Why don't more people use more mail drops to resupply?

[Slo-go'en]

Bearing in mind that 70-80% of people don't complete their hikes, there is the potential to have a lot of leftover food mouldering in post offices.

Because of the above fact, buying a lot of food in advance and shipping it well before you might need it is a BIG mistake. If you do mail drops, the best way to do it is by having a support person at home who can put together the package with what you want at the time and send it to the next town. Otherwise you'll end up with too much or too little or stuff you can't stand to eat anymore.

[fiddlehead]

Good advice from many above.
I always used some mail drops and some buying it all in town.
Of course it's easier to figure out where is the best place to do all this once you've hiked a trail.
That's why the sticky threads on the subject can be very important.

Reasons I like to mail myself food:
I tend to dry a lot of my own veggies and hamburger.
I use a lot of powdered coconut milk which is very hard to find in trail towns.
I like fleece socks and have a company that sells them so I send myself a pair every 6 weeks or so.
I put some town clothes in there so I don't have to look and smell like the rest of you when in a town.
I put things like chargers, nail clippers, extra shoelaces, big toothapste tube (with an adapter to squeeze into my small one which I carry), etc. in there.
I send myself a different weight long underwear after or before the colder sections of a hike.
I hate Ramen and instant grits as I've eaten them too many times.

Anyway, to each his own.
Don't worry so much about what others say on this subject.
Don't try to be like everybody else and do what you think is best for you.
Have fun.

[prain4u]

That seems high. I did a 5 month thru and at 1 a week that works out to 20 drops. I know current practice is to resupply more often that back when I thru'd, and the average hike takes a bit longer, but I can't imagine anyone needing 40 drops. I'll admit I could be wrong about current practices.

I don't disagree with you. However, I picked "every 4 days" for resupply, because in this ultralight world--you start suggesting that people carry much more than 4 days of food--and WhiteBlaze will come alive with people predicting your death from overexertion or forecasting that your thru hike will take 7-12 months because the weight of 2-3 more days of meals will slow you down

[prain4u]

That seems high. I did a 5 month thru and at 1 a week that works out to 20 drops. I know current practice is to resupply more often that back when I thru'd, and the average hike takes a bit longer, but I can't imagine anyone needing 40 drops. I'll admit I could be wrong about current practices.

I don't disagree with you. However, I picked "every 4 days" for resupply, because in this ultralight world--you start suggesting that people carry much more than 4 days of food--and WhiteBlaze will come alive with people predicting your death from overexertion or forecasting that your thru hike will take 7-12 months because the weight of 2-3 more days of meals will slow you down

I recalculated--based upon 20 mail drops (seven-days of food and other miscellaneous stuff in each drop--weight 14-16 lbs each). You are still talking $400-$435 for postage (plus any mailing and packing supplies).

[max patch]

You may be closer to correct than I was. Who knows? I know I prefer to hike 6 days and rest on the 7th. Most hikers seem to want to resuppply more often than that. 40 mail drops would drive me bananas!

[Malto]

I did 20 mail drops on the PCT and it worked out perfect. Why?
1) I had variety. There were 17 different dinners, with freeze dried meat and seasoned up perfectly. Also about a dozen different breakfasts and dozens of different snack items.
2) I did a boatload of planning. The shear variety of foods required it.
3) I wanted food that coul not be purchased locally, mainly maltodextrin, which was about 142,000 of my total calories.
4) Speed. I was on a very tight timeline and didn't want to spend trip time shopping. I did few zeros and spent minimal time in town. Efficiency was much more important to me than money.
5) I tested everything. I knew what food I could or wanted to eat on trail. I knew the pace that I could manage and how much food I needed.
6) I trained for a year and a half for the thru hike. Failure was not an option so I planned to be part of the 20% not the 80%
7) Gear. I replaced gear such as shoes on intervals that were pretested. I knew my shoes would last 500-600 miles so they were waiting on me right on time. My resupplies also had my maps, batteries, fuel and other supplies.

maildrops caused a slight hurry up to avoid a PO closure that I thought was at 5 when it was in fact 1:00 on Friday. I had to put in a couple of high mile days to make it happen. I also lost two drops due to the high snow in the Sierra and had to adjust and buy local, no big deal.

Are mail drop right for everyone, no way. In fact I doubt they are the best answer for most, especially on the AT where there are so many options. But for folks that have their food nailed down, or are on a fast schedule or have special dietary requirements it can work just fine. If I were doing the same hike as I did then I would have almost an identical resupply. However, I would buy local if I were doing a standard 5 month AT hike. Different strategies for different hikes and hikers. Maildrops may work for you but I would suggest if you use them to pack more than just trail mix, couscous, oatmeal and mashed potatoes.

[Different Socks]

I don't disagree with you. However, I picked "every 4 days" for resupply, because in this ultralight world--you start suggesting that people carry much more than 4 days of food--and WhiteBlaze will come alive with people predicting your death from overexertion or forecasting that your thru hike will take 7-12 months because the weight of 2-3 more days of meals will slow you down

LMFAO!! Too true!! Too true!!

[Different Socks]

I recalculated--based upon 20 mail drops (seven-days of food and other miscellaneous stuff in each drop--weight 14-16 lbs each). You are still talking $400-$435 for postage (plus any mailing and packing supplies).

$400-$435 in postage? That's little cost compared to what I hear many hikers buy for food in their first 6 town stops.

[Bronk]

I think if you mail a box to a hostel you have a moral obligation to stay there.

One thing has nothing to do with the other. I think you should offer to pay them something or buy another product or service, but if you're doing it right you are calling ahead and working out the details before you arrive there and the proprietor knows what they are getting into.

[Monkeywrench]

I recalculated--based upon 20 mail drops (seven-days of food and other miscellaneous stuff in each drop--weight 14-16 lbs each). You are still talking $400-$435 for postage (plus any mailing and packing supplies).

A large priority mail flat-rate box (the size most thru-hikers seem to use, and the size I used) costs $14. 20 x $14 = $280. The boxes are free from any post office, as are labels if you choose to reuse or forward a box.

An added benefit of using priority mail is that you can have the box forwarded for free as long as you do not take possession of it. This means if you find you don't need the drop at PO A you can have them forward it up the trail to PO B.

[prain4u]

A large priority mail flat-rate box (the size most thru-hikers seem to use, and the size I used) costs $14. 20 x $14 = $280. The boxes are free from any post office, as are labels if you choose to reuse or forward a box.

An added benefit of using priority mail is that you can have the box forwarded for free as long as you do not take possession of it. This means if you find you don't need the drop at PO A you can have them forward it up the trail to PO B.

Probably not going to get 7 days of food in one of those.

[wcgornto]

Probably not going to get 7 days of food in one of those.

I prepacked mail drops containing seven dinners and breakfasts, plus a few other items (TP, snacks, zip locks, etc.) in exactly this size box. It would have been a tight squeeze if I wasn't also purchasing food locally for eating while hiking during the day.

[Odd Man Out]

I have decided against using mail drops, partly because I am not confident in my own abilities to predict when I will arrive somewhere or what I will want and need when I get there. But mainly for a reason not yet mentioned. I like the freedom of not being tied to a schedule or having to be at a certain place at a certain time or needing to get to town before the post office closes for the weekend, etc... I get enough of that kind of thing in my day job. For me, this hobby is my chance to get away from that. I have this idea that someday when I have a few weeks free (with no advance planning), I want to take a coin flip section hike. That is to go to a trail head on the AT with enough food and fuel to make a gram weenie cringe, and flip a coin - Heads I hike north - Tails I hike south. Then walk until I run out of time and see where I end up, stopping for more supplies along the way as necessary.

But please don't think I would look down on someone who does it differently. There are plenty of good reasons to use mail drops (as already mentioned). For lots of people they make good sense based on their needs and interests.

[Venchka]

How many pounds of 3 Musketeers, Almond Joys & Snickers will fit in one of those large Priority boxes? How many days would those last?
On second thought, since those things are mostly air, how many pounds of baker's chocolate will fit in a large box?

Wayne

[Monkeywrench]

How many pounds of 3 Musketeers, Almond Joys & Snickers will fit in one of those large Priority boxes? How many days would those last?
On second thought, since those things are mostly air, how many pounds of baker's chocolate will fit in a large box?

Wayne

A large flat-rate box is 12" x 12" x 5 1/2". That is the size used by my wife when she mailed me food drops. I also used one as a bounce box and it contained a computer in its protective sleeve, sometimes a hat and gloves, charger for my camera battery, a roll of tape, some labels and a marker, sometimes my little AM/FM/SW radio, maps not currently being used, and whatever food I had bought like oatmeal or granola bars or powdered milk that came in quantities more than I needed for a certain section.

I doubt you could always cram a full 7-day food supply into one of these. I think the only time I ever left town with 7 days of food was when I left Monson heading north into the 100-mile wilderness. For that one I supplemented the mail-drop from home with some stuff I picked up at ther Monson General Store. I usually supplied in 3 - 5 day sections, though I once left town with 4 days food then decided to skip a town stop and make it last for 7 days.

[RED-DOG]

For me it's EASIER to resupply along the trail.

[Drybones]

I did one mail drop, at Fontana Village, ended up buying food from the village store anyway because I was tired of dehydrated food and wanted something more substantial to eat. Mail drops for me are a royal PITA.

[ChinMusic]

I'm sitting in Hiawassee as I type. There are folks here that now have WAY too much food after picking up their mail drops. They are trying to give it away. It is just so hard to know how much food you will need until you do it.

I have a lot of section-hiking experience and I have some food in my bag that I thought I would have eaten by Neels. Some of it may make if to Franklin. I bought just a little at Neels and just a bit here in Hiawassee.

[English Stu]

For me it was just easier to buy in the towns,and to do a bit of shopping makes a pleasant change from walking. Repackage in town to save weight. Did the same on the JMT.

[Dogwood]

Why don't more people use more mail drops to resupply?

Why don't you KNOW MORE PEOPLE WHO USE MAIL DROPS TO RESUPPLY?

I SOMETIMES use quite a few for my own special diet and medical needs and prefer NOT having to resupply by purchasing along the way ALL THE TIME on different trails. Not everyone hikes just the AT or with the same hiking philosophy. It depends on the specifics of how and where you hike and any other special preferences that might make sense for one hiker to do this over another hiker who prefers not doing this. I really dislike having to justify my preferences to someone who doesn't equally share in my preferences either as can sometimes be the case in some hiking circles. There are really pros and cons to however you chose to resupply that might be right for you.