More fear = More gear?

[lush242000]

"more gear = more fear" I have to disagree with this statement in this sense. I often take luxury items that people would call crazy....a hard back book, a gps, a cotten shirt and underwear. I carry these because I like them. It amazes me how often people are so ready to hand out advice and try to tell me how light their gear is and what I don't need. It's my back and my pack. If you don't want it, don't carry it, but trying to tell someone else that they shouldn't carry something is just being a jerk.

just my thoughts. i carry what I like.

Now that being said I have learned over the years that I do not need to carry the entire trail guide if I am out for a weekend or a week. I never eat all the food I carry. I never use all the clothes I carry. I always carry too much water. Yet, I'm still hiking after 20 years and still having fun.

[TyTy]

"more gear = more fear" I have to disagree with this statement in this sense. I often take luxury items that people would call crazy....a hard back book, a gps, a cotten shirt and underwear. I carry these because I like them. It amazes me how often people are so ready to hand out advice and try to tell me how light their gear is and what I don't need. It's my back and my pack. If you don't want it, don't carry it, but trying to tell someone else that they shouldn't carry something is just being a jerk.

just my thoughts. i carry what I like.

Now that being said I have learned over the years that I do not need to carry the entire trail guide if I am out for a weekend or a week. I never eat all the food I carry. I never use all the clothes I carry. I always carry too much water. Yet, I'm still hiking after 20 years and still having fun.

I think the point the OP is making is some of these items we carry correlate with fears or anxieties. A GPS would correlate with anxiety/fear of getting lost, a hard back book would be anxiety/fear of being bored, cotton clothes would be fear of being uncomfortable in wet clothes. There is a difference between fear/anxiety and preference. You may truly have zero fear of getting lost and just like to tinker with a GPS, you probably just like to have clean, dry comfortable clothes to change into, and like to read a book. Basically these 'extras' can be motivated by preference or fear/anxiety.

I think if you (or anyone) is hiking, backpacking and having fun...that's all that matters so you are defiantly doing it right, as is the guy carrying 5 lbs as long as he is having fun.

[Live_for_hiking]

wow a backpack that weighs 7 pounds empty. I'm gonna guess it holds 6000+ cc of space? man that's a lot of gear in can hold. Amount of gear expands to fill available space. Not sure if that's a law of nature but it might as well be!

Hehe. That Lowe Alpine backpack was VERY popular in the late 90's. I had one. I down-sized to my 3300 cubic inch Dana Design Bomb pack. It was a feathery 4 lbs 14 oz ...... Heck I still use it because it is super comfortable.

Gear has come a long ways in 10-15 years. I intend on making a thru hike during my next life transition ... but I think I'll wait to see how light things become. My old gear still works. Because I no longer fear the backpacking unknown, it will be a simple swap to ultra light alternatives.

But to answer the Gear = Fear discussion. I think the OP is right. When I first started backpacking extensively, I brought too much food, water, clothes, and convenience. The unknown had me preparing for lots of things. Over time, it slowly worked its way down to be as light/economical as possible. The learning curve kicked in and backpacking wasn't an unknown. The AT seems to do the same thing. People often adjust buy, mail, etc gear to meet their hiking needs. I have yet to hear a story where somebody gained pack weight over time (unless it was going from summer to winter trekking). We all get more efficient as we go.

[lemon b]

At this stage of life the knees control the weight load, and to a lessor degree the topo map. When I was younger alot was about challenge and to a certain degree that is still true. However fun is now more important. No longer interested in how little food I need or how little water or how far I can go and for how long without sleep. Now it is about staying warm and the experience. Basicly whay I can see and feel. That said when I was 25 went off with 50 lbs and sometime still got, cold, wet, and hungry. At the high side of 50 go off at 30 am very comfortable but can not go nearly as far. Got nothing to do with fear cause fear isn't fun. Never was.

[garlic08]

I think weight / gear also can have a lot to do with intent, such as desire to hike vs. camp, duration between resupply, remoteness of trip, etc. For example, I know from his posts here that Tipi Walter carries a LOT more gear than most hikers, but he also is arguably probably more at home (and skilled) in the woods than most hikers. Gear weight can be influenced by so many factors, including price. Getting down to 10 pounds base weight isn't usually cheap.

Good point, and I agree. And I'm glad you added the word "usually" to your last sentence (which I should have done in my statement), because my light load is fairly cheap--$80 pack, $200 shelter, $160 (half-price sale) sleeping bag, $20 pad. But I agree that's an exception. Sweeping generalizations are seldom universally true anyway.

[Colter]

Nice first post, and very perceptive. I say it this way: "You pack your fears". Pack weights for a given section of the AT can vary from less than 10 pounds to over 50 pounds. You tell me which hiker is more at home in the woods.

As usual garlic is right, as is the OP.

[rpenczek]

Having delt with lots of Boy Scouts learning to backpack (while being safe and comfortable) and their Mothers (and fathers) who are full of fear, I agree that fear = more gear. You would be amazed at what mom and dad think lil-Jonny needs for backpacking. Even some of my older more experienced boys fall back into this trap after we have not backpacked for a while. They learn to "Be Prepared" in Scouting but what takes time to teach/learn is to Be Prepared for what is likely to happen, not for everything (even remote items) that can happen (there is a difference).

When we do weekend workups for a long trip, I don't say much about their gear, I provide a suggested gear list and then let them have at it. It only takes 5 or 10 miles for them to realize that they really don't need the two extra pair of jeans, a camp chair or a two liter bottle of Mt. Dew (yes, I have had boys bring along Mt. Dew). I have learned that experience/time teaches them to become confident (not fearful) in their gear, which lets them know exactly what they do and do not need to carry to be safe and comfortable in the woods. Sometimes the boys wonder way we need to do all the workup trips, afterall, they are in good shape and can handle the miles. This is true, but the workups are not about the physical, they are about the mental and let them build confidence in their gear.

For me personally, I have shed items carried out of fear such as a pack cover (I use to use a pack cover AND line my pack with a trash bag); third pair of socks, third pair of underwear, "extra" food, moleskin (duct-tape workes better) and gone from a double wall tent to a single wall tent.

[PapaGarrettP]

Over the years, I have sloughed off the following:
-Extra flashlight
-Extra knife
-large commercial first aid kit (now I carry the minimum items mentioned already, plus a small QuikClot pack for major bleeding, the only acute injury that needs to be treated NOW)
-3rd pair of socks
-Nalgene bottles (use platypus and a gator bottle)

I do carry 2 tee shirts because I sweat a lot and like to put on a dry underlayer every night.

[Sailing_Faith]

It is interesting,

I am packing for two trips right now. I plan to do some hiking later in the month, and I have a sailboat delivery (sailing from the Bahamas to Pureto Rico)....

... much of the same gear makes the 'cut'. Those favorite things that eliminate misery, certain comfort items (small and light) and things I know from experience that I am likely to need.

In another thread, the orange trowel is being discussed... now few could be charged with 'fearing' their poop... BUT the idea holds. What is an item REALLY for? In that case, I suspect it is to assuage guilt over being precised to be a 'bad LNT citizen'.

I wonder what other 'peer pressure' type items find their ways into our packs?

[Lone Wolf]

more gear = more fear? nope. not at all

[Sailing_Faith]

more gear = more fear? nope. not at all

You certainly know better then I, but might fear drive things like;

Bear spray on the AT?
Bear canisters on the AT?
Bowie knives?

How about very large (prepackaged) first aid kits?

Lot's of cold weather gear?

Other threads list items discarded along the trail... seems to me that some of this stuff was packed in the first place because people were 'afraid' of the implication of being without it.

My point is to question the fears, to see if the gear is appropriate.... seems like much more knowledgeable folks use a similar approach. The idea works well with small boats, and investment strategies... seems to me (and apparently to some others in this thread) to others also.

[Slo-go'en]

I would say it is not fear which casues people to pack too much stuff, but inexperiance.

Until you learn what you really need, you will likley start off with too much stuff. Or maybe worse, not enough stuff or the wrong stuff. Those who pack weapons may do so out of fear. I know they scare me.

[max patch]

more gear = more fear? nope. not at all

I agree. Its a BS expression that someone made up that gets repeated in forums.

[msupple]

Let's see...
Ditching filter for AquaMira
Ditching extra clothes
Ditching ALL extra batteries (usually in bed by dark anyway)
Reducing Duck Tape to about 4'
Ditching my beloved Geigerrig for two Gaiterade bottles
Ditching liquid fuel and alky stove for Emberlit wood burner. (wife will carry spare alky stove)
Much much smaller knife (used to bring a spare)
Ditching big headlamp for a much smaller one. (no extra batteries)
Try to evaluate water needs/resupply points more carefully in the AM
Try to be more presice with my food needs
Ditched my Ahnu trail runners for much lighter Inov-8 TerRocs

Those are some of the things I learned from our long section hike last year. We are pre-packing for our Springer to Harpers Ferry this April and I am already liking the weight of my pack much better.

[Rain Man]

I would say it is not fear which casues people to pack too much stuff, but inexperiance.

Until you learn what you really need, you will likley start off with too much stuff. Or maybe worse, not enough stuff or the wrong stuff. Those who pack weapons may do so out of fear. I know they scare me.

I agree and agree with the adage "fear = gear." Inexperience is another good way to look at it. If experience teaches you that you don't use something every day, then why are you carrying it (if not "fear")?

Use real experience to reduce fear and gear.

RainMan

.

[atmilkman]

I agree. Its a BS expression that someone made up that gets repeated in forums.

I agree also.
more gear = more fear
rates right up there with less is more or
are you hiking or camping? duh!
I'm backpacking. Which by definition means I'm doing both.

[Papa D]

Nice first post, and very perceptive. I say it this way: "You pack your fears". Pack weights for a given section of the AT can vary from less than 10 pounds to over 50 pounds. You tell me which hiker is more at home in the woods.

yes - I totally agree with this - to a point - look at the "critique my gear list posts" and you'll see a bunch of scared items - whistles, compasses for the AT, huge first aid rigs. But, on the flip side of this, the dude with the 10 pound pack caught in a sleet storm might go from fearless woodsman to frightened fool in no time flat. Balance is still a consideration.

[HT1]

Food I have ran out, and it messed with me
Water See above.
Foot care products try and explain to the boss without showing him your feet that you cannot work because of the blisters you gopt over the weekend.
Three inch knife. no story, I just like to be able to cut sausage in one easy slice, instead of spinning it around

[Lemni Skate]

Actually there is an entire school of thought in psychology that EVERY DECISION WE MAKE comes down to avoiding some kind of unpleasantness. That can be thought of as trying to quell a fear. The absence of fear is considered a serious mental disorder in this school of thought.

We obey the traffic laws in order to avoid jail, injury, death, chaos created by others. We disobey traffic laws in order to avoid being late, being bored, being thought of as a wimp by our neighbors, or having to think too much about the traffic laws.

I don't think it takes a whole lot of creativity to figure out what it is we are trying to avoid when presented with just about any conscious decision we make.

That being said, it's kind of a cynical to look at it that way. I think of it as trying to be responsible out there. Just think how people on this site react when we hear a story about some unprepared person needing to be rescued because they didn't have some essential item (okay sometimes that item is common sense).

I carry more stuff when my kids hike with me because I FEAR them complaining about not having something they want. Funny thing is, they rarely ever complain about anything when we hike.

[warren doyle]

I have been saying this for the past 38 years as it applies to long-distance hiking:

"Fear is proportional to weight and profit. More fear = more weight/more profit. Less fear = less weight/less profit."

We have covered this for 22 years at the Appalachian Trail Institute.