**Please realize that I am not Muslim, and do not speak for Muslims, nor am I attempting to do so. This is my experience and relationship as an atheist western woman with an inherently religious Arabic word. **



It is my personal experience and belief that we in the West would benefit from the daily reminder of a word like Inshallah. I have come to really love the word, even though I am not Muslim. Before I get into how we could benefit from using this word in our own conversations, let's look at its meaning and context.

Inshallah, translated literally, means 'God willing' or 'if God wills it.' It is meant to be used seriously, when you truly hope something will happen. An example of this use might be when speaking about a loved one who is ill.

In modern language, it is used in this way, as well as more liberally as punctuation and in jest. For example, if a child asks his parent if they can go to get ice cream, the parent might say inshallah (translation: probably not)

There are similar words in other languages. Spanish, for example has its own word that was borrowed from Inshallah- Ojalá. In the formal sense, it means God willing, informally it means hopefully.

My relationship with this word did not begin as rosy as it is now. When I lived in UAE and Oman, I flip flopped between being pissed off and emboldened by it.

On my first overnight pack trip at Rock Creek Pack Station, I learned the trick. 

Here is what you need:

• A heat source
• A metal kettle or pitcher
• Coffee grounds
• Water
• A small cup

1. Fill the kettle 3/4 full of water and put it on your heat source to boil 
2. Fill the small cup with the coldest water you have 
3. Once the kettle water is boiling, slowly add the coffee grounds. Be careful because adding coffee grounds can make your kettle boil over. If it looks like it is about to, pull it off the heat for a second or two 
4. Boil the coffee for a couple of minutes
5. Reduce the heat to low
6. To get the coffee grounds to sink to the bottom, pour the cup of cold water over the grounds
7. Pour carefully and the grounds will stay on the bottom

I love making things myself. I've always dreamed of having my own outdoor brand- not a very feasible business idea that I would probably end up hating in the long run. With all the technical fabrics available online, we are no longer bound to the products made by big outdoor brands. You'll find fabric, patterns and tutorials online for everything from backpacks to tents to sleeping bags and rain jackets. I've put together the resources I go to when I have a project. If you know of any that I haven't listed, please mention them in the comments.

Forums

BackpackingLight has forums dedicated to a variety of topics including a MYOG Forum (make your own gear) To post to the forum you must have a basic membership to the site which costs $5 a year

Backpacking.net has a little corner of their website dedicated to a MYOG forum. 

MYOG on Reddit - A fantastic forum full of resources, projects and advice

Thru-Hiker Gear Maker Forum

• Cut your cord or bungee at least 6 inches longer than the length of your casing. This will make it easier to tie knots in once it is in place. 
• Use some wire (I used a paper clip) to create a hook that will enable you to feed your cord through the casing
• I used glow in the dark paracord because I had a bunch laying around. To reduce bulk and weight, I removed the core strands.