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30 Outdoor Travel Hacks To Turn You Into A Backpacking Badass

Monday, January 4, 2016 11:06

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Whether you’re backpacking in the great outdoors or backpacking abroad, some of these might just save your life (or at the very least, make things a little easier).Whether you’re backpacking in the great outdoors or backpacking abroad, some of these might just save your life (or at the very least, make things a little easier).

Any soda can can be turned into a portable camp stove

Need to know how much daylight you’ve got left?

Instant lantern

Recommended brand new product: The Lost Ways

Don’t bring the whole roll

Wrap a water bottle, lighter, utensil, or virtually anything else with about 5-6’ of duct tape, so you have it if you need it but conserve precious space and weight

Also read D.I.Y. Wood Rocket Stove that runs a generator, produces gasoline, runs a fridge and heats hot water at the same time [Video]

Keep a DIY first aid kit in a used medicine bottle

Or better yet, DIY Survival kit

Cotton pads dipped in wax are great for starting fires

And chips make great tinder

An Altoids tin holds a remarkable amount of essentials

Must read article: 100 Items that will disappear first in a SHTF Situation (Revised and Updated)

Including everything you need to charge on the go

There’s a host of these DIY charger plans and kits available online (including some pretty awesome solar-powered ones). Pictured here is the Mintyboost, one of the more straightforward plans we’ve seen, and which can be purchased as a kit:

Waterproof your backpack with a trash bag liner

You don’t need an enormous backpack if you know how to pack properly

But if you take one, know how gear should be dispersed

You can reuse that empty toilet paper roll… as an iPhone speaker

A straw makes awesome single-use toothpaste or ointment packets

Use a lighter to seal the end of the straw.

Don’t miss SCAVENGING FOR FOOD AND SUPPLIES IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC WASTELAND

They also make good holders for spices

And for longer trips, upgrade to tic-tac holders

Forget emergency candles, a crayon will burn for about 30 minutes

You can waterproof a remarkable amount of things with a little beeswax

Ditch the pillow, all you need is a bag and the clothes you already packed

Or, use a ziploc as an inflatable one

Eliminate the tube, make toothpaste dots

Simply squirt out a little toothpaste onto some foil and let them harden. Collect them in a bag with a little baking soda. When you’re ready to brush your teeth, pop one in your mouth and chew it up to return it to it’s normal pasty consistency.

“Ok maps” could save your life

After finding an area in Google Maps on an Android or IOS device, typing “Ok maps” or “Okay maps” and tapping the search bar will store that area in your device’s cache, so it will be available for offline use (perfect if service or WiFi becomes unavailable).

Caffeine Junkie? These brew for less than $1 a cup

Just add water.

Pack a small microfiber towel instead

They’re thin, ultra absorbent, and dry quickly– invaluable for the amount of pack-space they take.

Bring a bar of soap (for bug bites if nothing else)

Beat the itch from backwoods and hostel bug bites, rub a dry or lightly dampened bar of soap over the bite for near-instant relief.

Upcycle an empty plastic soda bottle into disposable utensils

A lanyard makes a great DIY shower caddy

Hang it from shower heads, tree branches, or your travel companion.

You can use dental floss to repair a ripped anything

Get one of these

Not so much a hack as an essential, and the best $20 you’ll probably ever spend, the LifeStraw can filter enough water for one person for an entire year, and has brought clean drinking water to nearly a million people in Kenya. In an absolute bind, you might be able to get away with a tampon, though we don’t recommend it.