[pct-l] My "Hiking Handbook" was published ( in Japanese Language )

Tue May 28 07:23:47 CDT 2013

I have belonged this mailing list for around 3 years, and studied hiking
and crazy PCT hikers. I was inspired very much. Now, I have a product of
 my study.

I have disclosed the whole sentences of chapter 2 "Device of Walking",
because the publisher gave me a permit. The date of publishing is June 6.

Contents in Japanese

https://sites.google.com/site/completewalker/file_cabinet/HikingHandbo_Content.PDF

Chapter 2 Walking Device in Japanese

https://sites.google.com/site/completewalker/file_cabinet/HikingHandbo_CH2.PDF

If you would like to "see" whole manuscript, please request me offline. I
will send you  PDF and text file ( LaTeX  ) of the whole manuscript.You
should not distribute my manuscript to anyone, because I must follow the
profit of the publishing company.

----Preface, translated in English----

The personal experience is important in the hiking and the mountaineering
world,  because the accumulation of experience is overwhelming. In
addition, the writings of the well-known hiker and mountaineer are
predominantly persuasive. This situation is the the same in both Japan and
U.S.A.

I accidentally participated in the PCT mailing list of U.S.A. What I felt
in the PCT-L was that the attributive "It worked well for me" is needed for
all the cases. The judgment is quite difficult whether its knowledge has
generality or is limited to a specific individual.

The following list are widely supported ideas in the hiking and the
mountaineering world.

One pound on the feet is equivalent to five pounds on the back.
The ankle support of boots is insufficient, therefore, the person wearing
boots suffer more injuries than the shoes wearer.
The cause of blisters is the frictional heat.
It is recommended to wipe feet with alcohol every day to prevent blisters.
When the backpack weight was reduced to half,  the walkable distance
increases drastically.
When the backpack becomes lighter, it becomes safer.
The elaborate stretch before hiking prevents injuries.

The effect of footwear weight was described by Colin Fletcher ( Fletcher,
C., & Rawlins, C. 2002 The complete walker IV. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
P.59),  and afterwards, it was used for a catch phrase by the sports shops
when they sell lightweight shoes and boots. There are many experimental
studies by the experts of the sports science. So, I described the relation
between the footwear weight and the energy consumption in chapter 2 and
chapter 3.

The claim that the ankle support of boots is inadequate and the boots
wearers are prone to suffer foot and leg injuries is proposed by the ultra
light hiker Ray Jardine ( Jardine, R.   2001  Beyond backpacking. Arizona:
AdventureLore Press. P.155)  and the world-famous backpacker Chris Townsend
( Townsent, C.   2011 The backpacker's handbook.  New York: McGraw-Hill,
Pp.42-43.)  There are many scientific studies concerning the support
function of footwear in sports science, because it is an important topic
for the injury prevention. Fortunately, there are several large-scale meta
analyses in the Cochrane Library, which is regarded as the best data base
of the highest evidence level articles. In addition, there are many
researches and the prospective randomized comparative trials, concerning
the injuries of shoes and boots. I have described those topics in chapter 2
and chapter 8.

The idea that the blisters are caused by the frictional heat is found in
Colin Fletcher's Complete Walker ( Fletcher, C., & Rawlins, C. 2002 The
complete walker IV. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. P.111). And he also
maintained the blisters are prevented by wiping feet with alcohol every
day. This may be believed by many people. There are many medical
physiologic studies concerning blisters, and the mechanism of blister
formation was elucidated. When you understand the mechanism of blisters,
you can hike absolutely without making blisters. I described this topic in
chapter 2.

Many people think that the walkable distance increases drastically when the
backpack weight becomes half, and that the best way to keep safe is
reducing the packweight. The reducing packweight must be the most important
topic. Then, how does the walkable distance increase?
I described this topic in chapter 2. When the the packweight is introduced
to the latest dynamic model,  the clear relation between packweight and
walkable distance is deduced by simple transformation of the equations.
Concerning the relation between the packweight and the injuries, there are
several prospective randomized comparative trials . I described this topic
in chapter 8.

Many people think that the elaborate stretch before hiking prevents
injuries. Many members in the PCT-L also believe the effect of the stretch.
The Japanese outdoor magazines often places special articles of the
stretch. On this topic, there are many studies in the sports science, and
also several large-scale meta analyses in the Cochrane Library.

The book of the well-known hiker and mountaineer is surely persuasive. But,
it is unpredictable that their opinion can be applicable to a common
person, because, they have extraordinary strong legs, and physical
strength.  Furthermore,  they are not the specialists concerning the
background knowledge of hiking and mountaineering. It is an embarrassing
point.

To tell the truth,  all the above itemized contents are wrong.  I had
searched the database called PubMed as much as possible,  and checked the
validity in the journals, whenever various opinions appeared in the PCT-L,
and I posted my opinion in poor English with the references. Some person
supported my opinion, and others strongly objected my opinion. The PCT-L
occasionally flame up, but an open argument is welcomed. This is the good
point that we should follow.

It is not sufficient, but there is some accumulation of the scientific
studies about hiking and the mountaineering. There are conclusive evidences
in the specific field. Therefore, when I read the reliable article of those
fields, I can judge what is right and what is wrong.  Unfortunately,  a
hiker and a mountaineer are not trained to read scientific journals. Thus,
they know nothing about the recent development of the scientific studies,
and their judgments are frequently skewed by the confirmation bias, which
was called in psychology.

The manager of the PCT mailing list, Brick ( Brick Robbins  2012   Water
borne diseases. PCT-L, 07/06 ) wrote, "All sorts of people are offended by
science that doesn't agree with their personal or religious views. " He
might be conscious of some of my posts. But, many people finally profit by
the knowledge of science.  In the long run, science always defeats personal
experience.

I had no special interest in hiking and mountaineering. I just needed
physical practices to recover from brain fatigue, because my job needs hard
working of brain. In other words, I need to keep balance of body and soul.
At first,  I performed cycle touring intensively. Then next,  I began to
learn hiking and mountaineering. I prefer horizontal travel to peak
hunting. As I had been poor, I  I walked frequently Noto Peninsula and the
border mountains such as Mt. Sirakimine between Toyama and Gifu prefecture,
because only a little money was needed. When I had more money, I hiked
Hokkaido ( the north island ) in summer and Yakushima ( the southern island
) in spring.   I still hike Mt. Sogatake,  Mt. Hakuba, and Noto peninsula,
because they are located in the vicinity of my house, easy to access, and
need a little money. They are the best places when I need a change.

The opportunity of writing of this book arose naturally, because I hiked
the John Muir Trail 4 times,  participated in the mailing list of PCT, and
thought about hiking. I did not like U.S.A, and did not want to board an
airplane. I have a stay-at-home tendency. Mr. Hideaki Terasawa pushed my
back gently. I must thank him. My ability of English conversation was very
poor, and could not talk at all. But I was welcomed by Kevin, Joel, Crazy
Doc, and others on the trail, and Jim at Vermilion Valley Village.
Shroomer, with whom I had discussed in the PCT-L, took care of me very
much. The PCT hiker is a crazy people. They hike around 5 months absent
from home. But, the crazy PCT hiker Shroomer called me crazy, because I
carried around 30 kg with a calm face.  My record was around 50 percent of
body weight ( 38 kg ), because I guided my wife John Muir Trail  for 10
days without resupply. I hiked through without fatigue and exhaustion. This
had been predicted by the latest walking model.

I should express the thankfulness to the unknown friends in the mailing
list of PCT and Facebook. My ability of conversation and composition of
English improved to some extent, accordingly, my impression of U.S.A.
changed to be a more favorite country, as like a home town. According to
American custom, I should write person's name more than one dozen, but I
want to omit it here.  As a final words, I thank Mr. Yuu Morimitzu, the
editor of Shinyosha Pub Co. He accepted my selfish plan and let me write
freely. When I was young, I thought my life should be designed  by myself,
and the books should be too. However, the reality seems to be different.
The life comes out of various accidental heap, and the books also created
by the various factors. The accidental heap is a kind of necessity. I hope
that this book is useful for hikers and mountaineers.

-- 
Sincerely
--------------- --------------------------------------
Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami  村上宣寛 )
facebook  http://www.facebook.com/completewalker
Blogs  http://completewalker.blogspot.jp/
Photo  https://picasaweb.google.com/104620544810418955412/
Backpacking since 1980 in Japan, A foreign member of PCTA
JMT, 2009, 2010, 2011(half), 2012
Handbook of Hiking will be published in 2013
------------------------------------------------------