[pct-l] Best Practices

[Dennis Phelan]

Well said


On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 7:21 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:

> Good morning,
>
> It is easy to mislead people into believing incorrect or inappropriate
> “facts”:  Most of us learned that aerodynamics “proves” that it is
> impossible for a bumblebee to fly, but any child can easily see that they
> most certainly can fly.  When I was in secondary school and interested in
> cars it was widely accepted that competitive drag-racing would soon
> disappear because due to a lack of traction it was impossible for a
> wheel-powered vehicle to exceed about 150 mph in a quarter-mile given any
> amount of power.  Dragsters now regularly exceed 300 mph.  Both of these
> examples have threads of fact being applied incorrectly or inappropriately.
>
> I see much the same approach being taken by advocates of heavy boots and
> heavy packs.  I’ve begun to call those people the sumo-hikers.
>
> Energy is required to move or lift an object; and more weight always
> requires more energy is required regardless of any quasi-perpetual motion
> pendulum theory.
>
> To analyze best-practices in shoe and pack weight, I suggest some homework:
> It’s easy, being almost as pleasant as conducting field experiments in
> human sexuality.  Replay all 8 of the wonderful “PCT Class of…” video
> presentations and look carefully at the gear being used by hikers;
> particularly in the Sierra.  By that point the long-distance hikers will
> have learned what is necessary and will have shed most of what is not.
>  Look
> at what shoes are they wearing?  How big are their packs? Are they carrying
> or wearing mountaineering crampons?  Are they carrying or using an ice axe?
> Are they having to break-trail across huge, steep expanses of side-slope?
>
> Hikers take photos of what is beautiful or interesting.  Difficult pieces
> of trail are interesting, and are often seen in photos.  Do you think any
> of those hikers are wishing that they had great, heavy boots or 80-pound
> packs to help them through that difficulty?
>
> These people are not fools who are punishing themselves or risking their
> lives at every turn.  They are not soldiers who are required to carry lots
> of heavy equipment. They are practical and experienced long-distance hikers
> who have empirically determined what works.
>
> Steel-Eye
>
> -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
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