[pct-l] Getting Into Trouble on the Trail

[tasha.wyatt at gmail.com (Tasha Wyatt)]

I do not think that hiking lightweight predicts that one might run
into trouble on the trail in extreme circumstances, nor does it mean
that being light(er)weight means that you are not preparing for the
worst.

Again, i think that it comes down to if you can use your brain, not
how much stuff you carry.  While hiking fourteeners out here in
Colorado, you notice people hauling packs whose weight would rival
most thruhikers packs.  Whatever these dayhikers have in there, I
don't know, but I am sure they are in the mind that more is better in
case of emergency, but do they know how to use a first aid kit, or
where to go with their emergency blanket, or when to retreat from a
summit in bad weather or how to use their 500$ GPS?

Two years ago when I hiked the AT, at low gap shelter in Georgia, I
spilled my pot of boiling water over my right thigh and I got  second
degree that covered an area of about 6 by 14 inches full of gushing
blisters and shriveled skin.  Stupid accident, I know.  Earlier that
day, I had the infamous Neels Gap lightweght shakedown at Walys'i that
I willingly gave up all first aid except neosporin and advil.  I
didn't have everything that COULD be USED to help the burn, for sure. 
But I cooled it and kept it clean enough for the next 30 or so miles
until I reached Hiawasse where I could see a doctor.  It totally would
have been easier if I had all pounds of a FULL first aid kit, but I
didn't and I got by without infection because I used my brain.

Think of it this way.  Driving An SUV versus a compact car in the
snow.... No matter where I am, I see SUVs flipped and not the compact
cars.  Big does not always mean better. Knowing how to use what you
have, does.