The Gear Hound

Clean Your Bladder: How to Keep a Hydration Pack Hygienic

If you have a hydration pack that’s been sitting in your gear closet for an unknown length of time, there’s a good chance the bladder looks like a Petri dish. Admittedly, they are your germs inside, but water has a substantially better taste without the extra biology. Bladder replacement is always the preferred option—see yesterday’s blog—but if you need a quick solution to get by, follow these tips:

• Remove the bladder and tube from the pack, disconnect the tube, open the bladder, and rinse it completely.
• Take an old toothbrush and use mild dishwashing detergent to scrub the bladder clean . Rinse with hot water.
• Slosh some soapy water in the tube and then run a pipe cleaner or soft cloth on a wire through it. (Make sure you don’t puncture the tube.)
• I like to let everything dry and then repeat the process with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda.
• Rinse and dry once more and you should be good to go. If there is any odor after the baking soda cycles, pitch the bladder into a garbage can and order a new one (http://www.blackhawk.com/product_catalog.asp?cat_id=46&d).

Want to keep really cool when it’s hot?  Leave your pack in the freezer over night and you’ll have ice water to drink throughout the next day. Only fill the bag three-quarters full to allow enough space for ice expansion.

Disposable Hydration Bladders: Change That Disgusting Bag!

Hydration packs work.  I admit I thought they were stupid at first, but now I wouldn’t spend a day on the trail (foot or ATV) without one. It’s astonishing how much more water I drink, and how much better I feel at the end of the day. One of the greatest challenges is keeping the bladder stench free. You can clean the bag (if you come back tomorrow, I’ll tell you how), but in my opinion the easiest way to deal with the funk is to just toss it into the can. And if you buy BlackHawk HydraStorm disposable water bags, you can afford to do that.  The bladders are less than $5 a piece, and $110 for a pack of 24. 

Disposable tubes are also available (if you’re going to change one, you must change the other) for $7 each, or 24 for $154.  The HydraStorm tube has a quick disconnect that is a vast improvement over the other bladder systems I’ve tried. For more information, go to http://www.blackhawk.com/product_detail.asp?product_id=4413&d. Hit this link for a deal on 24 bags for $104.45: http://www.bhigear.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2753

The Columbia Bonehead Fishing Shirt: You’ll wear it until it falls apart

I own many, many fishing shirts, but the only ones that I wear to the brink of extinction are the Columbia Bonehead PFG long-sleeve shirts. I actually wear them until they fall apart, and not just for fishing, either. Traveling, camping, even hunting; name the activity, and I wear them for it.

The cotton shirts are ultra-supple, have many useful and well-thought-out pockets, dry in a light breeze, and are ventilated for hot-weather fishing. They even come in a long model if you’re on the tall side.

Available salmon, robin-egg blue, yellow, sage, and tan, Bonehead shirts have been around for almost 10 years. They sell for about $50, but you can find them on eBay for around $25. Hit the link and take a look.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&satitle=bonehead+shirt&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=63131&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1

Map Reading 101: Finding Your Zen Compass With a GPS

As I compile the August issue’s Reader Test on handheld GPS units, I have been contemplating their unexpected benefits. For all of you “directionally challenged” sportsmen who can’t put a compass on a map and follow your route to the next destination, a GPS may cure you.
The GPS creates a constant chart reference with longitude, latitude, and traveling direction in degrees that eventually becomes a map inside your head. When you least expect it, a synapse connects, a light goes on, and you’re ready to trek barren parts of the world with nothing but map and compass.
That’s a good thing because any time you enter into the woods with  a GPS and no map, you are asking to become a resident of the Land of the Lost. As near a Godsend that a GPS can be, mishaps happen. For example, your little handheld unit could fall into a 60-foot-deep Canadian lake (mine), or simply run out of battery power (also mine), or you could drop it in a roaring campfire (thankfully not mine).
Getting lost stinks. Embrace your GPS, but always have a back-up map and compass. Have you ever been seriously lost? Hit the comments bar and bare your soul.
      

Hang’em High: How to Properly Store Your Waders

As my final installment in the wader series, this is a reminder that no matter how clean, breathable, and leak-free your waders may be, all it takes is a few months of improper storage to send them to the trash can. Keep these tips in mind when the season comes to an end:
• If the insides are wet, use a Peet shoe dryer or hang your waders outdoors until they are completely dry inside and out.
• If you have stocking–foot waders, hang them on a hanger by the suspenders. If they are bootfoots, hang them upside-down from the base of the boots on a commercial hanger, which you can get at Cabela’s.  Whatever you do, don’t fold them.
• Store your waders in a dry area that is not regularly exposed to fluorescent light or direct sunlight.
Follow these instructions and your waders will last until they’re out of style.
How many days and seasons do you usually get out of a pair of waders? Hit the comments bar and let us know.

Wader CPR: How to Get Air Back in Your Breathables

If you want to keep your breathable waders breathable, you need to keep them clean. It’s safe to throw them in the washing machine, but don’t use Downey, Woolite, or granule cleaners such as Tide or Cheer. Detergents leave chemical deposits that keep air from passing through your waders (and jackets); the fabric will choke unless it’s totally free of residue. I use only one cleaning product: Atsko Sport-Wash (atsko.com ). A capful is enough for a full load, and it rinses completely clean. Once your waders are finished in the washer, toss them into the dryer and set the temperature as high as the fabric can handle. Check them after 7 minutes to make sure they can handle the high temperature. The heat will reactivate the DWR (Durable Waterproof Repellant) and your waders will breathe like they’re brand new.

Good Cheap Waders: Breathables Have Come A Long Way

Breathable waders have been around for more than a decade. In the early years, their price tags may have made you limp out of the fly shop. And if you bought a pair, then you faced the very real challenge of keeping them leak free for 90 days on the water.

Times have changed. I just notched my 60th day on a pair of breathables that cost me less than $90, and they’re still looking great with no sign of giving up. The model is the Pro Line Wallkill breathable stocking-foot wader. They’re soft, come high up on your chest, and weigh less a pound in size L. My pair is green; the newer model is a sand color.

So long as you don’t walk through heavy thickets every day and take reasonable care, these waders should easily make it to 100-plus days.  You can find a pair at this link on sale for $60: http://www.hudsontrail.com/viewItem/8/66/756/   

P.S. Back in 1980s I bought a pair of Stream Line 5mm Bootfoot waders for steelhead guiding that cost me $395!  What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a pair of waders? And how long have they lasted without springing a leak? Come on… I came clean.

Wader Repairs: How to find leaks and fix them forever

Wader leaks can make you damp, cold, and cranky, especially when you can’t find them. Here’s a foolproof way to locate and repair even the smallest holes and gashes.

First, you will need a felt-tip marker and Sportsman’s Goop or an equivalent sealing agent. Make sure your waders and your bathtub are bone dry. Set the waders in the tub and turn on the tap, and begin to fill the side that leaks. As soon as the water passes above the leak and creates the slightest pressure, water will starting coming through on the outside.

Mark the spot with the Sharpie, dry the waders completely, then repair them with Goop, first on the outside, then on the inside. Make sure the outside repair is completely dry before you add Goop to the inside, or you may weld the leg together.

This technique works well with any wader or rubber boot; and you may even find some leaks that you didn’t know were there.

Readers' Most Hated Gear: Equipment to Avoid

As promised, here’s the darker side of the Reader Test Panel applications. We asked the fishing applicants the question, “What piece of gear were you recently disappointed with and why?” This is what they said:

Scott H. of Ladoga, Indiana said:
“The Plano Soft Satchel Bag. Although it was advertised as waterproof, the stitching came apart and it leaked after a really rough day on the water, the stitching came apart and leaked.”

John O. of Juneau, Alaska:
“The Penn 105 CS. It only lasted one year of salmon fishing even though I rinsed it every day and kept it oiled.”

Don P. of Calgary, Alberta:
“Abu Garcia’s AG4F spinning reel. The reel handle broke due to poor metal casting. The Garcia warranty department would only replace it with a sales receipt.”

Aaron K. of Knoxville, Tenn.essee:
“My Quantum Catalyst PTI spinning rReel. The drag had been consistently loosing smoothness; then, while consistently and while catching I was reeling in a stripper, it completely froze.”

Jim L. Murrysville, Pa.ennsylvania:
“Berkely Gulp Power Bait. I just don’t get as many bites as I do on regular Power Bait and it hardens if out of the water for a few minutes.”

Get the word out. Let us know what you bought that didn’t work.

Readers’ Favorite Fishing Gear: The Ugly Stick Tops the List

On the Field & Stream Reader Test Panel application, we asked, “What’s your favorite piece of gear and why?” Here are a few responses from the fishermen:

Al S. of Brighton, Mich.: “I love my 6’6” St. Croix spincasting rod. It’s great for distance casting.”

Marc S. of Macedon, N.Y.: “My G Loomis GL2 6’6” baitcasting rod. Unbelievable feel and action.”

Jeff H. of Grand Lake, Colo.: “My Hodgman Wadelite chest waders. They’re extremely light weight and tough enough to take a beating in willow thickets.”

Richard A. of Brandon, Fla.: “A Garmin 2620 GPS. This is the most accurate GPS I have ever owned.”

Now here’s the surprise. I have looked at more than 1,000 applications and the one piece of fishing gear mentioned most frequently is…drum roll, please…the Shakespeare Ugly Stick. Who knew that a $40 rod would be loved by so many?

How much you would spend for a good fishing rod?

On a darker note, tomorrow I will bring you a list of the most ostracized fishing gear.