It was a dark and stormy night...

Actually it just rained quite a bit off and on. The mountains were pretty obscured for about half the time.



Some berries along the trail.



I saw this lady bug taking shelter under my rainfly. When I stepped in close to take a picture, she took wing as I snapped.



Thanks "topknot". "Topknot" in England, made this possibles pouch for me. Then I stuffed it with stuff. Thanks "paramedicpete" for the small white pouch.

i like the leather bag..if your going you may as well go
class..

Thanks CANOEDOGS. I just received the bag this last week so it is its maiden voyage so to speak. The mini pry bar just came in the mail too, so I thought I would shove it in there. I nevered used it though.

why nail clippers? Cuticle hygiene a big deal to you, or is there some ulterior use that the knife can't do?

I have had occasions where a nail clipper is handier than a knife or scissors. On one hike, one of the moms had a cracked nail and when I handed her my Swisstool Spirit with the scissors out, she looked at me like I was insane and went on with the cracked nail. In fact, she did tell me I was crazy. I use the SAK scissors for nail care all the time. But it is probably safer to use a clipper on your nails and cuticles than a knife. Especially for someone like the hiker mom. Also, we have lots of little kids with us on our hikes and camping trips. I rather use clippers on them, especially when they are fidgetty. In the kits I put together for the 4H kids, they each have a small nail clipper in it and a scissors. They they can open packages of stuff themselves. And my kids can cut their own nails. I am not quite ready to equip them with knives just yet. The oldest are only six. Besides, it is so small, it is no bother for me to include it.

They also have full sized tweezers in their kits. They love it and find all kinds of interesting and creative uses for it and the other stuff too. They took their packs camping and they REALLY made use of the things in there. My daughter designated herself the first aid girl and took care of all the kids owies at camp. Now I have to completely restock her first aid kit.

Get ready for the Med School costs in the next blink of your eyes.

When camping with a group, I like to designate duties along with community gear.

Some Examples:
The designated Hospital Corpsman carries the "master FAK"
The designated Radioman carries radios (AM-FM receiver) & spare batteries.

Aloha wildman,

We actually do divvy up who will bring what prior to, but most of the campers are newbie campers. In the past, I did all the cooking, now only maybe once or twice per trip. But I still end up making all the fires. But on this last trip, two of the other dads also tended the fire so I wasn't the only one doing it.

We are making progress. The moms are even trying there hands at setting up the tents. Then after the rains starts, they will ask, "how come water is coming into my tent?" Then I end up helping them with their adjustments and telling them what they are doing and why it is important to do it a certain way. In the case of the rain and runoff getting into the tent, we went over why the rainfly should be attached properly as we properly adjusted the attachment of said rainfly.

But good fun. And the whole group is getting better and our next one in about a month or so should probably be our biggest group so far. I am thinking 30-40 people.

I am turning green with envy, I've been trying to go camping for the last 9 months, but duty has called every month when I have been home. Please keep sharing your trips with all of us!!!!

I think our next one will be in June. I will keep you posted. Since the moms and kids really like that spot, we have been going back there. I think it has been six times in a row. I love that spot too, but aren't you guys getting tired of pictures from the same place?

wildman,

you need to just schedule it as an appointment and go!! we already scheduled our june outing before we even left for our last one.