We must be related.

Many many years ago I went camping with my brother and was excited to show off my brand new tent. I got to the campsite and ... no poles. I had thought the bungee cords would last longer if they were stored assembled - separate from tent. Sigh. Now tents and poles are stored together.

Then many years later my family headed out camping with a brand new (used) popup camper. It rained buckets that first night. Everything I was wearing was wet. Next morning the rain had stopped but I then realized I had no socks. Sigh.

and usually spelled "bug dope"

This makes me think of the "Hudson Bay Start". This was where voyageurs setting off on a long expedition would make their first camp only a short distance from the settlement. That way they could use all there camp gear and be sure nothing was forgotten, if something was missing then it was just a short paddle to retrieve it. I first heard about this method on a Ray Mears video filmed in Northeastern Ontario on the Missinabi River; I worked in that area 8 years ago it is a long paddle/drive to Chapleau if you forgot something.

The "Hudson Bay Start" is now used to discribe self-growth and business activities as seen here in this article.

My main way to not forget gear is my folder of Master Lists, but I have in the past lost the folder and that always troubles me.

Mike

Mike,
keep the lists on the computer and printed out with the gear - and add things as you think of them (or forget)

Swamp..thats a new one on me..i thought they just camped around the bend from the start so they could party!!

Actually les courier du bois only made it a short distance on day one because they had been partying for the whole week before they left and hadn't left until late afternoon anyhow.

Maybe they were too full of dug dope.

Hey Teacher, putting my Master Lists on the computer is one of my, when I get around to it jobs, because I type with 2 fingers I am really slow.

Mike

Hey Canoedogs and Scafool you guys seem to know a lot about the early voyageurs, or partying, or both, count me in fellas!

Mike

A trick from arctic hunters in the dog sledge era: Get moving about 10 meters (30 feet), then stop and walk all over your camp to look for things forgotten. Of course, it is easier to spot those things dropped UNDER the sledge if you move the sledge first ...

Still good advice, even if the mode of transport has changed.

When leaving home I am most concerned about forgetting my boots or wind&waterproof jacket. It is so easy because you don't nescessarily use them you sit in the car (drive with comfortable shoes, without jacket). Those are two really indespenseable things... I can do without tent pegs (just make 'em from a branch or twig, no problem!) and a lot of other stuff - Hey, improvisation is fun, even if involuntarily! But without my boots or jacket I am really in the cold.... In my climate, the clothes you are wearing are crucial survival items.

That list of the top ten things to forget looks like my list of the top items I always take. The list is backwards for me. The one item I "forget" is a water filter ... because I don't have one. I carry my water in as much as possible, but then depend on more old school things like iodine or chlorine bleach for emergency purification. I know, ... I should get a water filter...