PRELUDE AND CASE STUDY: Here's a prelude to my ramblings above, before I even knew the term "Ultralight". Last year, a buddy of mine was in a jam, and couldn't fill a guide spot for a trip he was involved with. They needed a guide to lead a dozen 11th graders on a four day trip through Pisgah National Forest. There were 10 other groups from this private high school, all from Raleigh. I was in between projects at the time, but had never guided before, except for my own trips with friends. In general, it was great fun, but here was my introduction to UL arrogance:
Example 1: Night 1, we camped in a campsite large enough to accommodate our large group, but the area was bad with biting flies. My Co-leader asked to share my tent, opting out of her tarp. I felt proud, sort off. It seemed after years of slogging away in the sugar mines of commerce, that I still had sound and relevant backcountry skills. It felt good to be in the woods, and felt better to best this young woman. She was a real pro after all, looked the part too. I gladly shared it, I though I might get laid out of the deal
Example 2: I heard from 3 other guides, one of them my friend and the co-leader of my group, that "they don't make 'em like that anymore" in reference to my pack, a 18 or so year old NF internal frame. Day 3, the stitching and fabric in her brand new pack disintegrated, causing the frame rods to poke through the back. I inspected it, and quietly noted to myself that a lightweight ripstop backpack is not for me.
Example 3: A student had evidently put on some perfume, or lotion or something, but she was being absolutely terrorized by flies, and was nearly hysterical. My co-leader "does this **** for a living" expert, offered no solutions. I produced a head net, which the student quickly declined, saying she would take the flies over looking stupid. I remember the look my co-leader gave me when I produced the head net. It was one of a string of solutions I had provided, that she could not. After all, it was early May in NC, why would anyone carry a head net? After a particularly traumatic experience with yellow flies in the Chesapeake bay years before, I never went without one. But why the bother of deciding to have it, it's just a headnet, not a television.
Example 4: Neither of us (the other guide and I) had time to scout the route before hand, so neither of us knew EXACTLY where the trail heads were. I agreed to hike 2 or 3 miles ahead after the kids fell asleep to find them. Her torch lacked the capacity to navigate in the dark. Oh she could walk, but she couldn't see far enough to spot reflective trail markers in the dark. So I say her torch lacked the capacity to navigate. This is of course, after she wonkishly commented that mine was the largest headlamp she had ever seen. A Petzyl Duo was the shiznit in my day, but to her it was simply ****. I say her torch was ****, because if one of those kids needed to be evacuated, her lamp lacked the capacity to do so safely. Unacceptable.
I spent the entire week pretrip and posttrip cleanup getting needled and questioned by my fellow guides for the state of my approach and gear. It confused me...my approach was cutting edge in 1997. Why were they going on and on about it? They went on about how heavy it all must be, but I didn't even notice the weight. Didn't even notice, after all we were on a backpacking trip. We were supposed to have stuff in our backpacks.
That was my first experience with the UL drones. If I wasn't such a head-suck, follower-slave, I should've recognized it for what it was, before making an ass out of myself here today.