Safety Pins

Good advice for the long distance backpacker: A small assortment of safety pins weighs less than one nappy pin, and great for many other uses: draining blisters, mending broken pack straps and hanging damp clothes to dry from your pack or on a clothesline. In recent years I’ve witnessed the use of clothespins by young people from Asia. Not sure the connection, simply an observation. Clothespins are cute and retro. But, safety pins work much better: They come in different sizes, when closed they stay put on your pack, and are much lighter, if not adorned by animals. (Good thing I watch BBC America or I wouldn’t know what a “nappy pin” is.)