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azchipka
02-12-2004, 04:57
Im curious if i am the only person who brings very odd things on the trail with me. Please share with us what odd things you bring on the trail with you that other people on the trail find weird or interesting. I'll even start.

1. My teddy bear Freddy, people find this odd because I am a 23 year old male (http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=38287), long story short is it was a gift from a family whos child i found in the woods. Freddy has many uses, dont know what im talking about go watch cast away.

2. Glow sticks, you know the ones all the raver kids use, i have found many great uses for them; they make for great lights during night hikes to vie your map and not kill your night vision, I place them just on the edge of the trail when i am not sleeping in a shelter so night nights know there is a camp site near by, they can be used when climbing or doing cave rescues to determine distance to ground.

3. A 3 X 5 Flag, this serves no real purpose at all. On many long trips I bring a special one for the trip and have people sign it along the way.

Yes i know im a odd fellow but hey isnt that why we all hike to meet those "special" people on the trail.

celt
02-12-2004, 07:18
I bought a Star Wars Action Figure in Pearisburg during my NoBo thru hike. It was 1999 and I was very eagerly waiting for the new Star Wars flick. I carried the 3 1/2 inch figure of Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi all the way to Katahdin. Since then I've also carried a R2-D2 on a Long Trail end to end.

http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=1706

azchipka
02-12-2004, 07:24
I bought a Star Wars Action Figure in Pearisburg during my NoBo thru hike. It was 1999 and I was very eagerly waiting for the new Star Wars flick. I carried the 3 1/2 inch figure of Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi all the way to Katahdin. Since then I've also carried a R2-D2 on a Long Trail end to end.

http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=1706

so the great thing about that pic is you cant tell how big he is

Skeemer
02-12-2004, 08:13
Last year a hiker called Kozmo Cramer wore a whirlygig headset while hiking that was hilarious...even when he got sick at the tavern in Duncannon. :D

My problem was I was too practical...tried to shave all unnecessary ounces.

Jaybird
02-12-2004, 08:28
Im curious if i am the only person who brings very odd things on the trail with me...............................


Yo "Digital Ranger" good talkin' with you on the I.M. recently!



don't know if its odd or not...........a pocket-copy of the "BIG BOOK", a pocket New Testament, & of course a 5x7 photo of my grandbaby (Rylee-bear) & my lovely wife: Donna ("D-bird"). :D




see ya'll UP the trail

Brushy Sage
02-12-2004, 10:15
I had a crow feather lashed to my hiking pole handle with a strip of leather. The feather was given to me by a friend as a symbol of good medicine for my safety. After I slipped and fell from a bridge into a ravine, and escaped virtually unscathed, I saw that about 3/4 of the feather had been stripped away in the fall.

Kozmic Zian
02-12-2004, 13:48
Im curious if i am the only person who brings very odd things on the trail with me. Please share with us what odd things you bring on the trail with you that other people on the trail find weird or interesting. I'll even start.

1. My teddy bear Freddy, people find this odd because I am a 23 year old male (http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=38287), long story short is it was a gift from a family whos child i found in the woods. Freddy has many uses, dont know what im talking about go watch cast away.

2. Glow sticks, you know the ones all the raver kids use, i have found many great uses for them; they make for great lights during night hikes to vie your map and not kill your night vision, I place them just on the edge of the trail when i am not sleeping in a shelter so night nights know there is a camp site near by, they can be used when climbing or doing cave rescues to determine distance to ground.




3. A 3 X 5 Flag, this serves no real purpose at all. On many long trips I bring a special one for the trip and have people sign it along the way.

Yes i know im a odd fellow but hey isnt that why we all hike to meet those "special" people on the trail.

Yea, Weirdness......I guess everybody exhibits some form of that on Da Trail. I know I have the hyper-compulsiveness about my bandana. I wrap it tightly about my right hand and carry it that way. I tie a tiny little knot in the end of one corner. The main use is to bat at bugs, wipe face, pic up hot things, etc...lots o' uses....but it stayed tightly wrapped all the way to Maine, and when I got home, it was a long time before I could shake the habit. My wife thought it very .... strange..! I still, always do it when I'm hiking. So, if you see this weird ole dude on Da Trail with His Right Hand tightly wrapped up in a bandana, you'll know you just met Kozmic Zian...the One and Only..ha..ha.!

Patco
02-12-2004, 14:19
On some section hikes I carry my Mount Fuji hiking stick. It is a 5 ft long, octagonally cut stick that I purchased in Japan while serving on the USS Midway (CVA-41) in the Navy there. I bought the stick at the entry point for the climbing trail and about every 1000 ft vertical along the trail there were indigenous fellars with branding irons in a fire. You toss them a few Yen and they brand your stick. At the top was a special stamp:

:sun SUNRISE TOP MOUNT FUJI ALT 12395 1977.

(various photos of these sticks in these articles if you have a few extra minutes)
http://www.travelassist.com/mag/a94.html
http://www.jetanuki.com/inside/explorer/fuji1.htm
http://www.timeandmusic.com/fuji/fujipage3.html
[I don't know any of these people]

I have only crossed paths in the USA with one other hiker who admitted owning such an item.
__________________________________________________ _

What about the tradition of picking up a small stone at the start point and depositing it at the finish point? Any testimonies of such activity?

Doctari
02-12-2004, 14:23
I was just thinking of that a few days ago. I see the question as (mostly) stuff you carry that has no (or little) practical value like: a extra large pillow actually is useful, but most packers don't carry one, so paking a pillow from home is "weird" but useful.
My answer is for things carried that don't have any real value: I carry 24/7 a celtic rune; looks like a letter R it is called a Rad or Radio & is supposedly for the protection of travellers (My Renaissance character is an Inn Keeper, or protector of travellers) My "dress" one weighs about 5 Oz as the chain is made of very heavy metalic beads. The hiking one is less than 1/2 Oz as it dosn't move the 1/2oz graduated scale but serves absolutly no purpose. I am not suprestitious, don't believe it protects me in any way, but I carry it anyway.
The other "weird" thing I carry is a PVC flute in A & some sheet music.

My $0.02

Doctari.

Jack Tarlin
02-12-2004, 14:43
Thanks to some subterfuge and trickery on the part of Jester2000, who conned me into it, I carried a fairly hideous stuffed rabbit from the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina to Bennington, Vermont. It got some interesting comments from people and more than few funny looks. He wasn't called "Ugly Bunny" for nothin'.

c.coyle
02-12-2004, 15:55
Last September, north of Duncannon at Trail Angel Mary's cooler, we encountered a northbounder with a huge fishing net strapped to his pack. The kind you use to get the fish into the boat. It could have held a full grown labrador retriever. I wanted to ask him about it, but he didn't look like he was in the mood to chat.

A-Train
02-12-2004, 16:08
I met a SOBO long trail hiker in vermont named Crazy squirrel i believe. He had a rubber chicken strapped to his pack. Said he talked to it when he got bored since he had seen almost no one the whole trip. No tent or stove but a chicken yes

Jester2000
05-18-2004, 19:52
I brought Funkee Munkee with me on the Long Trail. That was a fairly ridiculous idea.

SavageLlama
05-18-2004, 22:36
i always bring my bowling ball.

hungryhowie
05-18-2004, 23:54
i always bring my bowling ball.

You carry a bowling ball?!?

That's CRAZY! I always carry ten bowling pins strapped all over my pack! We've got to get together on one of those mythical flat sections of the trail and play a few rounds!

no. seriously. I carried an asian rice-harvesting hat strapped to my pack from Waynesboro to Katadin. That's where "the new sushi" comes from.

Hungry Howie & The New Sushi

mmmm....Sake, Toro, and Unagi nigiri...mmmmm....

Shoe Leather Express
05-19-2004, 00:37
A set of Scotish bagpipes. For those in the shelter areas, wake up is at 5 AM! :D




Nah, I don't carry anything extra.

Alligator
05-19-2004, 10:08
I have several miniature games that I bring on the trail, backgammon, chess, cribbage board, playing cards. The chess set and backgammon set are about 3.5 in. square and only weigh one oz. each. It's near impossible to play the chess game without a leatherman's needlenose or a pair of tweezers.

One of the decks of cards I picked up last summer was a promo for the Incredible Hulk. Lot's of action scenes on each card. Great fun.

Also, I have a Smokey Bear bandana that if I fold just right into a headband, I leave Smokey Bear staring out from my forehead. Just a little game to see who's paying attention...

gravityman
05-19-2004, 10:30
I bring my wife :)

eyahiker
05-21-2004, 10:19
Yeah, I hear that Gravity man;) - and I bring my husband! Actually may leave hiim home next year while I do Virginia.....

I'm thinking about rolling the entire state ( LOL)
See post NUDE HIKING for reference to this comment:jump

Weird things I bring........will have to think about this some more.

cakeman21k
05-21-2004, 10:29
While I don't personally carry anything strange (other than my sense of humor) the champion of all times has got to be tubaman who carried a tuba with him for a thruhike in either 2000 or 2001.