Don't forget the duct tape when heading to the backcountry.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Had it not been for a news story out of Alaska a day or two after the book arrived in the mail, I wouldn't have paid much attention to the latest outdoor pocket guide published by The Mountaineers Books of Seattle.

The news story involved Wasilla resident Bill Murphy's encounter with a grizzly bear while he was hunting moose and sheep in the backcountry.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the 54-year-old heavy equipment operator was moving quietly through a willow grove when he stumbled upon a grizzly sow and her cub in a small clearing.

Murphy got his rifle off his shoulder, but the sow was upon him before he could raise it. She mauled and bit him as he "played dead."

While the bear paused and drooled over him, Murphy related, "I just lay perfectly still and said, `God, don't bite my head.' '

The bear eventually moved off, leaving a bruised and bleeding Murphy behind.

Bear attacks, of course, are fairly common in Alaska.

It's what Murphy did in the aftermath of the attack that sparked my interest in the book "Don't Forget the Duct Tape: Tips and Tricks for Repairing Outdoor Gear."

You see, Murphy used duct tape carried in his backpack to bind his wounds and to help stem the bleeding as he hiked a couple of miles back to his vehicle and then drove himself to a hospital.

"Duct tape is the single most useful repair tool you can carry on a backpacking trip, bar none," writes the book's author, Kristin Hostetter, a columnist and former gear editor for "Backpacker" magazine. She also writes the "Gearing Up" column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"What else can fix pack, boots, tent, clothes, stove, filter, pad, sunglasses, stuff sack, and your very own feet?"

Hostetter's book lists many potential uses for the sticky tape, which she recommends wrapping around flashlights, water bottles, fork handles and other items that can serve as "mini-dispensers."

And while she didn't foresee duct tape's usefulness in binding bear-induced wounds, Hostetter's book does list a couple of first-aid uses for the tape.

"Close encounter with a cactus?" she writes. "Gently press a piece of duct tape to the spine-covered body part and pull the spines out with one fell swoop."

Probably the most common use of duct tape in first aid is for fixing foot woes, Hostetter said.

While duct tape can be used to ease the pain of blisters, it is not a "cushy, comfy, tender-loving blister swaddler," Hostetter writes. "Know how to use it properly so it does not exacerbate the damage."

For example, rather than applying sticky duct tape directly to a sore or blistered area, she recommends placing a single layer of toilet paper over the skin, then applying the duct tape.

People developing blisters can also try taping over socks in problem areas, or applying tape to boot seams that are sources of irritation.

Duct tape, of course, can be put to many other, more mundane uses.

"You can construct about anything with a little imagination and a bit of duct tape," she said. Among the other uses of duct tape listed by Hostetter include repairing gashes in rain jackets, backpacks and the like, and fixing broken ski or snowshoe bindings.

"Skiers and snowshoers simply must carry a good supply of cut tape, which can be a lifesaver in the case of a blown binding or a bent or broken pole," she writes.

Other items on Hostetter's repair-kit checklist for backpackers include an assortment of needles and safety pins, rubber bands, threads, dental floss, parachute cord, a small "multi-tool," and spare buckles and clevis pins. She provides examples of how gear can be fixed in the field and tips to extend the life of backcountry gear.

"Don't Forget the Duct Tape," priced at $6.95, is available in bookstores or through the Web site: www.mountaineersbooks.org.

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].