[pct-l] Satori UNlightenment

[pcnst@oakapple.net (David hiking PCNST in bits)]

This is a long philosophical rumination on the occasion of buying another
pack - so don't read it if that doesn't interest you.   

Today's comments about soaked down sleeping bags, hiking sticks, and water
filters made me think about what were the real issues in lightweight
and ultralightweight hiking.     The issues were timely because Friday
I just bought the large internal frame multinight Kelty pack that REI 
currently sells here,
a very expensive model oddly named the Satori.    All told it weighs nearly
six pounds, though various parts and pockets are detachable until it weighs
about half that.     
I hope it will replace my 20-year-old JanSport D2 which proved
very uncomfortable with moderately heavy weights on moderately long days
last year, perhaps because the padding in the shoulder and waist had lost
its resiliency.     Or maybe my shoulders and hips had lost their
resiliency.

Kelty's internal frame packs are fairly heavy but they allow carrying a
fairly heavy load comfortably.    Of course, if you didn't carry a fairly
heavy load you might not need as comfortable a suspension system and
maybe you could get by with a lighter pack.

Earlier this year I had tried to see if I could adapt to a G4.    It didn't
work for me, or more accurately I should say I didn't work for it; I carry
too much stuff.     Clearly if the pack is suitable for a triple crown
and it doesn't work for me on day hikes, the problem lies with me rather than
the pack.

It seems to me that a couple of the key issues aren't whether you carry
a pocketmail or GPS but, generally speaking

1) how much weight are you going to carry to deal with rare but serious
events? Example: an Ace bandage, which I carry and have given out to
other people at least once, though I've not needed it myself; an inflatable
splint, which I don't carry (some people do).     You can't splint your
own leg very well, but if I recall reading correctly, Marge the old gal once lay
on the trail for three days after a fall until somebody came along to help.
Which would have been the most useful thing for that person coming along
on an accident scene to be carrying, some morphine,
an inflatable splint, a lightweight cell phone, a somewhat heavier 
satellite phone?    Or would it have been best to have been carrying as
little as possible so that person could move quickly to summon additional
assistance?

2) are you going to carry equipment durable enough for a long hike or
lighter weight equipment with the intent of replacing it frequently?
Example: at the PCTA annual meeting, one of the speakers, perhaps GVP,
advocated carrying lightweight space blankets as ground cloths, replacing
them every couple of weeks, rather than a through-hike-capable ground cloth.
Throw-away modern culture bothers a lot of people, but it would be rather
an involved investigation of manufacturing and recycling processes to
estimate the relative costs of alternatives like these in order to decide
whether one is really more appropriate than another.    On the PCT
one COULD replace all one's equipment by mail resupply
every two or three weeks if one wanted.     So how long should one plan
for things to last?     I think in the early 1970's I expected if I ever
attempted a through hike I would wear one pair of boots for the entire
trip - relatively new to start.      Nowadays I'd just plan to replace
my trail shoes every 500 miles.     

Northbound through hikers who start at ADZ will spread out some but most
will always be relatively closely followed by a changing cast of
other through hikers for the entire journey.    So their relative need
for large amounts of infrequently-used emergency gear is reduced, compared
to say snowshoeing solo across Alaska in the winter, or even through-hiking the
PCT southbound.    On the other hand, somebody stealth camping
off trail can fall down and get hurt just out of sight or sound
of the trail.    Nothing's guaranteed.

When I lived in Oregon I spent enough time being cold and wet that I 
still carry synthetic
rather than down sleeping bags, and tents with real tent poles rather than 
tarps and hiking sticks.    I have spent enough time bumping along in 
the dark or on steep slopes or in moderate snow that I carry a hiking stick
anyway.     I have met enough people who have gotten really sick that I
carry a water pump and iodine crystals and vitamin C, even though I was
probably exposed to giardia thirty years ago.    For various reasons
I carry two cameras and extra batteries and sometimes a small tripod. 
I have a low
enough opinion of rodents that I may carry a bear can even when I don't
need to for the bears.    
Continuing in this
vein I end up with a rather large heavy pack and I do envy those traveling
lighter.     
With Monte's help I may be trying some incremental changes 
this year - alcohol stove and Tyvek ground sheet.
But I've concluded that more than a slight readjustment
of attitude is required to get me from where I am to where the ultralight
guys are.
I hope to check the wisdom of my current choices after ADZ by going southbound
over Mt San Jacinto.
This summer I hope to do the Glacier Peak section in about six days; if
I get through that OK then I can worry about doing the High Sierra in
the next couple of years after that.     But if I were trying to do
a real northbound through hike I think the discipline of fitting everything 
into a G4 might
be beneficial; the lighter the load, the greater the chances of success in
a statistical sense even if I were less prepared for any number of unlikely
situations.