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[at-l] Re: One worry, one concern

Phil,

I can't answer either question, but I'll share my thoughts about pack
weight.  I haven't hiked a long trail yet, so consider these the ramblings
of an "interested amateur" or (heaven forbid) an "armchair thru-hiker." :-)

After an overburdened hike last fall, I made my winter project lowering my
pack weight.  My "goal" has been to get my cold weather pack with water,
fuel, and 7 days of food down to 40 pounds.  I doubt I'll make it.  But I
will get down into the low fourties, and under fourty for the summer.  I've
had a lot of fun with my spreadsheet, AND I'm looking forward to paying a
lot less attention to it once the weather warms up!

I also discovered a few things along the way:

(1) The expensive items are often heavier.  For example, Gore-tex jackets
vs. cheap coated rain gear.  I'll probably bring my LLBean parka (not the
most expensive, by the way) for the cold weather, and switch to someting
half the weight and one third the cost for the bulk of the trip.  Another
example: the Trangia #28 alcohol stove set weighs, complete with small pot,
about the same as a MSR Whisperlite... it also costs about half what the
whisperlite costs.  I'm going to go with the Trangia Westwind and a
titanium pot: that's more expensive, but it still costs about the same as a
Whisperlite and a MSR stainless steel pot.  You have to carry more alcohol
than you would gas, but I think my numbers are going to work out ok.  This
is just an example: gas stoves have other advantages, and my alcohol stove
hasen't arrived yet, so I don't know how well it will work in practice.

(2) The real secret is leaving things at home.  Light gear is much heavier
than gear you don't bring at all!

(3) I read Ray Jardine's book, and can't quite bring myself to go
"ultralight".  If I had more experience with his techniques I might be
willing to try more of them out, but some of the things he does make me
nervous.  Many of his general points are right on though... in particular,
there is a kind of hysteresis effect:

	The heavier your load, the more you have to carry.
	The lighter your load, the less you have to carry.

For example, if you carry 60 lbs, you need a pack that will support 60
pounds in reasonable comfort.  Packs that can do that weigh 6-8 pounds!  On
the other hand, you can save 3 pounds or so by going with a lighter pack...
but only if you get your pack weight down!  Also, the more you carry, the
slower you'll go, and the more food (and weight) you'll have to take
between resupply stops.  At one point, my spreadsheet was verging on the
"ultralight", but I couldn't quite get the weight down to where I was
willing to go the next lighter backpack (and besides, it wouldn't have fit
my long torso).

(4) If you are tall, everything weighs more. :-(

(5) If you have big feet, three pound boots turn into four pound boots. :-(

(6) You can save POUNDS in cold weather by spending your camp time in your
sleeping bag.

(7) I like it when experienced hikers post gear lists and, even better,
talk about how they USE their gear.  I like it because those posts help me
think about new things I can leave behind!

-- Jim Mayer

At 01:07 PM 2/13/97 PST, Phil Romans <promans@justice.loyola.edu> wrote:
>Ok....
>	I have one worry about the trail and that is food.  Other people 
>may worry about getting there... others might think about the weather or 
>things along the way, and yet there are others that worry about money.  
>What I worry about is making sure I eat!  Anyone else with this one?
>	The second is a concern and not a worry.  What this is that I 
>might be carrying too much.  What prompts this is people reporting under 
>40 pound packs with this that and the other.  I know I am going to run in 
>the low 40s with cold weather gear, food, and just about everything.  
>Nothin major... just I am running on the lightest I can afford.
>
>oh well..
>
>-=phil

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