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Post by bluefish on Apr 19, 2017 16:49:27 GMT -8
I found a Boy Scout Handbook from 1929 in a barn and was utterly fascinated. My parents wouldn't let me be a Boy Scout (the dues would cut into beer money), so I spent the majority of my time practicing shelters, fire building , tracking, and navigating in the woods near my home. I started taking solo backpacking trips with an Army pack when I was 14. That Baden-Powell handbook and Hemingway's Nick Adam's stories did it for me, the rest has been picked up piece-meal in the doing. In recent years, forums such as this have informed me on lightening my pack.
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 19, 2017 19:28:50 GMT -8
My parents wouldn't let me be a Boy Scout Ha. I wanted to be a Boy Scout, like my brothers, but the organization wouldn't let me. So I learned camping and assorted related activities with my family, until I was old enough to head out on my own.
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Post by hikerjer on Apr 25, 2017 9:28:26 GMT -8
The Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher was probably the most informative and comprehensive volume I've read. I also learned a lot from Chris Townsend's books, Backpacking and Advanced Backpacking. Freedom of the Hills is good too although it goes a bit beyond simple backpacking. Truth to be told, these forums are probably the best source of information on backpacking that I've come across. You can't beat the collective wisdom and knowledge here and the chance to ask specific questions. Someone always certainly has an opinion, if not a specific answer.
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,684
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 25, 2017 16:38:38 GMT -8
Truth to be told, these forums are probably the best source of information on backpacking that I've come across. You can't beat the collective wisdom and knowledge here and the chance to ask specific questions. Someone always certainly has an opinion, if not a specific answer. I know that stuff I've learned here has transformed how we backpack (gear in particular), and helped me cut probably 10 lbs out of each of our packs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2017 9:13:50 GMT -8
Truth to be told, these forums are probably the best source of information on backpacking that I've come across. You can't beat the collective wisdom and knowledge here and the chance to ask specific questions. Someone always certainly has an opinion, if not a specific answer. I know that stuff I've learned here has transformed how we backpack (gear in particular), and helped me cut probably 10 lbs out of each of our packs. Funny you should mention that; I've been on a tear to try to reduce the weight of my backpack. I have a diet scale set up in the spare bedroom where my backpacking gear is stored, and I have stopped by the post office on the drive to work to weigh items too heavy for the diet scale.
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Post by trinity on Apr 26, 2017 11:15:42 GMT -8
Truth to be told, these forums are probably the best source of information on backpacking that I've come across. You can't beat the collective wisdom and knowledge here and the chance to ask specific questions. Someone always certainly has an opinion, if not a specific answer. This is true for me as well. I can't recall that I ever had any instructional books on backpacking, I just started doing it on my own. I'm a little surprised I survived my earlier backpacking forays, I was so unbelievably clueless, and usually solo. When, about 8 or 9 years ago, I decided I needed to rethink my kit and my techniques, this forum was by far the most valuable resource I had. I am deeply indebted to so many of the participants here.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2017 14:41:39 GMT -8
The Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher was probably the most informative and comprehensive volume I've read. I also learned a lot from Chris Townsend's books, Backpacking and Advanced Backpacking. Freedom of the Hills is good too although it goes a bit beyond simple backpacking. I enjoyed The Complete Walker yugely (as well as some of Colin's other books), but it doesn't really describe the way that I've ever backpacked. Perhaps in part because I read the first (1968) edition. I didn't go on my first backpack until 1987, and techniques had changed somewhat in the intervening ~20 years. I have used a tarp, but never Visclamps(?) or sheet poly for a tarp (I have a 10x12' coated nylon tarp I last used over 20 years ago). I have a copy of Freedom of the Hills (4th edition) , but much of it is devoted to Alpinism. I haven't read it cover-to-cover, but just a few sections when I took a CMC mountaineering program in Boulder in 1988.
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