Tin Man
05-10-2006, 22:03
From newwest.net (http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/8349/)
Top Heavy
Can Lightweight Backpacking Save Hiking As We Know It?
By Todd Wilkinson, 5-09-06
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=25 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/thumbnails_feature/dana_designs_backpack_large.jpg </TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD class=image-caption align=right>Dinosaur Sighting? Long considered a Cadillac of backpacks, the legendary Dana Design Terraplane is indeed a classic, the same way that steel-finned cruisers of the 1950s defined class and style. But for adherents of lightweight and ultralight, the Terraplane is an overstuffed weighthog. Can hikers attain the same level of durability, function and reliability from products that exude a fraction of the heft? And will lighterweight gear help bring back the minions who have given up long-distance tromps in the woods? That's one of the debates currently raging in a backcountry which, in some locales, is thinning out of people.</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/spacer.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>If ever Boomers want to show their age on the hiking trail, here's a showstopper to use when communicating with the nimble of feet and mind half as old: Drop the name "Ewell Gibbons" and then ask your dumbstruck listeners to identify what food stuff ol' Ewell hustled for.
The answer will not be revealed here. Youngsters—this you gotta Google for.
The fact is that the heyday of Gibbons' profile as a Granola-ee TV celebrity also represented something else: the late, great Golden Age of backpacking in America when millions of (largely middle class Caucasian) families hit the trails, turned over rocks in our national parks, forests, and deserts, enrolled in Outward Bound and NOLS courses to build character, and fueled the rise of the modern outdoor gear industry.
In the years since, little has changed and yet everything has.
Despite there being more of us earning more money and now having far greater options for leisure activities at our disposal, the trend line demographic for the number of those seeking outdoor adventure -- i.e. those willing to trek more than a mile from roadside trailheads -- is in a spiral. Some believe a death spiral. Most national parks in the country report that backcountry use is stagnant while demand on frontcountry areas in the form of developed campgrounds, fishing docks, picnic areas, and bike trails continues to surge.
Although the outdoor gear industry is spending huge amounts of advertising dollars to capture larger market share in the estimated $5 billion outdoor retail industry, most manufacturers are concerned about what the future holds, members of the Outdoor Retailers Association say. The cold reality is that besides having LESS time on our hands to get out and find ourselves in a world of greater electronic distractions, most increasingly-urban Americans find the idea of trudging dozens of miles with a heavy pack toward remote campsights to be utterly unappealing. In a word, backbreaking.
There is an exception to the truth above. One innovation, initially started by a group of eccentrics but now being eyed with swoon by large manufacturers, is the arrival of light and ultralight camping gear. According to recent studies, the number of regular hardcore backpackers -- once pegged at about two million -- has decreased by 20 percent since the end of the 1990s alone. During the same period, the number of those individuals who engage in lightweight backpacking -- about 360,000 -- has increased 350 percent and is rapidly growing.
The movement has made a revolutionary breakthrough in paring down the weight of an average backpack and gear load from between 40 and 70 pounds to less than 10 without sacrificing safety and (not too much) comfort.
Ryan Jordan of Bozeman, Montana is one of the gurus who established an online magazine devoted to reviewing new lightweight products at www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com/). Two other pioneers are Demetri and Kim Coupounas of Boulder, Colorado, who founded the gear company GoLite.
This spring, a delegation of lightweight advocates met at the headquarters of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming which has introduced the rewards of hiking, self-reliance and survival to thousands worldwide. For generations, NOLS has not only taught the value of adventure backpacking but its instructors have emphasized redundancy to keep clients out of harm's way. A similar mantra has been preached by the Boy Scouts of America.
But as adherents of lightweight say, it's true that everyone who goes into the wilderness needs to be prepared for inclement weather and other risks, but redunancy in the amount of clothing we pack, the provisions we carry, and the gear we heave on our spine can, by using common sense and better technology, be reduced.
Doing this can enable us to go farther, faster, healthier and happier. It can also serve as an inducement for those who have given up on real backpacking to return. "This is a revolution that is changing peoples' lives," says Matt Colon, editor of the print edition of Backpacking Light magazine. In addition to the practicality of hiking, lightweight holds other ramifications for helping to convince more citizens to get out and care about the stewardship of public lands as the traditional profile of the conservation movement morphs in the years ahead.
---
Article continues with interview with Colon - click here (http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/8349/).
Top Heavy
Can Lightweight Backpacking Save Hiking As We Know It?
By Todd Wilkinson, 5-09-06
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=25 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/thumbnails_feature/dana_designs_backpack_large.jpg </TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD class=image-caption align=right>Dinosaur Sighting? Long considered a Cadillac of backpacks, the legendary Dana Design Terraplane is indeed a classic, the same way that steel-finned cruisers of the 1950s defined class and style. But for adherents of lightweight and ultralight, the Terraplane is an overstuffed weighthog. Can hikers attain the same level of durability, function and reliability from products that exude a fraction of the heft? And will lighterweight gear help bring back the minions who have given up long-distance tromps in the woods? That's one of the debates currently raging in a backcountry which, in some locales, is thinning out of people.</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.newwest.net/images/spacer.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>If ever Boomers want to show their age on the hiking trail, here's a showstopper to use when communicating with the nimble of feet and mind half as old: Drop the name "Ewell Gibbons" and then ask your dumbstruck listeners to identify what food stuff ol' Ewell hustled for.
The answer will not be revealed here. Youngsters—this you gotta Google for.
The fact is that the heyday of Gibbons' profile as a Granola-ee TV celebrity also represented something else: the late, great Golden Age of backpacking in America when millions of (largely middle class Caucasian) families hit the trails, turned over rocks in our national parks, forests, and deserts, enrolled in Outward Bound and NOLS courses to build character, and fueled the rise of the modern outdoor gear industry.
In the years since, little has changed and yet everything has.
Despite there being more of us earning more money and now having far greater options for leisure activities at our disposal, the trend line demographic for the number of those seeking outdoor adventure -- i.e. those willing to trek more than a mile from roadside trailheads -- is in a spiral. Some believe a death spiral. Most national parks in the country report that backcountry use is stagnant while demand on frontcountry areas in the form of developed campgrounds, fishing docks, picnic areas, and bike trails continues to surge.
Although the outdoor gear industry is spending huge amounts of advertising dollars to capture larger market share in the estimated $5 billion outdoor retail industry, most manufacturers are concerned about what the future holds, members of the Outdoor Retailers Association say. The cold reality is that besides having LESS time on our hands to get out and find ourselves in a world of greater electronic distractions, most increasingly-urban Americans find the idea of trudging dozens of miles with a heavy pack toward remote campsights to be utterly unappealing. In a word, backbreaking.
There is an exception to the truth above. One innovation, initially started by a group of eccentrics but now being eyed with swoon by large manufacturers, is the arrival of light and ultralight camping gear. According to recent studies, the number of regular hardcore backpackers -- once pegged at about two million -- has decreased by 20 percent since the end of the 1990s alone. During the same period, the number of those individuals who engage in lightweight backpacking -- about 360,000 -- has increased 350 percent and is rapidly growing.
The movement has made a revolutionary breakthrough in paring down the weight of an average backpack and gear load from between 40 and 70 pounds to less than 10 without sacrificing safety and (not too much) comfort.
Ryan Jordan of Bozeman, Montana is one of the gurus who established an online magazine devoted to reviewing new lightweight products at www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com/). Two other pioneers are Demetri and Kim Coupounas of Boulder, Colorado, who founded the gear company GoLite.
This spring, a delegation of lightweight advocates met at the headquarters of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming which has introduced the rewards of hiking, self-reliance and survival to thousands worldwide. For generations, NOLS has not only taught the value of adventure backpacking but its instructors have emphasized redundancy to keep clients out of harm's way. A similar mantra has been preached by the Boy Scouts of America.
But as adherents of lightweight say, it's true that everyone who goes into the wilderness needs to be prepared for inclement weather and other risks, but redunancy in the amount of clothing we pack, the provisions we carry, and the gear we heave on our spine can, by using common sense and better technology, be reduced.
Doing this can enable us to go farther, faster, healthier and happier. It can also serve as an inducement for those who have given up on real backpacking to return. "This is a revolution that is changing peoples' lives," says Matt Colon, editor of the print edition of Backpacking Light magazine. In addition to the practicality of hiking, lightweight holds other ramifications for helping to convince more citizens to get out and care about the stewardship of public lands as the traditional profile of the conservation movement morphs in the years ahead.
---
Article continues with interview with Colon - click here (http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/8349/).