What's the difference ?

[The Cleaner]

The term "Avid Outdoorsman" was one of the choices to make when I submitted a product review.I was just looking for replies as to how some fellow WBers see theselves.IMO one who does many outdoor activities would have a better chance for completing a thru hike.Well in the last few years there seems to be a hostel,B&B, or trail magic about every other road crossing.Although outdoor skills do help one while hiking,there is no doubt that the nature of thru hiking has changed greatly with recent gear improvements& trail accomodations....

[BFI]

Avid outdoorsmen have large powerful chainsaws, big shiny axes, custom made 12" blade knives, they take bedroom slippers on hunting trips, sit in chairs nailed to trees (Usually out of harm’s way), sit in boats that have 400 Hp engines in lakes less than 1 mile long to catch a 1 pound bass, have motor homes with a trap door in the floor & a satellite dish on the roof so they drive out on the ice to fish and watch TV and best of all , outdoorsmen DONT hug, they slug each other in the arm.

[rocketsocks]

Avid outdoorsmen have large powerful chainsaws, big shiny axes, custom made 12" blade knives, they take bedroom slippers on hunting trips, sit in chairs nailed to trees (Usually out of harm’s way), sit in boats that have 400 Hp engines in lakes less than 1 mile long to catch a 1 pound bass, have motor homes with a trap door in the floor & a satellite dish on the roof so they drive out on the ice to fish and watch TV and best of all , outdoorsmen DONT hug, they slug each other in the arm.

So what is the trap door for?

[Lone Wolf]

i'm a by god avid golfer!

[Lugh]

I'm pretty sure an avid outdoorsman has trophies on his wall..yep..trophies.

[moocow]

when i think of an avid outdoorsman i think of my dad. fisherman with 20 rods and reels even though he only uses two and keeps the other ones because, "they're still good". goes fishing 3-4 times a year. hunter with 20 hunting rifles even though he only uses the one that he trusts, several bows even though he can only carry one. sits at a deer stand in the woods from 4-10am, goes back to the cabin, stands in a deer stand from 5-8pm, goes back to the cabin. takes hunting trips 3-4 times a year. drives a big truck on the off chance that he might run into a dirt road. buys heavy, clunky camping gear because that's what my grandfather taught him, and what my grandfather did was real camping. even though camping involves reversing the truck into a state park campsite and sitting 20 feet from the truck just in case it gets cold or starts to rain. goes "camping" 2 times a year. i'm not criticizing that way of life. i grew up with it and i liked all the creature comforts. its just that thats what i think of when an outdoorsman identifies himself as an avid outdoorsman.

he is outdoors a lot of the year. he just happens to be very close to nice amenities at all times.

[moocow]

The term "Avid Outdoorsman" was one of the choices to make when I submitted a product review.I was just looking for replies as to how some fellow WBers see theselves.IMO one who does many outdoor activities would have a better chance for completing a thru hike.Well in the last few years there seems to be a hostel,B&B, or trail magic about every other road crossing.Although outdoor skills do help one while hiking,there is no doubt that the nature of thru hiking has changed greatly with recent gear improvements& trail accomodations....

this is kind of what i have a problem with when review sites ask if you're an avid outdoorsman. think of rei's customer product reviews. some of these avid outdoormen will talk about the awesomeness of a 12" folding saw and hatchet and their ability to cut down live wood for a campfire that they started with grill lighter fluid. or the longevity and burn time of a coleman gas lantern. or the double burner coleman stove they take to cook gourmet meals every morning on their cast iron skillets. or they're reviewing a two bedroom, 7 sleeper, 10 lb tent with awning. you can't tell me that they are taking any of that anywhere outside 50 feet of their car. but they do camp and they do it outdoors and often enough that they don't think of themselves as the family that goes car camping once a year and call themselves outdoorsmen. by that standard those people reviewing these things would call themselves avid outdoorsmen.

[hikerboy57]

an avid outdoorsman is never without a coleman lantern

[beakerman]

i love you all seem to look down at the outdoorsman just more WB snobbery. LW is almost exactly right...the outdorrsman doesn't hike but he left out the part about many (not all) hikers that can't start fires, improvise a shelter, recognize an edible plant....basically the bulk of hikers I know are walking through the woods. The outdoorsman can live in the woods.

[Lone Wolf]

most AT hikers are not comfortable in the "outdoors" they rely on shelters, blazes, cell phones, SPOTs, blow up pads, filters, chemicals, bear bags, hiking poles, shuttlers, etc., etc. they are out of place

[Spokes]

i love you all seem to look down at the outdoorsman just more WB snobbery. LW is almost exactly right...the outdorrsman doesn't hike but he left out the part about many (not all) hikers that can't start fires, improvise a shelter, recognize an edible plant....basically the bulk of hikers I know are walking through the woods. The outdoorsman can live in the woods.

You've just described everyone portrayed on the Nat Geo show Doomsday Preppers.

[The Cleaner]

most AT hikers are not comfortable in the "outdoors" they rely on shelters, blazes, cell phones, SPOTs, blow up pads, filters, chemicals, bear bags, hiking poles, shuttlers, etc., etc. they are out of place

And probably the group most likely to leave litter or other stuff at shelters....

[The Cleaner]

an avid outdoorsman is never without a coleman lantern

I have the single mantle backpacker model but never carry it...

[hikerboy57]

I have the single mantle backpacker model but never carry it...

when i first got married, my now ex-wife thought "what a great gift, the one thing i know he doesnt have".didnt want to hurt her feelings, as we were still newlyweds, so i couldnt return it.never used it. it was one of the things i let her keep in the divorce.

[The Cleaner]

Here's what avid outdoorsmen drive....850A0399.JPG850A0399.JPG 1978 Dodge Powerwagon...

[MaybeTomorrow]

When there is a hunting accident the avid outdoorsman is the shooter and the thru-hiker is the shootie.

[MaybeTomorrow]

....basically the bulk of hikers I know are walking through the woods. The outdoorsman can live in the woods.

Maybe this is better a topic for another thread but I do get the feeling more and more over the last 20 years that hiking is becoming a matter of taking as much technology with you as you can and then sort of holding your breathe for a few days while you are away from civilization. Are you there or are you just on a slightly longer umbilical?

[beakerman]

Maybe this is better a topic for another thread but I do get the feeling more and more over the last 20 years that hiking is becoming a matter of taking as much technology with you as you can and then sort of holding your breathe for a few days while you are away from civilization. Are you there or are you just on a slightly longer umbilical?

Personally I backpack and I'm an avid outdoorsman. I'll pack a few silly things like a colapsable fishing pole and a decent knife (do not think rambo...just a decent folding knife) and plan my hikes to include a little fishing if possible rather than going for 7 days straight of walking and trying to hit 20 mile days...that's not for me. Or if I'm off the beaten path and I come across some decent mushrooms or other edibles I'll harvest some to augment the dehydrated stuff in my pack...fresh beat dehydrated every time. And if I end up in a prepared camp site with a fire ring I can start a fire.

Its not about how many miles I walk on a trip its about being out there in the woods. I fal into both camps which is why I take some offense at the bashing of the outdoorsman that the WB snobs seem to want to do.

[beakerman]

When there is a hunting accident the avid outdoorsman is the shooter and the thru-hiker is the shootie.

and if it were not for the avid outdoorsman that you all are afraid of there wouldn't be nearly as much outdoors for anyone to enjoy. those hunting and fishing license fees go to help support preservation.

yep there are some idiots out there that shoot first and identify targets later no one group has cornered the market on idiots yet.

[beakerman]

Here's what avid outdoorsmen drive....850A0399.JPG850A0399.JPG 1978 Dodge Powerwagon...

don't knock the powerwagon...