Is anyone else "not so into" gear?

Our gear is like shoes and handbags for women, many of us buy tons of gear because someday we will use it or its the in thing. Americans spend way too much on things they really don't need including myself. I'm always amazed when I travel out of the countries and people do more with much less than I could ever do. With that being said, I like comfortable boots, high tech material, ultra modern purification. For me its a safety issue, I don't believe that one should have everything in under the sun, but one should the essential to have a good time and enhance your safety.

Old army alice pack while looking ultra cool are uncomfortable, and newer designs are ultra comfortable and light. Modern designs allows me to hike longer and keep better balance,

Modern day boots and clothing water proof and wicks away moisture and comfortable, if anyone has ever march days in combat boots or have been soaked in muddy water in fatigues you know what I'm talking about

Ultra high tech modern purification system, I'm all with Ray Mears being one with nature, but I can't stress the importance of using a water purification system these days. EPA estimates that 90 plus percent of lakes have mercury in them. You can't boil out mercury, nor other solid metals and most chemicals.

Recently someone purchased a compass close to 200 dollars, I can't justify that sort of money on a compass, nor can I understand how someone can break 20 compasses in a short period of time. I agree with the original poster that certain modern gear takes away the whole experience like cooking stove. There just something very primal about cooking over a fire that you made.
 
Modern waterproof boots have their drawbacks too. I've got mixed feelings on them, they can be super handy when youve only got the odd ankle deep puddle to contend with, but, but if youve gotta go through anything swampy/marshy or a flooded trail, or basically anything deeper than 6" (plus the few inches your feet will sink) that you cant go around they just become a liability. They keep water out, but they also keep water in. Having to walk around with a liter of water in each shoe or having to stop to drain them often is a pain in the butt.


$200 for a compass? Damn! does it give party favors?
I thought those Suunto's with global needles pretty pricey, been patiently waiting to find one in metric for <$70.

Have you ever seen a compass where the red needle points south? My cheap Silva is like this, and it really threw me off the first time I took it out. Are all Silva's like this?
 
briangandrews said:
I have to admit, I love my axes, my knives and good cooking vessels. I also like to have a good comfortable pack (in fact a few.....different sizes and all), good boots and clothes. But after that.....

When things start turning towards water filters, stoves (spare parts) and fuel canisters, the latest techno-fabric, carbon fiber this or that, I start losing interest and get turned off real quick. I realize there is certain convenience around such items, but I am not on a SAR team and I don't try to hurry in the woods. If I really wanted convenience, I would get myself a trailer, or the ultimate in convenience is just staying home :D

I don't think I am expressing what I want to really well. The following quote from Ray Mears states pretty much how I feel:

&#8220;I think sometimes when we use modern equipment, we try to exclude nature too much. It&#8217;s almost like we are at war with it. For me, that spoils the spell, it breaks the spell of being here.&#8221;

Maybe I am just extra "weird" but I would love to hear your thoughts on the "gear" topic.

Do you think your own personal gear helps you "battle" nature, or get along better with it?

B
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WOW, Mears sums it up pretty well in my opinion. I like all the steel, and good boots, but after that...I dont get to excited. Most of my life I have slept out under the stars with just a sleeping bag or wool blanket. I have been trying to get into gear, but all I have to show for it is a closet full of stuff I almost never use. Gene
 
I have never used a fragile looking camp stove, something about bringing a bottle of compressed explosive gas that brings the fun out of it I guess.
My tent is about 10 years old now, 100 bucks at the hardware store, my sleeping bag is old and cheap as well.
A cheap rain poncho is lighter then the best rain gear, and probably costs 2 bucks.
One place I'd say you need to spend money is on good footwear, everything else can be cheap and still light.
 
Mock away you bastards - but this is one gadget I won't do with out!

coffeepress.jpg
 
WhiskyJack said:
Modern waterproof boots have their drawbacks too. I've got mixed feelings on them, they can be super handy when youve only got the odd ankle deep puddle to contend with, but, but if youve gotta go through anything swampy/marshy or a flooded trail, or basically anything deeper than 6" (plus the few inches your feet will sink) that you cant go around they just become a liability. They keep water out, but they also keep water in. Having to walk around with a liter of water in each shoe or having to stop to drain them often is a pain in the butt.


$200 for a compass? Damn! does it give party favors?
I thought those Suunto's with global needles pretty pricey, been patiently waiting to find one in metric for <$70.

Have you ever seen a compass where the red needle points south? My cheap Silva is like this, and it really threw me off the first time I took it out. Are all Silva's like this?
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Correction its 140 canada which is like 100 plus u.s. dollars. still mighty expensive. With your compass always pointing south, some compass will not work properly when you take them from northern hemp to southern hemp. I believe your compass was made for southern hemp.

I've never went through swamps with my waterproof boots, wouldn't other boots sink as well too?
 
When something new comes to my attention I try to categorize it as useful or a gadget/fad. If useful and it is new or somewhat different from a similar item I have I will buy it. I first test it out in the backyard. I end up with a lot of knives, axes, pots, etc. but I know that I didn't miss out on a really good item just because the first one I bought was serviceable. (Like Brian's ax for instance). I weigh all items and keep a list grouped by similar item/category. That way I can put together a hiking equipment list without forgetting something, and can evaluate choices based on weight. Maybe I like a dogfather but for the same weight I can have a Fox River, saw and small binoculars. I don't expect to live off the land for weeks with only a firesteel and 4" knife, so I try to assemble items to meet my woods experience expectations and conditions, and still be less than 20 pounds.
 
hannibal lecter spyderco said:
Correction its 140 canada which is like 100 plus u.s. dollars. still mighty expensive. With your compass always pointing south, some compass will not work properly when you take them from northern hemp to southern hemp. I believe your compass was made for southern hemp.

I've never went through swamps with my waterproof boots, wouldn't other boots sink as well too?
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I bought this Silva at SIR/cabellas. I dont even know if they carry compasses for different zones. At any rate I didnt ask for one.


Oh they sink. What I meant is even if you have a puddle that looks shallow enough to get through dry, you always hit that muddy spot and your foot sinks so the brim dips into the water and your boot fills up.


I like my goretex boots for hiking where I can take my time and go around obstacles, but they sucked for firefighting this summer. We usually get dropped with all our gear in a marsh or 'muskeg'. Your boots get filled to the top and hold that water in like theyre... waterproof. lol
There was no sense in taking them off to drain them, no time plus they're going to be full again a few minutes later anyway. Ended up carrying what felt like an extra 10lb on my feet all the time and trying to touch my heel too my ass to drain what I could out of them.
 
hollowdweller said:
Yeah but Nessmuk was a total ultralight gear head fanatic. If he could save a few ounces he'd do it. He had his hatchet and his canoes made custom to be ultralight. IMO Nessmuk was the quinessential light weight gear fanatic.

Also if you read Kephardt he was also on that track. To the point of even touting out of country lightweight gear.

I agree with you that some things are not worth replacing. I have an oilcamp too:thumbup:

But I had several pounds in my Coleman Peak 1 and fuel for a weekend. My pot with 2 bails that I can use over a fire and a lightweight alcohol stove for quick morning coffee or rain, weighs a fraction of that.

I have 3 sleeping bags. A zero that weighs probably 5 lbs, a Campmor that weighs a little over 2, 20 degree and a 40 degree Lafuma that is about the size of a water bottle and weighs 1lb 6oz. All have their place but the Lafuma was worth the sixty bucks.

IMO a pack that weighs 2 or 3 lbs over a 5 or 6 lb pack is worth buying.

From 1985 to 2001 I boiled all my water. In 02 I got a water filter for the first time. Well worth the 1 lb. I can hike farther and am far less dehydrated. Also it saves stove fuel.

I can say without a doubt that backpacking is a much less grueling experience than when I had 6 lbs in my pack, 5 lbs in my sleeping bag, 10 lbs in my tent, 3 lbs in my stove and fuel and about 2 or 3 lbs in my cookware, 5 lbs in my clothes.
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I brouight up Nessmuk and Kephart just to show that old-timey (for us) gear may be outdated, but isn't by necessity, heavy (which is why I mentioned their weights).

You also never saw me complain about water filters. If I'm out more than a weekend, I carry an MSR Miniworks filter. I don't think they're heavy at all.

BTW MicroPur tabs, while not as good tasting as fresh water, do not taste like reused toilet water like iodine makes, nor is it as bad as city water.

Now my pack list I gave is essentially the same as I listed before for a shoulder bag (minus the kukri and sleeping bag) and came in at 13 pounds. That would nearly be classed as "ultralight". Add the 3 pounds for the sleeping bag, 3.5+ pounds for the kukri, I may have overestimated the weight of the backpack, lest I not be accused of skewing the weights. Not what I'd consider a heavy weight at all. Remember if you remove the weight of 5 pounds (probably an overestimate) of food and 4 pounds (2 quarts) of water, I'm down to 21 pounds. Not ultralight, but still light, and I guess more accurate, as Ultralighters never include water or food weight in their calculations. So much for old timey gear being too heavy.

Like I said, I cut weight by bringing fewer things, not carrying as much as the "kitchen sinkers", just at 4-5x the cost because it's the ultralight version. If you don't know what I mean, look at some backpacking forums and the several pages list of the ultralighters. They pack a hell of a lot more "things" than I do. There's other ways to approach being light other than buying every new and extremely expensive item that hits the pages of Backpacker magazine.
 
How light do you suppose you could get for a winter trek? A real Canadian winter, not one of those balmy southern winters for retired folk :P

I'm just looking at my gear right now
6lb sleeping bag
7lb tent (maybe 6 without any pegs or extra bags for poles, ect)
1.5 sleeping pad
5lb pack (i think)

throw in the hatchet, clothes, food, water and all the other odds and ends, I doubt I could keep my pack below 40lb and have what I like to be comfortable.

Whats considered "ultralight" at for potential -40C nights?
 
I'm a winter climber.
All the experts around me are heavily into gears.
It's quite interesting to see their equipments, some are the very latest,
some are many years ago discontinued products, some are slightly or heavily modified,
or even home made.

Newbs don't care about their gears because they have no idea how important they are.
 
My first reaction was that I'm a total gear nut. But I don't have a tent. I like a canvas pack or an old alice pack. I use an old Silva compass and maps in big zip lock bags. (My lensatic compass is cool, but heavy.) I don't have a titanium espresso machine, but I do have a titanium spoon. I take a Black Diamond headlamp with me but rarely use it. I do have a couple water filters, that just makes sense. Maybe I'm not as much of a gear freak as I thought....
 
I am a total gear queer but not necessarily for the new ti stuff. Recently I have been getting into the old 1800's gear and in many ways it is better. Natural materials are warmer and wear better. Synthetics are lighter though so i do often pack a shell.

Gear is fun ,knives whether the latest greatest or a beloved classic appeal to us as men on a very primal level. Gear means the ability and freedom to do the things and have the adventures we want to have even if we never actually do them.
 
WhiskyJack said:
I bought this Silva at SIR/cabellas. I dont even know if they carry compasses for different zones. At any rate I didnt ask for one.


Oh they sink. What I meant is even if you have a puddle that looks shallow enough to get through dry, you always hit that muddy spot and your foot sinks so the brim dips into the water and your boot fills up.


I like my goretex boots for hiking where I can take my time and go around obstacles, but they sucked for firefighting this summer. We usually get dropped with all our gear in a marsh or 'muskeg'. Your boots get filled to the top and hold that water in like theyre... waterproof. lol
There was no sense in taking them off to drain them, no time plus they're going to be full again a few minutes later anyway. Ended up carrying what felt like an extra 10lb on my feet all the time and trying to touch my heel too my ass to drain what I could out of them.
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Yup silva makes compass for northern and southern hemp, found that the hard way way when I was in the army went to southern hemp and my compass didn't work had to purchase a silva one. Thanks for the heads up with the shoes Are they that hard to dry them out? I tend to wear liners with mine.
 
there's a reason jungle boots are jungle boots......


I think the overall difference here is that- regardless of weight or age or whatever, there's the idea of having to have each and every new gadget, versus the idea of having good stuff that we rely on over LONG periods of time.
 
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