Major Changes in Camping and Hiking

[Lilred]

Here's a link to the cover of a gear catalog from 1978. As "light" and "small" as that stuff was for it's era (and as good and durable as it was) my 48 year old body would sure creak and groan if I had to carry very much of that "bulky" equipment today! Pay particular attention to the coats, hiking boots, and pack frames. Look at the size of that tent--it is almost as tall as their shoulders. (However, I must confess that I sure love the durability of that "old" stuff!).

http://www.pbase.com/losthiker/image/123522838

Two years ago when I was hiking outside of Bland, an older gent in his sixties came hiking into the shelter and proceeded to set up an old J.C. Penny tent from the sixties. It was tall enough for me to stand up in. State of the art coated nylon. Amazing.

[fiddlehead]

I didn't get my first down sleeping bag until 1977 although they had been available before then.
Packs are much lighter now as are most things like tents, stuff sacks, stoves, raingear.
Flashlights are 100 times lighter in my opinion because i only carry a photon II weighing in at .2 oz. now.
Polypro came out in the late 70's and revolutionized long underwear IMO.
Before that, i remember folks using those quilted things for tops and bottoms.

I don't see the game getting much different in the next 30 years though.

The technology will improve but walking remains the same. Artificial knees, hips, ankles, etc. will get better so maybe even i'll be able to hike at an old age.

I see nothing wrong with the old boy scout ways except perhaps the LNT rules have definitely changed. (boughs and duff for a mattress, leanto made from boughs, etc)

I still think alcohol cleans a wound, trenches around tents are worthwhile in some situations, tourniquets are ok and cut and suck a snake bite might keep someone alive (still) and the 12 points of their creed or whatever it is called are still important.

[prain4u]

I see nothing wrong with the old boy scout ways except perhaps the LNT rules have definitely changed. (boughs and duff for a mattress, leanto made from boughs, etc)

I still think alcohol cleans a wound, trenches around tents are worthwhile in some situations, tourniquets are ok and cut and suck a snake bite might keep someone alive (still) and the 12 points of their creed or whatever it is called are still important.

I became an Eagle Scout as a teen and I am an Assistant Scoutmaster at the present time.

Even though I will often chuckle (or shake my head) when I look at some of the things printed in old Scout Handbooks (and Scout Fieldbooks) the Scouting movement has always tried to be pretty "mainstream" in terms of what they taught in regard to camping and hiking. If you pick up an old Scout Handbook, you can be pretty certain that the camping and hiking skills being taught in that book tend to reflect the generally accepted mainstream practices of that era.

Some of our WhiteBlaze members seem to have a problem with Scouts and the Scouting movement. They are sometimes critical of the camping and hiking methods that they see practiced in Scouting. However, for many decades, Scouting has been the predominant youth outdoor program in the U.S. (and the world). Many people who have become lifelong campers and hikers often received their start in Scouting.

Teenagers and pre-teens are going to naturally be a bit "crazy", loud and wild--especially when they are together in a group. That is not the fault of the Scouting movement. It is just a part of being a youth. Furthermore, very few youth organizations are able to fully equip their youth with state-of-the-art camping and hiking equipment. Thus, Scouts might not appear to be well-organized or well-equipped, when you see them hiking. Just remember--they are "newbies" and they are teenagers too!

A first year high school biology student probably doesn't have the tools or the skills necessary to be a heart surgeon. However, all heart surgeons probably got their start in a high school biology class. Scouts are a lot like the first year biology student--their skills and their equipment will improve with time.

[Don H]

As an Eagle Scout and current Scoutmaster who takes his troop on the AT at least once a year, I agree! My guys wouldn't even know what the AT was if it wasn't for our troop doing backpacking trips there. Last year at Dahlgren CG in MD we met several SB thru hikers, two were Eagle Scouts. They came over to our campfire and talked at length about thru hiking. The scouts had lots of questions and were really interested. When we got back from our trip we always discuss likes and dislikes. I was surprised when one scout said he wanted to be a thru hiker, then the whole group chimed in "I wanna be a thru hiker!". A very positive moment indeed.

[Tuckahoe]

Sorry about the quality of the photo. It is of a camp of the 318th Infantry, in France about August 1918. Anyway, as mentioned trenching around tents was a pretty mainstream practice. In this photo we see not only trenching, but in this case the soldiers actually dug pits a couple feet deep and set up their shelter tents over the pits. They learned to pile the dirt up to keep water from running in to the pits.

[GoldenBear]

For decades it was standard practice to cleanse a wound with rubbing alcohol. This substance is, after all, a VERY good germ killer.

In the last few years, however, Red Cross training now teaches that the damage done by alcohol to exposed flesh is not worth its germ killer ability. Remember how, as a kid, you didn't want your mom to wipe out your cuts with alcohol, because it hurt so much? It turns out you were right!

The technique now favored for wounds without major bleeding is to wash it out with mild soap and water, then rub anti-bacterial cream (Neosporin{R} or Triple-X) into it, and then cover with a sterile pad. If you want to use Sponge Bob Band-Aids{R}, that's fine.

www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cuts/FA00042

[GGS2]

Regarding alcohol. I think you guys in the US have the right stuff, Everclear I think its called. Can't buy it up here; best we can get is 50% Vodka. But the 100% stuff is multipurpose: disinfectant, for wound and equipment (needles and knives, etc). disinfect your water, mouth and gi tract as well, and it's also good fuel. Course, you should probably dilute it some for most purposes, so maybe the Vodka works about as well, except for the fuel. Can't drink the denatured stuff, or the rubbing alcohol, and I'd just as soon not put methanol or propyl alcohol on an open wound. And if you have a major open wound, it's probably safer not to pour alcohol over it. The patient might come to life a bit too quick, and lay you out. But I don't see myself carrying distilled water and saline salts on a hike. And pouring salt on a wound hurts just about as bad.

Oh, and as to iodine. I just don't think it works well enough to use all the time. I don't need it nutritionally, and my wife can't tolerate it. As far as I can see, it's not recommended. I'd prefer to filter.

My first equipment was all cotton and wood, with some wool. And knives were big and fixed blade, and there was a camp axe in there somewhere. I still love those sweet little axes, with sharp, thin blades. Food came in bags and tins. and so on. I never got to make a bough bed, even though I had the axe, and some of the country we traversed was far enough into the bush. But we always just trekked out and stayed in a motel. Sigh. That was prospecting back in the late sixties north of Lake Superior. By the way, my professor used to buy butter in tins. I wonder if it's still available that way.

[veteran]

A well equiped Scout Troop/Future Thru Hikers

[Hikemor]

I still have a copy of Harvey Manning's Backpacking One Step at a Time. It was, and still is, an excellent introduction to backpacking. Manning was one of the first to popularize the "new ethic" of LNT priciples. I first read it as a teen in the '70s. The parts on gear are obviously dated but his humor and enthusiasm for hiking is still fresh.

One nugget from the section on stoves: "A central disadvantage is that alcohol stoves have virtually disappeared."

[fredmugs]

I wonder what practices we engage in today will seem silly and outdated in a few decades?

Great question! I'm thinking....

Water purification techniques
Maps
Bear pepper spray
Anything made out of merino wool
Mole skin

[double d]

National Geographic Mount Oglethorpe 1949

Notice the Knife

Very cool photo (I also own that issue of NG), the young man in the picture is most likely a WWII vet, the knife looks like a Marine K-bar issued knife (but I could be wrong).

[Funkmeister]

I've hesitated to add to this thread, but considering the shaky thread drift already, this won't hurt a bit:

As a scout in the late 60s/early 70s, I remember many of the things everyone describes. I also had my older uncle's scout book (late 50s vintage), where pages were spent on things like making a bough bed and the pebble in the mouth trick. I do recall trenching and burying trash and cans.

Scouting was my first taste of the AT; growing up in Berks Co, PA, I hiked plenty of trail on both sides of Port Clinton back in those days. Academy brand external frame pack? Check. Big 6v flashlight? Backup d-cell flashlight? Double check. Hatchet and sheath. You bet. Coins taped to the bottom of my first aid kit for pay phone emergencies? Of course. Jeans, poncho, flannel bag--was there any other way?

But not all old equipment is bad equipment. To this day I still have plenty of 'old' things that I sometimes use, as the situation allows. I have fleece, windshirts, and booties that sometimes get used on trips. And the original Eureka! Timberline 2, complete with vestibule, still sits on the shelf. It's the go-to tent for a backyard sleepout when kids are here.

Earlier this year I met some guy on Baxter Peak using the ice ax that I've attached here. Anyone know when this relic was made?