[pct-l] On the Dangers of the UL Mentality

Fri May 7 18:03:01 CDT 2010

Dear giniajim

When I am hiking, I wear shorts (+ brief ) , T shirts, and socks. I
wear long gaiters in chilly  morning or evening. I wear long sleeve
undershirts and  rain jacket in storm or snow condition.  That is all.
 My clothes system is simple.

When I am sleeping, I wear long undershirt and long underpants only, I
wear sometimes light down vest in a very cold night ( -10 degree in
Centigrade ).

Other my backpacking clothes are shorts, long gaiter (shorts and long
gaiter makes hypothetical long pants), socks(2 or 3), T shirts(2),
brief(2), and rain suits (my first and last barrier ) . I do not wear
these extra clothes when sleeping. So, I am carry too much as CHUCK
said.  I am not a UL backpacker. And I can carry them. That is the
reason.

My recent sleeping system is Exped Downmat 7 Pump + Marmot Helium EQ
This combination is very warm. -20 degree in centigrade (-4 F) is OK.

My favorite tent is Hileberg Akto. very versatile and strong tent. I
used this tent for 5 years. At last, I designed my original tent, and
ordered  to the tent maker. So, I will obtain lighter and stronger
tent in this summer.

2010/5/7 giniajim <jplynch at crosslink.net>:
> This is a good post, thanks for the contribution.  I would make a comment
> about the clothes-sleeping bag choices.  The selection of more clothes is
> probably dictated by the need to be warm while in camp between hiking (when
> you're generating heat) and sleeping (when you're in your sleeping bag).  So
> assuming you can wear your camp clothes at night in your sleeping bag, you
> can get away with a lighter bag.  Does that logic work?
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Yoshihiro Murakami
> To: Steve McAllister
> Cc: Pacific Crest Trail List
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 3:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] On the Dangers of the UL Mentality
> Experience doesn't always mean good judgment nor outdoor skills.
>
> I strongly agree. We have limited resource and experience, but the
> hikers and climbers ( at least in Japan) tend to rely only on  their
> experience. Some times, the tragedy occurs.
>
> I will try to write my feeling of  UL briefly, because I have limited
> ability of writing and time ( I am at slavery job).
>
> I had read  Ryan Jordan (ed.) Lightweight Backpacking and Camping
> (Backpacking Light) , and I think I could understand their opinion,
> but I  could not agree with several points. I felt their movement
> contained a tendency to return to the primitivism and radicalism,
> sometimes lacked rationality or scientific findings.
>
> My first impression of Ryan (photo) was he was wearing too many
> clothes. In UL, it was frequently asserted that the weight of tent,
> sleeping bag and backpack should be reduced. But the reduction of
> weight induces sometimes difficult problems.
>
> --Clothes and sleeping bag--
>
> Why he wears many clothes? I think he reduced the weight of sleeping
> bag and pad. When  assumed total weight of clothes and sleeping bag to
> be constant,  the warmest combination will be a thin clothe and a
> thick sleeping bag. When we walking, heat is generated, we need not
> thick clothes. I think it is better to minimize the clothes and
> maximize the sleeping bag.
>
> --Footwear --
>
> On the footwear,  boots vs shoes dispute appeared in this ML, there
> are also many opinions. There are many variables concerning footwear,
> and  I had consulted the scientific research. I found several papers.
>
> ---Energy consumption
>
> Contrary to our expectation,   the energy consumption of shoes and
> boots is  equal, when walking speed is 5 km/h.  This was a limited
> experiments by G.R Tack et al. XXI ISB Congress, Poster Sessions,
> Wednesday 4 July 2007.
>
> When we are walking by shoes,  prominent jerks are observed and
> consume more energy. Boots is heavy, but they need lesser energy to
> stabilize our body. Then, on the energy consumption, boots and shoes
> may be equal.
>
> Matthew, et al. ( Gait and posture, 28, 427-433. 2008) also executed
> the walking experiments and proved that the ankle fixation does not
> increase the energy consumption.
>
> ---Injury
>
> I had already posted on this issue. Stewart et al. (Wilderness and
> Environmental Medicine 20, 250-256, 2009 ) investigated long -distance
> hikers, and found that the injury associated  only  with pack weight
> not with the footwear type. Boots are disliked sometime, but they were
> innocent.
>
> So, the boots vs shoes problem cannot be solved easily. The boots will
> be appropriate for a man like me, heavy body weight and traditional
> backpacking style, but not appropriate for a light weight man.
>
> I will omit the backpack, and tent vs tarp problems. But many people
> know the backpack without waist belt is not appropriate for hiking,
> and will select the backpacks with waist belt (which has extra weight
> ! ). Concerning tent vs tarp problem,   the very light tents exists.
> For example, Terra Nova Laser Photon Elite weighs only 1 lb 6 oz (624
> g).
>
> The important thing is to reduced the total pack weight within the
> secure range, this range is  different for individuals.
>
> I will walk JMT with very bulky and heavy backpack in this summer. I
> must carry English dictionary (If my English ability is superior,
> this  can be omitted, but I cannot.) and a heavy DSR (my hobby! ) and
> the necessities as a foreigner. But I will reduced my total pack
> weight within my secure range.
>
>
>
> --
> Sincerely
> --------------- --------------------------------------
> Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami )
> HP:http://psycho01.edu.u-toyama.ac.jp
> http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/CompleteWalker/
> Backpacking for 30 years in Japan
> 2009 JMT, the first America.
> ------------------------------------------------------
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-- 
Sincerely
--------------- --------------------------------------
Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami )
HP:http://psycho01.edu.u-toyama.ac.jp
http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/CompleteWalker/
Backpacking for 30 years in Japan
2009 JMT, the first America.
------------------------------------------------------