View Full Version : Basic Bounce Box Contents
I am planning to buy food along the way and not deal with the hassle of setting up mail drops or using a bounce box for that purpose. Major equipment exchanges when it gets warm and cold will be dealt with by sending and receiving packages home. This leaves me with the thought that for convience sakes some items might be best for a bounce box. Given that can anyone see some other basic items I might include in my bounce box? This is what I've got so far:
20 big Mailing Label Stickers
Marker
Mailing Tape
Bubble wrap
6 butane fuel canisters
6 camp towels
trail maps by state
trail guides by state
bulk ibuprofen
bulk vitamins & supplements
camp soap refills
Youngblood
11-16-2004, 12:15
I would suggest that you look at what you might do differently so that a bounce box wouldn't be needed and see how that compares to the way you are doing it now.
For instance, using an alcohol stove and getting fuel when you get food. Buying vitamins and supplements every 2 or 3 weeks when you resupply at larger stores that carry them. Break up your maps into 4 or 5 packets that you have sent to you and mail back a few at time when you can along the trail.
Anyhow, you might consider your tradeoffs and see if hassling with a bounce box is really worth it for you. A quick look at it made me wonder if the canister stove had you thinking that you needed a bounce box to handle the canisters.
Youngblood
Footslogger
11-16-2004, 12:33
Just wondering how often you plan on intercepting your bounce box. That could dictate what/how much you put in it.
You might want to put some different sized zip locks in there so you don't have to buy an entire box each time you need a few. Extra boot laces might come in handy. I also had a spare set of rechargeable batteries in mine last year, just in case the ones I had with me crapped out and wouldn't hold a charge.
You may want to go a tad lighter on the fuel cannisters. I personally used alcohol on my thru but I can tell you that there are ample opportunities to purchase the cannisters along the way. My philosophy was to buy what I needed from the store/hostel and not depend totally on what I had in my bounce box.
While I'm thinking of it ...you might also consider a set of fingernail/toenail clippers. I packed an electric hair clipper in my bounce box and gave myself haircuts at regular intervals along the trail.
Anyhew ...just a few observations. I definitely feel that bounce boxes are the way to go but you do have to watch the weight/size of the box. It can get pretty expensive to keep pushing that box from Springer to Katahdin.
Happy Trails ...
'Slogger
AT 2003
That's good advice. Thanks. I imagine I'd be sending it two to three weeks apart depending on the area. It just doesn't make sense when weight is such an issue to carry 1 month of certain supplies, such as vitamins, when they can replensihed every two weeks from a bulk supply.
Given that can anyone see some other basic items I might include in my bounce box? This is what I've got so far:
6 camp towels
You sure are planning to feed alot of mice along the way! :D
I am planning to buy food along the way and not deal with the hassle of setting up mail drops or using a bounce box for that purpose. Major equipment exchanges when it gets warm and cold will be dealt with by sending and receiving packages home. This leaves me with the thought that for convience sakes some items might be best for a bounce box. Given that can anyone see some other basic items I might include in my bounce box? This is what I've got so far:
[ 6 butane fuel canisters
UNLESS things have changed...in the last few months...YOU CANNOT
SHIP BUTANE OR PROPANE CANNISTERS thru the U.S.MAIL.
Just FYI.
Good Luck with yer hike! :D
bearbait2k4
11-16-2004, 14:21
Ya, no fuel or combustibles in the mail.
I never used a bounce box, personally.
You can substitute a piece of paper for a mailing label. Priority mail and regular mail usually end up costing around the same amount, when it comes to sending stuff home, and all post offices have priority mail tape you can use. They also have pens, so you don't need the marker. I'm not sure what the bubble wrap is for, unless it's for fun and amusement. It will be a personal decision to you whether or not you really need 6 back-up camp towels and a camp soap refill. My guess would be no, but I can't answer for you. As far as the maps and guides per state, I think it would be easier, and smarter, just to mail these to the corresponding areas where each map begins. No use in weighing down the bounce box. The bulk vitamin, ibuprophen and suppliments aren't a bad idea, in theory, but sometimes moisture will affect them if you just throw them in a plastic bag. You could also, in theory, mail extra vitamins along with map and guide mail drops, if you chose to go that route.
I don't know of many people that actually used a bounce box, but most that did had toiletries they could use in town without having to carry on the trail - razors, shampoo, soap, deoderant, lotion, brush, etc.
Footslogger
11-16-2004, 14:52
UNLESS things have changed...in the last few months...YOU CANNOT
SHIP BUTANE OR PROPANE CANNISTERS thru the U.S.MAIL.
Just FYI.
Good Luck with yer hike! :D-----------------------------------------
For what it's worth ...I have safely and with US Post Office knowledge and permission shipped propane/butate fuel cannisters through the mail and in bounce boxes. The box must be clearly marked (Post Office has labels) as containing "ORM-D" materials.
Check out the USPS regs on-line for the ORM-D classification.
'Slogger
AT 2003
A few things to consider adding:
Tobacco and papers, if you are a smoker. Smokes are expensive once you clear PA.
A few extra tent/tarp stakes
Film (esp. if you are shooting slides). You can't really get good film along the AT. Note that bottom line kodak or fuji does not qualify as good.
Extra 2 mil ground cloth (they are not super durable and a roll is enough for 3 ground cloths).
Toilet Paper. I know you can take extra from hostels, motels, and front country toilets. I don't like to do this because it depletes their supply rapidly.
Extra Ziplocks. I end up going through a lot each summer.
Extra silnylon bag (for when the rodents or bears get your food from the mouse hangers).
Some things to consider not bringing:
The camp towels. Why 6?
The camp suds. Why bring soap at all? I put soap in my bounce box on my PCT thruhike. Never touched it. Still have the bottle.
The canisters. You can get these as you go, unless you are cooking a lot, in which case you might need to haul 2 at a time.
It's going to cost money each time you open the bounce box. Are the benefits really there? Plus if you have it sent to a hostel or motel, you then need to get to the PO to mail it out again. Sometimes a big hastle.
Pack towels? Just wash the one you are carrying
Camp soap? The small 2 ounce bottle lasts me a long long way, over 1000 miles, probably close to 2000 miles.
TP? One roll goes 1000 miles for me.
Slide Film, yes, but it was in my mail drops anyway.
Trail Guides? never used them once I started
Trail maps? Yes, but they were in my mail drops instead.
I didn't use a bounce box on my thru-hike. But, I did use mail drops, and if I were to do it again, would probably depend on periodic mail drops again.
I'm in the school of thought against bounce boxes. They are great for hikers with special needs or circumstances, such as needing to have occasional allergy medication or an epi pen. I knew a guy hiking who was a journalist. He bounced his laptop and notebook and wrote a couple articles in towns.
For the PCT, a bounce box is a good idea, but it never seemed neccessary on the AT. All of the bigger towns on the trail (Hiawassee, Franklin, Erwin, Pearisburg, Daleville, Waynsboro, Front Royal, Vernon, Kent, GB, N. Adams, Manchester, Hanover and Gorham) are suitable for picking up items needed (spare batteries, toiletries etc.). Realize that supplies go a long way on trail. A small bottle of hand sanitizer lasted me from Erwin to Manchester Vermont. A lighter lasted me from Erwin to Katahdin and I still use it. I never had to change my headlamp batteries. Town is never far away and you can always seem to make do without by being creative or borrowing from another hiker (though don't rely on it).
The only predicament I see is with the maps. I used maps for the Trail and maildroped most of them. I didn';t have a whole lot of maildrops and most were in the south. I guess sometimes I carried 4-6 different maps at a time, and just sent ones I had finished home. There are outfitters and hostels up the trail who sell the maps but you might be unable to find them in other places, if you haven't purchased them already.
It does work for people, but to me a bounce box is worth more trouble than it is good. Waiting around for it can be a drag and having to worry about its whereabouts and the price of sending it seems like just one more thing you shouldn't have to worry about.
It's going to cost money each time you open the bounce box. Are the benefits really there?
That was my conclusion as well. I had my wife ship me my slide film at various points. I've gone digital since. I do miss my Fuji Velvia though.
illininagel
11-16-2004, 18:18
TP? One roll goes 1000 miles for me.
I almost hate to ask...but, how can one roll go so far?
The Solemates
11-16-2004, 18:25
Things to add to the bounce box:
1. Q-Tips, for when you take a shower in town.
2. Soap/Shampoo, because there will be instances when you cannot find it.
3. Definitely film.
4. Ziplocs, a few of both gallon and sandwich sizes.
5. toothpaste, for when you run out (use the travel size and you will run out
every 3 weeks or so).
6. extra TP.
7. extra socks.
8. repair kits (ie, for stove, tent, or whatever you carry).
9. waterproofing for boots ? (optional)
..hope this helps.
Cedar Tree
11-16-2004, 19:58
I used a bounce box from NOC to Harpers Ferry. I shipped food and batteries ahead when I would buy in bulk. I shipped a large container of Gold Bond powder, and filled my little bottle as needed. I also shipped a sweat suit to wear in towns.
One thing about a bounce box is you can try to go without something to see if you really need it. When I thought about going stoveless, I sent my stove ahead first. And then I sent it home.
CT
I like bounce boxes because I don't really use maildrops (except from the trail). So, unless I want to carry alll of my maps and local info (companion, etc) with me, I need the bounce box. If you use maildrops, you might not need a bounce box for the AT. I generally send my bounce box about 2 weeks ahead of me. That means anywhere from 300-400 miles of distance, which adds up to few mailings. However, this last summer I sent my bounce box to Pearisburg and it never showed up. I left a string of forwarding addresses and finally got it in Manchester Center, where I got off the trail. It was inconvient, but I managed to get by anyways. By the time my maps and companion pages ran out in Waynesboro, I had decided that I didn't need either and just bought a copy of Wingfoot, which served me well up to Vermont. So, I'll assert that it is possible to use neither maildrops nor a bounce box on the AT, but it is certainly less convenient (had to buy terrible film from Ubermart).
Pencil Pusher
11-17-2004, 05:17
I'm curious too, how does one roll of TP last for a thousand miles? Use your fingers and blow your nose with the TP? Use it as kindling for the send-off bonfire and bring enough psychedelics to zone you out for 1000 miles? Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas?
I used less than a roll on the PCT. I would rarely supplement with toilet paper from motels.
Flash Hand
11-17-2004, 15:44
I'm curious too, how does one roll of TP last for a thousand miles? Use your fingers and blow your nose with the TP? Use it as kindling for the send-off bonfire and bring enough psychedelics to zone you out for 1000 miles? Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas?
I guess theres plenty of leaves to use out there :banana
Flash Hand :jump
Pencil Pusher
11-17-2004, 19:18
I used less than a roll on the PCT. I would rarely supplement with toilet paper from motels.
So let me get this straight. You're too cheap to wipe your ass with TP and yet overly selective about which film is 'worthy' of being purchased?;)
illininagel
11-17-2004, 19:29
I guess theres plenty of leaves to use out there
For some reason, it just doesn't seem like using leaves would be all that sanitary.
I used leaves a long time ago in my youth. I've blocked all memories of their efficacy (or lack thereof). I'm not sure that I could bring myself to do it again, although it's certainly the environmentally friendly way to deal with the situation.