[pct-l] Multiuse Gear

[ROYROBIN at aol.com (ROYROBIN@aol.com)]

Sleeping Pad (Ensolite or whatever) - Add:  Leg splint for blown out knee or 
broken bone.  In '99, Brian and I came upon a hiker who had trashed his knee.  
We used his ensolite pad and some duct tape to immobilize his leg.  He was 
able to hike out about eight miles to a trailhead.  

Hiking poles - Add 1. Excellent for relocating rattlesnakes when it's not 
practical to go around them.  

Hiking Poles - Add 2. Push-pole for counterbalancing food higher than Yogi 
can reach.  (Doesn't work with Yosemite Yogi's.)

2-liter Coke bottle - Half empty, makes a good pillow.  Has anyone dared try 
this with a Platypus?

Hat, shirt, shorts, socks.... - Substitute for bandana/towel.

Bandana/towel - Substitute for hat, shirt, shorts....

Hey, can we work this into some kind of ADZPCTKOP contest?  For the most 
outrageous, innovative, why-didn't-I-think-of-that, use for an otherwise merely 
useful item of hikers' gear?  First prize might be a roll of TP with section 
maps printed thereon, which then serves it's primary purpose as each section is 
completed.  Jeff Schaffer could produce these as an addendum to the Trail 
Guides, and we wouldn't have to tear up our copies of the books!