[pct-l] At last! A kid-sized SUL backpack, from MLD.

[Steel-Eye]

Good morning, All,



I certainly agree with L-Rod on both points.  I received my first Boy Scout Handbook as a ten-year-old and I was soon ready to add another line item to the twelve points of the Scout Law:  A Scout is skeptical.

  

At first I thought that chubby little Handbook contained all the wisdom of the world …. or at least all that mattered to me at the time …. but as soon as I gathered the suggested gear and tried to pack it for a hike I became reasonably convinced that whomever wrote the book didn’t have the foggiest notion of what they were doing:  1)  I didn’t think I needed all that junk, 2) All that junk couldn’t possibly fit in a standard Scout packsack, and, 3) It was too heavy to carry even if it did fit.  From then on I was always at odds with the “Be Prepared” principle because I just quietly left lots of stuff home.

 

Modern Army infantry gear is even worse.  From the days of the Continental Line in the late 18th century, through the entire 19th century with its Civil War and the western expansion, the list of equipment and the weight of a foot soldier’s gear in “Heavy Marching Order” remained substantially the same.  About the only change in the first half of the 20th century was the addition of a gas mask during WW-I.  Individual items evolved, but it was still about the same gear list that I carried serving in the Army under Commander-In-Chief Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Now just look at what the troops have to carry, and even more than that is coming soon.  

 

Someone …. other than themselves …. selects the gear, but the grunts have to carry it.  It’s perfect example of the theory that states:  “Nothing is impossible for those who don’t have to do it.”

Steel-Eye the skeptic



^^^^^^^^^^  Skeptical hikers gather at:  http://www.aldhawest.org/  ^^^^^^^^^^

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donna Saufley 
  To: hikerguy599 at aol.com ; pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 9:58 PM
  Subject: Re: [pct-l] At last! A kid-sized SUL backpack, from MLD.


  We need to start a revolution in Scouting (Boys and Girls).  They’ve got these poor kids carrying ridiculous amounts of weight, and it probably turns a large percentage of them off to backpacking altogether at their first exposure. I saw it happen when my son was in scouting.  I hope Lord Baden Powell wouldn’t mind if we added “be lightweight” to the list along with “Be Prepared.”  While we’re at it, the military could take a lesson or two from the lightweight book as well.  

   

  L-Rod

   

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