[at-l] Mislabeling bottles and hiker dumb "mistakes"

[winchester@mail.unnet.com (Ron Winchester)]

> > I keep my alcohol in a coke bottle I've peeled the label off, and drawn a
> > skull
> > & crossbones on.
>
> woodelf wraps duct tape around his :)  You can see it, and in the dark you
> can feel it.
>
> The Redhead

Yeah, I've got duct tape wrapped around mine, too.

Finding stuff in the dark isn't so much a problem for the person the gear
belongs to, but as Iceman pointed out on the kapuut at-list, in an emergency,
it's good to have fuel bottles clearly labeled.  This is just in case a
stranger to your pack is administering help.  He suggests using fuel bottles
only for fuel; and water & coke bottles only for water.  You can agree or
disagree, but his logic is valid.  I will still use my coke bottle for fuel.

In warmer weather, which is when I'm usually on the AT, I use a Sigg aluminum
water bottle.  The thing looks just like a Sigg fuel bottle, except it's a
little larger, and blue color.  A couple years ago, a thru-hiker I was camped
with about knocked it out of my hand when I went to take a drink - she thought
it was fuel.  The great thing about the aluminum H20 bottle is it seems to keep
the water a little cooler that the outside temp.

Ron