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View Full Version : The term "pack sniffer" is now on urban dictionary



Appalachian Tater
10-07-2007, 20:35
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pack+sniffer

1. pack sniffer

A term of derision for someone who likes to hang out with people who go hiking and backpacking even though they themselves rarely (or never) hike or backpack.

The term especially applies to poseurs on internet forums devoted to hiking and backpacking.

****, Warren, you don't know anything about hiking, you're just a pack sniffer.

First spotted on the internet in 2005 on hikinghq.net

Skidsteer
10-07-2007, 21:27
Took me twelve minutes to stop laughing long enough to post. :D

Thanks, Tater!

ed bell
10-07-2007, 22:20
I know what my pack's shoulder straps smell like. I don't know why anyone would want to sniff that.:D

SGT Rock
10-08-2007, 12:46
LOL, I saw that it was first spotted on my site. I had to go search my forum and turns out I was the one using it.

the goat
10-08-2007, 12:50
brilliant!

now we need the folks at webster to get on board!

SGT Rock
10-08-2007, 12:58
I didn't have a definition on my site - I had simply called someone a pack sniffer. I went and added it to my Hiker Lexicon. In case anyone is interested I have this section on my site where people post stuff like that: http://hikinghq.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=46

Pennsylvania Rose
10-08-2007, 13:02
Too funny!!! Why would anyone want to be a pack sniffer, anyway? You'd think our odor would keep them away. I know the smell of mine sends me running every time I open the closet.

Patrickjd9
10-08-2007, 23:13
I gave it the thumbs up!

Two Speed
10-09-2007, 05:02
Too funny!!! Why would anyone want to be a pack sniffer, anyway? You'd think our odor would keep them away. I know the smell of mine sends me running every time I open the closet.Pheromones, maybe, and does that bring us back to Post #1?

Hmmm, the circle closes and all is as it should be . . .

Wonder
10-09-2007, 11:54
Nice.......Mala will be thrilled!!!

chief
10-09-2007, 12:23
pack sniffer is an old term in the network world, just recently used in a backpacking context. Nothing new!

rafe
10-09-2007, 12:32
pack sniffer is an old term in the network world, just recently used in a backpacking context. Nothing new!

No, that would be a packet sniffer. Sorry to be the dweeb again. ;)

Jack Tarlin
10-09-2007, 12:38
The phrase was in use well before 2005.......

SGT Rock
10-09-2007, 12:41
Oh I belive it. That is just how it appears on that site.

Appalachian Tater
10-09-2007, 12:47
Google provided no earlier instances of " 'pack sniffer' + hiking". Anyone is free to submit their own definition.

jlb2012
10-09-2007, 13:05
does anyone have a source for the No Pack Sniffers sticker with the giant rat sniffing a backpacker?

Rain Man
10-09-2007, 13:10
Took me twelve minutes to stop laughing long enough to post.

Skidsteer, I thought of you a couple of weeks ago when I drove by a "Skitts Mountain Road" road sign down in your neck of the woods. If I hadn't been with others, I might've turned off and re-found Skitts Mountain Baptist Church, where some of my ancestors are buried. Or, tried to look you up!

Rain:sunMan

.

generoll
10-09-2007, 13:20
here's a usage from 2005. have no idea of the origin, but it seems to have been at least known then.

http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=104380

The Cheat
10-09-2007, 16:30
here's a usage from 2005. have no idea of the origin, but it seems to have been at least known then.

http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=104380

<spooky music>Is she talking about the same tater who started this post? </spooky music>

Appalachian Tater
10-09-2007, 16:38
<spooky music>Is she talking about the same tater who started this post? </spooky music>

No, apparently "Tater" is a fairly common nick-name and trail name. I first set on the trail in March 2006 and received my trail name shortly thereafter.

Skidsteer
10-09-2007, 17:46
Skidsteer, I thought of you a couple of weeks ago when I drove by a "Skitts Mountain Road" road sign down in your neck of the woods. If I hadn't been with others, I might've turned off and re-found Skitts Mountain Baptist Church, where some of my ancestors are buried. Or, tried to look you up!

Rain:sunMan

.

You were very, very close to mi casa! :)

generoll
10-09-2007, 20:31
for packsniffer see a description of "Granite" in the closed threads :D

namehere
10-10-2007, 12:08
does anyone have a source for the No Pack Sniffers sticker with the giant rat sniffing a backpacker?

ask mala, he's got one on the back of his truck.

the goat
10-10-2007, 12:23
does anyone have a source for the No Pack Sniffers sticker with the giant rat sniffing a backpacker?

fishin fred (here on WB) made those stickers.

i've got one too, they're priceless!

Nightwalker
10-10-2007, 13:14
The phrase was in use well before 2005.......

Yup. A pretty well derisive and classless term, if I do say so myself.

Jack Tarlin
10-10-2007, 13:20
You're entitled to your opinion, Nightwalker.

In my experience, the expression is used sparingly, and is usually spot on when used.

Note: It is not meant to belittle inexperienced hikers, but is instead universally used to describe that particular group of hiking and backpacking "experts" that are into anything and everything involving hiking.....except of course, actually hiking. This especially includes the non-hiking experts that frequent Internet Forums.

So I don't think there's anything derisive or classless about the expression.

If the boot fits.......

Lone Wolf
10-10-2007, 13:22
Yup. A pretty well derisive and classless term, if I do say so myself.

an awesome term. are you one?

SGT Rock
10-10-2007, 13:35
So here is a question: Can you be a hiker and turn into a pack sniffer?

Stop hiking altogether and only hang around the fringes of the hiking community while telling everyone how to do it, profit from it by either feeding your ego or financially (or both), and crow about how much you should be heeded because of something you did 10 years ago but don't do anymore and have no clue what it is about today?

Lone Wolf
10-10-2007, 13:36
So here is a question: Can you be a hiker and turn into a pack sniffer?

Stop hiking altogether and only hang around the fringes of the hiking community while telling everyone how to do it, profit from it by either feeding your ego or financially (or both), and crow about how much you should be heeded because of something you did 10 years ago but don't do anymore and have no clue what it is about today?

that's me to a T

Jack Tarlin
10-10-2007, 13:39
Wolf's too modest. He racked up more Trail miles in Vermont and elsewhere this year than 90% of the folks on this Board.

There might be some pack sniffin' in his future somewhere, but right now, as far as hiking is concerned, he's the real deal.

At least when there's no golf on television.......... :D

Appalachian Tater
10-10-2007, 13:41
So here is a question: Can you be a hiker and turn into a pack sniffer?

Yes, but you would be sniffing your own pack?

As long as it occurs between a consenting adult and himself, I'm cool with it.

SGT Rock
10-10-2007, 13:44
Yes, but you would be sniffing your own pack?

As long as it occurs between a consenting adult and himself, I'm cool with it.
Well you could be sniffing other hikers packs too. I reckon it depends on how you become a former hiker and pack sniffer.

rafe
10-10-2007, 13:50
Stop hiking altogether and only hang around the fringes of the hiking community ...

So what exactly is "the hiking community?" Billville? Whiteblaze? Trailplace? AT-L? Folks who go to rucks? I don't think so. Skill and expertise in hiking don't require membership in a community.

Lone Wolf
10-10-2007, 13:51
So what exactly is "the hiking community?" Billville? Whiteblaze? Trailplace? AT-L? Folks who go to rucks? I don't think so. Skill and expertise in hiking don't require membership in a community.

i've never been a part of any "hiking community"

Appalachian Tater
10-10-2007, 13:52
The hiking community is made of people who hike. Everybody else is in the non-hiking community. People with indeterminate hiking status are in the pack-sniffing community.

Appalachian Tater
10-10-2007, 13:53
i've never been a part of any "hiking community"

L. Wolf, maybe your very existence is dependent on "being not" instead of "being".

SGT Rock
10-10-2007, 14:41
So what exactly is "the hiking community?" Billville? Whiteblaze? Trailplace? AT-L? Folks who go to rucks? I don't think so. Skill and expertise in hiking don't require membership in a community.
Well duh.

I think it applies to people that do not have either and talk like they do and act like they do. In the military we call them wannabees. These are normally guys that say they were a ranger, SEAL, SF, etc but either were never in the military or something like a laundy and bath specialist.

Mags
10-10-2007, 15:14
Earlier this summer, I went on a backpacking trip. I left my pack in the back of my truck (with a "camper shell"). It was a hot time of the year.

The following weekend, I went car camping/trail work, so I did not use my pack.

Gradually, I noticed a strong odor from the back of my truck. Did I leave some nasty socks? Perhaps it is my shoes? I sprayed some Fabreeze.

It did nada...

The following day, I routed around. Went to the plastic tote whre I keep my backpack. PHEW!

Look further. Turned out I forgot about two-three pieces of bologna from the backpacking trip. Did I mention it was hot and had been baking in my truck for two weeks? Yeech!

I had to bleach my pack and assorted items. The sleeping pad was a lost cause.

That is one pack I wish I had not sniffed!

lvleph
10-10-2007, 15:33
I guess I am hiking more than on the forums, because I never heard the term and I have been on these forums for a couple years maybe more.

Jack Tarlin
10-10-2007, 15:55
A lot of folks here at WB would do well to be out hiking more often, and posting less.

And of course, this includes me. :D

Cosmo Rules
10-10-2007, 16:11
What's that smell?

Mags
10-10-2007, 16:13
What's that smell?

Rancid bologna in my case...

(My truck now smells of wood smoke. That is one pack that is good to sniff)

SGT Rock
10-10-2007, 16:18
I get into less trouble when I hike than when I post.

Jester2000
10-19-2007, 22:36
So what exactly is "the hiking community?" Billville? Whiteblaze? Trailplace? AT-L? Folks who go to rucks? I don't think so. Skill and expertise in hiking don't require membership in a community.

You had me at "Billville."

Sly
10-19-2007, 23:03
Skill and expertise in hiking? I thought it was just walking. :o

Nightwalker
03-01-2008, 22:18
an awesome term. are you one?

Nope. How 'bout you, ex-hiker? :D

Almost There
03-02-2008, 00:42
What is it with all the "pack-sniffers" diggin' up old threads this past month?:D

Go hike! I'm aiming for over 400 miles this year.:cool:

Nightwalker
03-02-2008, 12:42
What is it with all the "pack-sniffers" diggin' up old threads this past month?:D

Go hike! I'm aiming for over 400 miles this year.:cool:

This one digs up old threads because he hikes a lot and doesn't get much of a chance to read WB.

400 miles, huh? I've got over 200 this year already, and just been doing it part-time. Of course, they don't really count to the mega-posters around here, because none of them are on the AT, lol.

I'd love to see this term die. It's snobbery used by people who have no right to be snobs. The ability to put on miles is luck of timing and responsibilities almost as much as it is willingness.

Of course, those that don't have anything holding them back, and still just sit around posting here, well, I guess folks need something to call them. Maybe was-bes on one end and wannabes on the other, lol.

Almost There
03-02-2008, 15:31
This one digs up old threads because he hikes a lot and doesn't get much of a chance to read WB.

400 miles, huh? I've got over 200 this year already, and just been doing it part-time. Of course, they don't really count to the mega-posters around here, because none of them are on the AT, lol.

I'd love to see this term die. It's snobbery used by people who have no right to be snobs. The ability to put on miles is luck of timing and responsibilities almost as much as it is willingness.

Of course, those that don't have anything holding them back, and still just sit around posting here, well, I guess folks need something to call them. Maybe was-bes on one end and wannabes on the other, lol.


Ah, I see now why you're including me in the game, I was talking about all of the recent threads...and besides you're a big boy, I know you can handle it!:cool:

Nightwalker
03-02-2008, 21:42
Ah, I see now why you're including me in the game, I was talking about all of the recent threads...and besides you're a big boy, I know you can handle it!:cool:

It's not just about me. I've heard it used by people who seemed to have no use to the world except their million miles of hiking experience, and used about people who were just wonderful folks that go out of their way to help hikers. It's just snobbery, pure and simple. I'm not, BTW, talking about my sparring partner LW.

I hike more than most here, and the only time I mess with people about it is when I'm "returning fire." As I said earlier, a lot of hiking big yearly miles is luck and circumstance. I've got 2 golf-ball sized holes in my brain, and am not even fit to work in a convenience store. My wife makes decent money and likes me to hike a lot because it makes me happy and peaceful. Very few people have a combination like that.

Still and all, I'd prefer being able to work, but it's too late for that one. I do, however, make maps for State parks and others, and am working on one for the entire AT, so I'm not actually totally useless.

Almost There
03-02-2008, 22:04
It's not just about me. I've heard it used by people who seemed to have no use to the world except their million miles of hiking experience, and used about people who were just wonderful folks that go out of their way to help hikers. It's just snobbery, pure and simple. I'm not, BTW, talking about my sparring partner LW.

I hike more than most here, and the only time I mess with people about it is when I'm "returning fire." As I said earlier, a lot of hiking big yearly miles is luck and circumstance. I've got 2 golf-ball sized holes in my brain, and am not even fit to work in a convenience store. My wife makes decent money and likes me to hike a lot because it makes me happy and peaceful. Very few people have a combination like that.

Still and all, I'd prefer being able to work, but it's too late for that one. I do, however, make maps for State parks and others, and am working on one for the entire AT, so I'm not actually totally useless.

NW, I'll grant that you don't know me, but if you did then you would know that I don't judge people by what I hear about them, and to me the term packsniffer is more funny than derogatory, but I could see how some might take it that way.

Dude, I don't question why some can hike more than others, we all have made our choices in life and we all have our own lives to live. Heck, I married my wife because she accepts me for who I am and has never tried to change me...sounds like you have a great wife too.

BTW, to me a packsniffer is a know-it-all who hangs around telling people how they should hike and the gear they should buy, but yet they almost never make an effort to get out and hike. The question is are you a doer or a talker. I prefer doers.

Trail Angels and those who can't hike anymore due to injury or infirmity, etc. are not packsniffers, but be honest, we both know people on WB who can be termed either packsniffer or if you prefer we'll you use a LW term...Asshat!:D

kayak karl
03-06-2011, 22:36
this will me me if i don't get some miles under my belt this year LOL

njordan2
03-06-2011, 22:48
I met one who I think was a pack sniffer, once. I was in a shelter laying on my sleeping bag when he and some of his friends came in. He proclaimed, "Dude your gear smells like bigfoot's d!<k"
I did not ask him how he could possibly know such a thing.

kayak karl
03-06-2011, 22:56
if he was on the trail he wasn't one:)

njordan2
03-06-2011, 23:04
In the olfactory sense, clearly he was. And clearly I and my gear stunk.

Skidsteer
03-06-2011, 23:06
if he was on the trail he wasn't one:)

Plus he knows what bigfoot's d!<k smells like.

Obviously a hiker.

Sierra Echo
03-06-2011, 23:07
Plus he knows what bigfoot's d!<k smells like.

Obviously a hiker.

What did big foot do? Hit him over the head with it?!?! :eek:

Skidsteer
03-06-2011, 23:11
What did big foot do? Hit him over the head with it?!?! :eek:

Hahahahahaha!

njordan2
03-06-2011, 23:22
Maybe he mistook it for his walking stick.

njordan2
03-06-2011, 23:23
Just a little furrier.