Waldo JaquithNov 23, 2022
@rustyk5 Gear is so small and light now, kids these days, etc., etc. cc: @mathowie https://a.wholelottanothing.org/2022/11/23/im-sorry-big-agnes/
I’m sorry, Big Agnes

A Whole Lotta Nothing
Show threadWaldo JaquithNov 23, 2022

@mathowie When I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1996, sometimes I'd see folks on short trips with gear from the 60s 70s, which blew my mind because of how heavy and awkward it was. Here I am, in the 2020s, and if I took any of my 90s gear on the AT, long-distance hikers would laugh like hell.

I, too, would have looked at that box and thought "cool, this is the tent, but where is everything else?"

Show threadCarter BaxterNov 23, 2022
@waldoj @mathowie I think about this a lot from the flip side. Was the 90s stuff not perfectly usable? Isn't it still? What (if anything) did we give up along the way?
Show threadWaldo JaquithNov 23, 2022
@tbaxter @mathowie I started the AT with a 72 pound pack. The lightest I got my pack was 30 pounds (not including food or water). As a result, I broke metatarsals *10 times* along the way. I, for one, welcome our new ultralight overlords.
Show threadDan Munz
@waldoj @tbaxter @mathowie I’m a longtime car camper & did my first backpacking trip in Yosemite last October. I was *shook* by how compact that stuff was. I’d love to see a Moore’s Law-type graph of average pack weight over time.
Nov 23, 2022 at 5:18pmWeb