"Heavy weight backpacking"

mystical woodsman said:
Already on it. I am learning about straight razors right now. Where did you put your bag before going into town? I would hate to carry all my stuff everywhere (where people would automatically know I was a hardcore traveler), not your ordinary citizen with a "respectable" residence, so to prevent that judgment, I would probably ditch my pack a few miles outside of city limits hidden somewhere? At least that is what I am thinking I will have to do in certain circumstances and scenarios.
Other than finding a stream to bathe near or using someones water spiket late at night, where did you clean up? What about laundry? I can be inventive but I would like to hear what you have to say about those things. :)

I am glad to hear you are still around my friend, and thank you for bringing that up to help me.
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I guess we never got the point across on the other post that you can go light and not be lacking in any gear to stay warm and safe:yawn:

:p

Sorry to bust up the heavy party!!.

Cpl P. I agree that packing in heavy to base camp is a necessary evil. That is the exception to the lightweight concept. I do that a lot in the desert with water. Pack it in in a few caches, heavy as poop and then use those as base camps.

:thumbup:

H
 
Cpl Punishment said:
I carried mine with me. But then again, it wasn't a dirty beat up pack, it was a nice (fairly) clean canvas pack. I'm sure people caught on to what was up, but noone ever said anything, probably because I kept clean (which you'll find is just as necessary for health as it is for appearances).


LOL, well, I used a stream, or a spigot on commercial buildings in town. You can also find homeless shelters, and they'll often let you shower once a day, and do a load of laundry once a week, or they will know where you can, there's always places in cities to do such. To be honest, that's why I worked for money periodically, I'd just go to the laundramat. Also those shelters will often have kits with motel soap, toothpaste and a brush, and usually a bic razor or two and small can of shaving cream if you asked for it. But again, i just bought my own. Straight razors are the best way to go, but you can use disposables fine, just keep a pair of scissors to shorten things up before shaving. Personally, I kept shaved.


See above.



Hope it helps. I'll be honest, it's a very trying experience. Lonliness will be your biggest problem. I'd often make trips to go to church, or hang out at truck stops and such (where you can often get a shower as well). To talk to people. Both are great because churches are generally firendly to anyone, and truck stops are, by nature, filled with wanderers, so you don't see a lot of prejudice at either place.
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I thought I read a post where you said that you are going to head out in Oct?

I'm not sure where you live, but you might want to consider a Spring start. Iron out all the kinks in your plan, get used to lugging the load etc. That way your not dealing with all that in the winter.

Just a thought,

H
 
hutch762mg said:
I thought I read a post where you said that you are going to head out in Oct? ... I'm not sure where you live, but you might want to consider a Spring start.
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That is a good, and natural point. Very rational. The reason I plan to go in October, is because I strongly believe we're going to experience some kind of a terrorist attack (before the general elections - VOTE RON PAUL), compliments of our own government no doubt, or due to some kind of evil deal with a foreign entity - government or otherwise.

If I am wrong, oh well. For me, I have been feeling this is my destiny anyway. That is why I have been neurotically collecting camping gear and what have you for over two years and reading up on stuff that would benefit one in such a situation. I do sense that America is about to die, as we've known her for the past 232 years. She will be brought to her knees and the people along for the ride in order for the NWO to finally begin its reign.

As for starting in Spring, I am going to live with a woman whom I met on the Internet LOL :p - ala'online classes for criminal justice. We plan to only "hang out" ;) for a month or two (in which I will be living with her and probably get a part time job for the few bucks needed to feed my butt!). From there, I will meet up with an old high school buddy of mine who lives in Michigan (the lady lives in Wisconsin of all places, therefore I am going to have to keep my handgun HIDDEN, because it is not legal to even have one there according to: http://www.gunfacts.info/).

Peace
 
Troop said:
Hey Rock, What brand of pack is that? It looks like an extra-extra large Alice pack. I need to get one of those!
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Yeah, hutch762mg is correct it's a Kifaru EMR with a Scout piggy-back set up and a "few" additional pouches. I know they're expensive, but the abuse I put my Kifaru Zulu through in Iraq would destroy most packs. Only disadvantage (other than price) is that they are a little heavier and if you don't manage them properly your pack will look and weigh like mine:eek:

You do get bomb-proof construction that can take more abuse then most trail-packs will ever see in a lifetime and the suspension is one that you won't believe until you put it on. I have a large ALICE and a modified (High Speed Gear Inc.) large ALICE...they can hold a lot of weight, but are uncomfortable with anything over 60 pounds. The Kifaru EMR at 100 lbs feels more comfortable. It's hard to explain, but the key is in the suspension and stability of the packs. Kifaru's not the only one...Arc'Teryx, Mystery Ranch, Gregory, and a couple I can't think of at the moment do have some very good packs and once you start getting into the technical military side, they all tend to run expensive. I know it's easy to say you get what you pay for, but if you really do expect a lot of abuse to your pack (dropped, dragged, stepped on, cargo strapped under several hundred pounds in a C130, thrown out of helo's and LMTV's, smashed, pulled and tossed...all with 50+pounds, than it's not a bad investment:D

ROCK6
 
Rock6,
I agree 100%. The only thing that I haven't converted on is my pack.

I do like to pack very light, but I generally squish all my gear into a Kifaru Express with a POD on the lid.

I can also concur that their is something magical about the Kifaru suspension system. I have never felt as "un"burdened under heavier loads than with a Kifaru.

I also have an UL pack, but when I'm just out for less than a week I take the Express.

H
 
sodak said:
... Water is one of the biggies, we climbed Mt. Elbert probably 10 years ago, it is a LONG trip. I carried 10 liters of water, and we still ran out! The streams were farther down the mountain so we had to go dry for a while.
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Holly crap! Why didn't you just climb that in winter? Bring a Pocket Rocket, a small canister of LPG and a 2 quarter titanium pot. Don't carry more than 2 liters in a bladder and stop 30 minutes at most every 4 hours for snow melting. It is cold so overheating is not an issue. You should be ok with that amount of water and the water melting stops will allow you to eat something as well.

I don't know anything about Mt. Elbert, maybe I am saying the most stupid things ever...

The most water I have hauled at the same time was like 6 liters (2 liter Coca Cola... and it throws the pack completly out of balance.

Mikel
 
While I like to say that I don't do ultralight backpacking, I certainly don't do "bring everything, including portable tvs, chairs and tables" either. It would ruin the feel of getting away from things if I hauled chairs and such things with me. So, I'll bring what I like to bring, not paying much attention to the weight, but rather on whether I feel it fits where I'm going and if it's useful and fun. I don't want to bring "luxuries" into the wild, when I've gone there just so I could get away from those things in the first place! :D
 
Mikel_24 said:
Holly crap! Why didn't you just climb that in winter? Bring a Pocket Rocket, a small canister of LPG and a 2 quarter titanium pot. Don't carry more than 2 liters in a bladder and stop 30 minutes at most every 4 hours for snow melting. It is cold so overheating is not an issue. You should be ok with that amount of water and the water melting stops will allow you to eat something as well.

I don't know anything about Mt. Elbert, maybe I am saying the most stupid things ever...

The most water I have hauled at the same time was like 6 liters (2 liter Coca Cola... and it throws the pack completly out of balance.

Mikel
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The avalanche danger is too high, plus it's too cold (for us). It is heavy, but I encourage her to drink, drink, drink. That helps us both out! :D It's a good workout, and we always have steaks and beer waiting for us when we're done.
 
ROCK6 said:
Yeah, hutch762mg is correct it's a Kifaru EMR with a Scout piggy-back set up and a "few" additional pouches. I know they're expensive, but the abuse I put my Kifaru Zulu through in Iraq would destroy most packs. Only disadvantage (other than price) is that they are a little heavier and if you don't manage them properly your pack will look and weigh like mine:eek:

You do get bomb-proof construction that can take more abuse then most trail-packs will ever see in a lifetime and the suspension is one that you won't believe until you put it on. I have a large ALICE and a modified (High Speed Gear Inc.) large ALICE...they can hold a lot of weight, but are uncomfortable with anything over 60 pounds. The Kifaru EMR at 100 lbs feels more comfortable. It's hard to explain, but the key is in the suspension and stability of the packs. Kifaru's not the only one...Arc'Teryx, Mystery Ranch, Gregory, and a couple I can't think of at the moment do have some very good packs and once you start getting into the technical military side, they all tend to run expensive. I know it's easy to say you get what you pay for, but if you really do expect a lot of abuse to your pack (dropped, dragged, stepped on, cargo strapped under several hundred pounds in a C130, thrown out of helo's and LMTV's, smashed, pulled and tossed...all with 50+pounds, than it's not a bad investment:D

ROCK6
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Thanks, Rock. I'm going to invest in one right away, because I pack way too heavy! (Ever since being stationed in [West] Germany, I made a vow that I will never be cold and wet again!):)
- Thanks again.:thumbup:
 
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