[pct-l] Worrying about your gear and clothing

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, all,

I totally agree with Diane – well, almost totally.  I believe the
infatuation with gear evaporates well before Kennedy Meadows; for most it
may be gone by Warner Springs.  With wear-and-tear and grubby personal
habits most hikers soon end up looking like flood victims anyway, and I’ve
never heard anyone wearing a $200 Patagonia fleece poke fun at my $3
thrift-store equivalent.

The objective is to hike, not become wrapped-around one’s own axle worrying
about all the esoteric details.  It’ll all work out, just as she says.

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 6:56 AM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> To those worrying about what gear to get, what clothing to buy.
>
> First of all, with the gear, just get something and then don't worry
> too much about it. Pick the tent or whatever that does the most of
> what you want. You'll be fine, you won't die, nobody will laugh at
> your decision, and your decision isn't final anyway.
>
> The "fashion show" kind of ends after Kennedy Meadows, which really
> simplifies your life. After the Sierras nobody talks about gear
> anymore. It's just a tool by then. There may be disappointments about
> various things, but you really won't care about gear anymore. Honestly.
>
> And as for choosing clothing for the temperature. The range really
> isn't that great. The human body is really quite adaptable, too. I'm
> a typical female who freezes in the office, wears a down jacket every
> day, even in summer, while living in Santa Barbara. But out on the
> trail, I was constantly moving. When I wasn't moving I was in my
> sleeping bag. I didn't need that many layers. I hiked in spring and
> summer so it never was all that terribly cold. Perhaps there were
> some mornings in the 20s and some mid-days in the 40s at the coldest
> and I think 103 was tops for the hottest. A small amount of clothing
> was capable of taking me through that range comfortably.
>
> When it was cold (and I did get cold a few times), I felt a little
> cold but that's all. You can endure more than you think you can. I
> wasn't dying, I was simply not perfectly comfortable. We really get
> spoiled, soft and weak in our culture. Fortunately decades of
> freezing in offices has taught me to endure being cold quite well.
>
> To deal with being a little cold, I just kept moving and stayed warm.
> When I stopped, I went to bed. I was never at risk.
>
> At one point I did get tired of being too cold and managed to solve
> the problem by purchasing a $3 crappy old shirt at a thrift store in
> Mammoth (in 2009 it was snowing or hailing every day brrr). The thing
> had runs in it, no brand name, the collar didn't work right, and it
> was an ugly shade of blue, but it felt warm and I moved on up the
> trail feeling like luxury. I crossed the Canadian border wearing that
> shirt.
>
> My point is, do the best you can with your gear but after that,
> remember it is only a tool. Tools are available in most towns. You
> can always get more tools, swap your tools for different ones. They
> don't have to have fancy brand names or even be all that high
> quality. Sometimes cheap stuff works as well or better.
>
> Diane
>
> On Dec 13, 2010, at 4:44 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> >
> > Hey Paul,
> >
> > I know I am bouncing a 9 day old post, but I just wanted to thank
> > you for
> > sharing this data.
> >
> > A constant struggle is knowing what kind of temps to expect and
> > thus what
> > cold weather gear to take - as that tends to be the heaviest items
> > in our
> > pack, outside of food/water - and while we can of course expect
> > different
> > temps from year to year, having a base-line from which to go on is
> > amazingly
> > helpful.
> >
> > So, thanks!
> > John
>
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