First ... Guy, thank you for the "gratuitous" cross-post.
I've had several people ask how the record is certified. There is no official body (at least none that I've discovered so far) that certifies or records these type of records. They exist in the minds of the people who care. It is also recorded on Wikipedia so it has to be correct. :) (Toward the bottom there is an entry for records.)
I think Mark's comments on the last post are a great way to continue my gear discussion. Thanks for letting me know about Survivorman. It's a great show and I've seen a couple episodes. While I understand that it's possible to survive with much less gear than I will carry my main objective is traveling close to 50 miles per day. All of my gear choices are a balance between adding weight and ability to keep moving.
Trekking Poles:
The terrain I'll be hiking on isn't that uneven but there is significant elevation. Roughly every 20 miles cycles through 3000ft up over 10 miles and 3000ft down over 10 miles. My knees and feet are in good shape but they will hurt after 2 days and 100 miles. In addition, I do wish to transfer some work (uphill and downhill) to my upper body. There are a number of articles and comments about the advantages of poles. Some people report as much as a quarter mile per hour increase in speed. Even if I experience only a fraction of that, over 200 miles it will add up. In general, I don't like poles from an aesthetic standpoint and I've been lucky enough not to need them. In this case I'm willing to look at any possible advantage.
Flint, steel and other fire issues:
I'm not planning on eating any hot food or starting any camp fires. For the most part I will either be walking or sleeping. This means any fire device(s) is purely for emergencies. The most probable emergency being 3am, rain, and a thunder storm so I have to stop moving because of lightening danger. In addition I'm tired, wet, cold and my body can no longer produce enough heat to keep me warm. I need to start a fire in wet conditions to keep myself from hypothermia. I'm planning on bringing the Light My Fire Firesteel Scout Firestarter and a couple Tinder-Quik tinder. I've played with a number of options but this seems like the best combination for starting a fire in wet conditions (the reason for the Tinder-Quik) with the smallest amount of dexterity (the reason for the Light My Fire). I will probably also carry a Mini-Bic. I normally carry redundant options for starting a fire. A third option that I normally carry is 3 matches and a "trick" birthday candle. (The type that relights when you blow it out.) I will probably leave this option at home. It requires too much dexterity to use.
I've had several people ask how the record is certified. There is no official body (at least none that I've discovered so far) that certifies or records these type of records. They exist in the minds of the people who care. It is also recorded on Wikipedia so it has to be correct. :) (Toward the bottom there is an entry for records.)
I think Mark's comments on the last post are a great way to continue my gear discussion. Thanks for letting me know about Survivorman. It's a great show and I've seen a couple episodes. While I understand that it's possible to survive with much less gear than I will carry my main objective is traveling close to 50 miles per day. All of my gear choices are a balance between adding weight and ability to keep moving.
Trekking Poles:
The terrain I'll be hiking on isn't that uneven but there is significant elevation. Roughly every 20 miles cycles through 3000ft up over 10 miles and 3000ft down over 10 miles. My knees and feet are in good shape but they will hurt after 2 days and 100 miles. In addition, I do wish to transfer some work (uphill and downhill) to my upper body. There are a number of articles and comments about the advantages of poles. Some people report as much as a quarter mile per hour increase in speed. Even if I experience only a fraction of that, over 200 miles it will add up. In general, I don't like poles from an aesthetic standpoint and I've been lucky enough not to need them. In this case I'm willing to look at any possible advantage.
Flint, steel and other fire issues:
I'm not planning on eating any hot food or starting any camp fires. For the most part I will either be walking or sleeping. This means any fire device(s) is purely for emergencies. The most probable emergency being 3am, rain, and a thunder storm so I have to stop moving because of lightening danger. In addition I'm tired, wet, cold and my body can no longer produce enough heat to keep me warm. I need to start a fire in wet conditions to keep myself from hypothermia. I'm planning on bringing the Light My Fire Firesteel Scout Firestarter and a couple Tinder-Quik tinder. I've played with a number of options but this seems like the best combination for starting a fire in wet conditions (the reason for the Tinder-Quik) with the smallest amount of dexterity (the reason for the Light My Fire). I will probably also carry a Mini-Bic. I normally carry redundant options for starting a fire. A third option that I normally carry is 3 matches and a "trick" birthday candle. (The type that relights when you blow it out.) I will probably leave this option at home. It requires too much dexterity to use.
Batteries:
From what I've read on past attempts one of the main reasons for failure is making a mistake and loosing the trail at night. I will test my headlamp and see how long the batteries last in the cold. I need sufficient light for 5+ nights. That will determine the number of spare lithium batteries. (Lithiums perform much better in cold than normal batteries.)
Side note:
I plan to travel 21+ hours per day and not stop for any extended period in the dark. I wont have enough insulation to sleep at night. The temperatures can range from 20's at night to 90's during the day.
Toilet paper, trowel, and toothbrush:
Toilet paper is a luxury ... I agree but I like it. Staying "fresh" is a nice emotional boost. It is also slightly faster than using leaves, river rocks (much nicer than leaves), etc. If I do bring a trowel it will be extremely small and light, more like a spoon. In my experience it's much quicker to dig a hole, especially when you are tired, with a spoon shaped object instead of a stick. The toothbrush I also bring for the emotional boost. It's comforting, for some reason, to scrub your teeth in the evening. (I find the lack of toothpaste doesn't hurt the experience.)
Cash and satellite phone:
I normally bring cash in case I need to bail out part way through and find my way home. For this trip I may not bring any since I hope to have some support and a phone. The sat. phone has three main uses. The first is the obvious emergency call for help. The second helps with meeting friends willing to hike segments of the trail with me. The third and most important reason is that it makes Danielle feel better since I'm going solo. The phones are heavy and adds about 15% to my base pack weight but I think this piece of gear is non-negotiable.
Side note:
Base pack weight is the total weight of a backpack and non consumable gear carried in the pack. The base weight doesn't include worn clothing, food, or water.
Please keep questioning my choices and asking questions. It forces me to write and think.
Thanks,
- Jon
Thanks,
- Jon
3 comments:
I've always thought the satellite phone was a good idea; glad to see Danielle's putting the smack down. Also, when are you going to start training, because I'll probably need to start trying to drum up interest / start to train around the same time for the Whitney portion of the trip. Josh (the MD) from Zion expressed interest but he's moving back to CT in early July, so if you're going before then, we might have your first leg covered.
Hey Nate,
I "officially" start training a week from Monday - Feb 5. You probably have a couple months before you have to get serious if you are planning Whitney although any hiking you do wont hurt. Unfortunately the earliest I would start is the end of July because of snow. When I hiked the JMT last time some of the passes even had snow at the end of August.
Good to know about the snow. I talked to a septuagenarian hiker who started giving me tips about Whitney. He said there were two hikes that best prepare you for the trip. One was Mt. San Gregorio from the village and over three more peaks (approx. 22 miles, more elevation change than Whitney but lower elevations total); the other was (I think) Mt. White, which goes to 14,250 but is only 11 miles round trip. He said if you can do those two, then Whitney's doable. (He should know: he did north rim to south rim in the Grand Canyon in one day, in his seventies. And got a herniated ulcer on the way up and drove back to LA. We all should be so motivated.)
Plus, Jon, you should post some pix from your first trip. So we can all start visualizing for you!
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