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I remember sleeping in old canvas tents - in the heavy rain - on boyscout camping trips around seattle as a kid. I remember waking up in a puddle, cotton lined
by eagsalazar2 7mo ago
I remember sleeping in old canvas tents - in the heavy rain - on boyscout camping trips around seattle as a kid. I remember waking up in a puddle, cotton lined bag soaked through, not being dry even after 12 hours of laying it out after the rain stopped.
By comparison my RIE UL2 is 100x, no 1000x better in every single way. Same for my 15 degree duck down mummy.
Are sweaters better now than then?? I don't know, maybe. But seriously, get out of here with the general notion that 19** is within a hundred miles of good modern backpacking gear.
About boots, unless you are in snow, boots are scam. Period full stop with whatever expansive definition you want to use. Comfy $30 sneakers from Big 5 are great. I do have some trail running shoes I use personally that cost me about $100. I'm sure they had great options 100 years ago.
- no-name-here 7mo ago> $30 sneakers from Big 5 Big 5 seems to be a western US sporting goods chain. I wonder if there's an equivalent in other parts of the country? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_5_Sporting_Goods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_5_Sporting_Goods
- relaxing 7mo agoYes, big box sporting goods stores exist outside the west coast. They’re quite common, in fact.
- meroes 7mo agoI find sneakers uncomfortable on rocks. The heavy sole of boots is worth the trade off if n anything rocky.
- eternauta3k 7mo agoHigher boots can prevent twisting your ankle when you're tired at the end of a long day.
- IAmBroom 7mo ago"Julia Child's recipes aren't within a hundred miles of modern cooking, because I used to burn ramen in a hotpot in college." Your scouting experience was in no way, shape, nor form like Mallory's expeditions. He knew a few things 12-year-old you didn't. And these guys have tested their theories; you have not.
- eagsalazar2 7mo agoI do and did know about backpacking around Seattle (and the Sierra Nevadas, and the Uintas). I should have been more clear that I wasn't trying to make a comment about Everest expeditions, my comment is about extrapolating generally to "modern equipment is a scam" to an audience that is 99% people who do medium to low seriousness backpacking - who would in 1985 have been sleeping in canvas tents with cotton lined bags, just like I was.