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Re: [at-l] Pack Covers



--- Tom Williams <Williams@AB.EDU> wrote:
> In inclement weather, what's the advantage of a
> pack cover over a nice big garbage bag?  Does the
> pack cover handle the straps somehow?


Two words: "wind" and "branches".
A well-designed, properly installed pack cover will hold onto your pack
through the most ferocious winds (without becoming either a para-sail or a
wayward balloon) *and* through the gnarliest of blowdowns, overhangs,
prickers, and boulders (without becoming either a shredded ruin or simply
gone altogether).

If you know the condition of the path you're headed toward, or are confident
that a soaked pack will be an acceptable penalty, a garbage bag can go a long
way. On my AT hike, I had rain at least some part of 55% of the days I was
out, and that included the nasty exposed days as well as the crowded
"carwash" days, and I was glad for the very thin, almost silnylon type pack
cover I had. That said, the soaking 17 miler I pulled off on the Long Trail
last October had me improvising a packcover from a 15gallon kitchen bag for
the largish daypack I carried. It was shredded by day's end, but the pack
survived -- mostly dry.



=====
Sloetoe

   "Sometimes the light's all shining on me,
    Other times I can barely see.
    Lately, it occurs to me:
    What a long, strange trip it's been."

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