[pct-l] On the Dangers of the UL Mentality

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Hiro,

I can’t agree that the energy consumed when wearing boots – presumed to be
of a greater mass – is the same as energy consumed when wearing shoes –
presumed to be of lesser mass.  Whenever a foot is lifted or lowered in a
controlled fashion; and/or whenever a foot is advanced forward or slowed in
that advance, force must be applied over a distance.  The amount of force
necessary is then proportional to the mass of the object: A heavy boot
requires more energy to move than a light shoe.  I don’t know exactly what
“…prominent jerks are observed…” but I don’t see – or feel – a change in
walking gait with a change in footwear weight.



The same theory broadly applies to everything within a hiker’s mass system.
Extra mass of body fat, gear, or consumables requires additional energy to
move it along the trail.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

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

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, May 7, 2010 at 12:59 AM, Yoshihiro Murakami <
completewalker at gmail.com> wrote:

> Experience doesn't always mean good judgment nor outdoor skills.
>
> I strongly agree. We have limited resource and experience, but the
> hikers and climbers ( at least in Japan) tend to rely only on  their
> experience. Some times, the tragedy occurs.
>
> I will try to write my feeling of  UL briefly, because I have limited
> ability of writing and time ( I am at slavery job).
>
> I had read  Ryan Jordan (ed.) Lightweight Backpacking and Camping
> (Backpacking Light) , and I think I could understand their opinion,
> but I  could not agree with several points. I felt their movement
> contained a tendency to return to the primitivism and radicalism,
> sometimes lacked rationality or scientific findings.
>
> My first impression of Ryan (photo) was he was wearing too many
> clothes. In UL, it was frequently asserted that the weight of tent,
> sleeping bag and backpack should be reduced. But the reduction of
> weight induces sometimes difficult problems.
>
> --Clothes and sleeping bag--
>
> Why he wears many clothes? I think he reduced the weight of sleeping
> bag and pad. When  assumed total weight of clothes and sleeping bag to
> be constant,  the warmest combination will be a thin clothe and a
> thick sleeping bag. When we walking, heat is generated, we need not
> thick clothes. I think it is better to minimize the clothes and
> maximize the sleeping bag.
>
> --Footwear --
>
> On the footwear,  boots vs shoes dispute appeared in this ML, there
> are also many opinions. There are many variables concerning footwear,
> and  I had consulted the scientific research. I found several papers.
>
> ---Energy consumption
>
> Contrary to our expectation,   the energy consumption of shoes and
> boots is  equal, when walking speed is 5 km/h.  This was a limited
> experiments by G.R Tack et al. XXI ISB Congress, Poster Sessions,
> Wednesday 4 July 2007.
>
> When we are walking by shoes,  prominent jerks are observed and
> consume more energy. Boots is heavy, but they need lesser energy to
> stabilize our body. Then, on the energy consumption, boots and shoes
> may be equal.
>
> Matthew, et al. ( Gait and posture, 28, 427-433. 2008) also executed
> the walking experiments and proved that the ankle fixation does not
> increase the energy consumption.
>
> ---Injury
>
> I had already posted on this issue. Stewart et al. (Wilderness and
> Environmental Medicine 20, 250-256, 2009 ) investigated long -distance
> hikers, and found that the injury associated  only  with pack weight
> not with the footwear type. Boots are disliked sometime, but they were
> innocent.
>
> So, the boots vs shoes problem cannot be solved easily. The boots will
> be appropriate for a man like me, heavy body weight and traditional
> backpacking style, but not appropriate for a light weight man.
>
> I will omit the backpack, and tent vs tarp problems. But many people
> know the backpack without waist belt is not appropriate for hiking,
> and will select the backpacks with waist belt (which has extra weight
> ! ). Concerning tent vs tarp problem,   the very light tents exists.
> For example, Terra Nova Laser Photon Elite weighs only 1 lb 6 oz (624
> g).
>
> The important thing is to reduced the total pack weight within the
> secure range, this range is  different for individuals.
>
> I will walk JMT with very bulky and heavy backpack in this summer. I
> must carry English dictionary (If my English ability is superior,
> this  can be omitted, but I cannot.) and a heavy DSR (my hobby! ) and
> the necessities as a foreigner. But I will reduced my total pack
> weight within my secure range.
>
>
>
> --
> Sincerely
> --------------- --------------------------------------
> Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami )
> HP:http://psycho01.edu.u-toyama.ac.jp
> http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/CompleteWalker/
> Backpacking for 30 years in Japan
> 2009 JMT, the first America.
> ------------------------------------------------------
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