Notable time savers for me are:

Insulated pants - Using insulated puffy pants instead of baselayer tights. Not having to take pants and tights on and off in the mornings/evenings both saves time as well as keeps you warmer.

Routine - Unpacking and packing my backpack using the same method every time. This routine copies over to how I lay out my stuff under my tarp at night as well.

Stuff Sacks - If carrying a stuff sack for my tarp I tie it to one of my trekking poles so it's easy to find when I'm packing up in the morning.

I carry only a few stuff sacks to eliminate the need to pack stuff into a stuff sack and then pack the stuff sack into the pack. Some stuff sacks can save time (i.e. keeping all first air/repair items that don't get used often in a sack) but other stuff sacks are unecessary (i.e. extra socks, insulating layers, et al).

Minimize Steps - I pack my quilt into my pack while its still inside my bivy sack. This is faster and it also creates a redundant waterproofing system within the confines of my pack/pack liner.

Keep Items Handy - I keep snacks, pre-mixed Aquamira, sunscreen et al in the hipbelt pocket of my pack for easy access which doesn't require me to stop and take my pack off.

Keep the good ideas coming!

"Stuff Sacks - If carrying a stuff sack for my tarp I tie it to one of my trekking poles so it's easy to find when I'm packing up in the morning."

I attach the stuff sack to the tarp for overnight, and serves the multiple purpose as a wind sock.

--B.G.--

Thanks alot sam, for this:

Minimize Steps - I pack my quilt into my pack while its still inside my bivy sack. This is faster and it also creates a redundant waterproofing system within the confines of my pack/pack liner.

I will store my hammock tq and uq inside it now and just stuf fit in the bottom of my pack, im worried though. right now i stow them seperately on either side of my internal divider in order to balance the pack, i guess i could just unzip the internal divider. oh well, have to test it out, but i like it.

It usually takes me 15 minutes to 1/2 hour to get going in the morning.

Things I do to save time:
Rinse my breakfast bowl with a small amount of water and drink the water. No elaborate dish washing. Or eat no-cook food or eat while walking down the trail.

Pack everything in the same order every day. Unpack everything and leave it in the same place every night.

I usually do not camp near water. That wastes time. Instead I bring enough water at the end of the day to get through dinner and breakfast.

I might brush my teeth in camp or I might do that on the trail instead. If water is scarce, I won't do it at all. Brushing my hair wastes time so I have a hair style that requires a minimal amount of that.

Hot breakfasts and coffee waste time. But they are nice luxuries. Campfires and picnic tables also waste time and cause you to spread your stuff around making it harder to keep track of and locate.

I save time on clothing by sleeping in my hiking clothes. No change of clothing means no time spent changing clothes.

I save a lot of time by not being sentimental about my camping location. This sounds silly, but sometimes it seems like people are simply reluctant to leave. Once my stuff is packed I put my pack on, take a really quick look (really quick because I haven't spread my stuff out all over the place) and then I just GO.

I like that, Piper.....no nonsense.

Except I don't like sleeping in my hiking clothes.

> I save time on clothing by sleeping in my hiking clothes.
That's fine as long as your clothing is clean and dry.
Doesn't always happen that way!

Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!

Cheers

I usually take a small white tyvek square (cut from a postal envelope) that serves as the only place I put all small gear, like matches, spoon to photon lights to glasses or contact case to . . . whatever. This helps me find and remember everything before I leave.

This doesn't necessarily save time but it does keep me from losing small gear.

Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!

10 minutes quickly turns into 2 hours. It's best if I get out of camp so quickly that I don't have time to find reasons to hang back in camp.

Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical????


Roger, this should be right down your alley... industrial engineering. What is the most efficient and productive way to accomplish a task. Then it is not about minutes. :)

Minutes is just a positive by-product.

What is the most efficient and productive way to accomplish a task. Then it is not about minutes.

You must start by defining the task. For some people it is having an enjoyable time without unduly infringing on their hiking time.

For others it is about eating only as needed to support their hiking, and maximizing miles per day.

Very different goals; very different solutions.

--MV

As absentminded as I am, I like that envelope idea, Steve P., a UL placemat!

Well, I cannot give you advice on how to get started earlier.

But I have some advice for myself to save time in the morning:

"Stop hiking with a partner that must be forced out of bed at 9am with curse words, rocks, or both"

Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!

It is when you get only a week or two of vacation a year. Or have to head back out on Sunday to get to work on Monday rested because you left for the trailhead late Friday night. A vicious cycle.

> Is life that desperate that saving 10 minutes is that critical???? Relax guys!

It depends if you are on a hiking trip or a camping trip.

I posted what I did while hiking the PCT. I awoke every morning with this urge to both maximize cool morning hiking and maximize daily miles, so that's how I got going quickly.

But now that I hike like a normal person, I make coffee, I use the picnic table, I take more time.

It's all a matter of your purpose.

For me, the less I bring, the more time I save due to simplicity and a streamlined kit. On dry and warm summer trips I can literally be fully packed in less than 1 minute, the most time consuming aspect of a morning is probably waiting for all the air to escape my quilt before I twist the pack liner shut. I've eliminated stuff sacs for the most part with the exception of my food bag, everything else goes in my BPL pack liner or on top of my liner in the pack (ex. food bag, sooty pot).

I sleep in my hiking clothes so all my evening insulation goes over what I already have on, so in the morning throwing my few insulation items into my pack is a simple process.

Breakfast is freezer bag cooking for me, prepared oatmeal and a few instant coffees, doesn't take more than 8 minutes from setup>fire> boil> eating and with the hunger I typically have in the mornings I'm done in 10.

Hygiene, or lack thereof, is another aspect of trips that I find slows things down. I used to clean up, wipe down and do some serious dish duty before anything went back into my pack. Now, I'm not so concerned with some dirt and grime on my gear or on me over the course of a short multi-day trip, it can wait until I get home.

I should have clarified my reasons for wanting to save time in the morning: In the group that I take trips with, I have been the one guy making a hot meal, so I am THAT guy slowing everyone down in the morning. So I have been trying to find ways to be more efficient/fast so that I can no lag everyone down.

That said, I am just enjoying seeing what other people do in the morning....lots of good tips and tricks to try out.

I also sleep in my hiking clothing, so getting dressed in the morning is more like removing my insulated jacket, hat, and gloves.

Really intrigued by the idea of just leaving the quilt in the bivy bag and stuffing the whole thing inside the pack.

Sam: Do you use a compression bag for your bivy with the quilt inside of it?

I use a compression bag for my quilt simply to shrink it down. My MLD bivy has a hoop, wire built in, guess I could compress that down too.

Hope others share their best practices.

Yes, being outdoors is about enjoying and relazing....not a race to get up and haul, but still, it is very interesting to learn what others do.

In my opinion, too often we focus on the buying of gear, but little is said about how we use that gear.

Keep the ideas coming!

-Tony

First, to answer Nick's question about how boiling water while you pack could be less efficient:

I find that the limiting factor on miles for me and most people is not daylight, but sore feet. Ergo to maximize miles (or hiking enjoyment) it is most efficient to take a few off-the-feet breaks a day. Given that you're doing this anyway, might as well brew and eat up at the same time. And while hot food is a nice way to start the day, candy bars are even better.

As for morning routine (presuming no significant snow on ground, temps not too far below freezing, and camping in Griz country):
-Get out of bed, put on hiking socks and shoes (often frozen, now I'm awake and moving!!)
-Stuff quilt in dry bag, close dry bag.
-Roll pad, insert in empty pack.
-Out from under tarp/pyramid shelter, pull stakes and untie lines.
-Shake dew/frost off shelter, stuff into bottom of pack. Stakes in stuff sack go after.
-Drybag in pack.
-Grab small drybag of odds and ends, put spray back on pack belt, walk to food hang.
-Take down hang, coil rope and put in pack, remove 2 bars for breakfast, put in pockets, remove a further 6 bars for day snacks, put in pack hipbelt pockets.
-Place food bag(s) in pack.
-Put small stuff dry bag in pack, remove warm layers, put in drybag, place in very top of pack.
-Put pack on and start hiking!

I should add that accessing water in MT is usually dead easy. Just scoop some up in your bottle at the next stream crossing, add Sweetwater, wait, drink. In drier climes water rituals become more complex.

Edited by DaveC on 06/04/2010 14:13:18 MDT.

All we can really discuss is what works best for each individual. What works for me, may not work at all for someone else. All of us might see something that we had not thought about, but would be perfect for us. So keep the ideas coming.

I typically hike all day, and my breaks are very short. I drink water and eat a packaged snack. Then I move on. For others, this won't work.

Regarding quilt and bag packing. Whenever possible, I like a pack liner and stuff my quilt or bag in the bottom. Sometimes when I am using a small pack, I can compress my quilt smaller into a cuben sackm if space is an issue. When I use a bivy, there is often some condensation between the bivy and quilt/bag, and I like to separate them. I will often turn the bivy inside out, and put it in a mesh pocket. I try not to, but ocassionally I need let my quilt/bag air out every few days.

Read the "A day in the life.." section at the bottom of this article:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/hiking_efficiency_techniques.html

I first started hiking before eating breakfast after learning about the French "voyageurs", the fur trappers that spent a year traveling the rivers catching beaver:

"the French–Canadian voyageurs. They were the freight haulers of the fur trade. A voyageur was strong but small —ideally, 5-feet, 4-inches because long legs wouldn't fit well in a crowded canoe.
Voyageurs paddled 30 miles or more a day—55 strokes per minute for 14 hours. They paddled before dawn and sometimes long after dark. They stopped every hour or so to smoke their pipes, but breaks were brief because the voyage was long and summer was short in the north.
From Montreal, George and the voyageurs traveled up the Ottawa River in Ontario, overland to Lake Nipissing, down the French River to Lake Huron, overland at Sault Saint Marie, and finally onto Lake Superior."

"Voyageurs worked sixteen to eighteen hours a day, paddling the canoes loaded with trade goods through fast-flowing waterways. It was hard work.

Their day began at 2:00 a.m., with a six-hour paddle until breakfast. Lunch was pemmican eaten in the canoe. Once every hour, paddling ceased and each man lit his pipe. They stopped for a smoke every 6 or 8 kilometers, so the routes were measured in "pipes". Paddling continued until well after dusk; when they made camp and ate supper.:

(from various websites)

Before getting out of my bag, I open the valve on the pad. That flattens it quickly.

Edited by rambler on 06/12/2010 19:12:45 MDT.