10 Creative Ways to use your BUFF® in the Backcountry
1. Pillow Case
Who’s got the time or space to bring their pillow from their bed at home into the backcountry? You can easily use your puffy jacket or spare clothes as a makeshift pillow followed by your 4-way stretch Original BUFF® as your pillow case. This helps keeps your backcountry pillow from unfolding itself overnight while you sleep.
2. Cup Cozy
There’s nothing better than a nice hot cup of joe waking up to the sound of the river. There’s also nothing worse than not being able to hold that cup because of how hot it can get. Grab your BUFF® and wrap it around your cup a few times to help insulate and keep the precious contents warm inside and your palms burn-free.
3. Camera Cover
Also known as the camera condom. For that extra little piece of protection. Keep that little bit of rain and snow off your camera and shoot with a bit more piece of mind. The stretchiness of your BUFF® will conform to virtually any type of camera using almost any lens.
4. Card Game Mat
I don’t know about you, but one of my pet peeves is a deck of dirty cards that won’t shuffle smoothly. Using your BUFF® to simply act as a card mat on any outdoor surface will prolong the life of your playing cards and keep dirt from interfering with you and your kick-ass shuffling skills.
5. Food Cache
Always store your food responsibly. And now with any original BUFF® you can. Simply tie off one end, fill it up with your food, and tie off the other end. Lastly stick any carabiner through one of the knots and hang it from a cache system at your campground. Or if you’re on your own, tie a rope to it and suspend it from a tree, out of the reach from animals. The XL Original BUFF® is going to allow you to store more items than the regular sized.
6. Pack Towel
When you’re hooped without a towel and in need of a quick dry-off, using your moisture-absorbing BUFF® is a quick solution. You can also soak it and use it a wash cloth, or wear it to keep cool on a hot summer’s hike.
7. Light Diffuser
By covering and layering your BUFF® over your headlight, you can diffuse an otherwise single beam of light and spread it evenly over whatever you are needing to see. Give it a try next time you hang your headlight on the ceiling of your tent and see how much of a difference it makes.
8. Coffee Filter
A fun one for all the coffee lovers out there. If you’re anything like me, I’m not a fan of starting any day in the mountains without a nice hot cup to wake up to. But let’s face it, bringing the various types of big hard-to-pack coffee makers in your bag doesn’t always jive with your ultralight setup. Leave the press at home and go fast and light by simply using your BUFF® to filter the coffee over your favourite mug.
9. Electronics Insulator
Sleeping with your phone and electronics in your warm sleeping bag can do the job, but rolling over to your phone jabbing you in the hip isn’t always a lullaby. Wrapping up your devices in your BUFF® before bed can keep them insulated from the colder temps throughout the night and make sure your phone stays alive for that important morning alarm.
10. Sleep Mask
Sleep tight without the light. There’s not much better than a deep dark slumber deep in the woods. A no-brainer step to a better sleep.
What did I miss? How many creative ways can you come up with using your BUFF® in the backcountry?
