Have you ever just forgotten something at home???

N

nevertwice

Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
41
Stemming from the "have you ever broken a knife before" type thread, i started to think.
we all plan SO hard and long. we all have our routines. and i know that personally i am rarely conscious of what i bring, it's muscle memory, i just grab what i always grab. it's finely tuned and has been for YEARS. what i take into the bush almost never changes (other than knife rotations and new stuff) but there is a set of things that's mandatory.
but even the best routine sometimes fails.
i posted in the other thread about having forgotten a proper knife while in the bush on my minnow trapline. all i had was a fillet knife.
couldn't figure out how to take a screen shot of a video on my iPad. haha. so i took a picture of my iPad screen for these, hence the terrible quality. but i think it illustrates what i did quite nicely...
otters, beavers, mink, muskrat, any manner of critter messes up my traps sometimes where i live, not to mention weather, drought, floods, broken beaver damn... my traps get beat up and on this particular day a beaver damn had burst, and many of my traps needed mending.
listen, i was too far away to not get the job done. it meant ruining a knife, so be it. my minnow trap line is a ten mile boat ride, a three mile bike run (bike = atv in my world) and then a half mile of creek and beaver dams in a couple canoes.

dced6cc1-b37e-4036-9f6f-48909e84008d.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
40941a1e-c527-4e0d-a0b6-f062b085d2c0.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
7dc1b2aa-50be-48bc-98a6-78da6e49cdf0.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Last edited:
here's what a normally beautiful lush green mooseland, beaver creek/pond looks like when a beaver damn breaches through the night...
we had a late snowfall of a couple feet at the end of May. the sun then came out, and the run off was a wrecking crew.
you could drive an suv through this hole...
my creek lost 6 feet of water in 24 hours. these pictures were taken after a three+ foot loss.
it might sound hard to spend your time portaging over beaver dams everyone couple hundred yards. but it's even harder paddling through these bottlenecks against the current haha.... and dangerous. for me and the minnows when it's that cold out still.
IMG_0399.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
IMG_0401.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
IMG_0402.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
I've been backpacking for over 30 years. I realized that there is so much specialized gear used, and if you get on the trail without something you are in trouble, so I made a list of gear and check it carefully before every trip.
 
I too make a list and check it off before every camping or backpacking trip, over 40years of doing it. The times I've forgotten something have usually come back to bite me in the butt so I'm particularly careful and have backups for some things.
 
The two worst were occasions where, the first time I forgot tea (unfortunately it wasnt the last). In suburbia I actually rarely drink tea but if I am camping or backpacking or even just hiking, a meal or a night just isn't properly finished if I don't have my cup of tea and a few minutes of quiet observation and reflection. And the second was the time I forgot tp, that, thankfully enough was only a one nighter! Other times were things I had no real trouble doing without, which incidentally spawned my low volume/simplicity driven packing practices.
 
Over the years I've forgotten very few things that I thought of taking, but I learned of things I should have taken as well as discovered things in my pack I shouldn't have brought.

Now, I usually only want to have taken more time, maybe more cookies, sugar, or jerky, and still want to have left a few pieces of hardware at home.

Yes, lists are excellent, and taking notes during trips is also a great idea.
 
My Dad told me about his camping trip where they canoed into a site and forgot their can opener. They used a knife to open them up, but kind of a PITA.
 
Rub the tins on a stone and they'll open nicely.

Once in the army our platoon sergeants "forgot" our food for some days. They just wanted us spoiled fat noobs to experience hunger and lack of sleep and what not.
The next time we filled our kevlar vests with big chocolates. They felt like armor plates during not so close inspections.
 
Forget about the knife, leaving the camera at home is a sin. :eek:

I forget something or other on every single trip. Whether it's a walk in the forest, an overnight to the in-laws, or a month-long job assignment. Underwear, pocketknife, bug repellant, t.p.... you name it, I've forgotten it. :D

Remember, true survival isn't about hauling around a bunch of gear; it's learning to do without. :thumbup:
 
I went on a five day backpack trip to the High Sierras one time and after carefully packing all my gear I headed out. 3 1/2 hrs drive later I realized I left my hiking clothes I had planned on wearing on a hanger in the garage. Luckily I was wearing shorts and a synthetic T-shirt and trail running shoes. I thought about buying new hiking pants and a shirt in Lone Pine on the way but decided to do the hike in what I was wearing. Thankfully I had the rest of my clothes in the pack such as my raingear, down jacket, beanie and gloves. I was one stinky Mo-Fo when I got back.
 
When one forgets gear its time to improvise. I forgot the tent heater and the airmattress for a late season hunting trip. I brought hot rocks into the tent from the fire and was surprises how comfortable the tent was during that frosty night, but the ground was hard and cold. Lesson learned, and never made that mistake again.
 
Worst one I ever did was forgetting my gigapower on an overnighter. Fortunately I had enough granola bars to keep me fed for the short trip!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top