Ziplock Bags Are Clever

[Lydia Banales]

How did someone get all that political stuff from a discussion of
plastic bags???  I was amused by richard Willey's comments because I
thought I was the only one who considers zip locks an essential part of
travel. I always have some on hand for washing clothes when you don't
have a sink, storing left-overs, storing dirty clothes til I have a
chance to do laundry, so many uses. The other thing I take is a "picnic
pack". That is a few paper plates and napkins, a few plastic knives and
spoons, individual servings of mustard (for my inevitable cheese
sandwich) and a few packaged hand wipes packed in a (surprise) zip lock
bag. You never know when a picnic opportunity will present itself. Happy
Travels! Lydia

>| ----- Original Message -----
>| From: Bob Spenger <rspengeraADELPHIA.NET>
>| To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
>| Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 1:58 PM
>| Subject: Re: buying a suitable backpack
>|
>|
>| > Note of caution - If you are from the U.S., bring your ziplocks from
>home.
>| I have
>| > not found them in Europe. I talked to a couple of German pilgrims about
>| this and
>| > was told that, although they were familiar with ziplocks from commercial
>| > packaging, they had not seen them available for direct purchase. All
>three
>| of us
>| > wondered why there hasn't been a rush to market them in Europe, since
>they
>| would
>| > probably sell very well. Perhaps the situation has changed in the six
>| months since
>| > I had that conversation.
>| >
>| > regards,
>| >
>| > Bob Spenger
>| >
>| > Richard Willey wrote:
>| >
>| > > Here is a helpful hint regarding packing for any kind of trip.
>| > > Ziplock bags are your friend.
>| > >
>| > > I purchased a box of the large ziplocks.
>| > > Almost all of my gear ended up divided into a large number of separate
>| bags.
>| > >
>| > > This served three crucial purposes:
>| > >
>| > > First, the ziplocks can't be beat for waterproofing.  No matter what
>| happens to
>| > > your bag, the actual gear stays clean.
>| > >
>| > > Second, the ziplocks make packing/unpacking much easier.
>| > > After folding a bunch of stuff into a bag, suckout all of the air
>prior
>| to
>| > > sealing it up.  This does a remarkably good job of compressing your
>gear
>| down
>| > > to the minimum space necessary.
>| > >
>| > > Third, my gear tended to get rather rank.  Being able to isolate some
>of
>| the
>| > > more "nasty" dirty clothes until I could hit a real laundry was very
>| much
>| > > appreciated at some points during the trip.
>
>
>