Oldest & Forgotten

[Joe]

My apologies if this has already been discusses but here goes:
1. What is the oldest thing that you have found in your backpack?
2. What is the most necessary item you have left your house with out?

This past weekend while cleaning out a pack I found a soy butter and jelly sandwhich that was at least 13 months old. Leaving the house Sunday morning I realized when I started my car that I had on my socks but my boots were still in the closet! But it was still a glorious weekend!

 

[weatherman]

A) 3 year old baby carrots inside an old external frame backpack I was cannibalizing for parts. How could I tell they were carrots? Well, the bag said "carrots" and the liquid inside (no solids) was bright orange.

B) My brain. Tied for second place: Boots, poles, toothbrush (cleaning teeth in the backcountry for 3 days with twigs isn't much fun).

Sorry if this is TMI. But you asked!

Weatherman

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I (still) have a 6-7 year old power bar. I keep it for emergency. As well as food, it can also be used to patch a hole in a boot.

I'm fameous for forgetting things. Other 46er trail crew members are always telling stories. "Remember the time Pete forgot....." I think the most important thing I've forgotten was my sleeping bag. Fortunately, it was summer.

 

[Mike P.]

I have had 1 to 2 year old Power Bars, edible but not as tasty as a new one.
I've forgotten my hat in winter before so I had to buy a new one. A friend forgot his boots once & bought new ones before doing Katahdin

probably the oldest thing I have found is advil in the pre-packaged 1st aid kits.

 

[audrey]

My old carrots hadn't liquefied - they shriveled and turned grey, like little amputated fingers...

At various times I've left the house without my ski socks, but I hiked and skied anyway; without my insoles (that hurt); without my boots (sneakers weren't that great); and without my pack (friends kindly shared lunch, and it was really nice not to be encumbered).

 

[Bobby]

I pulled a peanut butter sandwich out once, it was well over a year old. When I tried to take it out of the ziplock bag, the sandwich turned to dust.

 

[jbreen]

Oldest? a six or eight month old bagel with peanut butter, which wasn't much harder than a three-day old bagel, though quite unappetizing.

Forgot my boots once, which was quite embarrasing since I intentionally left them in front of the door so I walked right over them. Nice surprise after an almost three hour drive to the trailhead.

 

[trailbiscuit]

As a former attempting thruhiker, the thought of leaving food in a pack is appalling.

Many moons ago we forgot our pots. We did eventually borrow one from an AMC caretaker, but those dehydrated backpacking meals taste better when you heat them...and they're less crunchy.

 

[dug]

Not me, but I've seen tent poles forgotten (rigged up a ski pole and a sort-of bivy). Also, my brother forgot his ski poles, so we cut some hiking sticks from some saplings. Made for a tough ski.

 

[rhihn]

Forgot the raingear once. And on a rainy day! It made it as far as the couch, but not into the pack. A fellow hiker happened to have one of those plastic throw-away jobs I could use.

Oldest - GORP about three years old. Still tasted just fine. Probably could go another three years or more.

 

[Oldsmores]

I have had 1 to 2 year old Power Bars, edible but not as tasty as a new one...

"Not as tasty as a new one"? That had to be pretty bad!

 

[Wanderer1]

I saw the title and thought it was a post about me.

 

[GNR]

Forgot ALL the clothing

For an entire weekend...after unpacking the car and setting up the tent for the long July 4th holiday, I went to change into my hiking clothes for an afternoon walk...forgot my clothes. No underwear, no socks, no layers, no nothing. After throwing a grade-A tantrum, hit up TJ MAX in N. Conway and set outselves up with some clothes that worked for the weekend.

 

[John H Swanson]

Dried appricots that had gone for at leas one year if not two. Who whould ever think that I would thank God for sulfites?

Once, in my youth, I put all the knives (yes there were more than one at that time) and matches/lighters in one stuff sack and then left it home when I when on a 3 day backpack trip. Actually used the boy scout hot sparks flint on my key ring to light the stove for that trip. It was comical.

Then on another backpack trip I forgot the eating utencils. I managed to whittle two wooded spoons.

 

[KayakDan]

Forgot our tent poles once...that was hysterical. It was a local campout for Outdoor Explorations,so we weren't gonna die in the woods. We ended up in a cabin.

Did a winter trip and forgot the Thermarests...we lived through that one too!

Forgot Sat morning breakfast oatmeal,so we resorted to brown sugar/cinnamon rice pudding. Cooked it up and...it's waaaay better than oatmeal!!

Nothing hiding in my backpacks-I went thru them thoroughly looking for the multitool I lost. Never found it. Found one on the trail a week later. Must be Karma or something!

 

[keb]

I recently dug through my pack looking for something. It has a divider for my camelback, where I don't think my hand had ever gone before. I felt something down there, grasped it, pulled it out and then shrieked and tossed what looked like a large turd across the room. After gaining my wits and upon further inspection I realized what it was. Among other things, we like to kick back with a little tequila after a good hike. And the best thing with warm tequila is a little lime. Man, that lime had been down there for a VERY long time! Made me crack up!

 

[MikePS]

I don't know about oldest, but when I got home from a trip to the Tetons this summer I realized I had walked around Wyoming with a Baxter State Park, Clark book in a pocket, love the extra weight, esp on the Alaskan Basin Trail! Forgotten- arriving to snow shoe in Crawford Notch with gators in Massachusetts! Good luck and have fun, snow is coming

 

[runnynose]

old/forgotten

hanging onto a 3 year old caffeinated GU type product in event of low energy moment.
forgot what i have forgotten!!

 

[woodstrider]

here it goes

the most valuable thing I ever left home as my whisperlite stove for a week long November backpack to the 'Daks high peaks.
What I did- moved to another area and built fires. As all food had to be cooked- 3 fires/day needed. Those Louie Lamour stories came in handy (I am not a person who is used to building fires) and I managed quite well with small fires, 1-1.5 foot in diameter. My pot is still black on the outside.

Once left my tent poles home.

I always leave some one thing at home, mostly a trivial item. I just except that about myself.

Oldest thing in my pack-wow, I have alot of aging stuff, but I had been carrying around a sheet of 11 year old moleskin. I finally used it in Baxter State Park last July. It was dearly needed and it was still good to go! Yeah moleskin by Dr. S. Saved my chafed feet.

Food I don't like to have hanging around and I will go to my "trip pantry" every so often and rotate out stuff.

 

[Periwinkle]

Wow -- what's with all the old food??? Must be a seriously bad habit.

I've done it myself -- I found a two year old chocolate chip Gatorade powerbar in my pack after some serious rummaging when I discovered I'd left my chocolate stash at home. I ate it. And liked it. Really liked it. Sometimes, a girl has just gotta have chocolate.

Other than that, I don't forget much. I'm one of those OCD types. Checklists, etc.

I can only remember one time I thought I'd missed essential gear. I went scrambling for my backup light on a night hike when I needed to change out headlamp batteries. Nearly panicked when I couldn't find it. I end up completing the task by the light of a Bic -- not too bad with no wind. What bit the big one was the headache from hiking for the next five hours with my headlamp clamped to my head for fear of losing that one light -- then the next week finding the backup light right where it should have been in my pack.