The Evolution of Hiking?

[Spokes]

Remember when everyone wore cotton tube socks or dungarees to go hiking? Or what about those external packs from the Korean war era?

Nowadays hiking equipment has evolved into microfiber clothing and composite frame internal packs.....

What's some of your favorite evolutions in hiking? Are there other advancements that don't involve equipment?

[Mountain Wildman]

I would imagine that equipment is where the most advancements have been, Other than that it is walking which has not changed in thousands of years.
I think GPS is one of the greatest advancements, though not necessary on well established trails like the AT or PCT etc... it has introduced a safety factor that typically would require advanced navigational skills. Just my opinion.

[weary]

Remember when everyone wore cotton tube socks or dungarees to go hiking? ....

Not really. As I remember, most hikers wore both.

[double d]

From Deerskin pullovers and wooden clubs to lightweight backpacks and trekking poles!!!!

[garlic08]

It seems to me the 'advances' are all fairly incremental. Sort of what's happened to the bicycle over the last 100 years. If you saw a 2000 bicycle and a 1900 bicycle from 100 yards away, it would be hard to tell which was which. Same with hiking--still footwear, rainwear, shelter, bedroll, something to carry it in, something to eat, maybe a staff or poles. Sure, nylon and polypropylene have largely replaced canvas and wool, and titanium beats out steel, but only incrementally. You know, down is still considered good stuff.

As far as quantum leaps, I agree that satellite and cell technologies are probably it. Same with the internet for planning purposes--amazing change there.

[mudhead]

Not really. As I remember, most hikers wore both.

Some wore cutoffs.

[mateozzz]

Look at the people who hiked the AT in the early years. They were carrying canvas packs, canvas tents, cast iron frying pans, army boots. No freeze dried anything, but I guess they had jerky and hardtack. No flashlights, maybe a candle or one of those old lanterns that took a pellet and water (I had one, can't remember the name of the chemical). A rain coat was probably seal skin. Probably a heavy blanket for sleeping.

You would have to be in good shape to lug all this stuff on a trail, or just really rough it and go with a knife and fishing pole and maybe a bag of flour.

[johnnybgood]

UL trail runners and light weight boots.

[Spokes]

UL trail runners and light weight boots.

Amen to footwear advances!

[Kerosene]

Tick searches are now much more prevalent than they were 40 years ago...

[JAK]

What impresses me is that when people have to depend on their clothing and gear for everyday survival. stone age technology and craftmanship is actually very comparable to todays best technology, and often superior to most consumer products.

Birch Bark Canoes vs Modern Racing Canoes vs Crappy Plastic Canoes
Wool Sweaters vs Polartec Fleece vs Old Navy Cotton Sweaters
Iceman's Pack vs Ultralight Packs vs 7 pound backpacks
Moccassins vs Light Trail Runners vs 3 pound hiking boots

[Wolf - 23000]

Remember when everyone wore cotton tube socks or dungarees to go hiking? Or what about those external packs from the Korean war era?

Nowadays hiking equipment has evolved into microfiber clothing and composite frame internal packs.....

What's some of your favorite evolutions in hiking? Are there other advancements that don't involve equipment?

Some of us still still hike in dungarees type clothes and use old style packs ... well when the Army tells me to.

Wolf

[fiddlehead]

Some of us still still hike in dungarees type clothes and use old style packs ... well when the Army tells me to.

Wolf

That's funny Wolf.

The single biggest change to hiking IMO is the internet.
Now, everyone with an internet connection can find out anything they want about hiking: gear, where to buy it, maps, gps routes, how to get there, who to use as a shuttle, even how to hike and much more in an amazingly short time.

I didn't know you needed special clothes to hike when i did my first thru in '77.
Or where to buy things like freeze dried food (yes they had freeze dried food back then) My only source was the yellow pages or a newspaper or the boy scout handbook.
I didn't even know the ATC existed until I heard about it from the trail grapevine (where i learned most of my hiking skills that i didn't know from Boy Scouts)
Yes i wear different footwear now, and rain gear, and have a smaller, lighter pack, but many still hike with the same gear I had back then (frame pack, leather boots, nylon raincoat) But most people are well aware now of what they are getting into and are better prepared.

[Feral Bill]

or one of those old lanterns that took a pellet and water (I had one, can't remember the name of the chemical)..

Calcium Carbide. Great devices for deep winter. Apparently a collectable item now. They would light up a whole shelter, and add some warmth.

[Jim Adams]

plastic whiskey bottles.

geek

[Ender]

I wouldn't call it an evolution, so much an adoption of an existing technology into the realm of camping... hammocks.

[Graywolf]

How about degrese? Water was drinkable 30, 40 50, more years ago, now you have to filter everthing, that is degresion not advancement..

Graywolf

[weary]

....Water was drinkable 30, 40 50, more years ago, now you have to filter everthing ....

Graywolf

Most mountain streams are as safe to drink now as they were 50 years ago. Some are safer now, since water cleanup laws were passed and sometimes enforced, and mountain farms have been abandoned.

Weary

[prain4u]

One big change has been the advances in small electronics devices--MP3 players, cellphone, Kindles, small computers---and the greater connectedness to the outside world that those devices bring. That development has changed the very essence and spirit of hiking more than perhaps anything else in the past 30 years. Such devices have brought the woods and the outside world closer together.

Thirty years ago, when you were in the woods, you were not chatting with folks back home several times per day nor were you negotiating business deals back at work. You were forced to completely separate yourself from the outside world--until you got to the next PAY PHONE (remember those things?) or until you reached a phone that a shopkeeper (or homeowner) would let you use. At times, you had to wait in line to use the phone--and phone calls were generally very brief. (This is very different from the long phone calls, numerous emails and nearly constant text messages of many modern hikers).

I think separating oneself from the outside world for a period of time was (and is) a good thing. For thousands of years, going on a hike meant that you separated yourself from home for a while. In the past 10-20 years that concept has REALLY changed.

[weary]

One big change has been the advances in small electronics devices--MP3 players, cellphone, Kindles, small computers---and the greater connectedness to the outside world that those devices bring. That development has changed the very essence and spirit of hiking more than perhaps anything else in the past 30 years. Such devices have brought the woods and the outside world closer together.

Thirty years ago, when you were in the woods, you were not chatting with folks back home several times per day nor were you negotiating business deals back at work. You were forced to completely separate yourself from the outside world--until you got to the next PAY PHONE (remember those things?) or until you reached a phone that a shopkeeper (or homeowner) would let you use. At times, you had to wait in line to use the phone--and phone calls were generally very brief. (This is very different from the long phone calls, numerous emails and nearly constant text messages of many modern hikers).

I think separating oneself from the outside world for a period of time was (and is) a good thing. For thousands of years, going on a hike meant that you separated yourself from home for a while. In the past 10-20 years that concept has REALLY changed.

Very true. The nature of the trail has changed -- both for those that carry (cell phones) and those of us that don't, since we all now know that civilization is just a request to most any friendly fellow hiker away.

I was shouted down and ridiculed when I pointed this out as the cell phone revolution began. 'Weary's offended by what he thinks may be in my pack."

But the nature of the trail has changed for everyone. And will remain changed for evermore.