Originally Posted By: haertig
- pen
If I need to make note of something, usually I take a picture with my cellphone or tablet. I can also enter notes directly into either of those if need be. The batteries could die, but in many decades of life I've just never had any emergency need to take a note.


I don't think a pen is a terrible idea given the space and weight that a single refill for a Fisher Space Pen takes up. A golf pencil would work as well and you can sharpen it with your knife.

You will probably have something else in your kit that you could write on, but it's a bonus if you have some waterproof paper (like Field Notes products).

I keep these with my hiking equipment mostly in case I need to leave a note for people who might be searching for me if I can't stay put for some reason (e.g. stuck to a tent flap: "SOS 08/14/18 14:32 John Doe headed SE along rim trail in search of water. Out of food/water, broken wrist, phone dead, tan pants, blue shirt, red backpack, white male 5'11" 160 lbs, brown hair/eyes, call Fred Doe (father) at XXX-XXX-XXXX").

It could also be useful to to leave a note under a windshield wiper at the trailhead for overdue hikers, etc. Or, even if you're not lost, to let your campmates know that you are backtracking the route to find a dropped headlamp and will be back in < 1 hour.