[at-l] My visit to the gear store

[bennettk@xxxxxxx (ken bennett)]

My wife *loves* her 904s -- she just bought a second pair at Mt Rogers
Outfitters as a backup for when her current pair wears out. (They have the
905s in stock, and gave her a deal on the 904s.)

Speaking of overly-unhelpful salespeople, there must be an outdoor-sales
school that churns them out by the hundreds. LL Bean is famous for not
wanting to sell trail runners and light hikers to long-distance hikers. My
local REI store is the same way, although they have been getting better.
There is still a mindset in the big retailers about the Right Way To Hike:
big boots, big pack, heavy everything. It's perpetuated in the catalogs --
the REI catalog still talks about pack sizes by how long you'll be hiking --
a 3000ci pack is an 'overnighter', a 4500ci pack is a 'weekender', and a
6000+ci pack is for 'week-long trips.'  Gawd, I wonder what they want to
sell you for a thru-hike? (Salesman to prospective thru-hiker: "Hmm, six
month hike, eh? You need our new Tera-Star pack, which easily holds thirteen
metric tons and carries it comfortably.")

I really shouldn't single out REI -- my wife bought her Gregory G-pack
there, and got a lot of help from a female LD hiker who seemed to have a lot
of lightweight hiking experience. And our local outfitter isn't immune,
either. I guess you just have to be very careful who you talk to about
hiking. (Or go out of your way to visit an outfitter on the Trail, like
MRO.)

Ken