How far do you bounce your box?

[the_iceman]

Okay, I am sold on the bounce concept. With 51 days left I have now decided to do some mail drops and use a bounce box.

However, I really do not want to be running into town every 3-5 days to find the Post Office. I hope to re-supply at easy to get to, close to the trail, stores even if I am eating Ding-Dongs. I hope to hit hostels close to the trail and have mail drops sent there so I am not waiting for a Post Office to open. Trying to decide a 150+ day schedule before doing a least a few weeks is crazy. I have no idea what my pace will be after 14 days since that is the longest section hike I can remember. I am older but carrying a much lighter pack today.

If I have it right the average post office will hold mail for 2 weeks. If I have mail drops sent to a hostel then there is no waiting. But with the bounce box you got to send that sucker on ahead. If I roll in on a Saturday afternoon I am stuck until Monday or I cram all the crap in my pack and start walking.

Any thoughts. comments, ideas, or even rude remarks?

[Footslogger]

Bounce boxes can get a little tricky ...but I used one in 2003 and I would use one again. Yes, if you bounce your box to the PO and get in on a Saturday after the PO closes you have to wait until Monday morning to get at it.

That happened to me once or twice. But then I got smart. If I really didn't NEED anything in the bounce box and I knew I wasn't going to get into town until late Saturday or early Sunday I would call the PO and have them bounce it forward to the next town ...or maybe the next town after that.

Trick is to always use PRIORITY MAIL with your bounce box. As long as the box is NOT opened the PO will forward it up the trail at NO EXTRA CHARGE.

Get a list of all PO and their phone numbers along the trail and carry it with you. I did and it was invaluable to me, especially the further north I got.

To answser your initial question ...I typically guestimated a 2 - 3 week interval for my bounce box. That worked well for me. One of the main things I used in my bounce box was a set of electric clippers. I gave myself a buzz about every 2 - 3 weeks and cut a few other hikers hair while I was at it.

'Slogger

[freefall]

It kinda depends on what is in the box that determines how far to send it ahead. And it will take some tweaking to get it about right. I set up my bounce box at Neel's Gap and bounced it ahead to Erwin. In my bounce box was my battery charger, my card reader for my digital camera, extra food from my drop box, my rain pants, my AT Companion (I tore out and kept the pages I needed) an extra novel my Mom had sent me, and a couple of other small things I can't for the life of me remember what they were.

Some people put soap and detergent in their bounce box but I figure I can purchase them cheaper than I can mail them. Putting them in a drop box might be an option though.

I only wore my rainpants once during an ice storm heading into the NOC then once in town while washing everything else so I sent them home. I had lithium rechargables for my camera that lasted about a month on a charge (didn't take many pics that required flash). So I worked out that 3 weeks was a good distance to send the bounce ahead for me. But like I said, it just depends on what you're putting in the bounce box as to what will work for you.
I did always mail my bounce Priority just for the fact that the USPS seems to take better care of these packages. I tried to use non- post office locations when possible but did use the post office on several occasions just for proximity's sake. I lucked out and never got to town on saturday night when I had a box to pick up. The USPS hours never interfered with my hike.
I only planned on a couple of food drops in the beginning but ended up using a few more that just made sense. If you look at my mail drop list on trailjournals, I only planned on the ones at the Hiker Hostel, The Blueberry Patch and Fontana. The rest were added later. On my next hike, I plan on using drops more often. Simply because I now know my tolerance for mundane meals and my true hiking ability.
One last thing, a lot of hostels/motels will mail your packages for you so no need to wait for the PO to open. I know Jeff at the Hike Inn at Fontana has a scale for this very purpose. Others kind of guesstimate price but if you use the flat rate boxes, there's no problems.
Best of luck on the rest of your planning and on your hike!

[Blissful]

Funny, but I decided not to use a bounce box. People have said detergent and shampoo are pretty much available (though I may stow some travel sizes in a mail drop and leave in the hiker box for anyone that needs it). We will have a battery charger to charge up the phone and for batteries with the MP3, etc. As for other incidentals (like my meds, etc) they will just be in mail drops.

[Jack Tarlin]

You've had some good comments so far. All I can add is try and not have too many "bounce" stops, or you'll end up spending a ton of unnecessary $ on postage, i.e. paying seven or eight bucks to send a box somewhere where all you're gonna take out of it is a dollar's worth of Gold Bond powder and a buck's worth of vitamins doesn't make any sense. Don't send the bounce box everywhere you're going; just send it to places you know you'll be taking extra time off and will genuinely NEED the stuff in the box, like good town clothes, etc.

Also, try and avoid having your bounce box become a "junk" box, i.e. full of stuff you pick up along the way, like books, postcards, mail from home, knickknacks and souvenirs, etc. A lot of people's boxes are half full of stuff they either don't need, or should send home; instead, they spend a lot of money sending and re-sending a lot of stuff down the Trail thet should either be thrown out, sent home, or left in a hiker box for someone else. (I've seen people with Georgia and North Carolina Maps in their bounce boxes in NEW ENGLAND; these things must have been mailed 15 times in a box that became heavier and more expensive to mail on each occasion).

Also, unless you MUST have your favorite soaps and shampoos, avoid having large bottles of things like this in your box. They take up a lot of space; their weight will add expense to your mailing costs, they may open and make a horrible mess, but most of all, small bottles of these itms are available in just about every Trail town, either in supermarkets, discount drugstores, or dollar stores, which are very common on the Trail, especially down south. It doesn't make sense to send and re-send heavy items when you can buy the same stuff cheaply in each town you come to.

You're right to be thinking about non-Post Office spots to receive mail. There are more of them than you think, such as hostels, Outfitters, etc. Books such as the Thru-Hikers Companion or Handbook will tell you where these places are.

Lastly, there's some stuff in the "Articles" section of Whiteblaze that may help you with maildrops, re-supply questions, telling you how long each section will take to hike, etc.

[Bloodroot]

Every time you go into town to retrieve your bounce box, you are probably going to spend extra $$ on restaraunts, beer, etc, even if you don't have to resupply.

Not at all true. It's called self-control.