Gear, Gear, Wonderful Gear

If you're at all like me, you are somewhat of a gear fanatic. Some people have a lot of shoes, some hats, some perhaps even have a lot of small fuzzy animals from their childhood. I have a lot of gear.

I have eleven backpacks, eight headlamps, five sleeping bags, three tents, two stoves, and a partridge in a pear tree. That's not even counting the Path Less Taken gear. That's just my own personal stuff. While this may sound excessive, and it might actually be, every backpack has a different function. Or at least that's what I tell myself at night. It's also what I tell my girlfriend when we argue about how many pairs of shoes she has. That's right, slightly hypocritical, but backpacks are just way more functional.


Regardless, with the sheer amount of gear I have, and the entirely absurd amount of money that I spend on it, it's incredibly important to keep your gear clean and well preserved. You can always check with the manufacturer for their guidelines, but I've got a few rules of thumb that have worked well for me. Now is a great time to reorganize your gear, and get everything ready for the upcoming seasons. Besides, it's fun to play with your gear. (For added fun, buy a digital postal scale to see how much your gear actually weights.)

Backpacks - Packs should get kept relatively flat, either hung up or laid down. Keep the buckles buckled, but don't tighten the straps down. It's ok to wash your pack with water, but make sure that it's entirely dry before storing for the season. A warm sponge will generally do the trick. You also want to store your pack away from direct sunlight as this breaks down the fabrics.

Sleeping bags - Your sleeping bag, either down or synthetic, should be kept in the large cotton sack that most likely came with it. While this takes up a lot of room - much more room that would be required if your bag was kept in its stuff sack - it will preserve the life of your down leaving it with its 'loft'. Loft is the amount of puff that your sleeping bag has left, and the more puff, the more warm you will stay.

Sleeping pads - The inflatable variety of sleeping pad should be kept with its valve open and hung like a sack over a bar. The foam variety should be kept flat with nothing crushing them in order to preserve their somewhat dubious comfort.

Tents - A tent is what keeps you safe and dry, gives you a shelter during a storm, and is essentially your home away from home. Treat it accordingly. Tents should be folded, not stuffed as previously suggested, into their largest stuff sack, with the fly or ground cloth on the outside. Make sure that the floor of the tent has been thoroughly cleaned and dried before storage. Make sure to store your poles, stakes, and stuff sack in the same place, so that the next time you go backpacking you don't leave your poles behind. Trust me, it really sucks using your tent as a mere blanket.

Everything else - Stoves should be taken apart, separated from their fuel, and cleaned carefully. Water purifiers should be disassembled as well. Check the filter to make sure you don't need a new one. Clean all of the sand, silt, and general muck from it. Batteries should be removed from headlamps, GPS units, and anything else that uses them. Don't forget to clean dishes, pots, lids, and anything else that might get all gnarly from camping. I am especially guilty of forgetting this, and have ruined more than one pot.

Now, this may should like a lot of work, but if you think about it in the right way, it's just like getting ready for a new expedition. You familiarize yourself with your equipment, you take care of it, and you lovingly dream about using it again.

On that note, I'm going to go wash my dishes.