View Full Version : Resupply with no bounce box
HockeyGirl
07-01-2010, 04:31
Howdy hey. :)
I'm just hoping for a little bit of advice on resupplying on a thru without a bounce box.
I'm coming from the UK and won't have any 'support' person to mail out bits and don't want the hassle of that anyway.
Can anyone just give me a couple specifics on resupply for a single person when visiting a store.
i.e. what do you do when you need to fill up on something (maybe a couple bandaids for instance) and don't need to buy a whole box of something? :rolleyes:
Is it practice to shop in a group and try to split stuff?
Or is the US pretty good for just stocking single items of things?
Any hints or tips greatly appreciated!
Cheers:)
Well, the first thing you should know is that no matter what you'll be able to get what you need all the way up the trail without sending packages.
So with that out of the way it becomes a matter of economics as you've pointed out.
I hike solo so I don't have any experience shopping with someone else or a group but that's a great idea if you want the same thing or are willing to compromise.
Other than that you just do the best you can do and as you hike you'll find yourself figuring things like this out.
You can buy single servings of a lot of different foods and snacks and some bulk items like trail mix can be bought in a desired amount. Other things - like bandaids, baggies, powdered milk, etc. usually are not in single servings and you buy what you think is best at that time. I usually leave anything I don't need for another hiker if possible.
Appalachian Tater
07-01-2010, 04:45
You can frequently find stuff like bandaids or a big bottle of soap to refill your little bottle in the hiker boxes found in hostels, hotels, outfitters, and sometimes even post offices, so "shop" for items like that in hiker boxes first. You may even find things like razors, batteries, lip balm, duct tape, as well as the usual ramen and oatmeal and mystery bags of lentils and exotic grains. People get mail drops and don't want or need all the stuff so they leave the extra behind.
And yes, if you are thru-hiking you will meet lots of people because you are all on the same little pathway staying in the same camping areas and shelters and going into the same towns to stay at the same hostels and hotels and shop in the same grocery stores so you can split stuff like bags of dried fruit.
Most of what you will need and will likely buy is readily available in appropriate sizes though. Hikers buy a lot of packaged items like Knorr sides, mac & cheese, ramen, things like that. Outfitters and grocery stores will have these items.
What is handy to split and share with others are bags of dried fruit, large bags of M&Ms (smarties), powdered drink mix, etc., which are cheaper in larger sizes than small packages.
A lot of hikers will also share a load of laundry and of course hotel rooms and shuttles. Also in some hostels you might wash a few of the towels provided with your own laundry. (After a week on the trail someone else's filth mixed in the washer with your own probably won't bother you.)
It is always nice to buy and leave items like toilet paper or paper towels for the "house" when staying in a hostel that is run by a group like a church.
Don't worry about it. One of the awsome things about the AT is that the A stands for always and the T stands for there. Whatever you need you can find.
HockeyGirl,
Great advice above. You also have the option of starting your own bounce box once on the trail.
Say you decide to ship your cold weather gear to a town up the trail. You can mail a box to the post office in that town. Once you arrive, you can either take delivery of the package (i.e. open it) OR not open it and have the package forwarded it to another post office further up the trail at no additional cost.
In other words, you can "bounce" a package repeatedly from post office to post office at no additional cost as long the package remains unopened. My wife and I did this several times on our thru hike and found those post office employees very easy to work with. Sometimes we made arrangements to "bounce" a package in person and occasionally this was arranged via phone.
soulrebel
07-01-2010, 10:56
Sending and receiving packages on the trail, especially a bounce box is gonna be another chore that many hikers unnecessarily create for themselves. It can be very expensive as well.
If you need to ditch some winter gear, you can more than likely find somebody somewhere to hold it for you...waiting to ship it, if and when you need it again.
-Group cooking works for a couple of nights, but you have to find a cool group
-carry it, trash it, hikerbox anything else.
---One night at Dismal Creek Falls a group of hikers camped out at Dismal Creek Falls. All of us had stopped at Trent's Grocery Store earlier that day, however each did not want to buy the 8-pack of toilet paper they had for sale b/c who the hell needs 8 rolls, right? and a town was about 20 miles ahead. Anyways, that night after much beer drinking. Several of us lamented the fact that tomorrow morning we might have to back up our few last squares of TP with some nice leaves for constitutional. As we're having this discussion around 10pm (F hikermidnite), a solo hiker comes stumbling in after a 30 mile day to catch up to us, and as he's sitting down he pulls out the 8-pack of TP from his pack and says, "does anybody need any TP? I had to buy this thing cuz' I've got the runs." Of course the rest is chitz and giggles...welcome to trailworld
Your "extra stuff" won't go to waste. Thru hikers quickly learn to practice the concept of "generalized reciprocity" on the trail.
BigHodag
07-01-2010, 22:39
I found Baltimore Jack's resupply plams here at Whiteblaze the most helpful.
http://whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=resupplypart1
Also see the resupply plans at Appalachian Pages.
http://appalachianpages.com
Vegan resupply
http://backpackingvegan.wordpress.com/resupply-guide/
garlic08
07-01-2010, 23:49
I no longer use a bounce box when I hike. I tried it once and didn't like the hassle. Many don't, so you won't be the only one. Definitely use the hiker boxes, both for finding extra stuff and leaving stuff you don't need. It all works out.
HockeyGirl
07-03-2010, 16:45
Thanks for all the help guys - makes me feel a little more at ease.
Also - great tip Tagless, had no idea you could continually free post boxes - will bear than in mind!
Cheers :-)
ShelterLeopard
07-03-2010, 16:55
Howdy hey. :)
I'm just hoping for a little bit of advice on resupplying on a thru without a bounce box.
I'm coming from the UK and won't have any 'support' person to mail out bits and don't want the hassle of that anyway.
Can anyone just give me a couple specifics on resupply for a single person when visiting a store.
i.e. what do you do when you need to fill up on something (maybe a couple bandaids for instance) and don't need to buy a whole box of something? :rolleyes:
Is it practice to shop in a group and try to split stuff?
Or is the US pretty good for just stocking single items of things?
Any hints or tips greatly appreciated!
Cheers:)
I only used maildrops for the first month of my thru hike- after that, I've just gone to grocery stores. The only thing I get in the mail is my maps. There are some few outfitters that will stock things in small amounts- in Hot Springs you can buy ziploc bags, garbage bags, and things like bandaids (they might not have had bandaids, I don't quite remember) singularly.
Usually though, you'll have to buy a whole box somewhere- check the hiker boxes first (boxes in hostels where hikers drop things they don't need), if you can't find what you need in there, offer to split a box with someone else.