[at-l] What you don't need on the AT - A rant in E-minor. (WAS: Thru hiker Survivor Fire)

[shane@theplacewithnoname.com (Shane Steinkamp)]

> Though I can't help but note, that knowing how
> to build a fire is hardly an essential skill for hiking
> on the Appalachian Trail.  I can think of lots of
> other skills that are far more important for that
> purpose...

This isn't intended to pick personally on terrapin or anybody else, but this
is something I've seen over and over on this list that I have started to
wonder about: All the things you DON'T need on the AT.

I would agree that there are lot's of things you DON'T need on the AT,
because there are lots of things you aren't likely to encounter on the AT.
You are, in fact, extremely unlikely to experience any wilderness survival
situation on the AT during most of the year.  However, the logical
conclusion that wilderness skills are unnecessary really bothers me - and is
potentially dangerous to yourself and others if you believe it.

For instance, some of the things you 'don't need' on the AT include CPR
skills, fire making skills, (most wilderness skills for that matter), other
first aid skills, compass use, map reading, basic navigation, signaling, how
to improvise gear, how to improvise a shelter, how to keep clean in the
woods, etc., etc., etc.

To simply dismiss these skills as 'unnecessary to hike the AT' is to carry
the ultralight philosophy to a strange extreme.  It's also dangerous.  If
someone learns backpacking on the AT and then goes somewhere else and says
to themselves, "I didn't need any of that on the AT, so I must not need it
on the CDT, PCT, or anywhere else.", is probably going to be in trouble at
some point in their outdoor adventures.

I really wonder about the idea that these are things unneeded on the AT,
because these are skills that don't cost anything to learn, and don't weigh
anything to carry.  While you don't need to go take an outdoor survival
course, reading a book on the subject and working on the skills in your back
yard at your leisure isn't hard.  Knowledge isn't just power, sometimes it's
life.

Shane