View Full Version : Give me some Ideas!!!!
Nonfiction
10-06-2015, 09:19
Hey guys & gals! My name is Darwin. My wife Snuggles & I hiked over 1500 miles on the AT this year from Georgia to Massachusetts. We were planning on a full Thru all the way to Maine, but in the same week I contracted a tick borne illness & My wife's grandmother passed away. The events forced us to get of the trail in Great Barrington, MA & put our hike on hold for this year. We will be returning to the trail next year to finish our last 600 miles. Meanwhile, I have started making videos & doing reviews on some of the gear that worked for my wife & I on our hike. Past hikers videos really helped me back when I was planning my Thru hike, so I figured I would do the same & pay it forward to future classes of Thru-Hikers. I have already made a bunch of videos, but wanted to get some feedback from you guys on what you would want to see when doing research for your hike. I'm starting to work with a few outdoor companies to Review some of their new products, but I want to make more Videos on Advice for the trail. Any Input would be great from you guys. Just let me know!
Darwin
P.S.- Here is a link to my Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18exdGWh7piVWisrnDXiZg?view_as=public
Nonfiction
10-07-2015, 13:19
Over 100 views of this post & no one has anything?..... come on
I guess that we are all clueless.
Wayne
JaketheFake
10-07-2015, 14:57
OK I'll bite .... Since I'm planning for my thru hike for 2016 Darwin's videos could actually be helpful! I watched your video on your cook system.... My review may be a bit biased because you used exactly the system that I am leaning towards using the snow peak 700 and the snow peak Lite Max stove. To say you provided me some reassurance on my decision is an understatement.
I plan to watch all of your videos every one of them so perhaps I could give you some more comments once I do so. My initial thought was very helpful I would put the camera in a little closer yet to you there's too much space in the frame. I love the tapestry but with the tapestry and your AT beard I thought at any minute you were going to start denouncing the United States! Lol! Sorry man couldn't resist!
I look forward to watching the rest of your videos and perhaps providing you with some more comments.
How to properly hang a bear bag. Include all the stuff that needs to go into it.
How to properly dig a cat hole.
Items in a good emergency/medical bag, and their uses.
How to use a GPS if you used one.
How to use a map if you used one.
How to lighten your load... if you still have the stuff you replaced, show what your replaced with what, and why.
JaketheFake
10-07-2015, 15:48
I will add to Stubby's list....
Avoiding Lime Disease (not being a smart axx)
Tricks learned along the way (an entire video on a few things learned)
Cooking meals featuring meals you liked
Shakedown of your 3 to 4 day food supply
cycle003
10-07-2015, 16:43
I like gear review videos, especially for cottage-type gear for which there's not much information.
I also would like more videos on food breakdowns. I don't know if you can separate what you ate versus what your wife ate, but most of the food videos I've seen are done by young male people. The few I've seen by women were a little vague about amounts. We are all different but I would find it interesting to get specifics, especially if you had a comparison - two people hiking roughly the same hike, but perhaps eating differently? different quantities?
MinersLettuce
10-07-2015, 21:44
I would like to know how to stay dry in the rain - myself and my gear. I recently hiked in the rain near Springer Mt. (just before Joachim hit.) I had a light pack, a North Face coated nylon raincoat with pit zips, and I found the coat too hot to wear - I was more wet with sweat than with rain. I ended up hiking with no coat and letting it rain on me. I wore a baseball cap which worked well at keeping the rain off my glasses. I saw other people with plastic ponchos, but they were also wet from sweat more than from the rain. I had the same experience when I hiked a pilgrim route in France - it was too hot under the poncho for me, so I just used it to cover my pack. Do pack covers really work?
Another thing I'd like to know: what do people eat? I'm interested in finding the cheapest, lightest, easiest to cook, and easiest to buy along the trail. I'd also like to eat reasonably healthy things. Like the poster above, I'm also interested in the female perspective on how much food is enough, although I suspect it varies depending on the person. I once went backpacking with my sister. She's about 2" taller than me and 3 years younger. I carried more weight in my pack than she. I gave her more than half the food at each meal. When we returned home, we found that she had lost 5 pounds and I had gained 5 pounds.
Nonfiction
10-16-2015, 09:28
OK I'll bite .... Since I'm planning for my thru hike for 2016 Darwin's videos could actually be helpful! I watched your video on your cook system.... My review may be a bit biased because you used exactly the system that I am leaning towards using the snow peak 700 and the snow peak Lite Max stove. To say you provided me some reassurance on my decision is an understatement.
I plan to watch all of your videos every one of them so perhaps I could give you some more comments once I do so. My initial thought was very helpful I would put the camera in a little closer yet to you there's too much space in the frame. I love the tapestry but with the tapestry and your AT beard I thought at any minute you were going to start denouncing the United States! Lol! Sorry man couldn't resist!
I look forward to watching the rest of your videos and perhaps providing you with some more comments.
Glad I could help on the Cook System! The Snow Peak Set-up has def been the best option for me & it's really all you need. I will be making a video on how to efficiently cook cheap trail meals with a basic 1 Pot set-up, so def keep an Eye out for that! As far as the camera set-up, my gopro is the only camera I have right now, & it tends to shoot like that. Maybe I can figure something out on the settings to turn the wide angle off. Thanks for calling me a terrorist, LOL! (noted: pick a different background)...... Thanks for your comments Jake, super helpful!
Nonfiction
10-16-2015, 09:39
How to properly hang a bear bag. Include all the stuff that needs to go into it.
How to properly dig a cat hole.
Items in a good emergency/medical bag, and their uses.
How to use a GPS if you used one.
How to use a map if you used one.
How to lighten your load... if you still have the stuff you replaced, show what your replaced with what, and why.
Thanks for your feedback Stubby! I'm currently finishing up & editing a video on my Post Hike gear Shake-down, to show what ended up being the best set up for me, so keep an eye out for that video!
Bear bag video is a killer Idea! I've been wanting to do a Gear review on the Hang System I used anyway, so I can def wrap a How-To segment in there as well.
No need for a GPS or Maps on the Trail. The AT is one of the most well marked Trails on Earth. It's basically impossible to get lost out there. A good guide like "Awol's Guide" is all you really need.
I can def do something with the Medical Kit. Best advice on a cat hole is DONT bring a Spade. It's just extra weight that a stick or trekking pole can do just fine.
Nonfiction
10-16-2015, 09:48
I also would like more videos on food breakdowns. I don't know if you can separate what you ate versus what your wife ate, but most of the food videos I've seen are done by young male people. The few I've seen by women were a little vague about amounts. We are all different but I would find it interesting to get specifics, especially if you had a comparison - two people hiking roughly the same hike, but perhaps eating differently? different quantities?
Killer Idea! I'm def doing a video on the food I ate on the trail & the best way to cook it. I'm sure Snuggles would love to help out & talk about what she ate as well. Thanks for the Feedback LAZ, Keep watching my channel for new videos!
Nonfiction
10-27-2015, 23:35
I will add to Stubby's list....
Avoiding Lime Disease (not being a smart axx)
Tricks learned along the way (an entire video on a few things learned)
Cooking meals featuring meals you liked
Shakedown of your 3 to 4 day food supply
Posted a new video on my channel on Efficient & Cheap Alternatives for Meals on the Trail. A couple of my favorite meals & a Trick on how to cook them differently. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAhhyNwGwNs
Hike On,
Darwin
The food video was OK for AT newbies but no revelations there. It's what most know and do already...Knorrs/Lipton Sides, Dried potatoes, Maruchan Ramen, and tuna packets. I would like to see more inspiring efficient and cheap grocery store dinner alternatives. MANY MANY MORE possibilities exist if you peruse mainstream grocery store shelves and apply some greater creativity. For starters, I would like you to note how added inexpensive greater overall nutrition, and not only in terms of calories, can be had by adding a variety of healthy nuts and seeds to b-fasts, trail snacks, and dinners.
Have you considered adding coconut products and healthier oils, like EVOO, to trail foods?
JaketheFake
10-28-2015, 00:02
I watched the video on cheap meals. I thought it was great!!! Keep up the good work man!!!!
Nonfiction
10-28-2015, 09:27
Have you considered adding coconut products and healthier oils, like EVOO, to trail foods?
I'm a huge health nut off trail, but the reality is, it's super hard & expensive to find these "Healthier Options" on the Trail. Alot of times your forced to resupply at Dollar Generals or any random Convenience Stores you come across. Trust me, If there had been a Whole Foods or Trader Joes every time I hopped of the trail to resupply, I would have been the first hiker in the store..... The main reason for the video was to talk about the cheap alternative VS the expensive alternative. We really tried to go with much healthier options at the start of the trail, but it's just not efficient & at the end of the day, you'll eat anything for the Calories.
Hike On,
Darwin
jbmundy87
11-06-2015, 12:13
I am planning my 2016 thru and even though I have been a backpacker for a while I use very few toiletries on overnights and weekend trips so I am clueless as far as what all to bring for week long trips.
Soap, sanitizer, goldbond, body glide, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. And maybe more importantly how much of each so that I am not carrying 3lbs of toiletries when I only use 8 oz.
Nonfiction
11-10-2015, 21:12
I am planning my 2016 thru and even though I have been a backpacker for a while I use very few toiletries on overnights and weekend trips so I am clueless as far as what all to bring for week long trips.
Soap, sanitizer, goldbond, body glide, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. And maybe more importantly how much of each so that I am not carrying 3lbs of toiletries when I only use 8 oz.
New Video up on my Youtube Channel on the First-Aid & Toiletries I carried on my hike this year. Hope this helps!
New Video---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQUxWwwwN8Q&feature=youtu.be
Youtube Channel---- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18exdGWh7piVWisrnDXiZg
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18exdGWh7piVWisrnDXiZg)Hike On,
Darwin
I'm a huge health nut off trail, but the reality is, it's super hard & expensive to find these "Healthier Options" on the Trail. Alot of times your forced to resupply at Dollar Generals or any random Convenience Stores you come across. Trust me, If there had been a Whole Foods or Trader Joes every time I hopped of the trail to resupply, I would have been the first hiker in the store..... The main reason for the video was to talk about the cheap alternative VS the expensive alternative. We really tried to go with much healthier options at the start of the trail, but it's just not efficient & at the end of the day, you'll eat anything for the Calories.
Hike On,
Darwin
I disagree. No need to find a TJs or WFs. Even in gas stations/convenience stores you'll find shelled sunflower seeds, sometimes pepitas or pumpkin seeds, peanuts, almonds, cashews, coconut products like shredded coconut, EVOO, Wheat Germ(a cracked seed), sometimes even small-med packages of pecans, walnuts, etc. Heck, at many WallyWorlds you'll find quinoa(actually a very nutritious complete high protein source better than rice and certainly better than white rice), Saba(chia seed), flax seed and flaxseed meal for those with diverticlitis, many nut selections in the bakery aisle, if asking at the Bakery Depts of Grocery Stores where baked goods are actually baked they have given me amounts of sesame seed, etc. I've found shelled hemp seeds(hemp seed hearts) increasingly showing up at Wally Worlds in small packets(VERY good protein source again!).
Of course prices and hiking resupply budgets vary but most of these when you look at what they provide overall nutritionally they are/can be decent bang for the buck and at least some to some degree are within budgets of even the cost conscious thru-hikers. Besides, thru-hikers often find the money to spend on so many other things why can't they have greater consideration of what is fueling them nutritionally. AND, it definitely is NOT just about daily caloric intake either as been often promoted in the hiking community that optimally always fuels our systems.
I've seen more and more thru-hikers, when they have been apprised of greater choices and their availability, even locating these items for the looking in mainstream grocery stores, to be moving away from that "I'll eat anything" perspective. That's why even chains like WalMart, Publix, Krogers, Ingles, Hannafords, Harry Teeters, Sprouts(The fastest growing grocery store chain in N. America) and even the "beef people", Winn Dixie are carrying these products.
I like food videos, showing the selection and repackaging prep before the hike.
I would like to see nicely prepared videos showing preparing the food during the hike.
Sambar had some of that, usually at a picnic table, but she used hiker's gear for the FBC demonstration.
I would like to see more food prepared video using hiker gear on the hike, maybe a shirt out-and-back hike to get the video gear to the presentation.
I think this would inspire more hikers to add some variety to their usual food consumption.
I would like to see a lot of different things, like our food threads.