supplied storage sacks to protect their loft over the winter. Make certain to retailer them away from daylight to stop any discoloring or degradation of the outside shell material.
2. Restock your first assist provides.
This is an effective time to restock your first assist provides if you happen to don’t do it regularly. I prefer to toss out and exchange older medicines like Benadryl, Immodium, and the rest that’s crumbling inside my first assist stuff sack. I’ll exchange my earplugs, minimize up extra strips of leukotape, exchange any lacking bandaids, alcohol wipes, and so forth. If you favor to purchase the capsule packages offered by the primary assist producers, that is additionally time to compensate for the stuff you’ve used.
3. Wash your Ursack, bear canister, or bear bag
Ursacks can get fairly gross in case your liner leaks or if the skin has gotten filthy from use. Dirt exhibits extra on the white Ursacks than the black ones, however you may wish to think about freshening yours up anyway. You can wash some Ursack fashions in a washer though others ought to be hand-washed. Just be sure you knot the rope closure so it doesn’t pull out. See Ursack’s web site for laundry directions and recommendation. Washing out bear canisters and bear luggage is a a lot less complicated course of. Wash them with a gentle unscented cleaning soap, rinse completely, and air dry.
4. Backflush, sanitize, and dry your water filter.
If you employ a squeeze, pump-style, or gravity water filter, this can be a good time to wash it, sanitize it to kill the guppies rising inside, and retailer it over the winter. Most producers present a technique for backflushing or cleansing a water filter in order that it flows sooner. Go to the producer’s web site, which is able to often have instructions for how you can clear your filter if you happen to’ve by no means accomplished it earlier than. If you employ a Steri-Pen as a substitute of a filter, take the batteries out within the low season in order that they don’t drain.
5. Disassemble your trekking poles and clear the elements
If you might have twist or flick-lock type trekking poles, take them aside and wipe down the segments with a humid material, paying explicit consideration to the fittings, on the inside of the poles for twist locks, and the outside when you’ve got flick-locks. Once clear, set the segments apart to dry. Many pole jams may be averted if you happen to disassemble your trekking poles often, allow them to dry after use, and wipe them down.
6. Clean and lubricate the zippers in your tent, backpack, and rain gear.
Tent, backpack, and rain jacket zippers last more and performance extra easily if you happen to clear and lubricate them. Zippers generally tend to lure sand and different tiny particles between the tooth so it’s a good suggestion to wash zippers recurrently, particularly when backpacking in sandy areas. Sand can jam zippers to the purpose that the slider gained’t transfer backwards and forwards. It’s straightforward to wash a zipper utilizing Gear Aid Zipper Cleaner and Lubricant which provides a protecting end to the zipper that resists particles.
7. Consolidate your canister range gasoline and recycle the empties.
You can switch any isobutane from partially used isobutane canisters and consolidate it to create a full canister to be used subsequent 12 months utilizing a particular two-way Lindal valve just like the G-Works Gas Saver. Simply screw it on each canisters and stack the emptier one on prime of the total one so the gasoline can acquire within the backside canister. You can unfold up the method by freezing the underside canister within the fridge in order that the remaining gasoline within the hotter prime canister flows down into the underside canister sooner. Once a canister is empty, puncture utilizing a device just like the Jetboil Crunchit and drop it into the recycling bin.
8. Patch the holes in your backpack and outerwear.
I routinely tear holes in my backpack and clothes on hikes, each on-trail and off. But you possibly can hold your backpack, rain jacket, wind shirt, puffy and different clothes going with a number of well-placed patches. My favourite patch materials is Tenacious Tape, a sticky material patch materials, out there in precut patches or extra economical rolls, that doesn’t require any stitching to make use of.
9. Wash your rain gear
If you might have waterproof/breathable rain gear, it really works significantly better when it’s clear. Wash it with a mild cleaning soap like Woolite or Nikwax Tech Wash to take away the sweat and physique oils that may accumulate if you put on it. If the DWR coating has stopped beading rain, retreat it. Wash-in DWR Treatments are simpler than the spray-on variations in my expertise. Washing rain gear that isn’t waterproof/breathable can be necessary to take away built-up sweat and stink.
10. Pack cold-weather survival gear in your automotive.
Someday, your automotive or truck isn’t going to start out after a chilly climate hike otherwise you’ll get caught if it snows. Rather than freeze to dying on the trailhead ready for a tow to reach, if you happen to may even contact one, it’s greatest to pack a sleeping bag and sleeping pad so you possibly can sleep in your automobile if you must. Here is a laundry record of things that may come in useful in winter if you happen to get caught.
- a shovel to dig out your automotive if it’s buried within the snow
- a tire iron and a small hydraulic jack to alter a tire
- sand for traction on ice and as a weight over your wheels, and/or traction boards
- a battery-powered lantern
- an emergency blanket
- sleeping bag and a sleeping pad
- a small propane range and gasoline
- an axe to clear timber or branches blocking the highway
- battery pack to jumpstart your automotive or truck if the battery is useless
If you hike within the backcountry, all of these things turns into helpful eventually. I’ve used each single certainly one of these on previous winter hikes in New Hampshire and Maine, for instance.
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, take a look at, and charge the most effective merchandise. We solely earn a living if you are going to buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Help us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear opinions, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.