Dual Purpose Gear

[percious]

Ok, Here is a fun idea. What piece of equipment have you used for a purpose other then what it was intended? My example:

Ice Axe - Bottle Opener for victory beer, and also as a snow tent stake.

-percious

 

[lumberzac]

Here’s a couple

Ridge Rest as a pack frame
Platypus as a pillow

 

[sli74]

Shoelace as a guyline
Clothes as pillows
socks as gloves
duct tape as bandaids
backpack as a half-bivy to stay warmer in winter

I could go on . . .

sli74

 

[Barry Sr]

backpack as a half-bivy to stay warmer in winter
sli74

I never heard of that before, great idea.
With my size though, it would be little more than a foot warmer.

Dental floss has numerous uses and like Sli says, Duct tape for everything.

 

[Mark_151]

Rock climbing gear cleaning tool as a tooth pick.

 

[Johnnycakes]

Bandana as a loin cloth.

Compression strap to repair snowshoes.

A piece of foam pad wrapped around the end of an aluminum stay to keep the stay from poking through an unravelling seam.

Oversized concrete finishing tools (held in my hands) to provide extra flotation in deep, unconsolidated snow. They didn't really help.

And lastly, a loin cloth as a bandana.

 

[woodstrider]

Multi-use gear

I always try to find as many uses for a single item as I can so that my pack rides light.

My rain poncho has done triple duty as pack cover, ground cloth or as tarp, depending on the conditions. On yeah, sometimes I use it as a rain poncho.

when I don't have gloves, I put my (extra) socks on my hands.

I use wool mittens as pot holders

Can anyone count the uses of a single bandana? hat-neck gaiter-
pot holder-water strainer-bandage-snot rag-wash cloth-top (don't ask!)-sun protection (over or under hat)-bug baffle(ditto)-napkin-carrier bag-sand/dust mask-robbing banks....

 

[sli74]

and if you are our very own johnnycakes, a bandana as a loin cloth

more uses for a bandana . . . you could place your rice or other need to be boiled food into a "clean" bandana with some water and tie it and hang it into a pot of water, boil it and then you can have cooked rice without the clean-up? . . . too much plum wine in the middle of the day, I should go sober up

sli74

 

[Frodo]

You know your a redneck when you can floss your teeth with a bandanna...

Another excellent use is for a tourniquet.

On those extremely sunny days above treeline, putting one under a hat to keep the sun from burning yours ears and neck also makes them quite valuable ...

 

[Nadine]

Telemark bindings as beer bottle openers

 

[jbrown]

Sleeping pad as packframe.
Socks as gloves as hip-belt/shoulder pad padding.
Trekking poles as tent poles.
Pack as mini bivy used in conjunction with Gore-Tex jacket.
Bear canister as chair.
Guy lines as clothes lines.
Spork as spoon and fork (uh, kind of the point, I guess...)

 

[spencer]

I make coffee with a bandana as the filter.

 

[KayakDan]

Crazy Creek chair as a windblock for a stove.
Day hatch of the kayak as a small refrigerator

And of course...a Nalgene bottle for indoor plumbing

 

[Mark Driscoll]

Dan,

I hope that Nalgene bottle dual use is for #1 and #2 and also for its intended use!!

Mark

 

[Dugan]

Bandana also good for tendon knee brace, tea strainer, and pre-filter water strainer for the really mucky stuff.
Dog as crutch.
Empty water bottle and two bandanas as splint years ago when a companion shattered her wrist.
My socks & vetrap as dog booties.
2 cup measure as drinking cup, multi measuring spoon to max of 2 T as spoon.
Plastic bags for cooking, like Sli's bandana idea e.g. pour gingerbread batter into bag, boil 'til done. Not as pretty as in a pan, but yummy just the same, and easier clean up than scrambling it.
Back in the days of unpadded waist belts spare socks as waist belt padding.

 

[maineguy]

.357 to hammer in tent pegs...

Ted

 

[Peakbagr]

Foam pad from pack as a sit-upon in cold weather.
Bandana as a pre-filter for water filter.
Plastic film cannister to store extra headlamp bulbs(in cotton).
Corner of foam sleeping pad as base under winter stove.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Ice Ax to (carefully) clear ice dams on roof.
Crampons to aerate lawn (seriously)
My favorite though, years ago (1975) I used barely edible freeze dried pork chops as bait for catching fish. Fresh grilled brook trout sure beat those pork chops

 

[spider solo]

Back pack as "coffee table".....
Tin foil lasagna pan as 'leave no trace' fireplace.....
Compass mirror for solo tick inspection....
Velcro and piece of foam pad as splint....
Cherished walking stick as splint and kindling....
Snow shovel for self belays.....
Mylar emergency blanket as hat and poncho....
Snowshoe as kitchen platform....

...but when you start using your walking stick as a fly swatter and the fly just landed on your best friend..... well, probably best to reconsider............then again that dam flys been following you for well over a mile and it's 80 degrees.... and if they don't move you could kinda just.............

 

[percious]

ok, that has to be the coolest second use for crampons I have ever seen. Very manly (err err!). Everyone has really great ideas so far.