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Great pic BradMT---reminds me of hitchhiking from Boone NC to Greensboro in 1980 to visit my folks and my Mom took this pic of me with my old (then pretty new) North Face pack which I was living out...

I used my ALICE for years but preferred it without the metal frame. I loaded it up with 60+ lbs and it hung off my back w/o a hipbelt and hiked until my hands swelled up and I got a "muscle...

And let's not forget the true Mother of Pain---the ALICE pack with frame---oh and put 65 lbs in it for sport---

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Saw one in 2014 on a trip---

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They say it's designed for "100 lb loads" but for me it wasn't comfy with that amount of weight, i.e. I wanted to take it off every 10 minutes. The main...

Nsherry61---excellent points. And you're right about black bear diets--at least 75% in acorns and other plants. And peanut butter if they stumble into my campsite.

I'm fine with such suggestions as long as such a diet isn't an excuse to eat meat products etc. As a lifelong vegetarian I am wary of Paleo types dictating the conversation.



Couldn't agree...

The last external frame pack I used was for a 21 day trip in 2017---with a Seek Outside Brooks pack. I started the trip with about 85 lbs---and the pack performed poorly.

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Arcteryx used to make a fully waterproof pack called the Naos---saw a guy on South Fork Citico trail with one back in 2009---here he is rolling up the top before clipping over the lid.

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Yes, throwing on a poncho over the pack as I'm wearing it is a real hassle---and mostly impossible wearing a large very high pack---

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Two important negatories for umbrella use in the Southeast. The AT is not called The Green Tunnel without reason---you'll be ducking and dipping and scooting under rhodo and briars and everything...

A typical backpacking poncho gets HOT too---because your pack's harness system encapsulates the thing tight to your torso just like a rain jacket. And there's usually so much extra fabric with a...

I would avoid cork at all costs as I'm on my fourth black diamond alpine cork pole and this inevitably happens over time---

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A better option would be to get something with a hard rubber...

In my opinion the internet has replaced your local library and/or bookstore and has become a vast library of information for anyone with online access. Therefore I can bookmark a wide variety of...

I'll stick with burnable paper.

I think you're talking about Thunder Rock Campground on Ocoee River where the BMT comes thru.

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Here's the parking area for hikers.

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I left my car here for 11 days once so...

"Book Rolls" are simply home-printed reading material gathered from the internet and copied on typing paper from a printer on both sides of the paper and rolled up and secured with rubber bands. And...

The main purpose of my trips is to not cover tremendous miles on a linear long trail but to stay out as long as possible without resupply and explore one geographical area on intricate loops.

Shining Rock used to be one of my old backpacking haunts back in the early 1980s---but I haven't done a trip in there for many years.

Patman here on WB goes there regularly and has alot of info.
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I really like tent-living especially during bad storms so it's not hard for me to pull zero days.
** Listen to radio.
** Read books (and later burn books).
** Look at my camera trip pics.
** ...

Backpacking the AT in January/February changes and answers the "Is It Wilderness?" question. The AT often runs along high mountain ridges where temps can commonly reach 0F or below---and with...

What's your biggest food load for a backpacking trip without resupply? 10 Days? 18 Days? 24 Days?

Thanks for the comment. Most of these types don't have a lot to say, ironically.

I did get to talk to Chadd in camp for a long while and he was teaching his group how to make a fire using a flint rod etc. He brought cotton balls soaked in vaseline the old standby for kindling. ...

Thanks for the positive input.



No arms involved in my on-pack procedure---I just sit down, put on the shoulder straps and tighten then shift the load up on a half-way squat and Step 3 is...

What? No interest in a 21 day winter trip with no resupply? Not inquisitive about Southeast trails and the mountains of TN or NC?

And yes, a 100 lb pack is a beast on occasion---

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