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Re: sewing your own stuff!!

Sharon -

>We met these two guys in their late 60s in Massachusetts on the trail
>who also made all their own stuff.  Packs, tents, stuff sacks. Not
>their clothes though.  They did it to save WEIGHT rather than
>money.  Made fun of all the extra straps on my pack (Lowe scirocco)
>that I never use.  They were out for 20 days and carried about 20
>lbs each (including a weeks food but not water).

These guys sound like Jardinites - disciples of Ray Jardine.  He advocates
extemely lightweight equipment -and very little of it.  Personal opinion
is that his techniques work very well, but if carried to the extreme they
can be dangerous for inexperienced hikers.   Use them carefully.

>To everyone... I am on other lists and this one is absolutely
>without a doubt the most friendly and supportive bunch of
>people.  I have become addicted and my work productivity has
>gone right into the toilet, but I am so psyched to hike that I
>don't even care!! -- Thanks to all!
>-Sharon
>ssharpe@wellesley.edu

I think so far everyone on this list has had one concern in mind - to help
others, whether thruhikers or section hikers, to successfully hike the AT.
And personally, I'd like to see it stay that way.   There are things I might
not like to see on the Trail, there are techniques and equipment I wouldn't
use, there are opinions I might disagree with - but unless I consider
something to be dangerous I have no interest in either starting or continuing
arguments about techniques or equipment.  That doesn't mean I won't stick
my 2 cents in, though.  There some things - like lightening your pack, that
will increase your probability of finishing a thruhike.   And I will keep on
preaching those things.  But I won't argue about them, or claim they're the
"only" way, or even that they're the "best way" - only that they work for me.

There are as many ways to hike the AT as there are people to  hike it.
Any way that gets you where you want to go, be it the end of the section or
the end of the Trail, is valid.   I think the defining principle on this
list has
been -  Hike your own hike and respect others' right to hike theirs.

Let's keep it that way.

Walk softly,
Jim
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