Hi, when you say personal comfort what sort of items do you mean?. I
recently started carrying a pocket TV and extra batteries with me when I go
backpacking, and I also carry an electric shaver, pack pillow, and often a
Walkman. I've also been known to carry a book, but prefer the mini home
entertainment center.
that's all the extra items I think I need, and by taking a 1.5kg one man
tent and a 1.1kg down sleeping bag and a couple of other light weight items,
my pack weights down to about 13kg with three days food packed in it. even
so the lighter load was only noticeably so for a short time, but if I repack
my old 3.5kg tent and 2.5kg sleeping bag I notice every kg.
Scott
"John Spencer-Mallory" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Now here's a question......or two...or three.
At the risk of being branded an heretic and having the u.k.w. Inquisition
sent out here to the wild of the Gedney Marsh, I have a serious question
to ask and a serious proposition to put.
Why the obsession with lightweight?....(That's the serious question)
(this is the serious proposition)....
During one of my previous incarnations (as a man in a dpm uniform)...and
many times I performed the Fan dance.... I and my 3 team members regularly
carried 60+ kilos of equipment essential to our very survival (and I don't
mean only food {MRE =meals ready to eat} or {= meals recycled excrement}),
but things like 500 rounds of 5.56mm amunition - across desert or arctic
terrain.
OK so we trained and trained......and trained, but all the training in the
world does not overcome the psychological barriers.
Now I regularly go out backpacking for 1, 2 or 3 weeks at a time and don't
thing about the weight. I happily carry 30 - 40 kilos and really enjoy my
walking.
NO I'm not superman or anything else. I'm knocking on 60 years old, I
keep reasonable fit, but I just don't think about the weight on my back.
WHY? Because what I put in my pack is what I WANT to carry for my PERSONAL
COMFORT. If I think I want x, y, or z, then I carry it.
I don't worry how many miles or kilometers I walk every day. What the
hell, today I do 40 Km (a long day), or 20 Km (an easy day), or something
in between. Whatever, I ENJOY my walking/backpacking and I think that
when I pack my bag I take what I want to take for my personal comfort.
Currently I ALWAYS take either a 60 or 70 Litre pack. Narmally it's full.
I do make concessions to modernity - MSR Ti Kewttley things and MSR Ti
Titan pans, MSR Pocket Rocket (since my trip 'over the pond I'm now trying
out a very fat but squat 500 gram butane/isobutane/propane gas cylinder -
magic stability {as good as a trangia!!!!}) - but I'm not making a fetish
of weight.
Bye the bye...for some correspondents to the group......welcome to the TGO
Challenge...I may make myself known to you..🙂
Cheers all and happy trails,
John S-M
