[pct-l] Drift Boxes

[Brick Robbins <brick@fastpack.com>]

Margo Chisholm asked about drift boxes:

>>Did you use a drift box.<<
Yes

>>What did you put in  it? <<
Laundry soap. Bar of bath soap. Refills of contact lens solutions, suncsreen and bug juice (DEET). Shaving stuff (never used). A couple extra pairs of socks. Big bag of ibuprofin. For a while: the second half of a book I was reading. Extra clothes once I left the snow (at old station that year).

>>How did you guarantee it would arrive before you on short sections?<<

Mailed it two mail drops ahead. and mailed it priortiy mail. I always tried to mail it AT LEAST 5 days ahead. BTW, ALWAYS mail it at least first class. That way if you miss it you can leave a forwarding address. ALSO if you dont need it at a resupply stop, dont open it, and you can just forward it to the next place you want it without paying any more.

>What did you not put in it that you wish you had?
Nothing. If I did I'd just buy it in town and add it to the pile. If I ever stayed long enought in town for a towel to dry I'd have packed one. My 16"x16" chamois was barely adequate to dry off after a shower, but I tried to stay in town less than 3 hours, so I never wanted to pack a wet towel

>Seems like deodorant, shampoo, etc. belong there.  
deodorant? How long do you plan on staying in town? I dont' see any point for deodorant on the trail

>Does it make sense to rotate a set of socks and T-shirt? 
A set to wear in town (assuming extened town stays) would be nice. Something to wear besides my rain gear while I was doing laundry would have been nice, otherwise, no.

Always leave a forwarding address (i left my home address if i didn't miss anything I expected, or somewhere down the line when I did)  at each post office so you will eventually get any mail you missed.

Hope this helps
--
Brick Robbins                       Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler!
mailto:brick@fastpack.com        http://www.fastpack.com/brick 


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