What's the most obsolete/useless/inapropriate item you saw on the A.T?

[atraildreamer]

6*9=54

42/6=7

...and they waited 3 million years for a wrong answer!

[Mags]

A folding chair.

It was tiny but I could never wrap my mind around someone carrying something like that, opposed to just sitting wherever you stopped.

Looks like these chairs are still made.
http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Creek-Ch...original+chair

More than a few have been brought on backpacking trips by many people.

[theinfamousj]

Looks like these chairs are still made.
http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Creek-Ch...original+chair

More than a few have been brought on backpacking trips by many people.

I have one of those! But it doubles as my sleeping pad. Or perhaps I should say that my sleeping pad doubles as a Crazy Creek esque chair.

[Dogtra]

I have one of those! But it doubles as my sleeping pad. Or perhaps I should say that my sleeping pad doubles as a Crazy Creek esque chair.

I love multi-purpose items like that.

But the chair that I saw was just a chair and served no additional purpose.

[ChefATLTCT]

anybody who hiked in 2000 might remember that I carried a Tripod stool all the way to Maine. Many nights folks wanted to sit on it around the fire, I would say "sure if you want to carry it all day tomorrow," surprisingly no one took me up on my offer

[NC Blaster]

I saw a guy this summer that had a large fishing reel that had an alarm on it when the line was pulled. He said he was going to string it around his campsite and use it as a bear alarm. The thing must have weighed 5 pounds. He was also carrying a PUR water filter. Yeah, the kind that you have in a pitcher at home. This guy had too much stuff to list but those things stuck out the most to me.

[LittleRock]

Ran into a couple of weekenders last year who carried TWO huge packs of chicken legs, a cold case of beer, and a bow saw up to Big Bald Shelter from Sam's Gap. Couldn't complain though, I got a nice fire, a beer, and a chicken leg out of it.

Personal worst item was a Coleman propane stove. The fuel bottle weighed 3 lbs, and the stove itself was another 2 lbs. Stopped at a shelter and a couple of thru-hikers laughed at me, then showed me the MSR Pocket Rocket, which I use today.

[jonrocmtn]

Several years ago my wife and I were Trail Maintainers on the south end with the Nantahala Hiking Club. One day we were out working our section, Winding Stair Gap - Siler Bald, when we noticed a strange site coming up the trail. Looked like the hiker had a set of antlers strapped on top of his pack. As he got closer, we realized it was a pair of bicycle handlebars with the rest of the bicycle also strapped to the back of his pack. I kid you not. Trail name - biker hiker. Story was, he rode the bicycle from his home in Indiana to the trail head at Amicalola Falls and was carrying it with him for his ride home from Katahdin.

[Ktaadn]

Several years ago my wife and I were Trail Maintainers on the south end with the Nantahala Hiking Club. One day we were out working our section, Winding Stair Gap - Siler Bald, when we noticed a strange site coming up the trail. Looked like the hiker had a set of antlers strapped on top of his pack. As he got closer, we realized it was a pair of bicycle handlebars with the rest of the bicycle also strapped to the back of his pack. I kid you not. Trail name - biker hiker. Story was, he rode the bicycle from his home in Indiana to the trail head at Amicalola Falls and was carrying it with him for his ride home from Katahdin.

Did you let him know that he could ship the bike to Maine or did you just let him keep walkin'?

[1234]

compass, already mentioned but does anyone really use one? the trail seldom really goes the way you think and the sun still rises in the east.

Bear bell, see em sold everywhere, I even carry one, I cannot hear it but it sure gives everyone something to talk about.

Good thread, I think I will carry a bowling ball to a shelter this weekend just to see if anyone every mentions seeing it there. What is an extra 10# I will only have 2 days of food.

The solar gizmos are getting better, and they may be the thing in the near future.

rain coat? sweat box, none of them vent sweat.
rain pants, same reason.

[Mags]

compass, already mentioned but does anyone really use one? the trail seldom really goes the way you think and the sun still rises in the east.

When I hiked back East, including the AT, I used to like pulling out my compass and identifying landmarks.

Nearly 20 yrs later (!), those initial compass practice sessions have helped me develop backcountry skills for going beyond following white rectangles.

As for rain gear, again, try going early or late season in New England esp above treeline. Could be useful. And, yes, it was on the AT.

[squeezebox]

compass !
Left Turn mentioned she stepped off the trail for some reason, and then got turned around and got lost for 20 minutes, could have turned real bad, she did have a whistle. But with a compass, check your bearing before stepping off, then return 180 degrees, little chance of getting lost.
2.8 oz of insurance

[CrumbSnatcher]

i met Tuba Man on top of Mt. Washington when we crossed path's, he was a south bounder, he was in the middle of giving a concert to the many tourist up on top of the mountain, it was a site to see for sure! he was happy thats for sure, he would stuff the tuba in his pack and then stuff items down in the tuba. to him his tuba was not an obsolete/useless/inappropriate item, it was the perfect piece of gear. my useless piece of gear was my Kelty Super Tioga external frame pack, to me this was and still is the perfect pack for hiking on the Appalachian trail, it carried my dogs gear and mine for many miles and many years, i have 4 more in the closet and hope to use them before my dirt nap :-)

[Drybones]

Mountain Hardware hiking pants...worse pc of doo doo I've ever spent $75 on.

[Josh D]

I saw ankle weights in a hiker box at Kinkora. Because a 40lb pack just isn't enough! I also heard of I guy that hiked with 10 lbs dumbs because he was a boxer and liked to practice punching with them, but I never actually saw this.

[atmilkman]

Ran into a couple of weekenders last year who carried TWO huge packs of chicken legs, a cold case of beer, and a bow saw up to Big Bald Shelter from Sam's Gap. Couldn't complain though, I got a nice fire, a beer, and a chicken leg out of it.

Personal worst item was a Coleman propane stove. The fuel bottle weighed 3 lbs, and the stove itself was another 2 lbs. Stopped at a shelter and a couple of thru-hikers laughed at me, then showed me the MSR Pocket Rocket, which I use today.

Back in the early 70's when I first started hiking on the AT I was so tired of cold food that I started carrying a 2 burner Coleman white gas stove like a suitcase. Everywhere. My first hot meal on the AT was beanie-weanies. I packed a big can of pork and beans, a pack of hot dogs, a loaf of bread, and 2 sticks of butter. I was in heaven. I carried Dinty Moore beef stew, canned chili, Campbells soup, you name it, I carried it. Later on I switched to one screw on burner and a single propane bottle carried in the pack. It was my first step in going "ultra" light.

[saltysack]

Toilet paper....trail is full of leaves.....


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[squeezebox]

No wonder people complain of hiker stink.

[rocketsocks]

Obsolete...snakebite kit.
inapropriate...machete
Useless...8 track tapes

[Dogwood]

Coming out of Hot Springs late in the day on a friday I passed a limping moving at a snail's pace AT section hiker(he said he was planning on being out for about five nights) hauling a massive 90 + lb pack with a pink Betty Crocker Easy Bake Oven(???), two different quart bottles of alcohol, one Jack Daniels the other Schanpps(I know because he offered a swig of either), a long handled axe, iron skillet, and packages of bloody steaks that had all been strapped to the outside of his backpack. Two hours after I had stopped at a shelter for the night a few miles up the trail he rolled in complaining about his back, hips, and legs hurting him. He was actually an amicable fellow but refused to admit to a correlation between his bodily ills and all the stuff he was hauling.