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Today on The First 40 Miles, whether you lost your food to a hungry chipmunk, or you got a flat tire at the trail head, there are good people out on the trail who want to help. We’ll show you five ways you can pay that kindness forward. On the SUMMIT Gear Review, you may want to think twice about what insects you allow in your pack—especially the FireAnt. For the Backpack Hack of the Week, Revlon has 72 glamorous ways to make sure you never lose a tent stake again.   And we’ll wrap up the show with a little trail wisdom that applies to just about everyone.

Show Notes: Episode 041

Opening

• Two rescues in one day
• The couple at the lookout
• Our flat tire at the trail head

The Top 5 Kind Gestures on the Trail

Based on “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman

Acts of service

• Trash pick up
• Pack carrying
• Clearing fallen branch from trail
• Rescue

Words of Affirmation

• Compliments along the trail
• Helpful, friendly advice
• Encouragement to a discouraged buddy or to a smaller hiker

Physical Gesture

• A helping hand
• Administering first aid

Time

• Walking with someone
• Sitting listening or telling stories by the fire
• Taking the time off to go on a trip is huge!

Gifts

• “You are loved” with rocks that we saw on Gnarl Ridge
• “Try out my gear for a day” (stove, cool gadget, etc)
• Food is always a welcome gift

SUMMIT Gear Review™: Emberlit FireAnt Titanium Ultralight Backpacking Stove

Structure

• Titanium (high strength-to-weight ratio, and has a melting point of 3000 degrees F
• It’s fully collapsible, so it literally can fit in your back pocket
• All the pieces fit together like a puzzle
• Once it’s together, it’s extremely sturdy. You can cook a full camp meal on this stove or a mea for just yourself.

Utility

• Burns wood (feed it in through the side feed hole)
• You can use sticks, forest debris, pinecones, buffalo chips, etc.
• But it also has a tray that you can slide in and use a fuel tablet

Mass

• Whole thing collapses down
• 5 inches x 3.5 inches x (just under) 1/4 inch thick
• Weight: 2.8 ounces

Maintenance

• When you first receive FireAnt, you may want to go over some of the edges with a piece of fine steel wool, just to ensure it won’t slice its way through the sack
• When you’re putting it together, don’t force the parts together, just follow the instructions, and it should come together easily.
• Store in stuff sack to prevent your gear from getting sooty

Investment

• $70

Trial

• Requires a little more clean up afterwards because it will blacken your mug, so be sure to bring along a dedicated rag for cleaning up the soot
• Also, requires a little babysitting during use so that you don’t accidentally let the fire burn outside of the Fire Ant. You have to keep feeding the fire by pushing the sticks into the FireAnt feed hole
• Also, if there is a burn ban, you’ll need to find an alternate way of preparing your food, since you won’t be able to use the Fire Ant
• I love the idea of going fueless!
• It’s budget, it’s easy, it requires some skills. And sure, it takes a little longer than pushing a button, but it takes up way less space in your pack than most stoves

Backpack Hack of the Week™: DIY Tent Stake Marking

• Hard to find tent pegs if they fly off into bushes,
• You want them also to be more visible at night.
• Painting will differentiate your stakes from your buddies, just in case they end up getting dumped out… of your pack on the ride back home or dropped on the trail
• You’ll need one bottle of opaque nail polish—the brighter, the better

Trail Wisdom

“The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.”

-Jacqueline Schiff