Summer Guide
It’s been done before by the best of hikers. Earl Schaeffer, the first hiker ever to walk the length of the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail in a single season, slept wrapped up in an old wool blanket and used an Army surplus pack for his rucksack. Grandma Gatewood, another legendary A.T. hiker, walked in Keds sneakers and used a shower curtain for a shelter. If they could do it, so can you.
Old soda bottles make great canteens. Cut the top out of a beer can and it’s a backpacking cookpot. If you own a pair of sneakers, then you own a pair of hiking shoes. Cut holes for your head and arms in a garbage bag and there’s your rain poncho. Ziploc freezer bags keep your things dry inside your pack and make good stuff sacks. A Wendy’s Frosty spoon is all the silverware you’ll ever need.
You can wear any old clothes from your closet on the hiking trail, as long as they’re not made of cotton. Cotton is the death cloth in the outdoors. It won’t dry once it’s wet. So stick to polyester and you’ll be fine.
You can also make your own gear for much less money than it would cost to buy it at L.L. Bean. At backpacking.net, there are seven different designs for homemade backpacks, 10 different shelters, 26 different stoves that burn alcohol, and 10 different ways to make sleeping bags and quilts.