130: Lost and Found

Podcast: Download (Duration: 36:10 — 34.0MB)

Show Notes: Episode 130

Today on the First 40 Miles, we lost both our camera and one of our kids on a recent hike—and we’ll share how we got one of them back. On today’s top 5 list, how to incorporate bread into your backpacking meals, without ending up with a bag of crumbs. Then we’ll review a tent that uses trendy buzzwords like hybrid and compact. Next we’ll share a hack that will help others identify your lost camera and get it safely back to you. And we’ll wrap up the show with a poem of mysterious origin.

Opening

Lost and Found
God’s Thumb hike
Son and camera…lost
“Did you lose something?”
Son found! Camera gone.
Repurchased camera. Sony RX-100

Top 5 Breads to Take Backpacking

Pita Bread

The brand of pita bread we buy doesn’t have a pocket. This pita is more like a fluffy, flatbread. Fatter than a tortilla. Different than pita bread from the 80s. We’re talking about soft pita bread of the 21^st
Lasts for days in your pack.
Can be eaten plain, dipped in soup, smeared with pb, or can be used as a makeshift utensil
We like Papa Pita Whole Wheat Pita Bread
78 calories/ounce

Flour Tortillas

These are the go-to bread choice of backpackers.
Bombproof bread, dense, fits perfectly in the bottom of a bear canister. Can last for days and days without refrigeration.
Find it in many sizes and varieties: whole wheat, white, gluten-free, ancient grains,
Sizes: burrito, fajita, taco cart sizes.
88 calories/ounce

Bagels

These are great because they come in a variety of flavors and sizes.
Perfect for breakfast paired with a 1 ounce packet of cream cheese and a foil pouch of salmon or a squeeze of jam.
73 calories/ounce

Wheat Thins or Triscuits

Good for snacking – when you want something to eat, but you don’t want to commit to an entire tortilla.
No flavors added (however we LOVE the Cracked Black Pepper Triscuits)
Sharable
Fairly sturdy
133 calories/ounce

Pretzels

Lots of shapes and flavor varieties
Snyders makes a flavored pretzel that’s honey and mustard that weighs in at 140 calories an ounce.
Plain pretzels are more versatile, can be dipped in peanut butter, Nutella or eaten with cheese.

SUMMIT Gear Review: Kelty Horizon 2 Tent

Structure

One piece construction, permanently attached to tent body
This tent has one entrance—and the entrance has an awning/vestibule—which we thought was clever. It can either be staked down as used as a vestibule—so it’s a great place to store gear that you want to be protected, but you don’t want to sacrifice precious square footage in your tent.
The vestibule can also unzip on the sides and convert into an awning as long as you have something to prop it up with like two trekking poles or two nice looking sticks.
All-in-one hubbed pole design. It means that the poles are all connected to make one big x-shaped pole structure. You put each end in a corner and pop the tent up.
Kelty Hug Clip—this was something that I haven’t seen in any other tent we’ve looked at. Instead of the tent clips just clipping onto the tent poles, they are s-shaped so that you twist and it clicks on. Much more secure, won’t come off in a wind storm.

Utility

No-see-um mesh ceiling, door and vent
Did you know that no-see-ums are an actual pest? It’s not just a term for bug that lands on you that you can’t see but they bite you anyway. No, no-see-ums are biting midges. They are a family of small flies (1–4 mm long). They are also known as midgies, sand flies, and punkies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidae
Wall pockets
Fully seam taped construction—mostly fully. There’s an area just under the mini rainfly
The tent comes in a square carry bag, which means that you don’t have to be as careful when you roll up your tent, or as fastidious when you stuff it onto a stuff sack

Mass

Weighs 4 lbs 5 oz. / 1.95 kg
Floor area: 28 ft2 / 2.6 m2
Vestibule area: 9 ft2 / .84 m2
Length: 84 in. / 213 cm
Width: 52/43 in. // 132/109 cm
Height: 43 in. / 109 cm

Maintenance

If you want your tent to last longer…the best thing you can do is keep it out of the sun and treat it with a waterproof and solarproof spray to prolong its life (Nikwax makes a spray called Solarproof that we’ve used on our tents).
Bring a repair kit (even just a few squares of Tenacious Tape)
Put away your tent clean and dry when you’re done
Something I learned from reading the user manual that came with the Kelty Horizon 2 tent, is that all tents—even if they’re freestanding like this one—should be staked out to give the tent more structural integrity.

Investment

$240

Trial

Following the instructions, we did a test pitch and set up the tent inside before we took it outside. I would recommend this for all tents. It gets you used to where things go and will decrease your anxiety on your backpacking trip. Setting up a new tent before heading out is also a great idea—especially if you are sensitive to that “new tent smell”. Take the tent out to the garage and set it up…let it offgas a little before you take it out.
Think of this tent as a vaulted ceiling tent. When you roll back and secure the attached rain fly it opens up your view from within the tent, while still providing some privacy on the sides of the tent.
The Kelty Horizon 2 is a great option for summer backpacking. It’s around 4 pounds, it has just enough rain coverage to get your thru a freak summer storm, it opens up your view from within the tent and provides lots of ventilation along with bug protection.

Backpack Hack of the Week™: Camera Identification Photo

When we lost our camera, we realized that we didn’t have anything on our camera to identify who it belonged to.
You can also put a sticker on or label it physically, but saving a photo works.
You may be able to lock the image on your camera…

Trail Wisdom

“Let no one say and say it to your shame that all was beauty here until you came.”

–Author unknown

To learn the story of one person’s quest to identify the author, go to: http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mysterious-case-park-poet