Fw: [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 ocupado....
>
> 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
> >
>