[at-l] hike prep

[Jim Bullard]

On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM, Jim and_or Ginny Owen <
spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  JimB wrote:
> >My take on cell phones. They can be useful. They aren't necessary. If you
> >aren't an ounce weenie and are sufficiently in control of yourself to not
> >use it as a crutch, turn it off and take it.
>
> Jim -
> We've never found a use for a cellphone in the backcountry.  If we haven't
> needed one in the last 20,000 miles with the problems we've had, we're not
> likely to ever need one in the future.
>

Yep. I know all that. I started by saying it was "my take" on the subject
and went on to explain that others might not see things the same. I usually
take mine because it makes my wife feel better about me going. Making her
comfortable with my traipsing off is worth a lot to me, certainly the few
ounces the phone weighs. I don't like making her anxious. You take your lady
with you so you don't have that reason. I rarely use the cell phone even
when I'm home. My wife and kids are the only people who have the number and
when I go hiking it is turned off until I want to use it. I'm "connected",
as you put it, on my own terms and I don't feel any invisible intrusion on
my solitude. A phone is an 'electronic leash' only if you let it be one.
Basically I forget it is there, just like the 2-3 bandaids, tube of triple
anti-biotic ointment and my space blanket but they're there and I remember
them when necessary. An interesting note is that all the years I've been
hiking I think I've used my very limited first aid kit on about 3 occasions,
all on someone else I encountered who was hurt. I'm not a minimalist hiker.
Have no need or desire to be one. Like you, I don't carry a gun because I
have no use for one. Everyone has to make their own choices. It is called
HYOH.

Jim Bullard
http://jims-ramblings.blogspot.com/
http://members.photoportfolios.net/Jim_Bullard
http://www.photoshelter.com/c/jim_bullard
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://patsy.hack.net/pipermail/at-l/attachments/20091210/97dfbd6a/attachment.html