is there anyone out there that doesnt care about super light hiking?

[Namtrag]

Based on my limited observation of the ULers in my meetup group, they all tend to be type A, go go go types who not only go light, but go very fast. I have yet to meet a leisurely-paced ULer, though I am sure they exist. Our ULers always end up getting up earlier, leaving camp earlier, arriving earlier to the next campsite, etc., and can't be bothered with cooking hot meals, hanging out at the campfire, hiking with the group, etc.

If I were to lighten my load significantly, I am not sure I would be able to go any faster, or change how I cook, etc, but I bet I wouldn't be as worn out!

[Gray Blazer]

I predict that future hikers will be able to use solar powered helicopter drones to carry their gear.

[MDSection12]

I predict that future hikers will be able to use solar powered helicopter drones to carry their gear.

It's an interesting thought; some old timers talk about UL as if it's no longer hiking... But what happens when technology really fundamentally changes the game? The changes may some day be much more dramatic than from external to internal packs, canvas to cuben, leather boots to trail runners, etc.

[bfayer]

I predict that future hikers will be able to use solar powered helicopter drones to carry their gear.

Be careful what you wish for:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-u...very-by-drone/

The future is not that far away.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[Different Socks]

Just curious how regular this scenario happens. As a UL BPer I have yet to ask any hiker, heavyweight or not for anything because I didn't have it. I have heard this comment before yet it has never happened with me or to me. Would love to know just how regular this really is.

I have had them ask to use my stove, they have traded clothing for snacks/food and vice versa. They have asked to use my water filter, to listen to my music, to use one of my trekking poles(I use 2), to borrow a tripod, to use contact solution, to share my stove baked desserts, to use my extra clothing as a pillow, and much more.
This happens more often than you think.

[Different Socks]

'There is nothing wrong with packing light, but packing so light you need to count on the help of others on a regular basis when the going gets tough is stupid light."

AMEN!!

[Different Socks]

Exactly. There are many useful UL tenets. but I never saw "Mooch off of others to lighten your load." If I run short of water I will be thirsty, not dead. If I run out of fuel I will eat almost reconstituted food, not starve. If I don't carry a shelter I am a idiot and deserve to be miserable. If it rains and I don't have proper rain gear, I get wet. Experience is knowing where to push the limits and where to play it safe. And every one of these issues could impact the lightest or heaviest BPers. It has nothing to do with weight, it has everything to do with experience.

To be clear, I never said that any ULer deliberately carries so little they have to mooch off others. I am saying that many I have encountered just weren't prepared for any other possibility of what could happen beyond an average day out on the trail, especially when there can be grand swings in weather, conditions, how far to hike, water supplies etc. When these things happen and they do on all trails, some ULers seem to depend on the possibilty that others will help them out.
I am willing to assist them the first time, but if it happens again, well......

[hikerboy57]

the majority of "ulers" ive met on the trail knew what they were doing, had everything they needed.

[MDSection12]

I have had them ask to use my stove, they have traded clothing for snacks/food and vice versa. They have asked to use my water filter, to listen to my music, to use one of my trekking poles(I use 2), to borrow a tripod, to use contact solution, to share my stove baked desserts, to use my extra clothing as a pillow, and much more.
This happens more often than you think.

I don't doubt this happens, I just question who 'they' is... You seem to think it's ULers. I think it's novice hikers of all load sizes. Or maybe it's just needy people in general. Regardless, your experience is not a sufficient data set to be poo pooing the whole concept of UL.

I enjoy the fact that when I get to camp I have basic tools for the jobs that need to be done and that's it... It forces me to just sit and enjoy my time, rather than wondering which gadget is best for a certain task. Borrowing things from others would ruin that simplicity.

[squeezebox]

So be it hikerboy, just just don't mooch on my guide books, maps, or stove.

[hikerboy57]

So be it hikerboy, just just don't mooch on my guide books, maps, or stove.

no worries. im not ul myself. my base weight for 3 seasons is 16 lbs without food and water. i carry everything i need, and i need everything i carry. ive seen people carrying 40+lb packs that still didnt have what they needed.
for me its been a slow and steady evolution and evaluation over 30+years.i agree with the statement that its a lack of experience that leads people to go out unprepared.sure, theres the occasional bonehead who carries 15 lbs with food and water, even though hes never spent a night outdoors, but thats not very typical.between springer and neels gap, you'll run the gamut.

[Mags]

No pre-built shelter, jetboils, baked goods, filter, guidebook or trail for that matter. Good thing I bought what I needed.

[4eyedbuzzard]

No pre-built shelter, jetboils, baked goods, filter, guidebook or trail for that matter. Good thing I bought what I needed.

You brought the camera but left the water filter at home? What were you thinking? Get thee to a hiking store ASAP.

[lemon b]

I did not worry that much about weight when I was younger. Now I'm grateful for the development of lightweight equipment. I believe in hike your own hike. What does bother me is people who go lightweight and then leach off of others. Or expect the person who humped the tent which has been gotten soaked to give up their shelter spot on a cold wet night. Because they chose to go ultra light and not carry a shelter at all. Hike your own hike but make sure you can take care of your own needs.

[hikerboy57]

I did not worry that much about weight when I was younger. Now I'm grateful for the development of lightweight equipment. I believe in hike your own hike. What does bother me is people who go lightweight and then leach off of others. Or expect the person who humped the tent which has been gotten soaked to give up their shelter spot on a cold wet night. Because they chose to go ultra light and not carry a shelter at all. Hike your own hike but make sure you can take care of your own needs.

how many times has this happened to you personally?

[1234]

Good pick up Malto - 1234 if an alcohol stove is good enough for the mushers at the Iditerod... well fill in the rest.

Isn't a tarp pitched with a down side on the wind? Could it be folded under you depending how big it is?

I expect to get wet, cold, & hungry - its all part of being outside and being prepared.


FYI never had Remain Noodles is that a Zombie Apocalypse food?

Those folks that mush all night in the snow, well I guess they have time to wait. I have used alcohol more than anything else, Last March 25,6,7 wind 40 to 50+ temp ~~15 it took an hour in the dark to get dinner warm then ate crunchy noodles. I use 100% pure ethanol well 95% once it sucks the water out of the air! TArp was 10 x 12 granite gear the big blue and white one it is super thin sil nylon weights 1 lb, the single pole pitch worked the best but since it touched my sleeping bag and condensed water made it damp/wet. I expect wet, cold, but I can fix hungry!! Some use this stuff and are satisfied, I just choose to carry a bit more weight.

[Another Kevin]

It's a universal truth that anyone packing lighter than you is a risk-taking fool, and anyone packing heavier than you is an obsolete dinosaur.

Guilty as charged. I'm an obsolete dinosaur.

No pre-built shelter, jetboils, baked goods, filter, guidebook or trail for that matter. Good thing I bought what I needed.

Gorgeous! I like going without guidebook and trail sometimes myself. But it would take a lot of convincing for me to go no-cook. And in the East we seldom get weather trustworthy enough even to decide to cowboy camp for the night, much less hike without carrying a shelter.

[Mags]

Oh I took a tarp, but there was no three sided lean to with people to debate with I am afraid. (my bad for not making more clear what I meant by pre-built shelter!)

[squeezebox]

You can have a comfortable trail or a comfortable camp. not both.
Seems to me the heavy hikers know the consequenses of their decisions, and accept them , heavy pack, slower hiking , comfortable camp. But some of the UL folks want and expect both ends,wake up, grow up, you just can not have both. I'm not your sherpa, I'm not here to carry your tarp, water filter , etc.
Somebody mentioned old fat guys without blister stuff . that's in the no tent region.
If you decided to go without a guide book,map, filter etc, live up to your decision , or change it.

[MDSection12]

Seems to me the heavy hikers know the consequenses of their decisions, and accept them , heavy pack, slower hiking , comfortable camp. But some of the UL folks want and expect both ends,wake up, grow up.

Seriously? You think it happens this way, but not the opposite? Wake up. We've all seen the guy with more weight than he can handle.