My sleeping pad deflated in the middle of a cold night in the Adirondacks

In a panic, I tried the old trick of stuffing it with dry leaves from under a pine tree, and it actually gave me enough cushion to get a few more hours of sleep. It was lumpy and smelled like a forest floor, but it beat sleeping on the frozen ground. Has anyone else had to get that creative with a gear failure?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara96719d ago

Lumpy and smelled like a forest floor" is the real test of a good fix. I always carried a patch kit and thought that was the only smart answer. Your pine leaf trick shows that sometimes the best gear you have is just looking at what's already around you and not panicking. It's a good reminder that solving the problem in front of you is more important than having the perfect solution.

harris.emma19d ago

My first backpacking trip in the Smokies taught me that lesson fast. I forgot my stove fuel and had to get creative with a tin can and some dry twigs to heat my dinner. It really is about using what you find, like @barbara967 said. Carrying the right gear is smart, but being able to look at a pine leaf or a bit of sap and see a solution is what gets you through. That shift in thinking, from what you packed to what's around you, changes how you handle every problem out there.