8
Got told my pack was too heavy by a thru-hiker on the PCT
Back in 2019 I was doing a section of the Pacific Crest Trail near Crater Lake and this grizzled guy walks past me, looks at my 45 liter pack and just says "you're carrying a house, not a shelter." Stung at first but he was right. I was hauling a 4 pound tent, a camp chair, and way too many clothes for a 5 day stretch. Cut my base weight from 28 pounds down to 18 after that conversation. Anyone else had a random stranger call them out on gear they didn't need?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
holly70911d ago
That guy did you a solid. Nothing like a blunt stranger to make you rethink your whole setup. I had a similar moment on the AT when a guy with a framed pack the size of a daypack just laughed and asked if I was moving into my tent. He was right though, I had a full size pillow and a paperback book in there. Cut my tent weight in half and swapped my clothes for just two sets of synthetic stuff. Dropped 10 pounds off my back and my knees thanked me on the downhill sections. Its amazing how much stuff we think we need until someone points out it's just dead weight.
9
emma_wells8311d ago
Don't get the obsession with cutting every ounce like it's a competition... I carried a camp chair and a 4 inch thick pad on the PCT and slept like a baby every night while the ultralight guys were tossing and turning on foam. Comfort matters when you're hiking for weeks on end, and that extra 10 pounds is nothing compared to how miserable it is to sit on cold ground after a 20 mile day. Sometimes the "dead weight" is what keeps you sane out there.
3
david70311d ago
That grizzled PCT guy sounds like a legend honestly. (Though I bet his water bottle is just a dirty Gatorade bottle, hah.) People get so attached to their "comfort items" on trail but then wonder why they're miserable going up a pass. The camp chair thing cracks me up because I've seen dudes with two pound chairs sitting on logs anyway. Most of that stuff just ends up in a hiker box at the next town.
1