[pct-l] Re: pct-l-digest V1 #1148, footwear

[KBerger466@aol.com]

One more thing on footwear -- People often look at packs and footwear to 
reduce the weight of their gear, because with these two items alone, you can 
shave off pounds rather than ounces. However, I think there is a big 
corollary here: You can only shave pounds off of your pack and boots AFTER 
you have already shaved all the ounces off of cookpots, stoves, shelter, 
sleeping bags, etc, (and don't forget about the water you'll have to carry). 
Boots and packs are the load carriers -- they HAVE to be able to handle the 
load you intend to carry. It's more comfortable to have a  7 pound pack 
carrying a 23 pound load than a 3 pound pack carrying a 27 pound load. Same 
theory goes for boots.

Incidentally, the much-maligned Ray Jardine does talk about this in his 
manuals. I'm not a fan of all of "his" methods, and I disagree with plenty of 
what he writes. But I've seen too many hikers blame Ray's methods for their 
misery, and then it turns out that they're leaving out some major piece of 
the puzzle.    

Oh, and re: light packs - -Just fyi: Dan tested the Kelty Cloud (the new  
pack made of Spectra) in Florida last week and really liked it a lot, even at 
loads of more than 40 pounds (He had to carry two gallons of water one day). 
He used it in its normal backpacking configuration (real hip-belt, extra 
pouches) -- Pack weighed about 3 pounds empty. He said it was as comfortable 
as his 7+ pound Gregory Denali -- Caution -- I do suspect Dan has no nervious 
system!

Karen Berger
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