Stone's Desert Tips and Tricks

Keeping Cool -  Take along an old towel.  Wet the towel completely, and drape it over your cooler.  It keeps the sun off and provides evaporative cooling, which is very effective in the desert.  Your ice will last a whole lot longer!

Get water from a seep -  Sometimes, the only water source in the desert is a seep. There is no free-running water at a seep, but you can still collect the water. Carry a 1/2 inch (inside diameter) flexible plastic tube 3-4 feet long. Drill several holes in the first foot of one end of the tube. Remove some of the soil or other material from the surface of the seep, and bury the end of the tube with the holes drilled in it. The other end of the tube must be below the buried end, so that water will run down the tube and into your container. The best thing about this method is that water from a seep almost never contains pathogens!

First Aid and Cactus - Even the most desert savvy occasionally meet up with the spines of the cacti. The first tip is don't touch the offending cactus piece with any other part of your body or you'll end up double stuck (much like carpet tape or super glue...). Use a comb to remove the cactus joint, flinging it away from you and your friends, not towards them. Any large imbedded spines can be removed with tweezers (ouch) or pliers (double ouch). Smaller spines can be removed with tape or white glue spread on the skin, allowed to dry, and peeled off. Unfortunately, this also removes body hair.

Duct Tape - Keep several layers of duct tape wrapped around a water bottle for emergency repairs or cactus spine removal during hikes. The tape can be used for first aid, repairing tents, repairing leaky water containers, and on and on...

Work Gloves - purchase an inexpensive pair (or two) of canvas work gloves with leather palms for scrambling around on rough desert slopes. Your hands will love you for it.

Cleaning Up after Meals - If you have some stubborn cooked-on food in your pans after a meal, add a small amount of dishwasher power to the pan, fill with some water and let the pan soak. The soap will loosen the food for easier scrubbing. Keep the powder in a plastic resealable bag that is clearly marked. You would not want to mistake it for something edible.

Bread - No matter where you put it, the bread always seems to get squashed. Next time store it in a shoebox or other comparable box.

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