[pct-l] Insects and our flesh (was It's all about having fun!!! (naked))

[Brett Tucker" <blisterfree@earthlink.net (Brett Tucker)]

> Has anybody given thought to insects ?? Ants and other 6-8 legged critters
> are what compel me to pack a tent...I get by on about 2.5 pounds of good
old
> fashioned, fully sealed, and insect shielding tent w/integral floor.
>
> I would rather do without 16 oz of Ray's latest book than give up my
tent..



I'm feeling lighthearted today. Must be the upcoming hike...

Truth be told, there is no good reason to pack entire books into the woods,
especially reference materials on hiking and camping. Instead, fill that
weight vacuum with truly useful items, like a tent or tarp. It's your call.

Either way, we can fend off unwanted insects relatively easily. As others
have pointed out, we (yes, we) can wear shell clothing and mosquito netting
while sleeping beneath an open tarp. Or we can drape a lightweight netting
enclosure from the tarp's interior roof. We can find ourselves behooved by
avoiding the height of mosquito and blackfly season. And we can be extra
careful with our food in camp, since ants are attracted to even tiny scraps
of it.

And dare we mention the mice. These little devils are notorious for biting
straight through tent fabric, entering our erstwhile fortressing
accommodations, wantonly pilfering and pooping, only to find themselves
trapped inside a cage of death upon our awakening. Not so with a tarp.

In the end, the real battles are fought inside our own heads. Nothing in the
natural environment stacks up as half the to-do we invent it to be while
reclining at home on our reality-free couches.

Or, as someone once put it, "Argue for your limitations, and sure enough
they're yours."

- blisterfree