Dinosaur equipment I still gots... RE: Victor: another dinosaur... Re: [at-l] Help Me!

[hudsom at us.ibm.com (Mark Hudson)]

There was a good article some years ago in the Adirondack Mountain Club
magazine comparing pack weights from the 1930's with todays (mid-weight)
gear. It actually came out the same. You didn't carry a tent back then
'cause the shelters would be open, no sleeping pad because you used hemlock
boughs, no stove because you built a fire, and no water filter because you
drank what was there. The cast iron frying pan, hatchet, canned food and
blanket roll made up the difference...

skeeter


                                                                           
             "Gary Roberts"                                                
             <GRoberts@npr.org                                             
             >                                                          To 
                                       "Sloetoe" <sloetoe@yahoo.com>, Mark 
             10/05/2005 02:03          Hudson/Fishkill/IBM@IBMUS           
             PM                                                         cc 
                                       <at-l@backcountry.net>              
                                                                   Subject 
                                       RE: Dinosaur equipment I still      
                                       gots... RE: Victor: another         
                                       dinosaur... Re: [at-l] Help Me!     
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           




Now that would make a great presentation at the Gathering some year.  If
someone could gather a whole bunch of ancient gear and lay it side-by-side
with what we carry or is available now.  And explain the differences,  Way
cool.  Kind of what the AT museum is in need of I think.

 -----Original Message-----
From:              Sloetoe [mailto:sloetoe@yahoo.com]
Sent:        Wednesday, October 05, 2005 1:57 PM
To:          Gary Roberts; Mark Hudson
Cc:          at-l@backcountry.net
Subject:           Dinosaur equipment I still gots... RE: Victor: another
dinosaur... Re: [at-l] Help Me!

--- Gary Roberts <GRoberts@npr.org> wrote:
>
> I was graduating from High School.  ...

> I carried an external frame nylon pack with a canvas support
> system.  Absolutely no adjustments whatsoever.  No hip belt
> either.  It was truly light weight, still is.  I know cause I
> found it at my dad's house in a closet.  Probably 2.5 lbs?
> It's sitting in my truck as we speak.
### Yep. Still got my firsty: An "Academy A-Line" from
Alexanders Department Store. No hip belt, but I installed a 1.5"
web half-belt perfectly situated to grind the bottom cross-stays
into your kidneys.... A "quick release" buckle was *definitely*
something for a future time.....

Made a screen tent/bathtub floor in high school (after school,
even: everybody thought Hippie Boy McGinnis had gone completely
fruitcake -- I mean, *volunTARILY* sewing??? -- til I explained
this was a piece of mountaineering equipment that I'd designed
myself and wasn't available on the market. Eyes went wide,
"EEeeeewwwww! Coooool, mannnnn" went the verbal reactions. Used
it with a army poncho as a shelter, and went well through a
couple of good downpours. Intend to pass it on to the boys for
use with their Equinox silnylon ponchos.

Have a Snow Lion 4 season 2 person tent: 8,000 pounds, without
stakes. Zip-on Snowtunnel addition, too. (500 pounds.) Still
sets up without a wrinkle.

My 20*F North Face Cat's Meow, new for the AT, is flat as a
pancake, good to about 55*F now. But still 3.1 pounds. And still
baby blue.

I have a roundish thermometer that I found in 1978 and
immediately attached to my pack: it's been on every trip I've
done, since. Hugely accurate, too. I love it.

And my baby blue water bottle holster...... WATER! Love that
too.

There's more. (Like the GoreTex shell that almost kilt me in
'03)
I'll stop.
oldtoe