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View Full Version : Hiking evolutions...



hikerjohnd
10-23-2006, 16:15
In the beginning thru hiking was considered a stunt. Earl proved them wrong, but copying his feat was no easy task and such accomplishments were few and far between. As the decades rolled on hiking gear has evolved and trends have come and gone. Thru hiking has become popular and then waned and then become popular again. Within my own lifetime I have witnessed the increased popularity of internal frame packs and alcohol stoves.

So I wonder what the next evolutions for thru hiking will be? Any thoughts or predictions?

Touch of Grey
10-23-2006, 16:24
Hammocks instead of tents (ground-dwelling). It's already started!

Once you've hung comfortably and warmly you won't go back. In some cases hanging has a steeper learning curve to stay warm and such but the end result of a good nights sleep without finding the roots or rocks that seem to grow up out of the ground right after you pitch your tent in all of the wrong places is worth the learning experiences.

Soon there won't be enough trees to support us all. Hehe!

TOG:D

Just Jeff
10-23-2006, 17:55
No way. Hammocks suck. Everybody needs to get rid of their hammocks before it ruins their backs. I have a handy hammock-disposal unit that I'll offer up for free - just send your hammock to....

Monkeyboy
10-23-2006, 17:58
Portable lightweight air conditioners that run on battery and weigh less than 2 lbs!

RockyTrail
10-23-2006, 17:59
More fees and permits.

Gaiter
10-23-2006, 18:15
banks w/ special loans for a thru-hike, similar to college loans, pay it off when your done or off the trail--- that will become the only way to afford the trail.

maybe one day we'll have floating packs that follow us around, no need to carry them. i can see it now 'well my floater carries 75lbs' 'ha, well mine carries 80'

Krewzer
10-23-2006, 22:40
Rain gear that works, boots that stay dry....freeze dried beer and margaritas.

Programbo
10-23-2006, 22:51
An entire thru hike on DVD!..Only a 120 disk set!.....Thru hiking waned?..I`ve seen nothing but a steady increase in those going out every year (With only a few odd years in there up or down) and I predict it will get so bad that permits will one day be required to do it

refreeman
10-23-2006, 23:56
Real time satellite GPS tracking of everyone on the AT. You can watch it like a TV video game.

This is next, mark my words.

Spock
10-23-2006, 23:58
OOh! predictions about the future. Always a crap shoot. With the stress on crap. Some of these things will depend on when/if the Iraq war ends. Some of these things are already out there but not in production; some are just in the wind.
* We will soon see hyper-light fabrics for tents/tarps and packs probably based on aramid or dyneema-type blends or ripstop-type reinforcements with weights approaching 0.5 oz and tear strength better than 1.6 oz nylon. More effective waterproofing than current polyurethane or current silicone. Not talking Cuben here.
* Watch for effective waterproof/breathable fabrics perhaps based on fiber encapsulation in hydrophobic materials or use of nanofibers (think micro-fiber to ten to the minus n). The tech is now on line, but suitable outdoor products are still a few months away. Probably.
* Expect a converse trend toward natural materials such as down, wool, even cotton (for packs) and hemp - perhaps augmented. Expect unique blends such as Dyneema-hemp or cotton canvass in 2-3 ounce weights for packs and garments. Expect promotions of latter based on flame resistance and w/b.
* Expect Kevlar climbing gear that won't burn under friction - and a return to traditional friction repell techniques. Also expect aramids to replace flammable fibers in other applications such as general outer garments for wilderlings.
* Expect lighter foams to sleeping pads to replace the current micro-cell polyethelenes. These may be macro-cell foams similar to Coleman's, but more uniform.
* We'll have more non-woven fabric items in the lower price and weight ranges. But their performance will soon overlap that of current high-dollar gear in all regards. Frogg Toggs is only one example, but expect them to become much more durable and lighter with the addition of stronger fibers. Non-woven tents of highly waterproof-highly breathable Tyvek-like material will follow as soon as the noise factor is fixed. If reinforced with compatable Dyneema (another polyethelene derivative) these will outperform all current single-wall tent fabrics.
* Makers of titanium cookware will get up enough nerve to make cookware thin enough to significantly surpass aluminum in weight.
* Someone, somewhere will start making uberlight alcohol stoves, perhaps of durable metal and perhaps using something simular to MSR's forced capilary burner.
*
* LED lights will continue to improve - both in inherent output of the lamps and also in the voltage control chips.
*

* Unless there are some really radical improvements in materials science, I don't expect external pack frames to compete with internal framed or frameless packs except in the upper weight ranges - which they do now.
*

fiddlehead
10-24-2006, 00:29
gear, gear, gear.........ah, how about this prediction: folks will search out places with no trail to hike. The trend will be to get away from people. The CDT will be the most used trail in the states with the Artic circle becoming a vacationland.
you'll still have to carry a pack with a sleeping bag, raingear, stove, and all that stuff. but you won't have to stop working. We're only a few years away from having internet access all over the trails and that will allow lots of us to work while out there.

hikerjohnd
10-24-2006, 00:35
An entire thru hike on DVD!..Only a 120 disk set!.....Thru hiking waned?..I`ve seen nothing but a steady increase in those going out every year (With only a few odd years in there up or down) and I predict it will get so bad that permits will one day be required to do it

120 Disks??? What about Blu-Ray? I'm thinking it will be 30-40 disks depending on how long the directors cut is.

And ok - maybe waned isn't the right word, but there are fluctuations - the upward trend after Bryson, the lul shortly thereafter...

And I agree on the permit thing - I'd like to see something like that - maybe an official ID card so the ATC can get a better idea about who (maybe how many would be a better way to phrase that) is hiking - but definitley not a major fee thing - $3-5 to cover the cost of the card.

Spock
10-24-2006, 00:52
Oh, Yeah,
It's a good idea to remember what Aldo Leopold said:
"A gadget industry pads the bumps against nature-in-the-raw; woodcraft becomes the art of using gadgets."

Some things never change:
* Large manufacturers will follow the rainbow of the product cycle. When new stuff comes up, they will dive for the lowest common denominator, prostitute the design and make the product with !!!New!!! cosmetic changes until they downstream the factory and production overseas - if they don't start it there in the first place.
* Cottage manufacturers will continue to focus on product and customers instead of the business end and bookkeeping, so they will go under with depressing regularity, taking good products with them.
* Backpackers will continue to be bombarded with gagets of questionable utility (sporks?**) and many will continue to derive a sense of security from gagets (GPS,cell phones).
* Savvy wilderlings will continue to keep it simple, travel light, and get the most out of the experience.
* Newbies will continue to think the wilderlings are wierd,maybe impoverished, and certainly ill-informed.


**Spork: 1) A type of eating utensil consisting of a spoon with short fork tines; once limited to backpacking, now found in fast-food emporia and on airliners; the current and less imaginative term for the runcible spoon, the elegant term coined by Edward Lear in “The Owl and the Pussycat.” We live in barbarous times.
2) A term applied to any item that appears, at first glance, to be practical and ingenious, but is found to be tedious, frustrating or actually useless in practice. Eating pasta with a spork is much like eating peas with a knife. And eating soup with a spork is not much better than using…well…a fork.
3) Besides, do you really respect a utensil the airlines think is a great way to cut corners, if not their cardboard mystery meat?

gsingjane
10-24-2006, 07:33
I think there will be increased portability of technology and the means to make it work. Whether it's solar or people (motion) power, or maybe very tiny batteries, there will continue to be increased connectedness to the outside world via laptops or BlackBerry or Palm-like devices. There will be mroe and more technical ways to make sure you're not getting off the trail (or "lost"), ways to check on what's coming up, and ways to stay in touch with loved ones.

I'm not saying I think all this connectedness is a good thing, but I definitely feel that's where we're headed.

Jane in CT

max patch
10-24-2006, 07:47
ah, how about this prediction: folks will search out places with no trail to hike. The trend will be to get away from people.

While I wish you were right about this, I believe you are 100% dead wrong.

Read these forums and others. People are always posting looking for someone to join them on hikes. Think about how many posts show up in December orgainizing the New Years group campout on Springer. And how about hiker feeds? Amazing to me how many people jump ahead/behind hitch to get to a party on the trail.

MOWGLI
10-24-2006, 08:05
g The CDT will be the most used trail in the states with the Artic circle becoming a vacationland.


You're probably right. In another 50 years Florida and the rest of the US coast will be underwater and the weather in the Arctic will be downright balmy.

jgreene
10-24-2006, 09:51
I know I'm ahead of the curve, but look for lighter external frame packs.
They are cooler, easier to pack and keep up w/ your stuff and have more options for stowing all the extra padding hammocks require.

Spock
10-24-2006, 10:24
jgreene,
I agree that external frame packs will get lighter. Current frames are built unreasonably strong. My freighter makes a handy ladder. And use of UL materials for the bags will drop weights dramatically. UL materials work even better on a frame than in frameless packs. However, these are current technologies and could be made today. Why not? Because there are a few things regular manufacturers are never going to make:
* Items with a vanishingly small profit margin such as pop-can stoves or their equivalent. Especially when they replace high dollar items.
* Items that require lots of labor that are in competition with items that are easily mass produced.
* Items that put light weight ahead of durability to the point that the manufacturer gets either lots of returns or a bad reputation. This is a big problem for UL gear. It does not matter that the manufactuer prints "Non-Durable!" "Use Caution" "Handle With Care!!" all over a pack or tent. If if ever fails in any way, the item will get a bad rep. So my Camp Trails frame pack has lasted through 35 years of serious abuse. That is way too durable. It could have weighed half as much and lasted half as long. And what is half of almost nearly forever?

That means we might have to keep rolling our own.

RockyTrail
10-24-2006, 10:41
And I agree on the permit thing - I'd like to see something like that - maybe an official ID card so the ATC can get a better idea about who (maybe how many would be a better way to phrase that) is hiking - but definitley not a major fee thing - $3-5 to cover the cost of the card.

New taxes and permit systems usually start out as "just a little thing", then grow to be the 800 lb gorilla sitting at your dinner table. For example, income taxes started in 1913 as a small tax on the rich and just look what they have become today.

Beware advocating for a tax and permit system, you may just get what you ask for (in my humble opinion).

Almost There
10-24-2006, 10:46
You're probably right. In another 50 years Florida and the rest of the US coast will be underwater and the weather in the Arctic will be downright balmy.

Exaggeration!!! While global warming is occurring...50 years is a bit soon to suggest Florida and the US coastline will be underwater. That being said I agree things need to start happening.

Now that being said....sorry I wouldn't worry about overcrowding on the trail, in fact, I think the opposite will happen with the direction that children are going today. I am sitting in my classroom right now looking around the room and the last thing these kids want to do...is go commune with nature. There's too much technology to play with....why would anyone want to go outdoors??? As these kids have children and pass on their aversion to things of nature less people go out as only those of us with a love of such things will pass it on to those we love.

Obviously there will be new materials and lighter gear, and advances in technology will see computer type devices out on the trail...which just means more idiots will bring work with them. I go out to get away from work...I can see it now coming into Hawk Mountain on the first night of my thru hike 25+ years from now and the shelter is full of people with wrist laptops online chatting with friends....I'm not even there yet and I can already feel the peanut butter and tortilla I had for lunch that day welling up in my throat ready to spew forth as the idiocy of the modern world encroaches upon the trail.

halftime
10-24-2006, 10:49
[quote=Spock;260219]jgreene,
Current frames are built unreasonably strong. My freighter makes a handy ladder.

Maybe a pop-up backpack that folds into a condo?

Programbo
10-24-2006, 18:55
* Unless there are some really radical improvements in materials science, I don't expect external pack frames to compete with internal framed or frameless packs except in the upper weight ranges - which they do now.*

I understand the reasoning behind the whole internal frame revolution as I was in the gear business when it started and discussed it with pack makers at that time but I had always hoped that enough savy long distance hikers would see past the marketing and gimmicks and return to external frames.... Lighter isn`t always better and weight isn`t always weight