Dehydrating food for the trail opens up many possibilities for the picky hiker. Cook it, dehydrate it, pack it, add water on the trail and…voila. It’s hard to beat a quickly-prepared, hot, tasty meal at the end of a long hiking day.

The problem: Food dehydrators can be expensive.

The solution: You can make your own!

Grab some duct tape, mosquito netting and a concrete form cylinder (5 bucks at your local hardware store) and head over to instructables.com for easy-to-follow instructions.

I was surfing YouTube today and happened upon this video detailing various ways to make DIY ultralight backpacking gear from stuff you probably already have around the house.  Check out the video below:

Photo via BackpackingLight.com

Sam Haraldson from Backpacking Light Magazine came up with the idea of making his own camera case from bubble wrap and duct tap before he tackled the Pacific Northwest Trail back in the summer of 2006.  He thought it was a dud but decided to take it anyway, and to his surprise it lasted all 1,200 miles of the PNT.  Cheap, lightweight, durable and one more example of why duct tape rocks–visit BackpackingLight.com and learn how to make your own.

Meatball hates waking up but loves his breakfast

If you’re like me, you love backpacking to a remote location, setting up camp, cooking dinner, then falling asleep to the serene (and sometimes scary) sounds of the backwoods.  If you’re like me, you also dread the waking-up part, because that means stepping out into the cold air, cleaning up camp and walking up more mountains on legs flush with lactic acid buildup.  For you non-morning hikers, here are 5 excellent lightweight, simple to prepare, downright delicious trail recipes to make your AMs just a little easier.

Courtesy of instructables.com

Love taking your digital camera or camcorder on the trail but can never manage to get a perfectly steady shot?  Instead of scratching the camera’s bottom on a rock or tree branch, check out this ingenious tip from instructables.com.  You’ll learn how to make a trekking pole monopod, which is exactly what it sounds like.  Says the author, ” this simple camera mount doesn’t take up any space in my pack, barely adds weight to my trekking pole, folds up when not in use, isn’t permanently attached, and costs very little to make.”  Trekking Pole Monopod – instructables.com

Time for a cleanin'

If it’s been a while since you’ve hit the trail, chances are you’re lazy like me and were too tired returning from your last hike that you didn’t bother to properly clean your CamelBak, Platypus, pig bladder (jk), or whatever it is you use for trail hydration.  Luckily the folks over at Trails.com have put together a quick, handy guide on how to get your hydration pack clean and ready for your next trip.  (“How to Clean a Hydration Pack”–Trails.com)

There are thousands of gear lists out there detailing what to bring when hiking or backpacking, but you have to really dig to find the stuff that may not seem obvious but nonetheless make a HUGE difference between a fun trip and an absolute drag.  Here are a few items I pack on every trip that fit that catergory.