(1) A tool. The usual, what you use so you don't burn youse little fingies.
(2) A hiking companion with a death grip. One who won't pull his head out of your cook pot until he's eaten the contents and licked it clean, before you even know it's ready.
(3) Pretty much anything with teeth, sometimes found attached to your butt, or if spotted early enough, that thing with teeth which pursues you, in an attempt to first attach itself to your butt, and then claim your food. Larger models with bigger mouths and longer teeth may optionally be found attached to your head area. Either situation can result in awkward and inconvenient moments, so it's probably best to abandon your food as quickly as possible, retreat to some place far away, and wash off any scent of food, especially from your butt, if you're the kind of person who gets food on their butt. (We're not asking, only judging.)
(4) Any event which makes you hug your cookpot ever so tightly with trembling hands and sends your you-know-what into a full-on pucker. You've probably visited this pot-gripper mode a couple of times. A good recovery can be had by instead finding a cozy, well-watered spot, far from anyone and anything so much as you can tell, sitting down, and quietly fixing supper, though if you still have one, the wrong hiking companion (see a previous definition) can foil this or any process, truth be told. In that case the best option may be to stake out said companion on the ground and leave him or her for the night-creepers who are sure come snuffling along at some point. They are superbly equipped for the exercise and do a fine job of sorting things out.
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@gmail.com
Me? Hanging on for dear life.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction
definitions: outdoor terms
fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves
boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks
snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity
last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer
noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals