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Backpacker Magazine – October 2011
SURVIVE: If I Only Knew Then...
Three decades of trial and error from our favorite battle-scarred adventurer.
If I Only Knew Then (Feature Narrative) | Recognize Grizzly Behavior | Save Yourself in Whitewater | First Aid Emergencies | Unsafe Snow Conditions | Unexpected Accidents | Make Good Judgment Calls
[10] Show off your survival IQ with this emergency compass: Rub a needle with a magnet, set it on a floating leaf, and it’ll point north. Keep a magnetized needle in your first-aid kit and use this party trick if cloud cover eliminates help from the stars, sun, and moon.
[11] Going on a long trek or to a remote location far from medical help? Talk to your family doc about getting a versatile antibiotic to treat infections. Example: Z-Pack.
[12] Avoid spreading germs. Don’t share water bottles, put hands in the gorp bag, or cook without first cleaning your hands with a sanitizer.
[13] Cold hands and no gloves? Use a spare pair of socks or pull your hands inside your jacket sleeves; or let your sleeves hang empty and pull your hands and arms inside, close to your torso.
There’s considerable machismo that gilds outdoor pursuits—I’ve certainly been accused of having more brawn than brains myself. And while I gratefully acknowledge that being tough is useful now and again, being smart is surprisingly valuable. [10] [11] Going on a long trek or to a remote location far from medical help? Talk to your family doc about getting a versatile antibiotic to treat infections. Example: Z-Pack.
[12] Avoid spreading germs. Don’t share water bottles, put hands in the gorp bag, or cook without first cleaning your hands with a sanitizer.
[13] Cold hands and no gloves? Use a spare pair of socks or pull your hands inside your jacket sleeves; or let your sleeves hang empty and pull your hands and arms inside, close to your torso.
I remember telling a fellow climber high in the Himalayas that I didn’t bother with sunscreen; a week later my lower lip had split open down to my chin. I remember bragging to a buddy in the Congo that I didn’t use deet because insects didn’t bother me; a week later my hands were swollen like baked bread from a billion bug bites, my face puffy with sweat bee stings, my ass full of African ticks. In Switzerland, I mocked a hiker with trekking poles, then immediately hyperextended my knee for my blasphemy, and have used poles ever since. Once in Siberia, I failed to bring personal antibiotics and got a staph infection [11], which ballooned into full-body sepsis that almost killed me (no hyperbole; I had kankles, and the Russian doc said I was less than 24 hours from buying the farm). I’ve been known to boast that I have an iron stomach, and can eat and drink anything. I’ve also had it coming out both ends so explosively I was a fountain of filth.
Having gone 73 days without bathing, I know for a fact you can get by with bad hygiene. However, I’ve been on several expeditions where one person has spread his ghastly germs to everyone else. Wash your goddamn hands when you take a crap! Alas, since some people won’t or don’t. Bringing along a bottle of hand disinfectant isn’t a bad idea, as well as a course of antibiotics. (Beware of Cipro; side effects include a heightened risk of torn tendons.) Two months ago, I tore my calf muscle off my Achilles tendon when I used Cipro on an expedition to Xinjiang province, in northwestern China.
Disease is often spread by unclean hands handling unclean cutlery and dishware [12], so I carry my own large titanium cup with lid, and titanium spoon (plastic is pointless; it breaks and melts). No one touches these utensils but me. I don’t use communal dishes. Even in a Tibetan’s black-hair hut, I’ll pull out my own cup so the boiling yak butter tea goes straight from the cauldron to my clean cup to my gut. Often simply looking after little things will prevent big problems. While caving in Vietnam with a team of Yorkshire madmen, they delighted in showing me macabre pictures of trench foot before we went underground for a week. And it worked. I dried my feet every chance I got, kept them powdered with antimicrobial talc, and put on clean socks at night. My feet escaped unscathed from the bowels of Southeast Asia.
When your fingers start to get cold, don’t ignore it [13]. Stop. Put them on your neck, on your stomach, against your genitals; windmill your arms, whatever it takes to get blood flowing again. Too many mountain climbers older than 50 are missing digits. At least among my friends.
Eat. As an experiment, I once climbed a mountain in Tibet on half rations: one package of hot cocoa and one package of oatmeal for breakfast; half a candy bar and half a can of sardines for lunch; half a two-person freeze-dried meal for dinner. We summited, but on the hike out, it seemed like I bonked every hour all the way back to the road.
Drink. It was three in the morning when I jackknifed in bed. I got up and began pacing around the room bent in half. It was excruciating, but I thought it would go away. When I started puking from the pain, Sue had had enough and drove me to the ER. We were living in Spain, so she translated while I roiled about.
“The doctor says you have a kidney stone,” Sue said to me, speaking slowly and close to my face, like I didn’t understand English.
It was sometime during my delirium when the doctor spoke to me directly:“So, I hear you are a mountain climber. Not very bright.”
Turns out if you desperately deplete your body of water too many times, you’re gifted with little pearls of wisdom for the rest of your life: kidney stones, gall stones, bladder stones.
READERS COMMENTS
Loved this article and the writer's voice.
I for one really appreciated the article and the author's ability to see some humor in life-threatening situations. Thanks for sharing.
Some of you are sounding off on the author for his lack of experience when in fact he has a great deal of experience gained over many years of outdoor pursuits. I think these people miss the point of the article that Jenkins is trying to educate us by describing his mistakes over the years. Who among us has not made a poor choice on one of our trips? This is one of the ways we learn. Another is by reading about other's mistakes. Thanks Mark for your valuable advice.
After all your miss adventures in is no wonder you have to get up and ready in the dark at six am. I for one have never left my bag for a backpacking trip that early and by being prepared and organized have managed to hike many thousands of miles without any of your misshaps traveling as much as thirty miles in a day and all without having to night hike. Just goes to show you brains are better than brawn in the wilderness and its important to pick your hiking partners wisely.
Interesting approach to the outdoors - no head lamp on a day hike, curse a tarp when it fails you because you set it up wrong for the conditions, letting others go off alone on the mountain, etc. We teach our scouts to be prepared for anything, especially the unexpected. We take scout essentials (more than the 10 quoted in the Scout Handbook and we know how to use them in all conditions) in the event that we get separated, lost, or encounter unexpected weather or incidents. Gear is what you make of it - they all have pros/cons - it is up to you to pick the best for the situation and apply it to the conditions at hand. Gear also fails at times - that is why we learn to use what we have to get by or make from natural materials. Lots of examples, but a length of waxed thread and carpet needle repaired a broken hip suspension in the CO mountains (lesson learned - 125 lbs for 2 wks hunting was too much for Jansport hip suspension w/ plastic stays, but waxed thread, extra sleeping bag straps and a little ingenuity invaluable), Lite My Fire spoon one end, fork other - broke, carved a stick, cut slot w/ leatherman saw, inserted the broken pieces, drilled holes with awl and pegged, then secured w/ waxed thread (lesson learned - find a way to use what you brought, natural materials and get by - now i carry a titanium spoon). Know your gear, be prepared for the unexpected and when something challenging happens, see it as a challenge and have fun finding a solution.
This article, for all of it's entertainment filled intent, is a sad commentary on BACKPACKER magazine and their continued perpetuation of sensationalizing outdoor recreation in categories of the "extreme and fringe". What they and their contributors are doing outdoors (WALKING!!!) is nothing specialized or unique, difficult, challenging, or life threatening (well not inherently, guys like this author sure make it sound like it is). In an attempt to make sales and draw advertisers to their magazine and online content they keep feeding readers garbage like this article. NO you do not always NEED a double wall tent, one they (BPM) has reviewed of course, and yes a TARP can be used when you absolutely need it in "extreme" conditions/locales assuming you have the rudimentary skills necessary to use a tarp. I'm sure many here are not familiar with Andrew Skurka, arguably the greatest American adventurer of recent times, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year recipient, who most recently walked/skied/packrafted a self-supported 4,700 mile through the remote Alaska Yukon wilderness using entirely ultralight gear, carrying a baseweight that's half the weight of guys like this author and the Backpacker Staff use for their "expeditions". Which shelter did he use? A single wall ultralight pyramid shelter (Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid). Skurka is a wholly more credible source and reference for backcountry travel than Mark Jenkins. The author was eaten alive by mosquitos because he wasn't versed on using a tarp and lacked the SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE and chose not to APPLY them, he failed to pack for conditions that required a bug net or protection of some sort, this is IGNORANCE and foolishness on his part. What does he do? He arrives at the conclusion that tarps are not a good solution when the problem really lies in the user.... THE IDIOT AUTHOR. TARPS are a perfectly safe and viable option for backcountry use, doesn't matter if it is alpine conditions, winter treks, summer thru-hikes, and rain soaked evenings. By the way, he's also speaking falsely and elaborating when he says his tarp tore in two pieces. I'm calling him out on this. All I learned from this disastrous piece is that I would rather go backpacking with the pig tailed college girl who had her shit together.
While mostly interesting and with some good advice, the author seems to think he knows it all after years of outdoor pursuits. Nobody knows it all, and his lack of knowledge about, say, tarps is laughable. A tarp is my preferred shelter, but it's not for every situation, and it's part of a system (usually including a bivy sack). And leaving at 4 or 6am... sometimes that may be necessary, but it could just as easily be noon or 6pm... it depends on how you've planned your trip.
Thanks for sharing. People learn more from the mistakes of others. Cant see why the writer of this article is getting such abuse. Hes an expert in getting it wrong and is passsing on knowledge of what not to do. This is a important lesson to learn.
Thanks for sharing. People learn more from the mistakes of others. Cant see why the writer of this article is getting such abuse. Hes an expert in getting it wrong and is passsing on knowledge of what not to do. This is a important lesson to learn.
Unfortunately the author is most likely better suited to talk about the Troubled Asset Relief Program than Tarp shelters....that's unfortunate for backpacker readers who probably won't try them and enjoy the openness with the outdoors, lighter weight, better flexibility and lower cost. Sell on Backpacker Magazine, sell on!
Wow! This might be the most ignorant article Backpacker has ever written, and that says a lot considering the amble competition within the many pages. The term "expert" is a laughable analogy to describe someone so ill prepared, unexperienced and "expertly" ignorant. The statements about using the tarp alone warrants someone who should have no public forum to say a peep about the outdoor market. My advice - take up knitting and stay at home. Pitiful.
It takes skill to use a tarp effectively. You don't have it, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you don't have backcountry skills and don't care to acquire them, then you should definitely stick with a tent, or perhaps go car camping.
Dear Rick,
Perhaps you'd like to retract your profanity? There is certainly no room for people like you in a laid back outdoor arena. Like you, I backpack to get away from people and enjoy the outdoors. However I try to get away from people like you and prefer to be around people like Mark Jenkins. Based on your editorial comments above I believe that your decision making skills are lacking in more ways than one and would never follow you into the backcountry. So shove it!
Often people get fixated on a direction even if it doesn't make sense or there compass is pointing in a different direction than the direction they are travelling. This should be a warning sign but people ignore it and say the compass must be broken and carry on. map bending takes over and you convince yourself and others that it is the right way and hours later the penny drops, you messed up badly. The key is to identify the warning signs that something is wrong and not to ignore them. Go back to the basics of map and compass use, regardless of your skill level. Don't follow someone else just because they seem to know what they are doing, you have to get it sorted for yourself. if you follow them and they get lost, are you still going to blame them?
I had a similar problem with a hernia in my groin. The problem was I was the lead instructor stuck in the backcountry with a group of 11 students and two other instructors for 10 days. We were virtually on our own when my groin popped and at first it was uncomfortable but I simply pushed it back in to relieve the pain, but as the days went on the lump got larger. I couldn't keep holding my fingers against it so I made up a device using a belt, strapping tape and a bandage to create a squash ball sized sling that would hold the hernia in place by itself. If the sling was in the right place it worked well but on the second last day of the trip the support wasn't working right and it really affected my ability to operate, I was in a lot of pain. Overnight I redesigned the sling, which got me out of the bush the next day. Once out I went and saw a doctor and he wiped me into surgery pretty quick and said that if the hernia had come out any further I would have died in the bush. Looking back I was lucky but I also had a good understanding of First Aid and the ability to improvise that got me through.
"If you can't get your ass up at 6:00A.M., you can't be a backpacker." One of the reasons we go into the back country is to get away from bossy, opinionated, egomaniacal shitheads such as yourself. After reading your story, informative and entertaining as it was, it is clear your constant blundering is more a result of your ego than anything else. So you're nobody to be waking people up early and ordering them around. Since you like giving advice so much, let's see if you can take some: Stick it up your ass!
as a physician, one can preach healthy habits until our national debt is resolved. as you have outlined, having common sense goes a long way. also, having a knowledgeable hiking mentor and knowing your limits has helped me keep all my parts intact. thanks for sharing your worldly advice!
With all of those things happening to you that were life-and-limb-threatening, I'm surprised that you are not a "ghost" writer. Thank God, you were able to share some of these experiences with the rest of us. Enjoy life, as you have, and please travel safely. You've developed a lot of wisdom with your experience. Thank you for sharing.
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