Title: Bombproofing

General Information about Item:

• Verbal Folklore
• Informant: Sam Lincoln
• Date Collected: 9 November 2019

Informant Data:

• Sam Lincoln is a 21 year old college student studying mechanical engineering at Arizona State University. He was born in Wisconsin and raised in Arizona. He began overnight backpacking when he was 15 and hiked the Colorado Trail after he graduated from high school in 2016. He enjoys archery and playing video games. Sam is the twin brother of Rachel Lincoln, who collected this item.

Contextual Data:

• Thru hikers must set up camp every night and pack out every morning. Doing this correctly is vital to keep are safe and protected, so sleep is uninterrupted and hikers get enough energy to keep going.

Item:

• “Bombproofing” is slang term for preparing your camp to withstand weather. After dropping his packs and taking off his boots, Sam did this immediately to by setting up his tent. Bombproofing entails making camp but expecting a storm so you don’t have to rush around if it starts raining. While there are no different methods of pitching a tent than normal, this term emphasizes the urgent need for shelter, the unpredictability of weather conditions, and the importance of taking care of yourself to prepare for the worst.

Associated file:

Transcript:

• “So you bombproof everything, put everything in your tent that you don’t want wet.”

Collector’s comments:

• Bombproofing is the same as setting up camp typically, but the importance of doing this task quickly and correctly to stay safe and dry probably led to this hyperbolic term.

Collector: Rachel Lincoln

Tags/Keywords:

• Bombproofing, Colorado Trail, Verbal Folklore