My friend also share that her husband used to work in the forest service and had to use duct tape all the time to fix shoes or broken gear. He didn’t want to pack any extra weight so he put it on his water bottle. The most interesting time when the duct tape was needed was when he almost chopped his foot off with an axe. He had to walk 12 miles back to civilization to go to the hospital. He said he cut a long strip off his shirt and wrapped it around the cut in a pseudo tourniquet. Then he duct-taped around it to hold it on and offer a little more protection. That worked pretty well but he said he still bled through his bandage, sock, and shoe and left bloody footprints on the trail. She said “I’m sure God had his hand in that one so he is still here with us today.” “We would never go backpacking without it.”

I guess the important point is that they had duct tape WITH THEM on the trail. In a previous blog “Repackaging Duct Tape” I show ways to carry duct tape in a compact way. Their method of wrapping it around their water bottle keeps it ready at hand. Be prepared and find a method that works for you.

– As a support: It stabilizes you as you ascend or descend. It also provides relief from weight on an injured foot or leg as you walk.

– As an extension: You can reach high for fruit or nuts in a tree or extend it out as an assist when helping someone up a hillside or river bank.

– As a weapon: A deterrent to both man and beast. It can be used either to poke or strike and in the cases of snakes, to pin down or re-direct if needed.

– As a compass: It can be used in the “shadow stick” method. On a sunny day post the stick upright in the ground and place a stone at the tip of the stick’s shadow every 15 minutes. The stones will line up in an West-to-East line.

– As an estimating tool: Used to reference the distance or height and transfer it to the adjoining ground so that it can be measured. See the article “Stick Method for Width and Height Estimation”

– As a scepter: for those who are endowed with a robust self image.

You may have seen these sticks on the trail or at events adorned with stickers, buttons, ribbons, carvings, wrist straps, compasses or whistles. There’s no limit on ways to customize them, but woe to the person who forgets it behind on the trail. As for me, a simple stick will do.