What Do You Leave Behind When Injured?

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I've been lurking almost weekly since the 2003 blackout and I find the information on this site indispensable!
My library is filled with book recommendations, I took WFA & Wild Edibles classes, I have 4 of Doug's knives, a SAME receiver, per Blast, 2 canister stoves, per Hiking Jim, and own tons of other toys...I mean useful gear.

My questions are:
What do you leave behind when injured?
Did you leave behind anything you realized you needed?

Recently I was hurt before a long day hike and I needed to lighten the load.

From my pack I removed my Steripen. I switched out my Jetboil Flash for my Gigapower & small GSI Minimalist. Pulled out my fleece, U.dig.it, cookware,
utensils, sandals and lightened my food load to JUST enough.

I also left my secondary PSK which includes: Terralux converted minim,ag, ChargeTTI & bits, spacepen, mini bic, spare batts, duct tape, ferro rod, Mg strip, braid of paracord & spare car key. All items are stored in a belt pouch.

In total I saved over 12lbs.

Lessons learned:
My 3L Camelbak started full but I realized my chlorine dioxide tablets were in the Jetboil which was relaxing with the Steripen on my couch. This meant that my choices were the two ClO2 tablets I always keep in my wallet or boiling 0.5L at a time. I left myself without easy safe water...I conserved H2O and returned with less than 1L.

I was hungry, I had no food left. This was ok for a day hike but if the trip would have turned bad I would've had to have cooked one of my companions ;-)

No spare key. Luckily I didn't need it.

Welcome to the forum.

Your questions will recieve many differing opinions on this subject.

For me, the carrying of any kit, injured or not always comes down to:

Expected distance, expected terrain, expected weather, experience of person(s) involved.

In your particular scneario, it also depends on the type of injury. Even a minor foot/leg/back injury etc may prevent a person from carrying a full load of gear or none at all wheras other lesser injuries may not hinder your gear carrying ability as much.

Thank you for the welcome & response

Your question to my question makes lots of sense.
Mine was a leg injury. Nothing major but enough that a full load was too much.
Warm day, medium terrain, 9-10 hrs outdoors.

In the past I've pulled my back or twisted an ankle and had to lighten the load as well so I wanted to see what the knowledgeable men & women at ETS had to say.

A lot of variables involved here. I don't think you can formulate a general rule that fits all situations. On many trips, I and my companions have redistributed the material, but we have typically not lightened our loads. If we needed our gear before the injury, we are likely to need it even more afterwards.

What I do most often is adopt a slower, more deliberate pace. On one multiday trip, that meant I had to get on the trail earlier than my companions and finish a little later in the day i was usually hiking slowly by myself, consequently I saw more wildlife on that trip than normal, by a wide margin.

It seems that you are packing fairly heavy - I usually carry an ultralight alcohol stove or esbit tabs on a day hike, rather than a cartridge stove. I also tend to swap out my bit kit and heavy L-tool for something lighter if I am hiking into the wilderness, where there are fewer hardware items.

The other option is to change plans, or in extremis, call for assistance. That isn't being a wimp, that is just plain smart.

Thank you hikermor, I do pack HEAVY
...Plan for the worst and hope for the best...
Whittling the load is a work in progress.

Lots of good insight. Your input is appreciated.

Hi Quietly_Learning, I'm glad you're Vocally_Learning now !

Its a difficult question with many answers.
It sounds like you would really need to re-evaluate everything in your “heavy kit” and prioritize, depending on circumstances.

What items are essential to life ?
Which will defiantly be used (given what you “know” of the situation) ?
Which “might” be used if circumstance X occurred and how likely is that ?
Which are unlikely to be useful ?

If you are out and about, (or at home), you can cache equipment and retrieve it later;
if you have expensive or dangerous items which you are going to cache, you may wish to take special precautions when leaving them.

Basically yoiu need to re-evaluate and prioritize

Hello Aussie, thank you, I don't know how to use the quotes yet but "vocally_learning" had me laughing!

Good info to think about.
I am always trying to lighten the load and your breakdown makes sense. I tried to strip everything I could on this trip and found I accidently removed an essential item -water purification. I will use everyone's suggestions to better prioritize when I pack for my next trip.

Unfortunately caching gear is not possible on my backpacking or climbing trips but hikermor's suggestion of splitting gear will work well for an accident.

I'm working through physical therapy after my second shoulder surgery. In my commuter kit, I've dumped:

• all snacks
• umbrella
• dropped from a 1L Nalgene to a 500ml bottle of water
• a few infrequently-used tools
• downsized my primary laptop bag flashlight
• paper notepad in exchange for iPad
• spare mouse

In all it's about 3-4 pounds down from where it was. For all that my bag is really heavy compared to most. Much of that weight is in tools that I really can't part with. The things I carry strictly for emergencies make up only about one pound of the load.

Some time back on a group backpacking/kayaking trip I took several jolts to my knee and sprained the lateral collateral ligament on the route down. It was about an hour back to the vehicle so others picked up my pack and humped it back down while I gingerly walked with the assistance of my walking stick. After some RICE I was able to continue for the rest of the 3-week trip but I had to be careful about putting weight or pressure on that knee and could only use a small day pack. Lucky for me that the heaviest work was out of the way and I was able to continue. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a brace or elastic bandage which could have helped.

My point is - the original question has too many variables in it. Distance to be traveled, terrain, # of companions, and type of injury were the biggest factors for me. A broken arm or a deep laceration or concussion are all very different scenarios.

What did you do with all the gear you removed? Did your friends pack all or some of it for you as 12 lbs is not a lot for any able bodied person in decent condition to shoulder/pack considering the underlying circumstances.

LOL - at least you have learnt something - even if it was the hard way !



I meant, if you become injured (etc) and are unable to continue with your existing gear (whatever it is), you can cache some of it as best you can at that site, to make it easier to reach "saftey"; return later to retrieve the gear.

Not an ideal situation, but it may be better than trying to bring everything with you. A serious injury will be a game changer, and it will necessitate having to re-evaluate your equipment.

Thanks for the numerous responses. Sorry for my late response to any questions but work was too busy today to answer sooner.

Hurt knee, I could walk but I felt the pack and I didn't want to completely blow it out.
Minor rock scrambles, walking hilly terrain. Reverse to get back.

I was hurt before the trip so I left the items home. If I was out I would have asked my friends to take some of my toys. I routinely blow out my back or knees doing something foolish...I mean fun :-) ... so I'm used to rethinking my gear
The trip included some scrambling and that warranted trying to cut weight.

Aussie, cache during the situation makes lots of sense. Hopefully I will never be that hurt but it is something I will keep in mind.

Roarmeister, R.I.C.E. is my friend, I always carry instant ice packs and elastic bandages.
I have a fairly good first aid set-up and both for myself and others elastic bandages have come in handy numerous times.
I keep a SAM splint in my vehicle. If you're taking a kayak the slight amount of weight it adds might be something to consider.
...I know says the guy who KNOWS he packs too heavy but first aid supplies I have needed too often. That's one area I don't want to cut down on.

Packing smarter that is what is always a work in progress for me. In one day you have all given me some great advice which I am going to use to reevaluate what I take.

Good luck with your recovery Chaosmagnet.

Any more advice, I'm always ready to listen?
I look forward to being a part of the forum.

Starting a hike hampered by leg injury is a novel scenario.

If the forecast was for warm weather and the area in which you were hiking is not remote and especially prone to sudden weather changes (i.e. big mountains), then I'd go ultra-light, on one condition:

1) at least two friends/family not on the hike were aware of my precise route (hiking and driving) and prepared to alert police/rangers if I did not report in by a certain time.


For such a day hike in warm weather (day and night) with a reasonably reliable forecast and friends on alert (I would not hike alone, ever), I would go ultra-light:

Hiking poles
water (+ micropur tablets)
2 energy bars
first aid (pain reliever, band-aids)
Survival blanket-tarp (AMK heatsheet or some such)
large garbage bag (for use as emergency poncho)
small amount of paracord
Fire tools: Bic lighter, matches, firesteel, cotton balls + petroleum jelly
Knife
titanium or stainless cup
Esbit titanium stove + fuel tablets
compass w/mirror
Fox 40 whistle
Petzl Zipka head/wrist lamp
pen and paper (serves as fire tender as well as for writing notes-vital info)
duct tape (now wrapped around my Bic lighter)


With such potential to further the injury and be rendered lame, I would seriously consider putting my very light Marmot Dri-Clime jacket (lightly fleece-lined and highly water resistant) in the bottom of my pack.

I agree with the others that there are a lot of variables involved. I shattered my shoulder a couple of summers ago and, would have been able to carry little to nothing at the time it happened, except a fanny pack. I was mostly useless but it wasn't an issue then. I just had to the get out of the water and into the boat and then out of the boat and up the hill to a vehicle. No easy feat but we were lucky not to be in a wilderness situation.

I was immobilized for 3 months after the accident and had to seriously rethink any plans. Again, a fanny pack was about my limit. I avoided camping altogether and slowly worked my way back to hiking. Once I could carry a pack again, I had to slowly build up the weight of what I carried and am still not back to where I was (a mixed blessing for this over-packer.)

Packing was a challenge but I refused to compromise on covering the basics:

-Protection (an emerg poncho and heat sheet for shelter)
-Rescue (whistle on lanyard, small AMK rescue mirror)
-Water (downsized to a small SS bottle and MicroPUR tablets)
-Knife (swaped LM Wave for a one-handed opening folder)
-Fire (BIC instead of a ferro rod)
-Light (switched to something with a push button and a clip, instead of twist on/off or headlamp) *as soon as I could put it on again, I went back to a headlamp
-Snacks (Cliff bars became a staple)
-FAK (downsized to bandaids, triangulars, OTC meds, wipes and prescription painkillers)

Hello Dagny and Bacpacjac,

Thank you both for your very detailed information. It will help me in paring down my kit.

Dagny, your remark about letting two people not on the hike know where you're going is so important. I normally txt my GPS location as soon as I get to a trailhead or when I'm close if cell service is weak. I do the reverse when I'm done. My plans are never so detailed that I have an exact route. I let people know I will be going to such and such section, or following the river on this bank to X, etc.
I have no desire to cutoff an appendage because I'm hurt and nobody knows where I am.

I would never start a hike ALONE if I was hurt. Most trips have some sort of climbing component which means I'm with a group of people.

A good breathable waterproof Columbia jacket lives in my pack. It is getting close to retirement so thank you for your Marmot recommendation.

Bacpacjac, OUCH, one second can change someone's life for a long time. I wish you luck on your continued recovery.

I like the idea of using a fanny pack for upper body injuries. My pack has a removable top which could be used as such with with a little ingenuity.

I am going to give your bannock recipe a try on my next hike.

the wisdom to know when not to go out on a hike or climb due to aggravation or injury. You'll always have other opportunities to hike and climb - and on average you'll have far more opportunities if you don't go out already compromised physically.

Slow down. RICE it. Life is long. You're putting yourself and your hiking or climbing companions at risk. I have left a couple friends at the bottom of a rock climbing route against their wishes, one for being hung over (and still essentially drunk), one for climbing too soon after a shoulder dislocation. When I learned my outdoor skills we appointed hike or climb leaders and their assessment of the team's capabilities was final. I was the leader. I might have been overly cautious in either case, but both times I had that nagging feeling in the back of my head that proceeding with them on the climb would be a bad idea - either in execution, or in the event we got into trouble. Bottom line, we all carried our essential gear, and we all lived to laugh about it later over beers.

injury - go light.

take cell phone
warm jacket
some first aid supplies
water
granola bar

and leave a mote about what's happening
and which way you went.

Pete2

Thanks Lono & Pete2

Very well said, Lono. Risk assessment is a HUGE part if life enjoyment. 5 mins of too much risk while water tubing at a friend's cottage ruined my entire summer. And fall. And winter, and, heck, the next summer wasn't so great either... was it worth it? Nope. Not a bit.