[pct-l] " Base weights . . . " Six

[Eric Lee (GAMES)]

Diane wrote:
>
As far as going ultralight on water, I look back at my notes and it
seems I carried more water than I needed almost all the time. I
rarely ran out of water. Too often I walked by creeks and sources
with all my containers full. How silly of me.
>

I agree that lugging *too much* water around is silly.  That stuff is HEAVY!

However . . . as with all things, there's extremes on both ends and then the balanced middle where most people are best off.  When it comes to carrying water in the desert, the price of screwing it up is rather high so a comfortable margin of safety is not a bad thing.

I imagine it rather like our recent catastrophe in the economy.  A moderate amount of risk for a moderate amount of gain is a very reasonable proposition, but watch out that you keep track of just how much risk you're assuming, and be sure you know what your "worst case" failure scenario really is.  Lots of people get away with really crazy stunts, but that's no guarantee that you'll get away with the same stunts.  Eventually the odds catch up to *someone*.

So anyway, moderation in all things.  <grin>

Eric