[at-l] Duct Tape

[Paul A Magnanti <pmags@juno.com>]

Duct Tape! The all important essential for hikers.  Over the miles I or
people who have hiked with me have used duct tape for:  moleskin
                                temp. repair of tent, gaiters, jacket
                                until I bought new Teva knockoffs, it
held my sandals together (two years!)
                                fashioned a water bottle holster
                                held  the sole on boot  together for the
last two days on the Long Trail last year...
                                
And my favorite duct tape story...

During the last week and a day of my thru-hike I had a rather nasty fall.
It was the end of the day, the rocks were slippery, and I was tired. 
With my usual natural grace, I fell arm first into a deep puddle of mud.
As my arm sliced through the mud, I felt a rock slice my arm. :O  Made
two nasty gashes that were about 1" and 2" respectively. If I was in the
front country, I probably would have gotten sutures. But, since I was so
close to Katahdin, I was not about to take time off the trail to go to an
ER and get patched up.(I worked in an ER, and know what it is like...I'd
probably still be waiting there to get my sutures! :D).  So I  cleaned
out the wound, put some bacitracin on it,  and added a  4X4 gauze held in
place with DUCT TAPE.  The pad lasted the rest of the trip, and I now 
have two nifty momentos to my trip on my forearm.  (The gauze was take
off after the trip was over..I was too paranoid it would have gotten
infected while I was hiking..)

  

Mags

**********************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible... a little star-dust caught, a
 segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.
-- -Thoreau
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