The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
Can someone (Dogwood?) download the 228 page PDF that is linked from this page, and expand upon what they have found?
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/all/40914
For those with shorter attention spans, the excerp form the larger document is also linked here, and is apropos to discusion at hand:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/all/40914
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
I wouldn't think of bringing excess technology on a hike, it is just rude. https://i.imgur.com/QBIZPVk.jpg A4tAtzp.jpg
Last edited by greenmtnboy; 04-12-2019 at 20:29.
I never hike without my phone! Nor do I ever use it on the trail (not once, in several dozen trips so far). I am 6oz heavier now though, so I've got that going for me.
I play Candy Crush late at night in my tent...when no one is watching.
People watch you in your tent?
Do you charge for this " entertainment"?
I watch movies and tv shows i download, or read, and review days photos and next day plans.
After watching a bunch of original star-trek episodes one night, i remarked to a guy i was hiking with how incredibly the plots werent outdated after 40+ years. Turned out..he was somewhat of an expert on star trek. I learnt a lot about it and its creator , and avanced social themes of the show over next couple hours.
This passage from David Brill's As Far As the Eye Can See (about his 1979 thru hike) caught my eye:
"If there was any sense of isolation from being on the trail for months at a time, it was isolation from the world and national news. We spent from three to ten days at a stretch between resupply trips to town. We didn't carry radios, and, during our stopovers, we rarely picked up newspapers. Frankly, there wasn't much going on in the world that interested us..."
P.S. Brill's book is easily my favorite about the AT. I just began re-reading it, something I've done every three or four years since the '90s. 1979 seems like ancient history.
As Far as the Eye Can See was recently reprinted by the University of Tennessee Press (around 2013 or thereabouts). That was its seventh printing. You should be able to find the book on Amazon or via UT Press.
Brill is one of the finest outdoors writers there is. His description of seeing spring come to the southern AT is absolutely perfect writing.
Google.
Amazon has plenty vintage used copies for about $8
Apparently there is a very cheap postal shipping rate for books that used book sellers use. Media mail? However it is slooowww. Like it can take 3 weeks to get it to you. So beware. But no one wants to pay $10 shipping for $5 book, so its a good thing, but slow.
I gave mine away to public library after reading
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 04-18-2019 at 06:01.
In 1986, me and two friends canoed 125 miles of the Ogeechee River in southeast Georgia over five nights and six days. I think the only town we went into was Millen, hitchhiking to a Dairy Queen. That day we learned that the Air Force had bombed some target identified as a military complex in Libya. I recall how odd it seemed that important events were taking places without us knowing about them relatively immediately.
I've never owned a cell phone or Smart phone, etc., so when I venture into the woods for a day hike or a section hike, I do get a sense of stepping out of the world briefly. I like that. From reading WB and talking with folks generally, through the years, I know there are a lot of people that enjoy technology and have made their peace with it in the woods, appreciating the advantages it offers.
I haven't read this thread, except for perhaps the last ten posts, because it's all been said in WB before, ten thousands times. There are basically two views of thought, and the twain shall not meet.
Even though I have been addicted to the internet for a while when I go to the woods here lately I sometimes leave my gadget at home, or if I take it I turn it on when there might be service to check for guests wanting to come in. And what I have witnessed on occasion is a hiker will pick up a mail drop and their phone and other gadgets will be in there. I think more folks are slowly leaving the things at home. Earl Shaffer sure did not have gadgets. or Gene Epsy and Grandma Gatewood just to name a few.