[at-l] Budget Backpacking on the AT

[chaynes@megalink.net (Clifford R. Haynes)]

Over the years I have hiked a bunch of miles on the AT, couldn't even =
begin to guess how many miles, but some of the most enjoyable miles were =
using gear most folks today wouldn't even consider using. I would bet if =
I were seen on the trail today using my backpacking gear from my early =
service days, many folks would consider me a vagrant and someone not to =
be trusted. But money was tight, well back in them days ( when us Navy =
engineering types went to school in Maryland to learn how to work an oar =
while chained to our bench in cadence with the big guy beating on a =
block of wood) money only lasted a couple days after payday, so several =
of my friends and I spent our broke off time on the trail. A few bucks =
apiece for grub and gas and we could get off base for the weekend. Even =
for those of us that had it there was no room in our old  WW2 condemned =
barracks for camping gear. So we scrounged gear; sleeping mats were from =
a 4x8 sheet of insulite cut down to 24' X 48", stored under our bunk =
matris, Backpack was a marine corp nylon duffle bag with backpack type =
shoulder straps (aint gona tell yah where or how some sailors came by =
them), cook kettle 2# coffee can, coffee cup soup can, standard Navy =
issue pocket knife, no sleeping bag navy issue wool blankets, sneakers =
or Navy boondockers for hiking boots, tarp each of us had a hunk of =
parachute and a couple large trash bag split open for a ground cloth. =
Don't know how many miles I put on my comshawed gear, but I know it was =
over 1000 while I was in Virginia and Maryland, and I used the same =
stuff for a couple of hundred miles in Scotland ( well it wasn't the =
same tin cans).
My point is you don't hear much on these lists, but one of the best =
things about backpacking on the AT is it doesn't take a lot of money or =
expensive gear. LOL before we comshawed the marine duffle bags, We used =
a prebackpack gear. We sewed a shoulder strap to and old pillow case, =
gear and food went into the pillow case, laid the wool blanket out flat =
put extra cloths in the blanket then rolled it into a long thin roll =
tied the ends together. When you got to the trail head the strap of the =
pillow case went over one shoulder, the horse shoe shaped blanket roll =
went over the other shoulder. It sounds primitive and impossible by =
today's standards, but in practice it worked well, carried better that =
allot of the $300 packs I've tried.=20
So just wondering anyone else got any experience at nonconventional, =
budget back packing?=20



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