Post
by Lurch » April 4th, 2012, 11:02 am
Hey guys, I guess I was blind to this thread for awhile!
All the gear in the world won't keep you safe if you don't have training/experience/technique to go with it. Fire building is a prime example of that. You can have all the coolest gadgets, the butane lighters and fuel tabs, road flares and gasoline, but if you don't have experience and knowhow at best you probably won't get a fire going in the middle of an Oregon downpour, at worst you'll injure yourself. Most probable you'll speed up hypothermia by wasting time and energy trying to build a hopeless fire instead of limiting exposure and finding/making shelter.
Forestkeeper: I would go with carls suggestion of Technu, there are a few different types depending on the situation, but the far better technique spending some time getting familiar with the plant in all its stages and learning to identify it. Eventually you'll get to the point where you'll subconsciously "see" it and get that hinky feeling that something isn't right, then it will click that you're standing in a field of doom and misery.
If you're tromping around in winter with pants and gators you'll usually be just fine, just remember the the oils from poison oak and a PITA and will transfer. You may only touch the plant on your leg, but when you scratch that you pick the oils up on your fingers, and then you touch your face, or that other itch on your arm, and in about 2 weeks you're covered in rashes. They say the oils can still be potent on clothing up to 7 years after inital contact, so if you have reason to suspect you've gone through the evil oak wash your stuff carefully and be aware of where you touch! Personally I've never had much of an issue touching clothes that have brushed poison oak, but different people have different sensitivities. I know of someone that got into their sleeping bag with their clothes on, and got a sad present after using their bag again the next month.