View Full Version : Hey that guy snores.....
snuffleupagus
02-05-2004, 00:32
I was just wondering. How many people will tend to hike thru, as opposed to sleep in a shelter, next to someone who snores???
I was out last year when someone woke me to tell me I was snoring. The waking me up part didn't bother me, as much as the trying to find out who's boot was hurled at me, hitting me squarely in the face to wake me up did.
I don't neccesarily think it's the problem of the person snoring, to find other measures to insure restfull sleep for anyone else at shelters. Certainly, I find it my honorable responsiblity to inform hikers at shelters that I will be turning in shortly, that I snore passionately loud, and, that it is only my intention, and, for your safety alone, to ward off the impending threat of an occasional black bear mauling. Otherwise for the more endearing naturist out there. To allow a true perspective as to the effectiveness of my snore to attract the impending threat of an occasional black bear mauling. Doesn't anyone else carry earplugs while hiking in the vastness of The Great American Wilderness?
I know from my own experiences and from being accustomed to the noises from a rather large town(airports, sirens, gunshots, etc, etc, etc),it may take me several days to get accoustomed to the noises, or lack of noises there of, when sleeping alone in the woods. Hense the earplugs..... I also know that for the first few nights sleeping in the woods I can be rather partial to FREAKING OUT just a little due to what I call unforseen auditory dillusions, or, U.A.D for short. For example; the simple hippity hop of a cute little fuzzy tailed chipmunk may sound restfull for some, but for my first few nights out in the woods alone, it's certainly the sound of an oncoming grizzly attack or an axe yeilding lunatic. Whichever one is going through my mind at the time. So I tend to spend my first two or three nights, wagon wheel eyed awake, pearing into the darkness, trusty flashlight and swiss army knife w/retractable implements by my side. Only to realize that my earplugs take all those scary noises away. Seems like others could have the common decency to do the same in the way of a simple snoring hiker. It sure as hell would beat waking me up with a boot shinner in the center of my head. I also find it to be my coordial responsibility to allow the weary hiker the first opportunity at restful sleep. I normally stay up late and go to sleep last. I also find that people that snore generally have prior knowledge that they snore, being it a partner, soul-mate, girlfriend, wife, mother-in law, boyfriend whatever. Knowone need wake the sleeping snoring hiker to tell them they are snoring. It's rather pointless. Kind of like giving a drunk person a cup of coffee to sober them up. For the most part I believe that a simple quiet command to role over would suffice in most common situations. With maybe a neighborly little nudge. Any comments regarding your experiences with unruly snoring hikers would be appreciated. And be forwarned the hiker Snuffleupagus aka S.O.B. has in the past had the tendency to snore.
Thank-you for your attention in this matter.
one word: earplugs...a good quality pair is worth its weight in anything (it wouldnt be much gold:()
Some would say that if you know that you snore, then you shouldn't use shelters where groups of people are trying to sleep in close quarters. There is still no excuse for anyone throwing a boot at your face. If someone did that to me, the boot would immediately revert to my ownership, and I'd be leaving with it the next morning.
Since you have had such an unpleasant experience already, why don't you plan on tenting along the way? Also, for those who might be a bit on the rotund side, a little beefy, portly, chubby, or perhaps even fat, if you are planning on doing a long distance hike, as you lose weight, you very well may snore less.
I live with a man that can suck the paint off the ceiling when he snores. I wear earplugs to bed and that helps. I most definately plan on taking earplugs with me when I section hike just in case I end up in a shelter with a buzz saw.
If you know you will be disturbing people, maybe tenting would be a good solution to stop those boots from finding your face.
Lone Wolf
02-05-2004, 09:04
Shelters are first come, first served. Period. Deal with the snorers.
Blue Jay
02-05-2004, 09:08
Everything you said is correct. In addition, I like snoring as long as it is below 100 decibels, it is relaxing and helps me sleep. After saying that it is clear you know you do something that rightly or wrongly extremely bothers some people. It would be polite to sleep in a tent, you would be less likely to have a boot in the face or your shoe laces missing in the morning. Believe me I'm not saying you should sleep in a tent. I piss off people on a daily basis with some of my posts and I'm not going to stop. Just be aware of the results of your actions.
It would be polite to sleep in a tent...
I piss off people on a daily basis with some of my posts and I'm not going to stop. Just be aware of the results of your actions.
Blue Jay's Book of Trail Manners
Now that's funny! he he he
Brushy Sage
02-05-2004, 09:34
One night in a shelter in Tennessee I heard the loudest snoring I have ever experienced. The guy next to the snorer, and beside me, kept beating on the shelter floor to get the snorer's attention -- but to no avail. My son, Patco, had taken a clue from other hikers who had knowledge of this guy's decibel level, and had joined them in the tenting field, and he wore earplugs as well. So, he had a restful night's sleep, while I, who was sleeping (or trying) without ear protection, got up frazzled and frustrated. After that night, I always kept my earplugs near. Earplugs, or tenting, or tenting and earplugs will solve the problem.
papa john
02-05-2004, 09:43
Everyone should carry a set of earplugs and use them when there is a snorer in the shelter or campsite. You will get a much better nights sleep.
As for the boot throwing incident, I would have crapped in it and then thrown it out in the rain.
Lone Wolf
02-05-2004, 09:46
******* right Papa John, that's the attitude! :D
I don't get the folks who are virulently anti-snorer. You KNOW there will be snorers in the shelters. There will be people who fart, there will be people who stink, there will be people who flop around like boated fish. It became the symphony of the trail, folks snoring in unison, belching, farting, and lurching around for their boots at 3am to have that emergency poo.
If you are going to thru-hike, you will have to deal with a lot more troublesome obstacles than snorers in shelters. At least with the snoring you have multiple solutions: Earplugs, or if that goes against your view of trail accomodation unpack the tent you've been lugging around on your back. Or just get to the point where you are so tired you sleep through anything.
I saw a number of people whig out over snoring last year. None of them made it to Maine. If snoring bothers you, there are plenty of solutions to it. The most ineffective of which is to get irate.
Snorers can make an effort to tent - which in my opinion is almost always preferable and more comfortable than the shelters anyway. But the shelters are never going to be noise-free. If that is a bother, just add earplugs to your equipment list. It will be the second-lightest thing you carry.
Of course, you still have the farting, flopping and late night bathroom runs to contend with. So keep the lightest and most important piece of equipment handy at all times: Your smile.
papa john
02-05-2004, 09:56
Thanks LW!
To me, it is more irritating to hear the early risers and their zippers that bother me. I sleep best early in the morning and I can remember being woken many times by inconsiderate early risers zipping and unzipping their gear without any regard for those still sleeping. You can open a zipper rather quietly if you do so slowly. You don't have to ZZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that sucker! Not to mention what they do when they put on their boots and then stand on the sleeping platform stomping their feet into the boots.
I snore..... During my 2001 thru I would sleep in my tent, most of the time. If the weather was bad, or I couldn't tent I would stay in a shelter.
I would inform others that "I snore". The funny part of it was when I lost a lot of weight, 37lbs, my snoring stopped.
My advise is to carry earplugs and get use to snorers, because a lot of folks do.
Happy trails, Grampie-N->2001 :sun
Bankrobber
02-05-2004, 10:24
If you know you snore, you should stay away from shelters. I can understand if it is an occasional thing, but if you warn people that you snore you should camp out somewhere unless there is a nasty storm going on. Throwing a boot at someone's face is a bit extreme, but I think poking the snorer with hiking poles is a legitimate response to snoring.
To me, it is more irritating to hear the early risers and their zippers that bother me.
I tried not to let much bother me on my thru-hike. I was blessed to be out there. I was awoken on several occasions by an MSR Dragonfly stove. If you've never heard one at 5:30 AM, it sounds a bit like a space shuttle launch. At least when it's fired up right in front of a shelter, or 5' from your head.
Whoooooooosssssh
papa john
02-05-2004, 10:44
Yep, I had one of those things. Lasted about 3 days and sent it home. After a few days, I gave up on the shelters and stayed in my tent. Between the mice, the snorers, the tossing and turning, the zippers, the people with tiny bladders getting up every hour to pee, I was much more comfortable in my tent.
My first night in a shelter I shared with two other guys. One snored, but not loudly in my opinion. The other guy felt compelled to get up out of bed around 3am and wake this person to tell them he was snoring. In the process he woke me up too. I think this is totally unnecessary and I agree with previous posts. Snorers will be in the shelters, deal with it.
This same person decided at 5am to try to kill mice by slamming his hiking pole on the shelter floor in an attempt to squash them. I guess some people just have no consideration for others.
snoring is a given in a shelter setting.......
i always take a tent & (because i know i snore on most nights) i make those close by to my "bunk area" well aware that i snore!
tent & take the ear plugs too....then you have it covered!
i, too, find it obnoxious, & quite inconsiderate of the "super early risers"...that make way too much noise @ 5a.m. & believe everyone else should be getting up too....so, therefore, its okay to make all the noise they want!
see ya'll UP the trail!
bearbait2k4
02-05-2004, 13:49
Some people in here talk as if snorers can actually control what they do.
In all actuality, about 90 % of you snore. Take it from a person who rarely slept while staying in a shelter....YOU ALL DO IT.
The shelters are for everyone. Not just non-snorers, or non-toss and turners...everyone. There is no need to ask someone else to tent, due to your own comfort level, because the only situation you can change is your own.
If you know you snore, you should stay away from shelters. I can understand if it is an occasional thing, but if you warn people that you snore you should camp out somewhere unless there is a nasty storm going on. Throwing a boot at someone's face is a bit extreme, but I think poking the snorer with hiking poles is a legitimate response to snoring.
Everyone snores, including (I dare say) you at times. And if anyone POKES me with their hiking pole while I am sleeping they will be the underlying cause for everyone waking up in the shelter, unless you could placidly and quietly watch as your poles were snapped in two. If you have that much issue with natural sounds that will be found wherever groups of tired hikers congregate, then perhaps you should camp out elsewhere as well.
You will hear snoring in just about every shelter that you sleep in, at least early on when there are still groups in the shelter. If your solution is to get angry without taking normal steps to reduce the noise yourself, then you will be in for a very long hike.
Yeah, I like all your posts :clap
This subject always brings a lot of responses.
I personnally was appalled at myself when my husband said I snored - ever so lightly. But then a friend told me that the proper response is "I'm not responsible for anything I say or do in my sleep". You may find me next to you in the shelter and whatever noises I'm making...well I'm not responsible....so there ya go. :datz How about let's have a contest as to who snores the loudest since it is factually true that the majority of people over 40 DO snore.
snuffleupagus
02-05-2004, 14:46
Ok, I didn't mean to bring up any violent re-incarnations, or thought's of hiking poles being jammed into places not intended for general use.
I did want to gather information on the general feeling of hiker's and snorer's though. I do tent away from shelters, but I also judge my hiking distance by which shelter I will be hiking to the next day. 10.5 miles to this shelter or 7.8 miles to this shelter. I enjoy the comradery when cooking meals and I'm rather the social type, so while I hike alone for most of the day, I like to socialize in the evening before bed.
To clear matters up I wasn't in a shelter when hit with the boot. Someone got lucky and hit me from 15 or 20 meters away, while I was in my bivy sac. That should give you an idea of how loud my snoring is. To this day I can't think of any other way of getting oxygen to such vital areas such as my heart and lungs. So until I grow gills or learn to absorb O2 by some new metabolic miracle. I quess I'm stuck with just sucking it in through my mouth and keeping a good attitude about things. :)
<quote>How about let's have a contest as to who snores the loudest since it is factually true that the majority of people over 40 DO snore.</quote>
I will always win that one.
papa john
02-05-2004, 15:00
There is a spray medication that you can get OTC that is supposed to relieve the sleeper of the problem of snoring. Haven't tried it but if you snore as loud as you say you do, might want to give that a shot.
Kerosene
02-05-2004, 15:02
Wow, this has to be the most active thread we've had in awhile.
I always bring earplugs, but they only go so far in masking the inveterate hacksaw snorer (like Hacksaw? :D ). I agree that everyone snores at some point or another, but I disagree that excessive noise or movement is acceptable.
It basically comes down to how considerate someone is of their fellow hikers. I venture to say that considerate hikers: don't roll into a shelter well after dark;
don't talk loudly or make other noises well after dark;
don't get up well before dawn and fire up a gas stove or pack up all their gear;
try to sleep on their side to reduce any snoring and are willing to adjust their position to reduce their volume when politely "nudged";
don't shine their flashlight in sleeper's faces when forced to get up in the middle of the night (and use a non-white light to boot);
take off any muddy boots off before getting in the shelter;
and other basic courtesies. That said, everyone has to recognize that inconsiderate people exist, you need to deal with them diplomatically, and many individuals may be considerate but still have to get up to go to the bathroom before dawn for example. Your recourse is to camp somewhere else if you can't live with the company. Generally, you're not going to change someone's behavior in one night, so don't let it get to you.
snuffleupagus
02-05-2004, 15:05
There is a spray medication that you can get OTC that is supposed to relieve the sleeper of the problem of snoring. Haven't tried it but if you snore as loud as you say you do, might want to give that a shot.
I believe the product you are regarding to in your post is called De Snore and it's great. I once drank a whole bottle in one sitting because it made my breath so minty fresh. The products guarantee is that of all but crappola. It was simply mineral oil and peppermint flavoring.
papa john
02-05-2004, 17:47
Was it great cause it tasted good or did it help with the snoring?
Hikerman
02-05-2004, 21:04
Hi all,
I snore like a chainsaw. My wife has found that I snore the worst on my back. She nudges me and keeps me on my sides. She has never woken me up. She says that she got used to this arrangement very quickly. We have been together over 10 years:clap .
I section hike the A/T one or two times per year. I found that shelters can be very noisy and that I am not the only one that snores. I don't want to offend others with my snoring but I can't help it. Sleeping in my soft bed at home is more comfortable on my side than on a sleeping pad on a hard wooden floor.
Over the years I have had a couple of complaints at shelters. Usually people complain about other things like mice, rats, skunks, weather, lightning, and bathroom runs in the middle of the night. Now with my knowledge of light weight tents and a couple that I have purchased, I would rather sleep in my tent than a shelter. I ususally go to sleep first and up first. I like to write in my journal and read.
I have warned others that I snore at shelters and had them pack up and leave. They would rather walk another 7-8 miles even in the dark than listen to me snore.
My best advise is to get to sleep before me and wear ear plugs.
See ya down the trail. Hikerman