[at-l] matches & gloves

[beeskneesc at yahoo.com (Caroline Cook)]

I was glad to hear someone else say that these d***
matches didn't work. Gary kept telling me I just
didn't know how to strike them until he tried it
himself. We tried several brands and regular matches
actually worked better, but none of them worked with
all the rain and humidity we had on the AT this
summer. If you take those little bic lighters, be sure
to have a spare or two.  I kept breaking them while
trying to light semi-wet campfires.

>Third Law of backpacking - Strike anywhere matches
don't.  >I took a lighterjust as a backup to the
matches - then >the matches wouldn't light. Shipped
'em home and used the >lighter for 3 thruhikes.  Still
have some of the 
>matches - 12 years later.   Got rid of some of them
at >the Ruck last year.- Jim


Early on in our hike, I got smartwool gloves and
really light rain proof mittens to go over them . 
Packing up in the rain one very cold morning, my
fleece gloves got wet and then there was no drying
them out as the rain went on for the next day and a
half.  Then somewhere I dropped one of the soggy
things on the trail.  The next trail town I bought my
current gloves and mittens. I would have gotten fleece
instead of the wool but they didn't have them at the
time. I agree with Jim, having both gloves and mittens
is a good idea. I like my gloves at night in the tent
when it is cold and I want to read before I go to
sleep or write my journal and post cards.
The mittens over the gloves keep my hands dry and warm
when I am hiking in the cold rain.  It is easy to just
pull off the mittens for a min. to get my fingers free
if I need to tie a boot or something.  The gloves dry
off inside the mittens if I do get them damp.

>>>boiled wool mittens (still looking for these)
>>Why boiled wool mittens?
>
>Extremely warm, light, and durable.  If there's
something better, I'm
>definitely open to suggestions.  There seems to be a
mitten vs. glove 
>debate and I'm not really sure which side I come down
on.

Then carry both.  Carry mittens for warmth (fleece is
lighter than 
wool).  
And carry polypro glove liners for when you need to
have your fingers 
free - 
like for cooking.  Mittens are always warmer than
gloves.  If you use 
fleece, you can carry both for less than the weight of
the boiled wool 
mittens.- Jim



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