[pct-l] Being Prepared vs Hoping for the Best

[Reinhold Metzger]

Yes Ned,
Like always, you hit the nail right on the head.
I observed the same in the years that followed my 2003 "Unsupported"
JMT Record.
For 4 years, until it was broken, I kept getting calls from aspiring
record breakers pumping me with questions about food, water, sleep,
equipment, pack weight, etc.. etc., etc.
And, even though they were competing with me for the record, I always
tried to assist them as much as possible....after all "Backpackers
are like Brothers".
Since pack weight is a major factor in speed records everybody was
gram counting to reduce pack weight to a minimum.
I did the same thing, making my own pack & tent, cutting the tooth
brush in half, taking just enough tooth past and counting the number
of all purpose (toilet) paper sheets for 5 days and a menu consisting
of high calorie, easy to prepare or eaten on the run food delivering
50-60% of the calories burned.....the other 40-50% from body fat.
Yup,.....UL taken to the extreme.

After 4 years in the USMC Infantry, where hiking is a way of life,
not a hobby, and the word comfort does not exist, I have learned
to do without comfort for the sake of UL.
However, having said that, when I hike with the Scouts, or Karen
(my wife) I am a "HEAVY  TRUCKER" (55-65lb) so Karen can have the
comforts she likes...."I TREAT MY WOMEN RIGHT".
Most of my hiking buddies can't get their wives or girl friends to
hike with them...they strap'm down like mules and then they wonder
why they don't like backpacking.
Poor, long suffering Mrs. Switchback does not hike with Switchback.
He even makes poor, long suffering Mrs. Switchback cut the grass with
scissors.
Some guys just don't seem to know how to treat their women right.
  
On those JMT speed hikes I would deprive myself of all the "comfies".
However, when setting foot in the wilderness I always have in my
pack everything I need to survive whatever I think Mother Nature
might throw at me, including tent, sleeping bag, cold weather gear,
rain gear, first aid kit, emergency kit, crystal iodine, map and
compass, flash light, etc., etc.
I have "thru" hiked the JMT eleven times and probably do not need a
map or compass to show me the way.
To me the value of the map and compass is not so much to show the
way of the trail, but to show me the way out of the wilderness if
I am lost or injured.
You may never need the map and compass, but when you do need it,
you really need it and it is worth its weight in gold.
It may even save your life.

The one thing I noticed was that many of the record seekers,in my
opinion, in order to achieve minimum pack weight, were not
properly prepared and as you said, "hoped for the best".

Without using real names I give you a typical example:

Fred a hardcore hiker/trail runner has been pumping me about the
JMT for over half an hour.
Finally I ask Fred a few questions.
Fred, what kind of tent are you taking?
Answer...I'm not taking a tent I'm just rolling up in plastic.

Fred, What kind of rain gear are you bringing?
Answer...A trash bag

Fred, what kind of cold weather gear are you bringing?
Answer...I may bring a fleece jacket

Fred, What about long pants
Answer...I'm not bringing long pants

Fred, You have insufficient cold weather gear, it can get very cold
       in the sierra....your not going to be able to sleep at night.
Answer...I'm planing to run all night and sleep during the day.

Fred, You don't have a tent, you don't have sufficient rain gear or
       cold weather gear. What if you get caught in freezing rain or
       snow?
Answer...I blow out

Fred, What if you break a leg or get hurt and can't blow out and you
       are stuck at 12,000 feet in freezing rain or snow without a
       tent, without sufficient rain gear or cold weather gear.
Answer...SILENCE...DEADLY SILENCE

Yes Ned, some folks roll the dice and "Hope For The Best".

Listen to Ned Guys....Ned knows what he is talking about.

JMT Reinhold
The one who treats his women right
............................


Ned wrote:

Sometimes I am concerned that this quest for the lightest
pack is causing hikers to do without and "hope for the best," rather than
being aware of what could and has happened and travel prepared (which may
mean you carry some stuff that you maybe won't use)...



Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education, Inc.
www.mountaineducation.org
ned at mountaineducation.or  <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>



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