[at-l] Mail drops...good or bad?

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

First, let me say that I prepare and mail food drops
for fun and profit.  Well there really isn't much profit
to it but I do get paid for time and travel.  So take
that into account.

Second, I have not thru hiked so all this comes from
feedback from the people I have done "support" for.

Do maildrops make sense?  It's a complicated issue.

There are some people, for whom the question is simple.
If you wish to maintain an eating style that doesn't
include the typical boil in bag menu, it gets to be a huge
hassle to resupply along the trail.  Big grocery stores
might have what you need but the Mom and Pops and
convenience stores probably won't. You are guaranteed
to spend more time in the quest for foods that you are used
to if you have to search, than if a maildrop with what you
need is waiting for you at the PO or a hostel.  If you have
a family member or someone to send your specialty items
to you, you can supplement that with the more commonly
available fodder, it's the best of both worlds

But setting aside special needs, what about the average hiker?

It depends on the hiker.  I've given lifts to hikers who were grocery
store bound.  Watching them shop is very revealing.  Some hikers
are like kids in a candy store.  Their every movement shouts JOY
as they tool thru the aisles, tossing food into the cart.  The joy
diminishes somewhat, when they get outside and try to squeeze
everything they have bought into their pack and put it on their
shoulders!  They are soooo affected by the availability of food that
they go nuts!  I'm not talking about newbees....these folks have
already hiked to Pa so they should know how to handle the situation.

They know what they are doing is nuts....they are totally aware.
They just can't help themselves. (BTW...one tip to help avoid this
syndrome is NOT to take a cart....use a carry basket to help you
keeps a handle on how much bulk and how much weight that which
you are buying represents on your back).  I'm starting to think it's a
bio-chemical shift in the brain that makes it impossible for some
people to deal realistically with a supermarket.

Maybe thru-hiker diets cause foodaholics?

There is another group of people who wander the aisles on the verge
of tears.  Not tears of joy, but an emotional break, due to the need
to choose food.  They can't decide....period.  The manager may be
following them around as a suspected shoplifter because of their
seemingly suspicious behavior but again, they can't help it.  The
diversity is overwhelming.

These two classes of people are not as rare as you might think.
Or maybe I just have bum luck when giving lifts to hikers, since I
run into a couple of them every season.  If my experience is typical,
and I'd be interested in hearing any input on this estimate, one out
of five hikers will have some degree of the above.  I met a group of
three, who demanded that 'one' stay in the car at the grocery store
because they had enough of waiting for him to choose.  They said
that they started shopping for him back in Va because he was
having such a hard time with the issue.  Even after an hour plus in
the store, he would be tortured for the rest of the stretch with,
"I should have bought X" or "why did I buy Y".  Oddly enough,
he never questioned or complained about the selections they
made for him.   Weird...huh?

OK, so you don't see yourself in any of the above.  Are maildrops
still a good idea?  Again, it depends on the hiker and what he
wants from his hike?  It seems as though the social/town scene
is a growing attraction for many Thrus.  Your trail family, launders
together, shops together, eats together.  You always stay in town
at least one night.  You might not like being out of sync with the
group's town activities or scheduling.

However, if your main goal is to get into and out of town as fast
as possible an you like at least some sort of a schedule, you might
be a candidate for maildrops. You will probably be hitting the PO,
looking for mail from friends or family or your bounce box anyway.
If your food is there as well, or if you had it sent to your motel
or hostel, you save yourself a ton of hassle.

Sheesh...when is she gonna get to the important part....does it make
sense financially?  I've left this for the last because this is probably
the most complicated aspect of the whole decision.  I hate to say it,
but...it depends.

Number one, it depends on how much the convenience of having just
what you want, where you want it, when you want it is worth to you?

Number two, it depends on geography.  It's hard to balance convenience
against the cost of shipping food from one coast to the other.  Unless
you can find someone east of the Ohio river to do your drops (on the AT)
you really are gonna pay thru the nose.  Ideally, your support person
should live in Pa, equidistant from both ends of the trail (like me <grin>).

The cost of shipping a total drop (all the food for a stretch) varies from 1.5
to 3 bucks per day, depending on menu, amount and local.  That seems like
a lot until you look at the flip side....buying in bulk.  IMSM, poptarts at 
Sam's
Club, in boxes of 36, cost 0.17ea.  Snickers go for .32 ea.  Check out the
prices for these items at your grocery or worse yet, a convenience store
and you can see the savings.  Buying a BIG can of Planters peanuts at Sam's
will get them at about half the price per ounce of a smaller can at grocery 
store
and a quarter of the price of those little bags at the checkout counter.

Someone on the list truthfully pointed out that many stores along the
trail feature hiker-sized portions of many foods, but you pay through the
nose for that convenience.  If you have someone who is sending you
hiker-sized re-packed baggies of foods bought in bulk, the savings can
outweigh the shipping.  Even ole faithful Mac&Cheese, .58 as compare
  to .78 (?) at a store.  Tuna in cans on sale @ .50, compared to .99 or
Lipton's at .69 compared to 1.29 at a Mom and Pop.  Not to mention
beef jerky...It adds up!

There are some things that I don't usually recommend shipping.  Things
that can't be bought in bulk at a savings in a form convenient for hikers.
Peanut butter tops that list, followed by squeeze Parkay.  These items
make sense only if you are depending totally on maildrop or in locales
that have no resup available.  But shipping Nutribars and stuff like that,
which as sooo pricey at the grocery sized portions does save money
IMHO.

There is another issue to consider, variety.  If you have someone prepping
your drops that is willing to break up packs of cookies or candies and
ship them to you, you can also save a bunch and eat better.  It's true,
you can buy a packet of oreos or fig newton's from the display at the checkout
but you will, again, pay through the nose.  Or you can by a pound packet
and eat one kind of cookie till there gone.  Some people don't care enough
about what they eat for this to be an issue.  Other people go nutty from'
the lack of variety.  I have yet to support a hiker that didn't love the goodie
bags containing a dozen  different packets ea of cookies, crackers, candy
and surprises.  Sometimes, it's the little things that make a shitty day
tolerable.  Some hikers will buy whole packs of stuff, repack it and bounce
what they don't need now, on up the Trail.  Sugar and creamer for coffee, and
stuff like cider mixes that come 60 or 144 to a box.

OK...time for me to go for a walk.  I know I've forgotten stuff but that's the
nice thing about pontificatin' <g> on this list.  People will point out 
what I've
missed as well as give other points of view.

Ooooppps...one thing is the convenience thing that most hikers complain
about.  At least once, you are likely to have to hustle to town before the PO
closes.  One way to avoid that it to take advantage of the hostels, motels
and other businesses that hold packages for hikers.  Their hours are
usually more forgiving.  Of course, if you get mail from home or use
a bounce box, you will be pushing for the PO anyway.

One last thing....I wouldn't recommend pre packing your maildrops
unless you are an experienced LD hiker.  I guess the experienced
part could also apply to long time hikers but anyone just getting
started follows this plan at their own peril.  It's my theory that
the instant oatmeal industry is supported by hikers that are "sure"
they will want oatmeal everymorningforsixmonths.  I can not stress
this part enough.  Find someone to do this for you_as_you_go.

Your tastes WILL change, your needs WILL change, the amount of
food you require WILL change and unless you have been there and
done that before, you probably don't have a clue.  Plus, if something
happens and you leave the Trail, you have a ton of money tied up in
Trail food that you could be using to for something else.

I'm being careful here because I do this for people and they
pay me so I don't want this to sound like an ad but finding some
one who is reliable and willing to do this for six months is tuff.
People agree to the job and then change their minds at the last minute...
(don't ask a girlfriend or boyfriend for instance, as they tend
to lose interest. or break up with you the week before you
leave).

Doing full maildrops can be a hassle, plain and simple, that can
continue for six months and people don't always appreciate
how much of a hassle until they do it.  It's a wonderful favor and
be prepared to be properly grateful to your supporter when you
get home <g>.

One other last thing <sheesh>...budgeting.  The saddest
statistic that can never be established is how many people
leave the Trail because they run out of money.  Beyond the
ways that I think you maybe can save money, having money
set aside, in someone else's pocket, devoted exclusively to
food is one way to keep yourself from having your trip cut off
because the money pits that are townstays have emptied
you bank account.  I know, I know...all a hiker needs is
a budget and the disciple\ine to follow it BUT  sometimes just
putting one foot in front of the other everyday takes up a lot
of the discipline a person has and the tendency to reward,
party, overstay in town is real and a hike ender.....so sad.

Ok....that's it I think <VVVBG>
No one NEEDS maildrops.  Even the most restrictive diet can
be acquired if you are willing to hitch to a place that can supply
what you need.  If you want to pay the price, you can have variety.
Maildrops should be used if you feel your circumstances will
make them a CONVENIENCE.  Study you data books and
maps.  Find the places that require you either carry a weeks
worth at a shot or could be broken up by a maildrop.  Find the
places where the hitch to town from a hostel doesn't appeal
as compared to the places where there are EZ resup locally.

If you put a gun to my head, I'd have to say that paying me
to do you maildrops is not, strictly speaking, a cheaper way
to go.  Talking your Mom into it, if she has access to bulk
stores and is smart about it, can be.  So if you look at it,
strictly from a dollars aspect, maildrops don't make cents <g>.

Yet every year people hire me to do this so it must makes a
different type of sense to them.  I have someone heading out
for the PCT this year and even though I have spent the last
two months trying to talk him into minimum drops because
of the cost of shipping cross country, he is determined to go
almost totally by mail because he liked doing it that way on the
AT so much.  Personally, I think he's nuts but it's his hike and he
just doesn't want any hassles.

Come to think of it,  IMHO, the last thing I want in a thru is
dealing with the supermarket scene, Somebody tell me, why,
considering that most of the people in the store, drove a car
to get there yet suddenly, they lose all concept of traffic flow when
they get behind the wheel of a cart?  The people who 'chat' mid
aisle?  And the women with the very unhappy (read: screaming)
newborn or the delightful tykes having drag races with the kiddie
carts and the back of my knees are the finish line.  Actually,
standing in line in the grocery store is my vision of the anti hike.
I'd purely HATE it.   It just doesn't fit with my vision.  But like I
said, strictly speaking nobody NEEDS maildrops.

                           **********Warning********
The following is an announcement of a commercial nature.

I will be doing maildrops again this year.  I have two full service
AT and one PCT hikers signed.  I will take one more full service hiker
if needed.  I don't make a living from this but do charge for my
time to the tune of $5.00 a box and up (depending on how much
repackaging/service you need).  You can sign up for one maildrop
or however many you want....no problem.  IF you see a need for
a maildrop somewhere along your hike OR you have specialty
items/ homemade food/olive oil packets/whatever and there is
no one you can con into doing it for you that you trust to get it
to you where you need it, when you need it, email me.
The fee structure has changed this year, as mentioned above,
to a fee per box basis to make it easier for people who only want
a couple drops strategically placed.  End of advertisement.

WOW...the temp has soared to 19 degrees!  Time to go...