Chapter 5 – Getting
Prepared: Purchasing Equipment
Last Updated: February 13th, 2006
This
information was taken from www.replant.ca
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Introduction
I’m going to try to make this
simple, and put a summary list right up front.
This list will include items that I think a planter should consider bringing
with them for a season of planting. I’ll
go into more detail about many of the listed items as we get further down the
page. What is important to remember is
that the list here is things to consider. Most of the items are highly recommended, but
a few are not mandatory – whether or not you bring them will depend on personal
preference and how much storage/carrying capacity you have.
A first year planter once sent me
this question: ”I was wondering what your take was on this. I have never planted
before and the company I am working for said I am mainly going to be working
out of bush camps. I have worked at fire camps and I know what gear to bring
and not to bring. My problem is we were either driven right out to our sites or
flown there and I don't know how it works with tree planting. If I have to haul
my camping gear in for a long distance it is pretty damn heavy. Should I be
really concerned about weight?"
The answer to the above question is, “Yes and no.” Planting will be like working in fire
camps. You would probably never have to
pack your gear in long distances ... you will almost always be able to drive
right into camp, and when that is not possible there will be rolligons or
helicopters taking you right into camp.
So technically, no, you don't have to worry about weight.
However, having said that, you'll obviously want to use some
common sense. Cutting back on what you
bring with you is critical. Don't leave
things at home that you'll definitely need, but at the same time remember that
whatever you bring, you will have to take care of all summer, and this includes
times in town when you're between contracts.
My basic rule is that if you can't fit everything that you own into two
hockey bags, you've got too much stuff.
It's amazing how quickly the pickup trucks fill up with
planters' personal gear when moving camp.
The less you have, the less you are likely to use. By the way, hockey bags ARE a great way of
carrying gear around, and they are sturdy.
A hockey bag containing a tent, tarp, hard hat, and
other gear.
Equipment List
Items on this list are generally indispensable, or
at the very least, highly recommended.
Full descriptions of what to look for are provided further down the
page.
Clothing:
Work
boots.
A caulk-wrench and spare caulks, if
you wear caulked boots (optional).
Rain gear.
Work pants.
Long underwear/sweat pants.
Belt.
T-shirts, and long sleeved work shirts.
Fleece sweatshirts.
Socks and underwear.
Hat.
Gloves.
Town clothes and boots (hiking shoes).
Planting
Gear:
Set
of planting bags.
Shovel.
Silvicool inserts for planting bags
(you need three).
Silvicool “Space” tarp – ten feet by
ten feet in size is more than adequate.
Water jug.
Plot cord – 3.99
metre.
Flagging tape – a couple rolls
should do.
Toiletries
and Medicinal:
The basics – toothbrush, deoderant,
shaving kit, etc.
Girls, do NOT bring makeup.
Hand cream/moisturizer.
Sun screen.
Solarcaine.
Fingernail
clippers.
Vaseline, lip
balm, and either Zincofax or Penaten for chafing and rashes. Penaten also works good
for cuts on the hands, and is cheap.
Vitamin
supplements (optional).
Tums for
indigestion (optional).
Heat rub for sore muscles
(optional).
Tylenol/Aspirin,
and maybe some muscle relaxants such as Roboxacet (optional).
Antihistamines, if you might have
allergies/hay fever.
Miscellaneous:
Tent.
Sleeping bag.
Foamie.
Small pack or bag
for lunch and rain gear.
Insect repellent containing DEET.
Alarm clock (or
two).
Flashlight, with
lots of batteries.
Camera (optional).
Duct tape.
Email account.
Clothing
Work Boots
Your
boots should have steel shanks (a metal strip in the sole) to give protection
against bruising of the bottom of your foot.
Many planters wear caulked boots (pronounced corks) in order to achieve
a better grip on slippery logs and to enhance screefing capabilities – the
process of disturbing the ground surface to prepare a spot for your seedling.
Boots
can generally be divided into two types: rubber and leather (or waterproof and
not waterproof). To increase your
comfort level with all boots, you should use insoles (wash them regularly), wear two or more pairs of socks, and buy boots big enough
so that two pairs of socks and insoles fit well. Boots should not be too tight or loose.
Leather work boots, once broken in,
are generally quite comfortable. They
will last a long time if you clean them regularly and put shoe-wax on
them. Clean them every day off (wipe off
mud, etc.). If you buy leather boots,
you really should break them in
before you go planting by wearing them around for a few weeks. If you don’t, you might be sorry (blisters,
and maybe a few non-productive days).
Leather boots will not keep your feet dry in the rain (although you can
wear a baggie or bread bag between layers of socks on each foot). If you can get them cheap, army surplus cadet
boots (with steel toe and sole) also work well.
Otherwise, buy CSA approved steel toe and steel shank work boots.
A typical pair of leather boots.
Leather hiking boots are one of the
most comfortable types of footwear known to man. Once broken in, they are paradise for the
feet. However, the tree planter will be
doing some screefing with his/her feet, which will ruin good hiking boots very
quickly. More modern forms of hiking
boot, such as GoreTex or day hikers, are useless. GoreTex loses its water resistance when it
gets dirty. Fancy designs with multiple
panels of leather, plastic components, etc. will wear out very quickly. I would strongly advise against buying hiking
boots for planting because they wear out too fast (unless you want a pair for
just lounging around camp and town).
Hiking boots are great as town boots though, as long as you don’t make
the mistake of wearing them on the block for a day and ruining them.
Rubber boots are great because they
keep your feet dry, which is critical! There are several kinds of rubber boots
available. Chainsaw boots are orange,
with chainsaw matting (Kevlar) over the shin.
These have steel toe and shank, and are fairly heavy. Some people recommend that you avoid this
type of boot, but I’ve worn them for many, many seasons, and have been
happy. They are especially great in
A pair of chain-saw boots, or “caulks”
Lace-ups are a boot of choice for
many BC planters. They are comfortable,
easy to put on/take off, and available with or without caulks. The best kind seems to be the Viking
brand. They are priced quite reasonably,
but you get what you pay for - these boots may not last a full spring and
summer season. Don’t forget to buy a
couple pairs of extra laces. Rubber
boots without laces, but with steel toe and shank, can also work well. They also last quite a while, and don’t cost
too much. However, the fact that they
don’t lace means you float around inside them, which is uncomfortable to some
people.
Plastic boots are also available,
with a number of brand names such as Koflach, Kastingers, or Scarpas. These are kind of like cut-off ski boots, and
are light, warm, and fairly waterproof if worn with gaiters. The hefty price ($250-$400 or more) scares
away many people, as it should. I would
not recommend these for rookies, although some high-end planters may be better
off with them, depending on personal preference. You can also have a pair resoled to take
caulks, which makes them a great boot.
Many planters also wear what they
call “mountain boots.” From what I can
understand, a mountain boot is a glorified, heavy-duty, work-oriented hiking
boot. If this is the case, and the soles
and leather are strong enough, then this kind of boot might be quite
useful. Of course, you’ll have to be
careful when looking at these kind of boots, since
there seems to be no straightforward way of differentiating hiking boots and
mountain boots, except by checking out the quality yourself.
A pair of “mountain boots,” which are a heavy-duty hiking boot.
Caulks and Caulk Wrench
Caulks (pronounced “corks”) are
little metal spikes which are found on the bottom of some boots. They are very useful if you are doing a lot
of screefing with your feet (FH planting), or if you are on steep, wet ground
with a lot of slash, to prevent you from slipping on logs. I would most strongly recommend boots with
caulks to every serious planter who can afford them. Bring some extra caulks (about fifteen cents
each) and a wrench to the bush with you.
Also, make sure you carry a pair of hiking boots or runners for town
use, because you’ll get yelled at if you try wearing caulked boots into most gas
stations, convenience stores, etc.
A slightly blurry picture of a caulk-wrench and both old
and new caulks.
Here we see the bottom of a boot which is in the process of having the
old, dull caulks replaced.
Rain Gear
Rain gear is very important since
planters work in both good and bad weather.
A rain jacket and rain pants are both necessary. Investing a little extra in rain gear will
pay off in the long run - it can be frustrating to miss a day of work because
of sickness or cold that was exaggerated due to inadequate rain gear.
Assorted pieces of generic rain gear, showing both pants
and jackets.
Bear
in mind that when you are planting you cannot afford to hide in a warm truck
when nature gets wet and nasty, no matter how appealing
it is (I have worked for foremen that locked the trucks and held onto the keys
during poor weather, to keep planters from sitting in the trucks). You have to continue to work, while trying to
keep dry and warm. If you can’t stay
dry, you still need to stay warm.
Planting is one way to keep warm – if there is a cold rain, you will
soon learn that taking a break even for a couple minutes while bagging up
really makes you cold, although you’ll warm up again once you start working
hard. Cotton clothes are cold when they
get wet, so don’t wear them in the rain.
Here is a good rain gear system:
-
For periods that do not feature heavy rain:
Louis Garneau polypro cycling tights - the durable, heavy duty kind, not
the softer Lycra version. Wear them with
a pair of cut-offs overtop to minimize chaffing from your planting bags, and to
provide pockets. These are thicker than
regular polypro underwear and resist tearing by branches and snags. They keep the black flies out, and the baggy
cycling ass is useful to the planter who spends his or her whole day bending
down to plant. These are about forty
dollars at Mountain Equipment Co-Op, but well worth it. You can also use spandex or polypro
underwear, but these will rip more easily.
-
A shirt made of non-cotton materials such as polypro. Wool is great if you can stand the itching,
and is warm when wet and quick-drying.
You can use long underwear tops, cycling shirts, or outdoor shirts sold
at Mountain Equipment Co-Op.
-
Reinforced rubber rain jacket and pants.
The pants can have suspenders, or even better, a properly-fitting
elastic waistband. The jacket should be
tough, reinforced rubber. Used when it
rains very heavily; in light or occasional rain you can plant wearing only a
polypro shirt and pants, which will dry in minutes. Other good heavy rain gear is PVC. If you buy rain gear, make sure it’s
reinforced. Straight plastic or rubber
will shred within minutes of you getting out on the block. Good rain gear can cost over $100, but should
last a couple seasons, and will keep you dry and warm. Some planters like to use a heavy rubber
poncho over a synthetic layer, since this system allows considerable freedom of
movement. I have had very good luck in
recent seasons wearing rubber or caulked chainsaw boots, a pair of sweatpants
or long underwear, and a pair of black Coleman rainpants (with inside lining)
from Canadian Tire – available for about $50.
This will keep your bottom half happy – on top you can wear long sleeve
shirt and wool sweater or fleece, and have an optional rain jacket for the
heavy downpours.
Should you buy Gore-Tex type
rain gear? Gore-Tex is the outdoor
person’s miracle substance. However, its
efficiency when planting is not certain, because planting tends to get you dirty,
and dirty GoreTex does not work. GoreTex
is also vulnerable to tearing by snags, etc.
If you are planting in the Interior, or anywhere where there’s
infrequent rain, you might be able to use it, but on the Coast, forget it.
Jon at Raven Studios agrees with some of the information above, but believes that they are tailored for “casual” work in the rain. For planters looking for a longer-term investment, or for those working on coastal projects, these comments he made might be of interest: “Polypro and Goretex are for hippies who want to look cool at Starbucks, not for working men in the bush. Let me give you the real scoop on outdoor work-wear: it is called ‘wool.’ Use wool for socks, underwear, shirts and sweaters, period. Virgin Wool is what you want, to be exact, which is full length fibers rather than clippings from the mill floor. This takes care of three things: (1) it is not itchy, (2) it does not "fuzz", matt up into little balls, or fall apart, and (3) it does not smell over time. Properly woven wool not only keeps you warm when wet, but also repels water rather than absorb it. It also breaths better during strenuous activity and lasts forever. The best rain gear is made from 100% cotton "tin-cloth" with an oil finish. If you want the best gear for working in the bush get "Filson" at www.filson.com. It costs a lot, but there is nothing better anywhere. But that is probably a moot point because tree planters tend to be smelly, patchouli-oil wearing, cheap-skate hippies and granola crunchers who don't care if they wear rotten smelly cloths that fall apart after one season.” Well put, Jon!
Work Pants
Planting pants need to do two things: keep sun and branches off your legs, and keep the bugs
out. A light, baggy pair of cotton pants
(or cotton long johns worn with an old pair of shorts over top) works well in
dry weather. Unless you invest in proper
high-quality work pants (not necessary in your first year), your pants will
probably get destroyed in two months, so don’t spend a fortune on expensive
army surplus pants. For hot and bug-free
days, a ragged pair of thigh-length shorts is nice. Some planters even wear shorts almost
constantly, however, when one sees the discomfort that they suffer with poor
weather and/or bugs, and the multiple lacerations (which, when bleeding,
attract the bugs even more), other people wonder about their general
sanity. I’ve found some nice
medium-quality work pants at CostCo in the past year that many of my planters
have found to be very useful. You probably only need to spend $20 to get a pair of work pants
that will probably last for one season (although at that price, you should
probably pick up about three pairs of pants). I managed to find a type at CostCo that have
“zip-off” leggings so you can turn the pants into a decent pair of shorts on
hot days.
Long Underwear/Sweat Pants
When it is cold out, wearing long
underwear or sweats under your work pants can help. These items are also very comfortable when
worn under rain pants, usually much more so than regular work pants. Typical long underwear brands which are more
form-fitting are probably a better idea than sweatpants. Some people think they would be better off
bringing sweatpants, because they can be worn in public, but you’ll soon learn
that when you’re in the planting camp, seeing people wearing just long
underwear is commonplace and not at all out of the ordinary (although people
might stare if you wear long underwear by itself in town). Try to avoid cotton underwear, again because
of the fact that it is cold when it gets wet.
Also, be aware that your long underwear will almost always be wet – if
not from rain leaking in, from sweating.
Belt
If your work pants all fit you comfortably
and you don’t think you’ll need a belt, bring one anyway. Within a month or so, you’ll be at least two
or three notches smaller, and you’ll be annoyed because your pants will be
falling down all the time. If you want
to save money and not bother bringing a belt, you can always use a piece of
rope as a substitute, although it gets annoying having to untie the rope ever
time you need to urinate.
T-Shirts, Long Sleeved Work Shirts
You can get cheap cotton clothes at
thrift stores (the Salvation Army, Interfaith Thrift, Frenchy’s, etc.). Mark’s Work Wearhouse sells quality workwear
including pants, socks, and outerwear for reasonable prices. Some of the clothing mentioned above can be
bought at MEC or other outdoor places.
You would do well to buy reasonably priced items, because your clothes
will get dirty, abused, and destroyed in the bush. Don’t load up on designer branded names at
Eddie Bauer or J.Crew or L.L. Bean. Go
with proper work clothing suppliers (including www.motoca.ca,
which carries pants & head-gear & rain gear, not just shirts) if you’re
looking for higher-priced items that are designed to last through very rugged
conditions. If you want to save money
and go with more disposable options, the Salvation Army can sometimes be a
useful source. Nobody cares what you
look like.
As far as shirts are concerned,
bring a couple of ratty white T-shirts and a baggy white cotton
turtleneck. The T-shirts keep you cool,
while a turtleneck (or any long-sleeved baggy work shirt) is good for keeping the
bugs away. A heavy jacket is also useful
for cold mornings at the start of May, and end of August.
Fleece Sweatshirts
Fleeces are somewhat bulky, and
therefore not always the best items to wear while planting, except maybe when
it is cool in early May. However, they
are quite useful in the morning on the way to the block (to keep warm), and
sometimes after planting if the air is chilly.
Fleeces are also popular in light rains, and to wear around camp in the
evening.
Socks and Underwear
Socks are very important. Buy at least a dozen pairs of light
polypropylene work socks, and a similar number of pairs of wool/nylon blend
thick work socks. The light ones
obviously go on first, with the wool on the outside. This setup keeps you from getting blisters,
and these types of socks keep your feet dry when you sweat, and are warm when
wet. Cotton socks are useless because
they stay wet, and are cold when wet. When buying wool socks, try for an 80% wool and 20% nylon mix,
which will last longer. Bama socks,
or other types of polyethylene liners, are also excellent. A neat trick if you don’t like wet feet is to
put baggies or bread bags between your inner and outer socks. Eventually, your feet will still be wet from
sweat, but at least this is a gradual process, so it isn’t as painful and
shocking as accidentally dumping your foot in a puddle.
Poly-Pro Socks, and a pair of Wool Socks.
A pair of bama socks.
For regular underwear, bring
whatever you’re comfortable with. Long
underwear is discussed above.
Hat
The
hat is an essential item. Without a
sunhat, you are much more susceptible to getting a sunburn,
heat exhaustion, sunstroke, tired, and miserable. On rainy days, your hat doubles in function
by keeping some of the water out of your eyes (a ball cap or Tilley hat is
indispensable on rainy days if you wear glasses - and while I’m on the topic,
as a wearer of both contacts and glasses for over ten years, I would advise
that no one wear contacts on the block, for first aid and health reasons). The only time I ever found contact lenses to
be more comfortable than glasses were, was during rain storms. The best thing to use is a broad-brimmed
cotton or canvas sunhat that is white, which will keep the rain and sun out of
your eyes and ears - baseball hats and bandannas are also acceptable. Keeping the sun out of your eyes reduces
eyestrain and makes you less tired at the day’s end - this is important because
planting with sunglasses is proven to be unfeasible (you can’t see well into
the holes that you are making).
Another good reason for having a hat
is to keep your hair out of your eyes while you’re bending down to plant. If you have long hair, a hat (or at least a
bandanna) can be very helpful.
A typical sun-hat.
Gloves
Some planters like to wear gloves
while planting. This is certainly
acceptable, and minimizes contact with pesticides, since some boxes of trees do
have pesticides on them. However, most
gloves can slow planters down, because it makes it more difficult to grab trees
out of your drawbag if you are wearing a glove.
Nonetheless, having a glove on your planting hand can sometimes improve
your overall production, despite the fact that pulling from your drawback is slower,
because you feel more comfortable sticking your hand into the shovel hole and
forcing the roots of the tree to be straight.
Planters who don’t wear gloves sometimes get sore hands, and are
hesitant about sticking their fingers into the shovel hole, because it can
hurt. As a compromise, some planters
wear duct tape on the fingers of their planting hand.
If you decide to wear gloves, there
are a couple brands that are especially popular. Webbed orange gloves have been around for
years, and seem to get positive reviews.
These gloves also have the advantage of being ambidextrous – if you only
wear a glove on one hand, you can buy a pair, and after the first glove wears
out, you can use the other glove on the same hand. Another type of glove which has grown quickly
in popularity in the past few years is the Atlas glove, which has blue rubber
under the fingers, and a cloth mesh on the rest of the glove. “Botanically Correct” is a similar brand to
the Atlas, and presumably these were actually designed for gardening. There is also an Atlas thermal version, in
gray instead of blue, which is slightly thicker and better for use in cold
weather.
Town Clothes & Boots
You will definitely want one or two
sets of town clothes (clean jeans, nice shirt, clean jacket, etc.). I highly suggest that you wrap these garments
securely in a couple layers of plastic, and then put them in some sort of pack
where they are safe and dry. You should
have a pair of town shoes or town boots – hiking boots are great, as long as
you don’t make the mistake of wearing them while planting someday and ruining
them. In with your town clothes, it is
also advisable to have a simple clean(ish) t-shirt and pair of sweats, so you
have something to wear while doing your laundry and errands on the day off that
can get dirty.
Planting Gear
Planting
Bags
To carry seedlings, the planter
wears a set of planting bags. The number
of pouches on this set of bags can vary, but it is almost always three pouches
in recent years. Essentially, the bags serve
as a storage area for the seedlings, so the planter can carry a large number of
trees at a time, and not have to go back to the cache as frequently to grab
more trees.
When buying your bags, make sure
that the waist belt fits comfortably and tightly, since it carries most of the
weight. I believe that BushPro sells an
add-on thicker waist belt for their bags which I would recommend highly. If you buy used bags, make sure they aren’t
ripped or frayed, and make sure the buckles close and the belt and straps
adjust properly (plastic clip-on buckles are preferable to the much older
cloth/stitched bags with metal clasps).
New bags are around $80, while used bags (if available) will go for $40
to $50. Avoid stiff-bottomed
(tray-bottom) bags. Make sure that the
part of the side pouches that will rub against your thighs does not have seams
and protruding material that will irritate your skin and ruin pants.
A set of planting bags.
Shovel
The shovel is the major tool in
planting and should be comfortable to use.
The shovel should not be too long or too short. If the shovel is not comfortable, it will
hinder the planter's production. There
are three different types:
- The "D" handle is the
most preferred handle used by planters in BC/Alberta.
- The straight handle (staff shovel) should be used by planters feeling tightness
in the wrist caused by repetition (commonly known as tendonitis). It is used in rocky ground to cope with the
shock of striking a rock when making a tree hole.
- Recently (in 2004), the “modified
D-handle” started to become popular.
These shovels are similar to the conventional D-handle, except that they
tilt down to the right, in an attempt to be more ergonomically correct and comfortable
for planters. Initial reviews from the
vets suggest that it feels strange, but there were no major complaints. Once I hear more about this new design (field
tested in 2003), I’ll be able to go into more detail. I have no idea whether or not there is a
left-handed version available.
There are also different blade types
for shovels. The most common of course
is the standard tree planter shovel, which has a blade with a very slight
curve, and is slightly tapered with a blade about four to five inches wide, and
about a foot long. Another type of blade
is the spear, which is a narrower blade that is helpful when planting seedlings
in rocky ground. Spears are not very
common.
Rookies
should NOT buy a normal D-handle. I find
this difficult to say, after going through more than a dozen seasons running a
crew with almost entirely D-handles, but it seems to be in your best [medical]
interests to avoid them. Staff shovels (staves) are much better for your limbs
and body, although their extra length sometimes makes for a pain in the ass
when dealing with helicopter blocks. The
standard planting shovel has a tempered-steel blade (made by either Carrant or
BushPro) that is about a foot long and between four and six inches wide. Shovels cost about $60 new, and if you see
new ones for a significantly lower price, avoid them because they are probably
more likely to break when you are hundreds of miles from your nearest hardware
store. It is also possible to buy
shovels with fiberglass handles, and I have never heard of one of those
breaking, although in 2004 we had several metal blades snap in our camp. Many pairs of planters will split the costs
to buy a third shovel between them to have a backup in case one breaks while in
the bush. The cost of having an extra
shovel ($50) far outweighs the despair of missing a day of work ($200) because
there are no extras around. I would
never switch away from a D-Handle myself, but the health experts disagree with
me.
There is a recurring debate among
planters as to which kind of shovel (Staff vs. D-Handle) is better. On the face of it, a D-handle is better. It feels more natural than a staff. The handle gives you leverage for twisting,
and its length is more comfortable than the length of the staff. It feels like a “normal” shovel. In stores that sell planting gear, there are
always far more D-handles to choose from than staff shovels (staves), leading
many planters to think that the D is the way to go. However, the D can lead to physical problems,
such as tendonitis and bursitis.
A staff shovel.
Tendonitis (and bursitis, which is
related) affect people who use certain muscle groups in repetitive ways. People who type, use adding machines or power
tools, and tree planters are the largest affected groups. The tendon is a tissue that joins muscle to
bone. The tendon is wrapped in a sheath
of protective tissue. When a muscle is
over-used in a repetitive way, the tendon can inflame the sheath by rubbing
against it. This causes the sheath to
swell, which results in the creaking sound and feel of tendonitis, swelling,
pain, stiffness, and sometimes immobility of the affected part.
The treatment for acute inflammatory
tendonitis is immobilization with support and moist heat (definitely not ice
packs). This means that the planter who
is severely affected can be out of work for days or weeks. If you think it would be great to go on
Workers Compensation and spend the last six weeks of your planting season on a
beach somewhere, think again. Tendonitis
often leads to scarring, which has to be surgically removed, and which requires
extensive physiotherapy to get you back up to speed. Some types of tendonitis of the knee and
elbow can never fully recover.
If you lay your palm flat against
the outside of your thigh, your entire arm is in what is known as the
“anatomically neutral” position. This
means that there is no stress or extension on any ligaments, muscle groups, or
tendons in your arm. Now, if you turn
your hand so that its palm lies flat on the front of your thigh, you are
holding your hand OUT of the anatomically neutral position. This means that your tendons and muscles are
extended.
Muscles and tendons are like any
other material: they have a limited (though, in the long term variable)
capacity to absorb and/or transmit stress.
When you hold your hand so that it is out of anatomical position, you
decrease the “slack” or excess absorptive capacity in your arm. This means that when you plant with a
D-handled shovel, you are in effect overloading the tendons and muscles in your
arm, because you are transmitting kinetic energy through your arm (from
slamming the shovel into the ground) and through muscles and tendons that are
already extended. Imagine something like
a climbing rope, rubber band, or bike tire.
When these materials are not stretched out, or only partially stretched,
they have a large capacity to absorb shock.
However, when they are stretched taut, the same amount of force can tear
or puncture them. Your muscles work in a
roughly similar way. A staff shovel
helps by making you use your arm in an anatomically neutral position because of
the way that you hold the staff, not like a D-handle which is at a
ninety-degree angle to neutral position.
This means that you will transmit stress through your muscles and
tendons which are not in an extended position.
A staff also allows your hand to slide along the shaft when the shovel
hits the ground (especially when you hit rocks), whereas a D-handle transmits
that energy directly into your arm, which hurts and causes damage over time.
A “D-handle” shovel.
Veteran planters who are used to a
D-handle can consider switching. After
only a day or two, the staff supposedly begins to feel normal to you. The long handle can be sawed down (wrap the
end in a ball of duct tape) so it doesn’t get in your way, and the blade can be
customized as with any other shovel. I
personally expect to use a D-handle for the rest of my life, but then again,
I’m old and set in my ways. Morally, I
still have to recommend that new planters start off on the right foot with a
staff. The Workers’ Compensation Board
strongly recommends a staff. Of course,
the significant inroads made by the “modified D-handle” in 2004 may mitigate
some of the medical drawbacks of the traditional D-handle. More on this once I get some more experience
with the new shovels.
The newer “modified-D” shovel.
Planting shovels come pre-made in standard
configurations, however, some planters modify their
shovels by having a metal shop or hardware store change the shape of the
blade. You can shorten a blade, change
its shape, and saw off one of the kickers.
Rookies need not bother with this procedure, until they have some
experience and know how blade modifications can benefit them. Be careful, however, not to shorten your
blade too much. I’ve occasionally had
planters get pulled off the block by checkers because their blades did not meet
the contract’s minimum length specifications (and because most checkers figure
that a shorter blade leads to j-roots, a theory which does have some
merit). I’ve also known planters who
have shaved down their shovel, and afterwards, lament because they shaved too
much off the blade and they wished it was still a little bit longer.
Silvicool Inserts
Insert bags are used in the planting
bags to protect the seedling from heating up.
They are made out of reflective material and must be closed at the top
when full of trees, with the exception of your feeder bag/drawbag (the one
currently in use). Wet moss or sponges
must be kept in the bottom of these bags to keep the trees moist. Most contracts specify that you must use your
inserts, even when it is raining. Typically,
the drawbag has an insert with the top rolled back, for easy access to your
loose trees, and the other two pouches contain closed inserts.
Some planters also use an extra
insert to carry their lunch and/or water, to keep it cool.
Three silvicool inserts. The left
one is folded over to be used as a drawbag.
Silvicool Tarp
Personal tarps or “space tarps”
(possibly called such because the silver lining makes them look like things
from outer space, although I’m not positive about that) are made from
reflective material and are used to cover your individual box or boxes of trees
on the block. Boxes must be covered as
specified at the pre-work conference.
Rocks or logs can be used to keep the tarp from blowing off the
box. A box of trees exposed to sunlight
may result in a penalty to you or your crew.
Note that the spring and summer seasons, because of differences in the
ways that trees are delivered to the contractor, have different specifications
for tarping. Spring trees (over-wintered)
are usually required to be completed covered and tucked in on all sides. Summer trees (hot-lifted) are usually
required to have a tarp suspended a foot overhead, keeping sunlight off all
parts of all boxes, and the boxes themselves must be opened, watered, and all
trees standing up within the boxes.
Plot cord
A plot cord is an essential piece of
planting equipment. Planters should not
be allowed to plant without one. The
only way a planter can maintain proper spacing in the long term is by using the
plot cord. This cord is 3.99 metres long
and is made of rope, wire, chain, etc. (preferably clothesline). I use a plot cord all the time when I plant,
and usually try to throw a plot on myself at least after every second run, just
to double-check my own density. Some
planters are reluctant to throw plots on themselves, but think about it – it
takes you about one minute at the very most to throw a plot or two as you’re
walking back to the cache, and if you catch spacing problems before they get
out of control, you can save yourself hours of replanting. I’m just amazed that some experienced
planters practically refuse to throw plots on themselves – many of the best
planters I’ve known (production-wise, not just quality-wise) have not allowed
this form of hubris to get in the way of the job. Be careful that you don’t buy a spacing plot
cord, which is 5.64 meters long. It can
still work, but just be aware that it covers exactly twice as much surface
area, and therefore you can expect to get twice as many trees in it as
expected.
A standard 3.99 meter plot cord.
Water Jug
A
water container is indispensable. You
can drink as much as ten litres of water (or more) on hot days. Although it is possible to buy fairly
inexpensive coolers (about $20) which hold a gallon and keep it moderately
cool, planters could also consider bringing several old two-litre plastic pop
bottles. These are universally
available, and very strong, to withstand bouncing around in the back of the
truck. The only drawback with these is
that once empty, someone else on the crew might throw it in the garbage. Another option is to ask the cook to set
aside a couple of empty milk jugs for you from the kitchen. These hold a decent amount of water, and are
pretty durable. You can take two or
three of these jugs full of water to the block with you, and if you have to
walk a distance into a block, they fit easily into the pouches in your planting
bags. Planters should ALWAYS be aware of
how much water they bring to the block.
Although your foreman will try to get you more water if you run out
during the day, it is often impossible to magically come up with more fresh,
clean water when on the block. And if
the rest of the crew is depending on the presence of the foreman to ensure that
planting proceeds smoothly, he/she often cannot afford an hour long trip to
camp to get more. ALWAYS take more than
you think you can use. Also, try not to
pour out extra water at the end of the day, just because you want to make your
gear lighter on the walk out of the block.
Remember, the planting camps often have to pay to have potable water
hauled in, or have to send trucks to town to refill barrels, which is a real
hassle. Every little bit of conservation
of water helps, just don’t ever skimp on drinking lots of water on the block
for the sake of conservation. Finally,
do NOT buy a red jerry can to use as a water bottle – these should be reserved
for fuel purposes only.
A pair of common water jugs. The
one on the right is insulated.
Flagging Tape
Ribbon or flagging tape is used by
planters to mark boundaries and is carried either in a pouch, in the planting
bag, or in the planter's pocket. There
are tons of colors available, and ribbon shouldn’t cost much more than a dollar
or so per roll, especially if you get a whole deck (package of a dozen rolls or
so) at once. Try not to buy green
ribbon, because it blends in with the vegetation – I’m not sure why they even
sell it in this color. Besides getting
ribbon in a solid color, you can also get “tiger-stripe” ribbon, which is
stripes of two alternating colors (usually black or white is one of the two
colors). I have often been asked why
flagging tape is made of plastic, which is not exactly biodegradable, and why
someone doesn’t produce biodegradable ribbon.
Well, biodegradable ribbon IS available, although it is a lot more
expensive, which is why most people don’t use it. Biodegradable ribbon usually disintegrates
completely after just a year or so, whereas normal ribbon usually becomes
frayed and disappears after quite a few years, but probably doesn’t really
break down in an environmental sense.
Several rolls of flagging tape, also known as “ribbon”.
Where to Buy Gear
Camping
gear can be bought pretty much anywhere.
You can get crappy stuff very cheaply at Canadian Tire, K-Mart,
etc. I would recommend buying decent
camping gear because it will last and make your life more comfortable. For better camping equipment, there are some
upscale places around. Mountain
Equipment Co-Op has stores in
If you are in
In
In
You can also order high-quality,
durable clothing-related items from www.motoca.ca
Click here if you want to
download the BushPro 2004 catalogue as an Adobe .PDF file.
Toiletries and Medicinal
The Basics
The basic toiletries that you bring
should include anything that you might bring to a cottage for an overnight trip
in the summer – soap, shampoo, towel, deodorant, hair brush or comb, razor
(males), and tampons (females). You
should also bring some of the things that might not be used on an overnight
trip, but which would come in handy eventually – fingernail clippers, q-tips,
etc. Some people suggest bringing
band-aids. That is probably a good idea,
in case you get a significant cut that you want to cover at night. An alternative is to keep it exposed at night
(exposure to air heals cuts far faster), and maybe put a band-aid and duct tape
over the band-aid during the day, while planting, if you don’t want a lot of
dirt to get into the cut. However, you
will probably find that you don’t want to bother using band-aids on ninety
percent of your cuts.
Makeup
Girls, you probably should not bring
makeup. You will definitely not need it
in the bush, and might even be laughed at if you put on makeup in camp. If you insist though, you can bring some very
basic makeup for nights off in town.
Remember though, that planters are a very down-to-earth sort of
group. If you want to get all
“dolled-up,” go ahead, but you may feel out of place. Many people who go tree planting are not the
type to do that.
Hand Cream/Moisturizer
Think about inserting your hand into
the ground, a couple thousand times a day.
Your skin will dry out and crack, and your hand
will hurt. Wearing gloves will help, but
some people don’t like to wear gloves.
If you don’t wear gloves, maybe you can at least duct tape your fingers
on your planting hand, to minimize cuts and scrapes. Either way, a liberal application of hand
cream every night will make your hands feel a lot better over time. In my early days of planting, everyone said,
“make sure you get vitamin E hand cream.” The most popular brand of hand cream in my
camp these days is probably Glysomed.
Different types of Hand Cream.
Sun Screen
You will get sunburned. If you are lucky, you will do it in stages,
so you don’t blister badly. Remember
that many times, you will be planting in the mountains at significantly higher
elevations than you are used to. The air
is thinner, and the sun’s radiation is stronger. You can burn quite quickly, even on freezing
cold days in early May. Once you’ve been
planting for a month, you’ll probably go without sun screen, and revel in the
sunshine (until it gets really hot).
Planters can often be seen planting without shirts even in late April,
if the weather is even minimally nice, because you generate so much body
heating while planting. My suggestion is
to bring out one bottle of sunscreen – by the time you’ve used that up, you’ve
probably built a good base so you aren’t as likely to turn the shade of
lobster. For the first week you are
planting, make sure you put sunscreen on the tips of your ears, even if the
weather is cold. The tops of your ears
are always the first part of your body to burn and blister. Don’t buy weak sunscreen – get SPF 15 or
higher.
Solarcaine
Even if you follow the advice in the
above paragraph, you may end up with a solid sunburn
at least once every season. If that is
the case, solarcaine is worth its weight in gold. Liberal applications of this stuff every four
hours for two days can really minimize the effects of a bad burn. Don’t leave home without it.
Fingernail Clippers
Well, the need for these is pretty
self-explanatory. However, a bit of
advice – don’t cut your nails short.
Always cut them down so there is still a few millimeters more than you
would in the city. You will always want
to keep a slight fingernail, to help protect the tips of your fingers (since
you’re always digging in the dirt).
Fingernail clippers serve a double function, since they are also very
useful for digging thorns out of your hands.
Vaseline, Lip Balm, Zincofax/Penaten
When planting, you get
dehydrated. Between this, and the sun on
your face, your lips will inevitably become very dry, and may become chapped
and sunburned. In extreme cases (not
uncommon), your lips may even split and bleed.
Applying some sort of lip balm every day will help, and make eating less
painful.
Vitamin Supplements (optional)
Tree planters burn a lot of
energy. While a normal adult may only
require from 1200 to 2400 calories per day to function normally over the long
term, planters may need anywhere from 4000 to 6000 calories per day, or even
more. If you are going planting to lose
weight (not a good reason, although it is certainly a side benefit for some
people), do NOT diet intentionally – you will become a health/safety risk because
of poor nutrition. Trust me – you can
eat very well and eat large quantities if you are planting hard, and you will
still lose weight. Many planters lose
between ten and thirty pounds in their first six to eight weeks of
planting. Anyway, the point of this is
that it is an accepted fact that planters need to eat large quantities of
proper, healthy foods, in order to remain in peak productive shape. Because of this, the cooks usually supply a
very balanced diet, and in very generous portions. You are very likely able to get all the
vitamins and minerals you need from eating the regular fare that the cooks
provide. However, having said this, I
still bring up the option of taking vitamin supplements. To be honest, I have no clear idea on whether
or not this is a good idea. I’ve always
been of the mind that if you eat a balanced diet, you don’t need to take
supplements. However, when you’re
planting, your body is working double-overtime and really pushing itself to the limits, so I figure that it can’t hurt to be
safe. I certainly think that fluids and
salts (sodium, magnesium, potassium, etc.) are especially important to
watch. Drinking water sweetened with
sugar and juice crystals probably isn’t the best approach, but drinking a lot
of water IS important. Personally, if
I’m planting, I will sometimes make Gatorade from powder (purchased at Costco),
although that is more designed to make my day more interesting instead of being
due to the health aspects. I figure that
the salts and other stuff in Gatorade are just a nice bonus, and are better for
me than pop or sugared juices.
Tums or Antacids (optional)
If you ever suffer from heartburn or
indigestion, it might be smart to bring some Tums or other antacid brands
(Pepto-Bismol). If you eat a big
breakfast, you may end up getting indigestion while you are planting in the
morning, both because of having a full stomach, and also because you keep
bending over all morning. The only
drawback of these products is that they partially neutralize the acids in your
stomach, which means that you end up digesting your food more slowly. Another problem comes at night, if you end up
eating several plates of dinner (very common) and then trying to go to bed an
hour later. If your stomach doesn’t have
time to digest the food before you go to bed, you may start to suffer. Of course, rather than staying up late to
allow yourself time to digest a huge meal, it may be better to consider trying
to eat more often, but in smaller quantities with each session. Rather than completely binging at breakfast
and supper, eat reasonably sized meals, and carry a big lunch with you on the
block that you can work away at in small pieces frequently throughout the day. This also gives you a more constant supply of
energy.
Heat Rub (optional)
I’ve never used heat rub products
such as A5-35, and I don’t know if they are that useful. Certainly, I don’t think they are extremely
common in planting camps, although some people do use them. The problem with these products, I think, is
that they are more designed for specific sort muscles. In planting, your entire body will be aching
for a while until you really get into the season, and heat rubs may not be a
decent solution. Some people prefer to
use an “internal” solution to their aches and pains, like a can of beer and a
muscle relaxant before bed. I think some
of these “solutions” probably offer more psychological help than physical assistance, but if
it makes you happy, go for it.
Tylenol/Aspirin, Muscle Relaxants (optional)
Pain relievers and muscle relaxants
are certainly recommended by some planters.
Some of the craziest planters that I’ve known have even gone so far as
to rely constantly on strong analgesics while on the block (including T3’s – Tylenol
3’s – which are available by prescription), and muscle relaxants at night to
help them relax while sleeping. If you
need this sort of help to keep you planting, then do whatever it takes. However, remember that in the end it is your
body that makes the decision about whether or not you can handle the physical
aspects of being a highballer, and the drugs don’t really make any difference
except for psychological. If you can do
it with the chemical help, then you can certainly also do without, if you put
your mind to it. By the way, I’ll talk
more about buying drugs at Costco in just a minute, but for now you should be
aware that one popular muscle relaxant, Robaxacet Extra Strength, cost about 75
cents per tablet in drugstores, but only 41 cents per tablet at Costco, while
their house brand (Stanley) costs only 7.5 cents per tablet (prices researched
in the spring of 2004).
Antihistamines
I cannot say enough good things
about antihistamines. If you know that
you occasionally suffer from allergies, bring these in quantity. If you have acute attacks of hay-fever, you
may want to look for another job. The
amount of pollens that you come in contact with while working in the bush can
be phenomenally higher than what you’ll encounter in the city, so be
aware. You should know that taking
antihistamines whenever you have an attack is not the smart way to approach the
situation. If you do that, you’ll still
potentially have a couple of hours of downtime while your body recover from red
eyes, sneezing, or even puffed-up eyeballs and inability to breathe clearly in
more acute cases. If you are even
slightly worried about allergies, your best bet is to buy a lot of
antihistamines and start a regular daily regimen about two days before you go
into the bush, and keep it up throughout the season. Your body takes a few days to become fully
prepared (internally) once you start taking the pills, so if you start acting
in a preventative manner from the start, and have extra drugs on hand for the
occasions when you are working in extreme conditions, then you’ll probably be
alright. A word to the wise: shop for
your drugs at Costco, and buy their house brands. The savings are absolutely incredible, and if
you look at the chemical contents, you can probably find brands with the same
strength as you would by purchasing the name brands in drugstores, at a
fraction of the cost. As an example, in
the spring of 2004, we did some comparison price shopping on antihistamines. We found that Reactine (extra strength) was
almost a dollar per tablet in drugstores, 58 cents per tablet at Costco, and
their name brand equivalent (Stanley brand) was only 20 cents per tablet. Claritin tablets were also almost a dollar
each in the drugstore, while they were 69 cents per tablet at Costco, while the
Costco Stanley brand was only 15 cents per tablet! Benadryl, another medicinal product, was 21
cents per tablet at Costco (much more in drugstores) while Costco’s equivalent
Stanley no-name brand was a stunning 1.6 cents per tablet. You get the drift by now, so find someone
with a Costco card, and go shopping before you hit the bush.
Miscellaneous
Tent
If you are hesitant to spend a lot
of money on a tent though, go ahead and buy one from Canadian Tire. Just be aware, however, that you will
probably end up throwing it out at the end of the season. Also, if you are sleeping alone, you will
probably want to buy a two-person or three-person tent. If you are sharing, you will probably want a
four-man tent.
Sleeping Bag
One of my strongest recommendations
in terms of buying gear is that if you’re going to splurge anywhere, spend
extra money and get a good sleeping bag.
My parents bought me a top quality sleeping bag in 1990 as a present
before I went out planting. I finally
had to throw it away in the spring of 2004 because it was getting too
ripped. That sleeping bag lasted me
through fourteen full seasons, and it helped keep me warm on some painfully
freezing nights. Don’t get me wrong – I
consider myself to be very “thermodynamic” and enjoy cold temperatures, but I
can’t imagine how cold I would have been if I had just owned a normal sleeping
bag. Make sure that the bag you buy is
good to twenty degrees below freezing.
Make sure that it is machine-washable.
“Mummy bags” are designed to be narrower and tighter, and the heat that
they trap therefore has to warm a smaller area, so they are said to be better
for the single person. However, if you
are not sleeping alone, buy a normal
square or rectangular sleeping bag, or get extra fancy and buy two bags that
are exactly the same, so you can open them up face-to-face and zip them up to
each other, to form one huge sleeping bag.
Find a laundromat with a double-loader and wash your sleeping bag at the
start of each successive season when temperatures are lowest, because a clean
bag does a slightly better job of insulating you (or even wash it a couple
times per season, just so it is clean and fresh).
Foamie
A “foamie” is a large foam mattress,
which is usually either three or four inches in thickness, which you should lie
on the floor of your tent to sleep on.
Foamies are pretty cheap, usually less than $30 each, and are much
better than air mattresses. Although an
air mattress can be compacted more when you let the air out, there is probably
enough room for you to carry a foamie around from camp to camp. Write your name on it so it doesn’t go
missing! A nice bonus of the foamie is
that if you suddenly need more sponges for your inserts, you can always tear a
corner off the foamie that you’re sleeping on.
Kit Bag or Packsack
A pack is also essential for
carrying all of your little treasures:
duct-tape, boxtops, lunch, Tylenol, a knife, suntan lotion, extra
flagging tape, a thermos, etc. And a tip
for using a thermos: pre-heat it by
leaving a bit of hot water in it for five minutes. Dump this out and then add your
coffee/tea/whatever. This can make a
huge difference in keeping your beverages hot until supper instead of just
until lunch. Just be careful that if
your lunch is in your kitbag, it is zipped up.
If dogs are permitted on the block, they will sometimes raid planters’
lunches when nobody is looking.
Interestingly, I have watched crows or ravens pull open zippers on
backpacks to get at the lunches inside.
Once a crow has been treated to a lunch in a half-open backpack, they
are pretty smart and will go around opening others to look for more treats.
A conventional kit bag, or knapsack, to carry supplies
and lunch to the block.
Insect Repellent
The best way to deal with bugs is with clothing. Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and
maybe a bug hat. DEET is evil and deadly
stuff, and is an important ingredient in almost all bug repellents. Most spray type repellents only contain
15-30% DEET, whereas the little containers of liquid that you rub on your skin
are generally 75% to 95% DEET. Muskol
and Deep Woods Off in liquid form are 95% DEET, and the most effective
repellents, but are becoming increasingly hard to find. I wonder if they are not permitted to be sold
in Canada anymore, or if the retailers just prefer to sell the aerosol
form. I swear by DEET, have used it in
mass quantities for years, and would certainly suffer without it, but then
again, the downside is that I’ll probably have mutant children someday due to
the chemicals that my body has absorbed from bug sprays. DEET can cause severe allergic reactions in
some people, and in others it simply burns the skin. DEET has also been known to melt plastic and
parts of your planting equipment. Some
people say that Skin So Soft and Citronella are effective. They are wrong. Besides, if you use those products, you’ll
smell so good that you’ll have bears and bumble-bees chasing after you all day
(ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration).
Spray cans of “Off” insect repellent, both the regular variety (green)
and “Deep Woods” variety.
The biggest problem with bugs is
mental. Bugs can be just incredible if
it is your first time in the woods, especially when you go further north. You can look up and see so many bugs directly
above you that they look thicker than stars in the sky when you’re out on the
ocean. At the right time of year, you
can look at a planter standing still on a landing and count literally hundreds
of mosquitoes on their back, especially if they are wearing dark clothing. Some people are bothered more by the
incessant buzzing than by the actual bites.
Every person deals with them differently, though most just use lots of
DEET, long clothing, and try to ignore the noise. People who have planted in Ontario tell
horror stories about the bugs there. My
worst experiences have been up north, near Fort Nelson (BC) and Vermillion
(Alberta).
Bees, wasps, and hornets do not seem
to be affected or deterred by insect repellent.
They just sort of fly around. If
you disturb their nest, they are going to come after you with a vengeance,
although if you can move away several meters, they may abandon pursuit. Their stings are painful and may cause an
allergic reaction. Interestingly, bees
rarely sting, because their stinger has a hook or barb on the end (like a
fishhook) which means that when they sting you, their stinger gets ripped out
of their body afterwards and they die.
On the other hand, hornets (white stripes) and wasps (yellow stripes)
have straight stingers like lances, and can sting you again and again, and
often do so with very little provocation.
There are sting treatment kits available (anti-histamines and eppie
needles for extreme circumstances), but since repellents don’t work, the best
approach is caution. If you disturb a
nest, jump back. If you know that you
have allergies to these insects, or are ever stung in the neck, notify your
first aid attendant right away, just to be safe (swelling can constrict
breathing).
Black flies, mosquitoes, and
no-see-ums, are deterred by repellents containing DEET. If you do get bitten by these insects, the
bites can cause irritation, and multiple bites may even cause swelling,
especially around the eyes and lips.
Inhaling these insects is fairly common, and feels kind of strange and
uncomfortable. Get used to the feeling –
it happens occasionally, no matter what you do.
If you don’t like using repellent, wear pants and long-sleeved clothing.
Deer flies and horse flies do not
seem to be deterrent by insect repellents.
They go for bare flesh, probably not so much because they are seeking it
with a vengeance, but because they happen to land on you. If they do (and this happens frequently if
you are planting without a shirt when it is hot in July and August), then they
may bite you if given the opportunity.
The bites can be surprisingly painful.
House flies are a small cousin of the deer and house flies, and are also
not deterred by repellents, but at least house flies don’t bite. The only drawbacks to having house flies
around is the buzzing noise, which seems to annoy some planters, and the fact
that they transfer diseases fairly readily since they like to land and feast on
feces of various animals.
Ticks are apparently deterred by
DEET-based insect repellent. I don’t
know a lot about ticks, since I haven’t encountered them frequently while
planting. However, they are a very
common problem in bush areas on the east coast of Canada. I’m not sure why we don’t run into them more
often while planting. If you are
attacked by a tick, don’t try to remove it by prying or pulling it off – use
heat (a burning match) to make it release its grip.
Battery Powered Coleman Lantern (optional)
A flashlight is more of a priority
than a lantern, but if you insist on reading at night to put you to sleep, a
battery powered lantern is a wise investment.
Whatever you do, don’t have fires in your tent. Using a candle or open flame to read by is an
incredibly bad idea. Most tents are
labeled as being “flame retardant” or “flame resistant,” but I have seen tents
that can go up in flames in twenty to thirty seconds. Don’t take a chance on burning yourself.
A battery-powered Coleman lantern.
Alarm clock (or two)
If you are the type that likes to
read at night, and consequently likes to sleep as late as possible every
morning, you will want a couple alarm clocks.
In the old days, we used to honk the truck horns in the mornings to wake
everyone up, or fire the rifle at 6am on critical days. These days, planters are more work-oriented
(in my crews, at least) and don’t usually need assistance in getting up in the
morning. Therefore, you will have to
make sure that you have a decent alarm clock.
It would really suck to miss a day of work, and lose a couple hundred
dollars, because your tent was far from camp and you slept in an extra
hour. Having said that, the camps should
also have a roll call system in the mornings, so that if someone is not
accounted for within fifteen minutes of when the trucks are about to head to
the block, someone goes to check on their tents to see if they just slept late,
or if the employee is sick or has been eaten by a bear during the night.
Flashlight
Having a flashlight is useful for
general purposes, such as rummaging around in your tent after dark. However, you’ll find that a good flashlight
is worth its weight in gold the first time that you wake up at 2am and you have
to go to the outhouses in pitch darkness.
Just remember to bring batteries.
By the way, you should remember to bring extra batteries for everything
that you own. May is especially harsh on
batteries, since the cold temperatures seem to drain some batteries a lot
faster. I don’t understand why this
happens, since I thought electricity travels more efficiently when there is
less heat present. Anyway, deal with it,
and bring extra batteries for your flashlight and alarm clocks and vibrators
and other goodies.
Camera (optional)
A camera is very nice to have. However, many people are disappointed with
the pictures that they take, because it is tough to take really good pictures
in the bush, for several reasons. For
one, you are better off having a good camera.
However, unless you have money to burn, you should not bring a good
camera to the bush, because you will destroy it. For example, speaking in my extensive
experience as a photographer, no matter how carefully you take care of your
equipment, I find that an auto-focus type of 35mm lens will not last more than
two seasons. It will get dirty, and it will no longer auto-focus.
Dirt gets into every part of your equipment, no matter how careful you
are. You can wrap your camera up in
three layers of clothing and plastic, and only use it on sunny days, but you
will still look at it in October when you get accustomed to city life and
wonder how it got so much dirt on it. If
you take the smart route and buy less expensive equipment, the quality of your
photos will suffer. Also, you will not
want to be out taking photos when you can be planting and making the big
bucks. Your best bet is to get a
not-so-expensive camera, because after all, life as a tree planter is something
you will remember for the rest of your life, and you’ll want a few
pictures. If several people in camp have
cameras, you can make multiple copies of prints from each film, and share them
around. Now that digital cameras are
becoming popular, this is even more of an attractive option. I try to take pictures all summer, and then
at Christmas, I burn them all (as JPEG files) onto CD’s and mail them to most
of my planters, so everybody can share the memories.
Duct tape
A special type of tape, usually a
silvery-grey (although many other colors are available). This tape is wide and sticky, and is exactly
the right kind of tape to be useful to planters for dozens of reasons. Many planters who don’t like wearing gloves
(which restrict movement of the fingers in your drawbag) will instead put a few
pieces of tape on the tips of their fingers, to minimize cuts and scraping
while putting fingers into the ground.
Duct tape is also a good general purpose fix-it material. Just remember that it is spelled “duct” as in
air-conditioning ductwork, not “duck” as in the bird. There are dozens of types of duct tape
available, and experienced planters can often tell you about the pros and cons
of different brands (stickiness to the fingers, ease of ripping off the roll,
etc.).
Email Account
It is great to have an email account. Tree planters traditionally have been some of
the most transient and mobile people on the planet, and trying to pin them down
to a physical address is often difficult, if not impossible. The growth in popularity of email over the
past decade, and the popularity of internet cafes, now means that email is a
viable and acceptable form of communication (and preferable for people who
don’t like giving out their home addresses).
I use email as a preferred form of communication in the pre-season, and
during the leadup to the season, I recommend that my planters check their
accounts at least once per week (I ask foremen and checkers to check their
email every second day). Every planter
who does not already have an email account should consider getting a free
account from www.hotmail.com or www.gmail.com
.
Conclusions
If
you have any suggestions or additions to the above information, please send an
email to djbolivia@gmail.com or post
feedback in the appropriate thread of the training forum on the Replant Message
Boards at www.replant.ca/board
Also,
please feel free to print this page and pass the information along to other
potential planters, and let them know the link to www.replant.ca
Special
thanks to Chris Stolz, whose website provided some material used in the writing
of this page, and also to the original Tawa planter’s training manual.
-
Jonathan Clark
(Scooter), author.