[pct-l] Tents vrs Tarps - Bivies?

[Yoshihiro Murakami]

I am an old traditional backpacker, might be an heavy trucker. I am OK
when max load is within 25 Kg.
I had not special interest with a tarp system. But I am convinced that
an ultra-light equipment is useful for every one, So I have selected
an ultra light tent (Vaude Power Lizard UL 1.0 Kg). My impression of
these discussions is playing an ultra light weight game. (or Ultra
light obsession ).

I have found some article,  which will give us some insights for thru hiker.

Am J Med. 2003 Mar;114(4):288-93.
Medical risks of wilderness hiking.
---They investigated the 280 AT backpacker, and found that the reasons
of ending a hike were injury, time limitation, and psychosocial
reason.
----The most common medical complaints were feet blisters (64%; n =
180), diarrhea (56%, n = 156), skin irritation (51%, n = 143), and
acute joint pain (36%, n = 102).
----The diarrhea was caused by inconsistent water purification (
Filtration was used more consistently than iodine or chlorine ). I
prefer filtration.
---- The cause of musculoskeletal injuries was not analyzed. Pack
weight ?, But, when hiking poles were used, they significantly reduced
the impacts to the joints, regardless of the pack weight. ( Med Sci
Sports Exerc. 2007 Jan;39(1):177-83.Effects of hiking downhill using
trekking poles while carrying external loads.Bohne M, bendroth-Smith
J.) The weight of hiking poles were unrelated to total energy
consumption( Mechanical and physiological effects of varying pole
weights during Nordic walking compared to walking. Schiffer T, Knicker
A, Montanarella M, Strüder HK. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Nov 28.), so
the ultra light poles are unnecessary.

The pack weight was correlated to the paresthesias (Wilderness Environ
Med. 2009 Fall;20(3):250-6. The impact of footwear and packweight on
injury and illness among long-distance hikers.Anderson LS Jr, Rebholz
CM, White LF, Mitchell P, Curcio EP 3rd, Feldman JA, Kahn JH.), and
footwear was not correlated to the injury. So the lighter pack is
better.

But the paresthesias will occur in the upper extremites ( heavy pack
only, Wilderness Environ Med. 2010 Jun;21(2):178-9; In response to
"The impact of footwear and packweight on injury and illness among
long-distance hikers".Bogdasarian M. ).














2011/2/6 Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>:
> I agree wholeheartedly. Reducing pack weight is a key to making a
> thru-hike a success. And more than that (because Ernie and Ned can
> make it a success with monstrous loads) making it a pleasure.
>
> Another side-effect to reducing pack weight is the pleasure of
> reducing dependence on gear to ensure your comfort and solve all your
> problems. It's freeing. One reason I miss the trail so much and waste
> too many pixels here is the fond memories of how free I felt to need
> so little to be warm, safe, dry and happy.
>
> On Feb 5, 2011, at 3:15 PM, Timothy Nye wrote:
>
>> Granted, some may well be 'obsessed' with gear for 'appearances',
>> but for others experience dictates a more cautious approach in
>> attempting to limit, insofar as possible, the amount of weight to
>> be carried.
>
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-- 
Sincerely
--------------- --------------------------------------
Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami )
Blogs http://completewalker.blogspot.com/
Photo http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/CompleteWalker/
Backpacking since about 1980 in Japan
2009 JMT, the first America.
2010 JMT, the second America.
------------------------------------------------------