[pct-l] singing the ultralight blues

[Paul Robison]

This may be a good time to ask if anyone has any good "Ultralite remorse" 
stories.  i'd been meaning to ask about this...

... like a time when you tried to save weight and took it just a bit too far.

i can remember saying "eh forget about a mat,  my sleeping bag is plenty warm" 
and ending up with a sopping down blanket frozen to the ground in the morning ; 
)  i swore i'd never use down again !  (it didn't last and i'm back on down...  
i did go without it for 5.5 years).  i wasn't in the ultralight camp then,  just 
stoopid and tired of a heavy pack.

i'm sure some of the more experienced ultralighter have some fun ones...

?




________________________________
From: Matthew Edwards <Hetchhetchyman at aol.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Tue, February 22, 2011 8:24:47 PM
Subject: [pct-l]   singing the ultralight blues

Some gentle humor about my betters:

Though not having personally met the dedicated ultralighters on this
forum, I have formed a pretty good picture.  They are experienced,
strong, skilled, fit, nutritionally correct, walk tons and tons, and
possess startling good looks.  Am I right so far?

They have the new NASA titanium 3 mil-walled 750 ml cup (58 grams,
$117.95), and use it as a bowl, cooking vessel, bathtub, pillow, hat,
latrine, signalling mirror, chair, varmint trap, and map case.

Now, let's assess them further.  Possessing legs of iron, they
nevertheless consider it a threat to personal happiness, welfare and
odds of success if their pack weight is over, say, 9.3376 pounds.
Despite hiking 2,600 of the world's most beautiful miles, they can't
stop thinking (sorry, I can't spell obbsesing) about how to take another
pound off next year.  How, by going lighter, they can go from 32 to 33
miles per day, cutting their total trip by...less than 20 hours hiking
time.

"I go light so that I won't have to think about my pack."  You are
kidding, right?  If I said that there's a new Photon that's 2 grams
lighter than last year's model, you're already on the web looking for
it, aren't you?

I'm 56, a big fellow, 6' 5" and over 200 pounds.  My pack base weight is
20 pounds.  I know the pack is there, but that's it, even when I am
chock full of water and food.  If I carried a two-pound pack, I would
still weigh more than you fully loaded.  I have tried lightweight shoes,
and I put my boots back on in relief-filled gratitude, swinging out the
miles.  My back is fine, my feet are fine, and my knees are fine.  Yours
might be too if you were carrying a few more pounds.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.....

Doug

No need to feel insecure about your pack weight. 
Nobody on the trail is going to care what you carry. 
I met hikers with packs much heavier than mine and some with packs
much lighter than mine. We all enjoyed the PCT.
All of the vitriolic UL VS Heavy Trucker stuff vanishes once you are on the 
trail.
It might surprise you to know Doug, that at 20lbs  base 
you are at the same weight as Ray and Jenny Jardine were for their
"controversial-UL" PCT hike back in 1992.
Congratulations.. you are among the lightweight crowd!
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