[pct-l] wheeled backpack

[Devon Taig]

Anyone heard of George Meegan?  http://george-meegan.blogspot.com/  He
walked some 19,000 miles from the tip of South America to northern Alaska.
 His pack had wheels.

River

On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 1:01 PM, David Ellzey <david at xpletive.com> wrote:

> My job requires me to work with the ADA (specifically, section 508a)
> frequently and I think there is a basic misunderstanding going on here. The
> ADA primarily establishes that managers of property to provide equitable
> access to people with disabilities under penalty of law. There are however
> exclusions and some of you have pointed out that the PCT is one of those.
> In that the agencies managing the trail are exempt from providing equitable
> access to people with disabilities, you are correct.
>
> However, this only means they are not required to grade it to 7%, pave it
> 36" wide with curbs and install guard rails. It does not in any way mean
> that those agencies can deny access to a disable person in a wheelchair.
> Hypothetically, if a wheelchair were invented that could handle the trail
> as it exists, then a legally disabled person who required such a wheelchair
> could use it on the PCT, even if that device were motorized. Given the
> difficulty of the trail, I think it will be a long time before any such
> wheelchair is invented. In the meantime it seems that livestock is the
> closest thing and its inherently legal.
>
> So in short, the wilderness agencies are excluded from conforming to
> access standards but cannot deny special access.
>
> Back to the original post about the wheeled backpack. Unless your son is
> legally disabled then the short answer is no. If he is, I would say it's a
> horrible idea as having a bunch of weight on a wheel behind you sounds like
> a balance nightmare, especially on steep downhill sections. I would also
> venture to guess that the added weight of the wheeled rig makes it a poor
> choice in comparison to the ultralight approach. If your base weight with a
> wheeled pack is 20lbs and it takes half that weight off your back then you
> can get a similar result with a 10lbs base weight without all the
> complications of a wheel on a rough path. Finally mass is mass, even if it
> has wheels. You are adding mass to ease the weight bearing on his back but
> he would still have to haul that extra mass up and down hills. It would
> take its toll.
>
> BigToe
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
>