View Full Version : timekeeper
ChicagoRob
12-31-2003, 13:17
Did you use a watch on your thru-hike? The only time I seem to use one when backpacking is to see what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night.
illininagel
12-31-2003, 14:53
Did you use a watch on your thru-hike? The only time I seem to use one when backpacking is to see what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night.
I think a watch helps me set the right pace for the day. It gives me some comfort to know that I'm on schedule to make it to that day's destination on time. You can't always go by the sun---that is, if it even appears on an overcast day!
I would think that on a thru-hike a watch is even more important. I would want one with the day on it, because I'm sure I would lose track after a while. It would also help make sure that I make it to the post office or whatever before they close.
max patch
12-31-2003, 15:50
Its late afternoon/early evening. You're at a shelter...should you stay or can you make the campsite with a great view and water that is 6 miles away? If you have a watch you will KNOW if you can make the campsite or not.
Also, I usually slept in my tent. I always set the alarm on my watch to ensure an early start.
Although not all that needed on the actual AT (blazes are better'n maps) but if lost without a compass, A watch and the sun will help ya back on track. :sun
well yeah but have you ever tried that with a digital watch (grin)
I will carry one from now on. And it's not for any "noble" reason, its because I seem to obsess about the time, without a watch I go Nuts. And I don't even need to know what the time is 99.9999 % of the time, I Just WANT TO KNOW!
I did without a watch last section hike, every five minutes I looked at my naked wrist & said "Damn" for 15 days.
Sigh!
Doctari.
I find its not just about the time of day but also what day it is too.
After a few days of not needing to know, I find I really don't know and its comforting having that little square on my watch to tell me when I need to know. :D
The DAY, that is!
well yeah but have you ever tried that with a digital watch (grin)
I'm still an analog user for many reasons.
:-?
Blue Jay
01-02-2004, 09:42
When you've been in the rat race for your entire life it is very very hard to stop. I would truly rather carry a hundred pound pack than give a rat's ass about time while hiking.
i DO wear a wrist-watch while on the trail. an analog "el-cheapo" from Wal-mart that has "indi-glo" feature that lets me know what time of the night it is when i have to go "visit the pee tree!"
strictly out of habit..i wear one.
i usually wake-up, like most hikers, @ sunrise...get the coffee going & the days breakfast....i usually check the time about mid-day to see if i'm "on pace" for that day's particular mileage goal. :D
see ya'll UP the trail in 2004!
Kerosene
01-16-2004, 10:17
Wow, I'm surprised at how many hikers use a watch. I've always used one, mostly to keep track of pace. Since I do a lot of fall hiking with darkness falling by 6 PM, I also need to make sure that I reach my destination in time to set up camp. I find that I will refer to the watch several times over the course of a 12-hour night since I can't sleep!
tlbj6142
01-16-2004, 10:36
No one has mentioned using one for water treatment or make sure you get the post office (or other places in town) before it closes. Seems like the later issue is probably the most important reason to wear a watch.
Without one you might think it is Saturday but it is actually Sunday. Or the PO closes at noon on Saturday, so you better haul ass into town to get your package, otherwise you'll need to wait until Monday.
hungryhowie
01-16-2004, 13:32
I tell time like the acient Incas....
...I ask the guy next to me.
No seriously, I didn't carry any type of watch on the AT, but so many other people did that if I ever wanted to know, the next time I ran into someone I could get it. But time never mattered on the trail (except when you have to get to town from resupply before a certain time). You can hike in the dark if you want to. I always got up with the sun, and went to bed shortly after it set. I still don't carry a watch, per se, but there is a clock device in the pocketmail device that I got after the AT. It's there if I want it, but it doesn't stare me in the face all day. One of the greatest things about being out in the trail is learning REAL time - The relationship of the sun and the earth's daily rotation. Given the choice, 9 times out of 10 I don't want to know the time while on the trail.
-Howie
Blue Jay
01-16-2004, 14:07
I don't even want to know what month it is. Free your minds the rest will follow.
Free your minds the rest will follow.
Isn't that a song?
I wore a watch until it broke about half way. I did not miss it at all when it was gone. But my wife hated it, or me for asking her what time it was 10 times a day.
gravityman
01-16-2004, 16:09
I wore mine on my wrist. My wife put hers out of sight. I think that I will start to do that. There is nothing more discouraging than thinking "phew, how far have been been going? 10 minutes!??!?"
Precieved time is a strange thing. It's tough to get intp the zone, when when you do, the time just flies by (and time = miles)
Gravity Man
Suunto vector, good visibility, compass just in case. barometer and altimeter were fun too.
walkon
I use my Timex Helix for a lot of things. It's got the thermometer, barameter, altimeter, oh, and the time of course. I use it mainly for pace to make sure I am able to get to my next shelter before dark. Basically, I'm a time addict. What can I say. :)
I thought i'd not want to care about time, so started off w/o a watch purposefully. I bought one in Fontana. I was driving myself nuts stopping way too early, thinking it was later than it really was. Going by the sun sounds great, but in the spring, you often cant see it and the day is often overcast, hazy, and feels like dusk about 2-3 hours before dusk.
after a few nights sitting in front of my tent cursing the lost hours and short miles - the watch became necessary. It was also handy to know the day of the week, not just for the PO, but to know if rooms in town might be difficult to get competing w/ weekenders in some locations. Plus, when to expect weekend hikers to start appearing.
I rarely look at it during the day, but its sure handy to double check my perception of time passing.
Cheerio
Pencil Pusher
07-23-2004, 17:32
:D I can just imagine a shelter full of people with half of them setting their alarms for 5am. Beep beep! Beep beep!:D lol
I finally broke the band on my el cheap-o casio in the swag of the blue ridge so I affixed it to the band of my boonie cover(You 'nam types remember those, don't you?) and, kinda like the well endowed young ladies will attest, had a helluva time getting people to look me in the eyes! (For TOTALLY different reasons, I might add!)
I seldom looked at it myself, only had it to check my pace to begin with. I tend to be easily distracted by the endless variety of stuff to see and investigate trailside, so I used it mostly to keep track of my daily progress or I might still be gawking at some shiny rock or funny bend in a tree somewhere along the trail.
I wear a watch if I want my hike to go well.
How fast am I going?
Can I reach water soon?
Should I start looking for a campsite?
How long since I rested?
Is it time for lunch?
Those last two especially were hard for me w/o a time piece. I found I was "lunching" late late late in the afternoon, barely resting, and *really* screwing with my energy levels. Consulting a watch has helped me right from waking to sleeping again.
Ramble~On
09-21-2004, 23:22
Yeah, Watch.....but that doesn't mean I'm late for anything, have a schedule to keep, appointments, meetings, deadlines....It is a simple way of knowing when it's HAPPY HOUR.:banana
DMA, 2000
09-25-2004, 20:17
I don't even where one in my normal life.
I am thinking that Southbounders dealing with 14 hours of darkness, might go nuts without a watch. I used mine so as not to get up for breakfast at 2 AM.
I didn't carry a watch for most of the trail, since that was one part of civilization I preferred to leave behind. Being in the habit of checking the time when I wake up at night, that was a big change for me. I did have a few interesting experiences where it grew dark before I was ready. Of course that wouldn't have been as much of a concern if I had a flashlight with me... hehe... Anyway it was an adventure and I loved it.
Ever since the trail, I no longer use alarms to wake up in the morning. I wake up with the rising sun. I keep my windows open as much as possible, and hear the birds singing, and the newspapers being delivered, the joggers passing by, and the general noises of the city waking up. I've had more than enough morning alarms to last a lifetime as far as I'm concerned. I used to hate mornings, and now I love them.
fiddlehead
06-10-2005, 00:21
i carry one so i know what day of the week it is. (helps me look forward to Mondays and stay away from the popular campsites on weekends) (also the PO)
Sure, analog, wish my eyes were still good enough for digital.
I'd find myself stopping too early thinking it looked later.
Amigi'sLastStand
06-01-2006, 02:48
A watch is a piece of safety equipment, just like first aid kit, duct tape, para, etc. You should always where one in the woods.
the goat
06-01-2006, 11:58
i can't think of any good reason to bring one. never taken one into the woods, never regretted it.
Mountain Maiden
06-01-2006, 13:19
When I thru-hiked I decided I did not want to be reminded of schedules, deadlines, etc. Therefore, I chose not to wear a watch. It was my hiking partner's security blanket. He drove me crazy with it. LOL--and, until someone programmed it properly, his automatic alarm at 3 am every morning drove every one else crazy, too! Even if he wrapped it, stuffed it, etc--you could still hear it.
Anyway--I haven't worn a watch since! The sun tells me when to get up, my stomach tells me when it's time to eat and the mooon tells me when it's time for bed. I never set an alarm clock. Eeeewww! Brrrnnnnggg---GET UP! :eek: What an awful way to greet every day! Almost as bad as my dad hollering "Hit the deck!"
Yes, I do have to know what time it is for appointments and the like in the 'real world' but, I refuse to have it strapped to my body!
On the Trail--NO watch! Even if I carried one--I would hide it so I couldn't see it constantly! :sun
Footslogger
06-01-2006, 13:32
Didn't wear one but I carried one (attached to my sternum strap). An old Casio attached to a short peice of webbing. Mounted it upside down so that I could read the dial from above. Came in handy when shooting for a town/Post Office and when I got bored I ocassionally used it to keep track of my pace.
'Slogger