[pct-l] Boots

[freehueco at yahoo.com (Michael Deitchman)]

  I agree with much of your post. But a nitpick, if
you'll allow..

 Ray Jardine did not, by any stretch, invent
lightweight backpacking. He came up with a system
which happens to work for many people. A lot of us
were already paring our packweights down to the
minimum years before the PCT Hiker's Handbook came out
(in '94 if I remember correctly).

 Discussing hiking on the internet has always been
fun.. I can remember having huge east/west coast
debates on AOL in 1996. Now, since I avoid the east
coast forums, I only get involved in the gear debates.


 Mike
 
--- Sharon & Chuck Chelin <chelin@teleport.com> wrote:

> Good evening, everyone,
> 
> Effective, lightweight footwear has been available
> for thousands of years in
> the form of moccasins and sandals, but 50 years ago
> most kids hiked in
> sneakers or, if you prefer, tennis shoes.  When the
> kids grew up most of
> them switched to boots.  I used boots for a while,
> but when running shoes
> started to be available in the late '60s I found
> that while I could run 20
> miles comfortably I could not walk 3 miles in boots
> without getting tired,
> sore, blistered feet.  After weighing the risks, I
> started hiking in running
> shoes, and I pared the gear down to a 15 lb. load. 
> The big pack, big boot,
> plodders used to give me some really strange looks
> when I passed them on the
> trail.  They apparently thought I was a day-hiker
> who was either too dumb or
> too poor to buy proper boots.  Technology has
> offered improvements over
> time, but those improvements have been more in
> degree than in kind.
> 
> Many other hikers scattered around the country also
> separately evolved to
> the same lightweight methods, but at the time most
> information sharing was
> done one-on-one, among small groups, or through
> private correspondence
> rather than via commonly available books and
> publications, etc.  Then
> finally when Jardine invented lightweight hiking and
> published his book in
> the early '90s there was a receptive core audience
> of people who already
> understood.   The greatest advantage hikers have
> today is the availability
> of noncommercial communication about hiking culture
> such as PCT-L.  Now,
> everyone with e-mail can learn of, and discuss, the
> latest thoughts of many
> very bright and experienced hikers.  If the experts
> do not totally agree on
> any particular topic it is because there is rarely
> one fits-all answer.  In
> fact, I usually start to push back whenever I hear,
> "Everyone knows..." or
> "Everyone does it."
> 
> I, for one, would like to thank all of the
> participating experts for being
> willing to share their knowledge and experience. 
> Where else can you post up
> a question and receive a complete cranial-dump from
> the best minds in the
> business?
> 
> Steel-Eye
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Garret Christensen"
> <garretchristensen@yahoo.com>
> To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:20 AM
> Subject: [pct-l] Boots
> 
> 
> > After doing the AT and the PCT, I cannot imagine
> ever
> > wearing boots again.  I own about a billion pairs
> of
> > semi-worn out trail runners and low-cut
> light-weight
> > hiking shoes, but no boots.  I'm curious for other
> > light+fast hikers thoughts on boots--do you ever
> use
> > them?  If so, in what circumstances? Based on
> Jardine
> > I wore a pair from KM to Tuolumne meadows on my
> > through hike this year, but regretted it the whole
> > way.  They got wet and stayed wet and heavy.
> > I also want to know what you wear when you go
> > snowshoeing.  Is it only because we hit the Sierra
> in
> > late season that the snow is so wet and boots
> suck,
> > and gore-tex vibram soled boots actually make
> sense
> > for short shoeing trips in early powder?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > the Onion
> >
> >
> >
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=====
Don't panic!

" The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing."
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