Tips from the Pro
Get the Most from Your Equipment
By GORP Gear Expert Keith Morton
Rack 'em up
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Snowshoes: Hang 'Em High
As snowshoes get techier, and rigid bindings, ratchet straps, and crampons make them bulkier, they become more awkward to store at home. Here's an idea for tidy, accessible, but out of the way storage:
Buy a twelve-inch shelf bracket at a hardware store and screw it to the basement wall. This will allow you to hang one pair of snowshoes easily by simply placing the toe holes over the bracket. If you have several pairs and lots of wall space, just use more brackets. Bind the bracket with duct tape to blunt sharp edges that might damage your snowshoes.
If you have several pairs but are short of wall space, consider this solution: Extend the bracket outward with a length of wood 1' x 2' or a section cut from an old hockey-stick handle. This allows you to hang several pairs of snowshoes on the same"hook." In a pinch you can simply attach the stick to the bracket with duct tape or hockey tape.
Beware of the Dark
Carefully consider color choice when purchasing outdoor gear. For example, black or dark-colored pack cloth makes it difficult to see the contents inside ? which can be a problem at dawn or dusk, or when wearing sunglasses or glacier glasses. Black or dark clothing will be disastrous in bug country because it attracts mosquitoes. Also, black or dark long underwear has a narrower comfort range than light or white underwear in sunny, windless conditions. If you're stripped down to your long underwear top, which is common when skiing or hiking uphill, the darker material will retain rather than reflect solar rays, making you even hotter.
Keep Your Hat On
"Peruvian" style hats with earflaps protect your ears in ugly weather, but only if you can tie the strings at the correct tension with gloves on (and, for the hirsute among us, without catching your beard in the knot!). Eliminate the need for tying by adding a spring-cord lock. You may be able to use it with the existing cords, but if not, replace them with lengths of flat bootlace or polyester ribbon. Generous length makes it easier to take the hat on and off, and the whole rig allows you to doff the hat and leave it dangling when the going gets hot.
Quick 'N' Slick Bedroll
On cold mornings, the more you can do with gloves on the better ? and the less time it takes the better, too. Packing up your closed-cell foam pad is quick and simple if you keep it rolled with elastic loops that stay attached to the pad. (Do not attempt this with a self-inflating
pad!) Reinforce the edge at two points on a short side of the pad by placing a strip of duct tape three inches from the corner. Make two holes through each duct tape tab. Roll the pad and thread a loop of elastic shock cord through each set of holes, knotting them around the pad. Adjust the knot to provide enough tension to keep the pad rolled, but not so tight as to dig-in excessively. To unroll, just flip the loop off over the end of the pad. The loops also provide handy anchor points if you use the pad outside where it could blow away.
