My buddy's tent story made me rethink how I pack

I was talking to my friend Dave last weekend after a trip up near Lake Tahoe. He told me he spent 20 minutes looking for his rain fly in the dark because he just shoved everything in his bag without a system. It hit me that I do the same thing (just hoping I remember where stuff is) and that's not really a plan. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple conversation made you change your whole packing system?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery1015h ago

Has anyone ever thought about packing by how your brain works, not just by gear type? I got my stuff organized after my buddy's story too, but it was about my own dumb mistake. I started putting things in order of how I use them, not where they fit. Like my headlamp goes in the top left pocket because I grab it first at night, not shoved with my cooking stuff. It's little stuff like that, but it saves me from digging around in the dark like Dave did. Probably seems obvious, but it took me a while to get there.

the_viola14h ago

Wait, you're telling me it's NOT normal to keep your headlamp buried under three pots and a bag of oatmeal? @emery10 I swear my brain organizes gear by the "vibes" of the trip rather than any logical system. I got my stuff together after I once spent 15 minutes panicking because I couldn't find my lighter in the dark and almost set my tent on fire trying to use a flashlight and a magnifying glass. Now I put critical stuff in the SAME spot every time, right at the top, even if it means my sleeping bag gets crammed sideways. It's like my pack is a puzzle where the rules keep changing depending on how tired I am. Honestly, half the time I think I'm just training for a memory competition where the prize is not freezing my butt off.