I go nuts in outdoor stores. Everything looks good, and I try to rationalize that items I don’t need may come in handy.

Hiking Tip: Improvise and save $    Here are a couple of ways you can be frugal and get the job done.

Sleeping warm   I found that I became colder in my bag by morning. I was convinced dampness seeped up through my tent floor and through my pad into my sleeping bag. Obvious solution—buy a warmer bag. Then I remembered several hikers who placed contractor insulation paper on their tent floor and put their sleeping pad over that. I can tell you it makes a difference, in the same way such insulation retards cold and moisture from getting into your house. Tyvek insulation paper does the same thing that Dupont and other insulation paper will. A local carpenter cut me the piece above, and it weighs next to nothing.

Mesh Dunk and Storage Bags   To air out stinky clothes, to soak or chill something in a stream, to store garbage, etc., meshed ditty bags, sold in outdoor shops, are popular on the trail and in camps. But the citrus bags (holding oranges and grapefruit), which my wife brings home from the grocer work just fine. I save them and use a couple of new ones on every extended hike. They do the job, and I’ll never run out.

 You work hard for your dollars,so improvise and save a few. Happy trails!