equipment that u bring when you are on a hiking trip/jungle trekking - Page 2

Am I the only one who thinks vaseline is an essential? And not for sexual lubrication, obviously. But it's a really good firestarter/blister preventer/chafing preventer. Guess it's just me.

No. I've never done outdoorsy stuff with my parents, fgt. However, when I was in private school, I did something called adventure training in the fall. They'd leave each of us isolated in the woods for the weekend. We were left with almost no food (just a plain bagel), our sleeping bags, a plastic sheet and some string to make a shelter, plus some other basics like matches, etc. They searched our bags and pockets before we were dropped off to make sure we weren't hiding food. I admittedly cheated though. I taped several mars bars around my legs so that I wouldn't starve. My mother did leave me at the school overnight on multiple occasions though.

i have never gone jungle trekking nor will i but i acan think of ablot of thing more importnat thanmost of the stuff on that list.

1. A rifle(for most jungle areas)
2. a pistol (for most jungle areas)
3. machete
4. portable water filter
5. basic madeicne and antibiotics.
6. an armed guide.

th only places where i can imagine you can trek without the weapons are the tuxtlas, tico jungles and possibly certain parts of brazil, other than those areas i would be armed.

Having lived in a cold or at most mildly warm climate most of my life it feels very weird for me to go to sleep without something, at least a bed sheet, covering or partially covering me (except when really drunk). I am not saying I could not sleep without one, just a comfort thing. I imagine I am not the only one, but I have never really asked anyone else so I can't say this with confidence.

And NOTHING made of cotton.
Antifungal cream that covers athlete's foot, jock itch, and candida infections.
Antibiotic ointment with local anesthetic mixed in.
I'd use iodine tablets before a water filter - they'll always work with no chance of breakage/malfunction.

Iodine is out these days, doesn't work that well. Chlorine compounds are better.

Lots of foot powder, fungal creams, and other assorted things to deal with the constant wetness are good. Expect to be bloody quite a bit from soft wet skin getting ripped open or rubbed raw.

Good boots that drain are a must. . .NO GORETEX. They will fill with water and stay that way.

Something that stays warm while wet during rainy season. Wool ponchos are common in certain areas for a reason. . .

Sawyer extractor is a handy little item.

Good broad spectrum antibiotic (cipro) and a good antiparasitic (flagyl) are useful.

In the areas I've been, I'll take long pants and a long sleeve shirt. The vegetation can be brutally sharp. Ripstop fabrics only please.

Oh, and shaving your head is a good idea.

The evidence that it actually works against snake bites doesn't look that good:

Suction for venomous snakebite*1: A study of "mock venom" extraction in a human model
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 43, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 181-186

Study objective
We determine the percentage of mock venom recovered by a suction device (Sawyer Extractor pump) in a simulated snakebite in human volunteers.

Methods
A mock venom (1 mL normal saline solution, 5.0 mg albumin, 2.5 mg aggregated albumin) radioactively labeled with 1 mCi of technetium was injected with a curved 16-gauge hypodermic needle 1 cm into the right lateral lower leg of 8 supine male volunteers aged 28 to 51 years. The Sawyer Extractor pump was applied after a 3-minute delay, and the blood removed by suction was collected after an additional 15 minutes. A 1991 Siemens Diacam was used to take measurements of the radioactive counts extracted and those remaining in the leg and body.

Results
The "envenomation load," as measured by mean radioactivity in the leg after injection, was 89,895 counts/min. The mean radioactivity found in the blood extracted in the 15 minutes of suction was 38.5 counts/min (95% confidence interval [CI] −33 to 110 counts/min), representing 0.04% of the envenomation load. The postextraction leg count was less than the envenomation load by 1,832 counts/min (95% CI −3,863 to 200 counts/min), representing a 2.0% decrease in the total body venom load.

Conclusion
The Sawyer Extractor pump removed bloody fluid from our simulated snakebite wounds but removed virtually no mock venom, which suggests that suction is unlikely to be an effective treatment for reducing the total body venom burden after a venomous snakebite.
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If you decide to carry any guns, make sure you know the local laws concerning carrying and be well trained in their use + know how to keep them in proper working order. I didn't feel the need to carry and most of my translators didn't while I was with them. But the area I was working in was fairly safe in terms of animals (besides snakes) and I didn't go looking for trouble from people.

However, I did know one guy who carried a rifle because he liked to hunt.

I never said the extractor was for snake bites. . .

You'd be surprised at how effective it is at removing stingers and uh, other really nasty things that get into your skin.

Interesting. But doesn't it work, only you have to let the water be treated for 20 minutes for effectiveness?


The GoreTex boots makes sense. What about it for the upper body?


These are both excellent antibiotics to take. I'd go further and say that, instead of taking Cipro with you, take Levaquin instead. They are similar, but Levaquin to my knowledge has even wider coverage.

Furthermore, for the wet skin you'd encounter, you can use tincture of iodine, which is a powerful antiseptic as well as a drying agent - so you don't have to worry about the added maceration that an antibiotic ointment can create.

Oh, and zinc oxide creams, which are used for diaper rash, is a good soothing and antiseptic compound for that dreaded crotch-rot and mud-butt that can occur with hiking and tropical climates.

Iodine is coming up as ineffective against some bugs (cysts, in particular, crypto). Natick did a study on all the commercial products out there, and they were rating the chlorine compounds as the best. I can't seem to find the link right now.

As far as a Goretex jacket. . . it depends. Personally, I end up too hot to wear something like that. I'm starting to favor ponchos, personally. As you go up in elevation, maybe into mountainous cloudforest, a goretex jacket is just fine. Although, even then, the brush can and will shred a lot of fabrics, so keep that in mind if the jacket was expensive.

Interesting. Thanks!

Heading to the jungle anytime soon?

Nah. Just throwing my two cents in.

No you didn't, but it is a selling point the company that makes it uses, so it was worth clarification.