[pct-l] printing & protecting maps/other papers

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

Laser would be better, but I only own an ink jet. I just use plain ole 
printer/copier paper from Sam's. Protect the paper of either with Thompson's Water 
Seal, or equivalent; the ink jet printing may be damaged a bit from a drop of 
water that sits on it, but the paper won't come apart.  Wipe up that drop 
immediately, and usually there's no damage. 
    Use a cheap paint roller tray with TWS in just the deepest part; slide 
the papers thru the liquid, being aware that you may have to pull the papers 
apart a bit to make sure all of each page is soaked; and then pull the stack back 
onto the upper edges of the tray to start draining. Separate one page at a 
time, hold it up vertically to let the worst of the drip stop, and then hang it 
from a small diameter line to dry in the sun and wind for at least 6 hours. 
After you bring the pages back inside, spread them out to air out for another 24 
hours at least. Thoroughly dried, the will be almost no odor, and no weight 
gain.
    Work upwind from the tray, or use a mask. I treat almost every piece of 
paper I carry hiking: regular topo maps, permits, hitchike signs (5.5x8.5 
cardstock ), double-sided photocopies of Yogi's and Data Book pages, other bits of 
info, etc. I don't treat guidebook pages, but I am very careful to not get 
them wet. This process is tedious, but it works. I carry all paper in 9x12 zip 
bags, so I can read it without pulling it out of the bag. This works very well 
for me, but you don't have to accept this mission. 
 
Bob "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen
Naturalized Citizen - Republic of Texas




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