Thursday 09/07/15
Garbage bags are a valuable resource if you find yourself separated from your gear. These strong, flexible plastic bags can serve purposes beyond their intended use. Whether you are enduring difficulties during a camping trip turned sour, or find yourself sleeping in an friend’s garage (..... don’t ask), garbage bags can make your life easier.
To create any of the following items, you will need:
- A couple of garbage bags.
- A sharp knife (This is probably where I’m supposed to tell you to be careful and that you alone are responsible for your own safety...... Be careful..... there, I said it).
- A roll of duct tape.
Poncho - Very useful if you are caught in the rain without foul weather gear and waiting for the rain to pass isn’t an option. Take a garbage bag and cut a hole in the bottom of the bag for your head and a hole in either side for your arms. This should be big enough to shelter you and your backpack from the elements.
Backpack Cover - Many backpacks are showerproof, but not able to withstand exposure to heavy rain for extended periods of time. This will help protect your backpack from the rain if it is too big to fit inside the garbage bag poncho with you. Take another garbage bag and carefully slice open one side with your knife, leaving the bottom of the garbage bag and the other side of the bag intact. After putting your backpack on, pull the garbage bag onto your backpack like you would pull the hood of your jumper over your head. Pull the flaps forward and tie them around your waist, or tie them underneath your backpack. This isn’t perfect, but it should keep your backpack a little drier.
Mattress - Fill the garbage bag with anything that is soft. You will have to use whatever you can find in your immediate environment. This includes: towels, clothing, packing beads, bracken fern, grass clippings, leaves, lots and lots of plastic shopping bags, etc. You are trying to create something that looks like a big, plastic version of a couch cushion. Do not overfill the garbage bag, because it could burst when you climb on it. One garbage bag makes a decent beanbag or big cushion; with your trusty roll of duct tape, you can join several cushions together to make a mattress.
Sleeping Bag - This requires four garbage bags to create.
- Carefully slice open the sides of your first garbage bag (leaving the bottom intact) to create a plastic sheet. Opened up lengthways, this plastic sheet should be longer than you are tall.
- Repeat this with your three remaining garbage bags.
- Use your duct tape to join two open bags together to make a large plastic sheet.
- Repeat the above step with your remaining two garbage bags.
- Use your duct tape to create a big plastic bag out of the two plastic sheets you just made.
- For insulation, fill the bag with scrunched up newspaper (or towels, or anything else you can get your hands on). This will trap pockets of warm air just like when you dress in layers.
Be aware that this sleeping bag will retain moisture, so whatever you put in the bag should be able to absorb that moisture for you.
Insulated Shirt - If you only have one garbage bag, this will help you get through a cold night. Make a garbage bag poncho (as I described above), cinch the bag around your waist with cord or duct tape (or tuck it into your pants), then fill the bag with scrunched-up newspaper. It isn’t particularly comfortable, but it will help you keep warm.
If you don’t have the gear required to make the mattress I’ve described, you can use flattened cardboard boxes to keep you off the ground. This will give you a little bit of padding and prevent the ground/cement floor from leaching away too much of your body heat (which can lead to hypothermia in extreme situations).
These ideas aren’t intended for long term use, but they may help you get through a difficult and unpleasant situation.