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

[randy_forsland@hotmail.com (Randy Forsland)]

Well, in thousands of miles of hiking, I have yet to come across a rodent on
the PCT that entered my abode while it was acupado....

Ants, OTOH, are everywhere...they don't search you out based on the
cleanliness of your camp...they are just there...the first and natural
inhabitants of the area...

And I would rather they stayed outside...BTW, I was joking about 16 oz of
Ray's book....I  don't carry much reading material with me...all I am saying
is that, for a mere 16 oz, you can be 300% more comfortable with a floored
tent (even less with a wenzel) than you can be with a tarp...sorry if I
offend...but I've camped with many floorless tarp toters...bears were not
the dreaded scourge with them...it was the ants...
----- Original Message -----
Brent writes:
> 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
>