[at-l] gear list in order of priority

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Robert wrote:
>Dear People,
>
>     Imagine...
>          ... you are a novice hiker.
>          ... you have no gear.
>          ... you have an unlimited cash flow.
>          ... you want to thru-hike the AT.
>          ... you have all the time in the world to prepare.

You'll find that nearly everyone on at-l will give you their best advice.  
You'll also find that you'll very seldom get answers to the question(s) you 
actually ask because they, like most everybody in this world, will give you 
the answers to the question(s) they "think" you've asked.  This is no 
exception.  So this is "my" answer to the questions "I" think you asked.  
<G>

1. If you're a novice hiker - then go out and hike.  You don't need 
"equipment" to do that.  You need comfortable shoes, a water bottle, a few 
snacks and minimal raingear (coated nylon will do fine to start).

2. Unlimited cash flow is nice - but immaterial.  If your budget were $500,  
you would be (or at least should be) extremely careful in your gear 
selection.  Why should you be any less careful if your budget is larger than 
that?

3. If you have all the time in the world to prepare, then start by learning 
whether you like to hike; by building your strength and speed; and by 
learning about what gear is actually useful for a thruhike.  With regard to 
the first point - you'll only learn that by walking.   For the second point 
- walk.  For the last point - read the forums (including at-l), ask 
questions, haunt the outdoor shops, meet the thruhikers, and when you hike 
be observant about what other hikers are using - and ask them why they use 
what they're using.

Note carefully - most (but not all) outdoor shop personnel don't have a clue 
about thruhiking.  They may be able to fit your boots or adjust your pack - 
but many of them will also try to sell you 8# tents and heavy duty boots.  I 
watched that happen to someone just a couple weeks ago.  And they tried to 
sell me heavy duty boots before our Alaska trip last year - but I wasn't 
buying into that.

4. You want to thruhike the AT?  Then listen to those who have done it.  Hot 
Dog has done it.  Sly has done it.  So have Casey, Jan, Jest Bill and a 
number of others on at-l.  BUT - also --- go to the Gathering, or Trail Days 
- or the Ruck - and meet some of them face-to-face.  It'll either turn you 
on to thruhiking and the community - or it'll turn you off.  But you need to 
know which way that'll go.  Email don't cut it - you "cannot" understand the 
enthusiasm, attitude or commitment of most thruhikers via as imperfect a 
medium as email or a forum.

>      I know that the pack is the last thing to purchase, and I already 
>have my cell phone powered and charged and ready to go (only joking).

I don't carry a cell phone for the same reasons you do.  What you carry is 
your business as long as you don't make it my business by being rude about 
it.  I don't figure you for one of those who would be so.  But one of the 
problems with cell phones is that the most rude, crude, and clueless people 
on the trail are cell phone users.  That does NOT mean that ALL cell phone 
users are that way - only a small minority that makes it seem as if they're 
all that way.

BTW - I don't carry a cell phone, I won't carry a GPS and for a lot of 
years, I've refused to carry a beeper, Blackberry or any other device that 
would make me accessible to those who would interrupt my "off time".  In the 
past, I've spent my time in hell being "on duty" 24/7.  I don't (or is that 
- won't?) carry that chain any more.

>Taking all of this into account, what would you suggest purchasing first? 
>Basically, I'm trying to figure out where I should begin. My thoughts are 
>leaning towards boots and clothing, but only nudging out the "kitchen" by a 
>tad. Also, I wonder if it would not be prudent to purchase a few things to 
>use for now,

By your own words (see below), you're not ready for 5 or 10 mile hikes yet.  
Go walk - around your neighborhood, your local park, local trails, etc.  
When you can walk for a couple hours, THEN get a day pack and start with 5 
or 10 pounds of food, water and clothing.  Iincrease the weight by a few 
(5?) pounds every week or two.  When you get to 25# and can carry it 
comfortably, then get your sleeping bag, pad and a tarp - and try an 
overnight trip.  You don't need to cook unless you really want to - cold 
meals will keep the furnace stoked for a couple days.  In fact, some hikers 
do their entire thruhikes on cold meals.  (I'm not one of them.)  If you DO 
want to cook on the trail - then  practice at home.  Get a stove and 
practice using it. Try the foods you think you'd want on the trail.   You 
may find that you don't "really" want to use that food.  Or maybe you will.  
But at least you won't be stuck with stuff you "really" don't like while 
you're out there 10 miles from nowhere.

After your first overnight, you'll know a lot better whether you'll like 
backpacking.  Thruhiking is another step because it requires multiple nights 
out in the woods.  You'd be surprised at how many people can't stand to 
sleep out with the bears and wolves.  Well - they think there are bears and 
wolves out there, anyway.  I've spent more than a couple years sleeping out 
there with them - and I'm a lot more afraid of mice than of bears and 
wolves.  But you'll find out about mice when you start sleeping in shelters. 
  <G>

Read: http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/TH%20training.html

>and then purchase more specialized versions of the same, but later on when 
>it is much closer to my actual thru-hike. Would it be a good idea to buy a 
>pack and fill it with rocks and just walk around with it on all the time?

It's a great idea - but an even better idea would be to fill the pack with 
your own equipment - when you start to buy it.  Rocks are uncomfortable and 
don't give any feel whatever for what it's really like to carry a pack on 
the trail.  Rocks provide you with a center of gravity that's an entirely 
false representation of what you can expect out of either your hike - or 
your pack.  Same thing applies to sandbags, and bottles of water.

>Would it be a good idea to beat the hell out of some clothing just to see 
>what it will take? Things like this I realize may have obvious answers. 
>What I'm really hoping this will do is get you all posting like crazy so 
>that I can get as many ideas as possible to run...er hike... with.

Smart.  Keep on "instigating" like that.  But the best way to beat the hell 
out of hiking clothes - is to use them for hiking.  Then you'll know whether 
the clothes will last longer than you will <G>

>      By the way, I went on my first hike in eons last weekend. It was 
>about 30 minutes long and the 2 year old that was with us moved faster than 
>I did, but at least it loosened up my ankle and didn't aggravate my back 
>too badly. A year from now I'd like to make that same hike in 29 minutes... 
>maybe even less. LOL! Keep in mind, I'm not lazy, just recovering from car 
>accident induced injuries.

And that's precisely why I wouldn't tell you to go out and buy anything yet. 
  Go for a walk.  Go for a lot of walks.  Get used to walking.  THEN start 
with the pack.  As the old Viking taught the young Vikings - "First pillage 
- THEN burn."  The order of the priorities IS important - and too few people 
realize it.

>           Thanking you in advance for your help,
>                             Robert
>
>P.S.
>Buddhist thought for the day:
>Do not speak- unless it improves on silence.

And that's another one of the of the many reasons I don't carry a cell phone 
<G>
But that's "my" choice - and you have to make your own choices - and live 
with the consequences. HYOH

Walk softly,
Jim

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http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/