[pct-l] 10 essentials

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening, all,

Have you ever wondered why there are exactly “10 essentials”; not 9, not 14,
not 38, and not just 1 essential item, but exactly 10?   That' a nice round
number, but does it mean that if we only carry 9, then we are putting
themselves at risk regardless of the great multiplicity of situations that
may pop up?  Similarly, what should we toss out if acquired knowledge and
experience indicates the need for 11 items.  Surely one of them must go
allow us to conform to the 10-E profile.

Ask an experienced old-time woodsman from 150-200 years ago about essentials
for extended wilderness travel and the answer probably would be one item --
an axe.

Ask some of modern military survival experts and the answer probably would
be … well, it doesn’t matter because you couldn’t carry it all anyway.  For
example, here’s an excerpt from a book titled *Phantom Over Vietnam* by USMC
Maj. John Troti, with a partial list of gear carried by F-4 aircrews in 1966
:


"Climbing into the Phantom's front cockpit can be a challenge.  In the first
place our flight gear had gotten out of hand.  With all the junk and
paraphernalia packed into the profusion of pockets that infested our tiers
of garments, we were prepared to cope with any situation imaginable.  Aside
from the obvious things like a canteen of water, a flashlight, maps and code
books, I carried two emergency transmitters (experience had shown that they
didn't work half the time), a .38-caliber pistol, 250 feet of rappelling
line (some of the trees were taller than that), flares, knives, a saw,
compass, fishing gear, a pound of rice, a spoon (for keeping the elephants
away), morphine, gold coins, first aid pack, a book on survival, matches,
shark repellent, whistle, signaling mirror, sewing kit, water purification
tablets, and as the climax of a list that included perhaps seventy other
items, two prophylactics (just in case, I suppose)."

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

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

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 9:09 AM, Devon Taig <devon.taig at gmail.com> wrote:

> The ten so-called essentials list is below along with some comments. Of the
> ten essentials, I bring only map,and compass all the time.  There are five
> others (sunglasses,extra food,rain-gear,flashlight,first-aid kit) that are
> often but not alway in my backpack. Three I don't bring at all
> (knife,matches (I use lighter instead),firestarter (I carry a stove)).
>
> 1) *Map *- Yep. This is a must have
> 2) *Compass *- Yes for me, but I'm surprised how many hikers I see who
> don't
> carry one or don't know how to use it properly (it does more than just
> point
> north you know).  If you can't take a bearing with your compass, it's
> probably not worth a whole heckuva lot.
> 3) *Sunglasses & sunscreen* - Hardly essential.  I suppose if you're hiking
> naked on a glacier in July.  I rarely take sunscreen as I'm naturally
> pretty
> tan and never burn.  Sunglasses on snow only.
> 4) *Extra food* - Food yes, Extra? Not so much.  I'm fat enough that I can
> go a couple of days if really needed with no food.  On a 10 day backpack
> trip, I bring 10 days worth of food.  But really, that does qualify as
> *extra
> *food.  Even in the Sierra, you really are never more than a a few days
> hike
> from a trailhead.
> 5) *Raingear/extra clothes* - Extra clothes, yes. Raingear? Maybe.  Depends
> on where you are.  It's definitely not an essential everywhere particularly
> if you have a tent,tarp,and sleeping bag (which strangely aren't on the
> list).
> 6) *Headlamp/flashlight* - Been many times when I didn't have one.  If you
> have a tent and plan to use it and not hike at night, then you really don't
> have to have one.  More of a comfort than an essential.
> 7) *First Aid kit* - I once hike with an emergency room doctor who's first
> aid kit was so minimal that it could hardly be called a kit.  His
> contention
> was that his first-aid kit was between his ears. A couple bandages, yeah,
> some neosporine, some pain killer.  I've heard mostly bad things about
> snake-bite kits.  So, I guess this isn't really a necessity for me. If I'm
> so badly injured (e.g mauled by a bear) that I can't hike out, it's
> doubtful
> that anything in even the best first aid kit is really going to
> help...short
> of that, I can hike out and get help.
> 8) *Fire starter* - Never used it.  I bring three lighters (one in my
> pocket
> (stays dry), one with my stove (stays dry), one with the TP (hopefully
> stays
> dry).  That's enough redundancy for me. But I guess this is more about
> something flammable to burn, right? I dunno...I guess I trust myself in an
> emergency situation to either stay in a reasonably dry tent/bag and/or find
> enough dry sticks to start a fire.
> 9) *Matches *- I've never brought matches.  See above.
> 10) *Knife *- Of no value that I can think of.
>
> *Notable in there absence*: Water/bottles,shelter,sleeping bag,whistle, a
> dose of common-sense (e.g. do not free climb up the face of that 30'
> boulder
> when it's a two day hike out to a hospital).
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