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downes911
01-16-2010, 12:51
what are some of the items that you have found useful to put in your bounce box?

Also, would you send the bounce box to every town stop that seems like it could get very expensive or do you space it out like everyother town stop or every 3rd. Please any feed back would be appreciated.

I am trying to decide if i want to use a bounce box, is it cost effective?

Thanks

leaftye
01-16-2010, 13:05
I'm still planning, but I'd like to put trekking pole tips, a stove maintenance kit, and clothing bug repellent treatment in there.

If you use priority mail and never open it, you only pay once.

I'm still deciding how far apart I want to bounce my box.

BrianLe
01-16-2010, 14:04
Seems to me that for a person getting even just a few resupply boxes that there's very little to put into a bounce box --- i.e., that a bounce box IMO is best utilized by a person with no support person at home. Trekking pole tips can certainly be sent in a resupply box. Stove maintenance kit I can't comment on as most stoves these days require none.

Clothing bug repellent and a variety of "seldom use" things can be sent back and forth in just a couple of cases where a person is perhaps swapping to a lighter sleeping bag and sending home some clothing.

After that the only thing I can think of that I might want to bounce would be my cell phone charger, but really not that either as I'll want it at any time I have an available electrical outlet and wouldn't want to accept a bounce box for that.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting the above as the only valid approach (!), just what makes sense to me.


"Also, would you send the bounce box to every town stop that seems like it could get very expensive or do you space it out like everyother town stop or every 3rd."

The tough thing here is knowing ahead of time what town stops you'll want to make. In theory you could send it to literally every town stop and just bounce it forward at no cost when you don't really need anything out of it, but that approach has you locked in to visiting every post office along the trail, not only locking you in to going into those towns, but doing so according to each particular post office's hours of operation. I guess it depends on what you're bouncing and how often you need access.

white_russian
01-16-2010, 14:21
I'm still planning, but I'd like to put trekking pole tips, a stove maintenance kit, and clothing bug repellent treatment in there.
I have a Amazon Prime subscription and all those things are sold by Amazon and get two day shipping at no extra charge. I have pretty much started using Amazon like Wal-Mart since I subscribed. Anyway it is probably not a good deal to subscribe during a thru-hike since you would not use it that much, BUT they regularly have promotions where you can get a free 3 month trial subscription. It is also easy to turn off the automatic renew and still get the full trial period.

Spokes
01-16-2010, 15:12
The things I found hard to find on the trail and ended up in my BB were:

small travel size toiletries (small tubes of toothpaste are really hard to find)!

trash compactor bags (used as a pack liner)

Spare alcohol stove w/ extra windscreen

Extra sheet of Tyvek

Extra platypus bladder and hose

Medicines, vitamins, herbal supplements, alcohol wipes

Small writing pads for paper journals

Don't forget to buy a whole bunch of "Miss You" or "Wish You Were Here" greeting cards to include so you can mail friends notes back home. I sent cards home at least once a month to friends/family and they really enjoyed it.

You can also include cold or warm weather gear for those transition months so you can get by until your "real" gear is shipped.

Where I sent my BB up ahead depended on the section, weather, or food needs at the time. Sometimes I would plan on a sending the box a couple weeks ahead or longer depending on what I anticipated needing. You'll quickly learn what works best for you on the trail.

Hope this helped!

-Spokes

Miner
01-16-2010, 15:40
On the PCT, my bounce box was sent every 1.5 to 2weeks ahead of me. The exact point depended on my ETA and the PO hours as I normally didn't like to send it somewhere where I might be arriving on the weekend.

In mine, I kept clean town clothes (which actually were warmer clothes that I was going to use further north in September), battery chargers for my cell/mp3 player/camcorder, 9" netbook+external HD (for dumping all the HD camcorder footage and playing on the internet at WiFI hotspots/hotels), some extra gear (Aqua Mira tablets, medical supplies, vitamins, spare gear in case I lost something (which did happen), stuff for repairing gear, and stuff that I wasn't sure if I wanted to useso I kept it arround until I made up my mind). I also threw in extra food that I might have before heading out of town so that I could use it latter. I also had mail labels +packaging tape to seal the box up (I'd cut a large strip or two off the roll and toss the roll in the box before sealing it).

I used the largest Priority Mail box that the PO carried which I replaced occasionally as needed. For a bounce box, since mine didn't go a large distance ahead of me (usually within 1 zone), the smaller flat rate boxes acutally would have cost more to mail then the larger box I used. Priority Mail flat rate boxes are great when mailing over a larger distances though.

Praha4
01-16-2010, 19:02
For an AT thru hke, I recommend a maildrop or "bounce" box at Fontana Dam, just before you have 71 miles of GSMNP to traverse. Not a lot of available stores at Fontana Village, and it's miles to the nearest town

leaftye
01-16-2010, 19:23
I have a Amazon Prime subscription and all those things are sold by Amazon and get two day shipping at no extra charge. I have pretty much started using Amazon like Wal-Mart since I subscribed. Anyway it is probably not a good deal to subscribe during a thru-hike since you would not use it that much, BUT they regularly have promotions where you can get a free 3 month trial subscription. It is also easy to turn off the automatic renew and still get the full trial period.

I'm more worried about the post office not recognizing my box when I get there. You're right though, getting stuff directly mailed is a good bet sometimes. I may order my shoes from Zappos and have them mail it ahead to me.

white_russian
01-16-2010, 20:24
I'm more worried about the post office not recognizing my box when I get there. You're right though, getting stuff directly mailed is a good bet sometimes. I may order my shoes from Zappos and have them mail it ahead to me.
Watch for free Zappos VIP membership on slickdeals. You get free overnight shipping instead of regular. Would be very useful on a thru-hike. You could just order a pair of shoes and take a zero day to wait for them instead of trying to figure out where you are going to get them.

leaftye
01-16-2010, 22:02
Good tip, thanks white russian.

Hatfield
01-16-2010, 22:38
Yes white russian, good idea, the Dude abides.