[at-l] gear list in order of priority

[stephensadams at hotmail.com (Steve Adams)]

Dave,

Reference your two posts, dated 04-17-05.

Of all the posts I have read, yours has the most compelling reasons - a 
diabetic amputee - to carry a cell telephone.  I am not going to deny you 
access to hiking, nor am I going to criticize your choice.

I think your case goes beyond the pale of the general complaint.

Reference Coyle?s post, that same date.

?It all comes down to  a  matter  of common  courtesy and having some 
consideration for others.?

This is precisely the argument against cell telephone usage in the 
?wilderness.?

Problems I or any one else has had with smokers, drug users, excessive 
alcohol consumption, robbers, father rapers, murderers and litterers are 
irrelevant.  I?m not required to totally remove every other conceivable 
problem BEFORE I can register my objection with the intrusion posed by rude 
cell telephone users.

It?s very simple.  Some hikers feel their ?wilderness? experience is 
diminished if they carry a cell telephone.  Some hikers feel their enjoyment 
of the outdoors, getting away from it all, is diminished when they encounter 
someone shouting on their cell telephone about some mundane feeling they 
had.

Coyle suggests, ?The main thing to remember is that if you come in contact 
with someone or something  disagreeable  to you, there's almost always a 
quick and easy way to get far away.  Shelters may be an exception, but 
that's the price you pay for the convenience.?

If someone is using a cell telephone, I shall not stop near that party.  I 
don?t accept, however, that I?m the party with the burden to leave an area I 
have come to occupy when an intruder enters.

Reference Greg?s post, that same date, who advises he is ?... not going to 
carry a phone to annoy  people ...?

This reminds me of bumper stickers saying such things as ?I (heart symbol) 
my wife." Or "kids."  Or "dog.?

Very few people carry a cell telephone just to annoy people.  They just 
don?t care about others.

I think the last word in his post is important.  The lack of a cell phone, 
in his case, is only a matter of ?inconvenience.?

I feel much as the ?don?t ask, don?t tell? doctrine.  If I don?t know there 
is a cell phone in my vicinity, I?m just as content as if there isn?t, in 
fact, a cell phone nearby.  If some emergency requires a phone, I?ll 
probably shout ?Does anyone have a cell phone?? and breathe a sigh of relief 
if one appears.

I am very much interested in details of ?the best Korean ramen you've ever 
had ...?

Steve