kbarley6 wrote:
> Dr. Bob
>
> If my failing memory serves me, you are a "go light" aficionado.
> Many of my Crew Advisors want to head in that direction this trip.
> Do you have any resources to share for a training session?
>
> Thanks
>
> YIS
>
> Kirk T. Barley
I am indeed a Go-Light afficionado - however, I am not insane about it
(only in need of mild medications....) Here are my two equipment lists:
http://www.troop111.org/phil02list1.html
http://www.troop111.org/phil02list2.html
The first covers everything (both personal and Crew), while the second
is the personal equipment list redone to include suggested weight
maximums. Following these lists, my Crews usually come in at an average
weight between 35 and 40 pounds per person (Crew sizes of 12). That
total is about 5 pounds more than the absolute minimum, because we do
take various optional items to enhance our experiences.
About 6 years ago, I wrote a lengthy treatise to Coop concerning my
weight reduction protocols. Since our list-server cannot accept
attachments, here is an somewhat abbreviated revision of that writeup,
in straight email. Remember, this WAS written 6 years ago, and some of
the comments are therefore a little dated.
10/3/97
Coop,
Sorry for the delay on this; I felt I had to write up a more
conversational discussion of how I do things in the way of weight
reduction, as opposed to just providing you with some rather didactic
(and eclectic) lists. Be aware, much of what I do is in direct contrast
to some of your own and Wally's methods; it works for us, but it may not
for you. In addition, we have made some serious capital expenditures
over the years in the name of weight reduction, and much of our
accumulated Philmont crew equipment is probably not realistically
achievable (in the short term) for most Crews, especially if they're
only intending on going once. In addition, there is a sharp limit to
what you can achieve if you use only Philmont provided equipment.
Given all this, the plus side is that significant weight reductions are
possible. As I mentioned to you at the last round table, our average
carry weight walking out of Basecamp, for 11 of our 12 Scouts and
Leaders, for (old) Trek 21 (new Trek 32), with all our food and 2 liters
of water each, was 34.5 pounds. This value, by the way, was no more
than plus or minus about a half a pound per hiker; in other words,
everyone was carrying very close to the average. Our 12th Scout, who
was still suffering somewhat from a foot injury incurred in March, was
carrying only 29.5 pounds. Finally, it is worth stating that, although
we were pretty well stripped down, I found that (if anything) we were
better equipped than most crews on the Ranch - in other words, our
extensive weight reduction is not at the cost of health and safety or
proper preparation.
So, our actual average across the crew was about 34 pounds. For what
it's worth, our Ranger stated that her next lightest crew (of six prior
crews that summer) averaged around 55 pounds each!!! I have no doubt
that she was correct - based on what I've seen on each of my last three
treks, it is apparent that very heavy packs are now the norm at
Philmont. My personal opinion on this is that Philmont has made a
fundamental change in Ranger shakedown instruction, from "do it my way
cause I say so and I know better than you" to "if you want to carry all
that crap, that's your problem, not mine." My guess is that they've
gotten tired of constantly arguing with everyone during their equipment
shakedowns (and concurrently straining the still nascent Ranger/Crew
relationship.) This was undoubtably a management decision made at a
fairly high level at Philmont, and had to result from years worth of
bitching by Advisors and Crew Chiefs on their respective Evaluation
forms. Certainly, starting off your trek with an antagonistic
relationship with your Ranger does neither side any good, and (probably
more importantly to Philmont management) the litany of complaints
(unwarranted or not) makes Philmont look bad.
OK, given that rather long preamble, the basic tenets are as follows:
(1) Absolutely Minimize Personal Kit
* Minimize amounts of items
* Minimize weights of items
(2) Eliminate/Minimize Duplicative Gear
(3) Minimize Crew Gear except where necessary to Maximize Versatility
(4) Minimize Food and Fuel; Be Conservative (but Rational) on Water
OK, you're probably thinking that this is all pretty obvious - and, in
all honesty, it is. The devil, of course, is in the details.
At this point, it would be most instructive if you took 10 or 15
minutes and carefully reviewed the provided lists (in this way, the
following discussion will proceed from an existing basis of knowledge,
and will hopefully make a little more sense.)
OK, let's proceed. The first item was "Absolutely Minimize Personal
Kit," by minimizing amounts of items, and minimizing weights of items.
A couple of comments. First, no-one is allowed to bring anything beyond
the line of asterisks on page 2. I hold no patience with the attitude
that "I want to bring it, and I'm willing to carry it, therefore I'm
bringing it." Uh uh, no way, Jose. Because we at least start out with
everyone carrying the same exact weight, this is a selfish attitude
which causes everyone's carry weight to go up. No, I'm not willing to
try and keep track of everyone's personal "extras" and weight thereof -
that's bull----.
Now, why do I do this? Well, you got a hint in the preamble. It
usually only takes a day or two to determine who's not doing so hot, and
you can therefore shift items in order to better match up carry weights
with the abilities of the individual crew members. In 1997, the one
Scout with the foot problem, and eventually 2 other Scouts, ended up
about 5 pounds less than the average, which in turn was picked up by a
few of the more able trekkers. This immediately falls apart if crew
members feel that they're being forced to carry someone else's
unnecessary junk! However, when everyone knows that everyone else has
(also) worked their respective butts off to minimize weight, then weight
shifting is accepted as the best way to maximize hiking speed and
overall crew comfort, and the stronger hikers will actually volunteer to
carry extra "for the crew." As you well know, I usually have blazing
fast crews on the Ranch, because we've kept our weights down, and (once
on the trail) quickly matched everyone's carry weights to their actual
capabilities. This is also how my Crews - which are usually pretty
young - can easily tackle Super-Strenuous treks.
Next, we constantly weigh everything, starting from the very first
equipment meeting and ending as we're loading the packs into the vans
for the drive to the airport. This is necessary (and frankly, I force
it) in order to get everyone (A) educated; and (B) continuously
concerned with weight. Comments: It never ceases to amaze me what
Scouts think are lightweight items - many of which weigh a ton! The
first equipment shakedown is always an eye-opener. Some of the most
egregious examples are sneakers/campshoes, daypacks, raingear, sleeping
bags, and larger items of clothing (pants, long-sleeve shirt, etc.) In
addition, most Scouts have no clue as to lightweight substitutes - for
example, large, Washington Post plastic bags instead of nylon stuff
sacks, or (one of your favorites) plastic wash basins, or the standard
wide-mouth 1 liter soda bottles instead of Nalgene canteens, etc., etc.,
etc. I hammer it, and hammer it, and hammer it: "If you worry about
the ounces, the pounds will take care of themselves." "If in doubt,
chuck it out." "An ounce in the morning is a pound in the afternoon."
My favorite way of putting this is: "When you've cut your toothbrush in
half, you're just about where we want you. When you're also seriously
considering splitting it down the middle, you're there...." At our
recent photo reunion session, the parents were laughing about how one
Scout was semi-frantic just before Philmont ‘cause his poncho weighed 4
ounces more than recommended. That was a Scout who was paying attention.
As you can probably guess, the actual numbers of items I have listed is
based on what has worked for my crews over the years. This list is
quite a bit different than my first as an Advisor, and continues to
evolve. At this point, I'm pretty happy with it - generally, we will
use every single item, multiple times. Except for the Possibles Kit and
most of the First Aid stuff, virtually nothing sits unused in the packs
for 10 days. Of course (and like you and Wally), we wash our clothes at
every opportunity, so our minimal stuff is always reasonably clean.
[Washing clothing appears to be a foreign concept to many crews, and
I've seen a lot of Scouts (especially female Explorers) carry lots of
extra clothing in the name of having clean stuff at the end of the trek
- a painful decision!]
Now, you'll note that I occasionally have a range of numbers of certain
specific items; what gives? Well, some of this is based on the size of
the Scout, and the rest is built-in slop based on the season and the
trek, and is primarily concerned with increased possibility of rain and
lower temperatures. Because I'm already at the minimum, I add a few
items to maintain health and safety if conditions are expected to be
less than optimal. You are already fully aware of the two main factors
here - First, the monsoonal flow over New Mexico changes in mid-to-late
July, with a dramatic increase in the probability of rain. Second, the
higher number treks (i.e., the more mountainous ones that the crazies
like you and me tend to favor) are generally rainier and certainly
colder on average than the lower number treks. Obviously, these factors
tend to encourage use of slightly better (i.e., warmer and more
rain-resistant) gear, and a little more of it, too. No-one wants to be
wet and cold their whole trek - including me. I personally use the
number of high altitude campsites (defined as over about 8,500 feet) to
define "mountainous" in this context; these are the ones where morning
temperatures in the 30's are routine. If I've got more than 50 % high
altitude sites, we'll go a little warmer on gear. With respect to
prevailing weather, treks starting either in June or up to about July
10th can go with the minimum, while treks starting after July 15th
should go with the maximums I've got listed. Yes, I pay very close
attention to the Weather Channel on this, keeping an eye on the
prevailing flows out of Mexico and whether there's any tropical storms/
hurricanes hitting the southern Baja penninsula.
Now, on to crew gear. This is where we probably do better than a lot
of crews. As above, of course we try to minimize weights and numbers of
most (but not all) crew items. [I'll explain "but not all" a little
further down.] The following discussion will make a little more sense
if I differentiate between "classic" crew gear (tents, tarps, cooking
gears, stoves, etc.) versus "common" crew gear.
"Common" crew gear are items that most Scouts have been taught to carry
on every camping trip, that is, the classic LISTS in the Scout Handbook,
Field Guide, other camping books (INCLUDING THE PHILMONT GUIDE!!!!!),
and provided by most Troops (including mine) and camping stores.
Flashlights, maps, compasses, etc., etc. etc. You may have noted that
none of these items were included in my Philmont list above the line of
asterisks on page 2, and no-one is allowed to bring any of these items
on their own! This is a tough sell for many Scouts, because they have
to "un-learn" everything they've been taught about going camping
"properly" equipped. My term for this (which you've probably heard from
me before) is "the Jeremiah Johnson Complex"; that is, you must have
every single item you need to go camping. WRONG! YOU don't need
everything - the CREW needs everything! Thus, we don't carry 12 knives,
12 compasses, 12 sets of maps, 12 cameras (with 12 sets of film), 12
first aid kits, 12 Bic Lighters, 12 watches, 12 flashlights, 12
"possibles" kits, 12 tubes of toothpaste, 12 repair kits, etc. ad
nauseum. We take only 2 of each item, and generally as small as
possible in keeping with the needs of the crew. This absolute edict
against duplicative gear reduces our overall crew weight by a tremendous
amount. It requires some vigorous crew training (we HAVE to stay
together on the trail, and we MUST keep all crew gear together,
available and secure at all campsites.) As noted above, this is
occasionally a tough sell, initially, especially for older, experienced
Scouts (who already know everything, of course), but once they
understand it and buy into it, they'll go after it with a vengeance.
Again, no-one wants to carry stuff they don't need. The key, of course,
is training them in this "new" way of doing things - which I do as part
of my meeting and shakedown regimens - in fact, this is a major part of
the shakedown training.
On to "classic" crew gear. As with everything else, I try to minimize
weight and numbers of items here as well, but with some compromises.
For example, you know I have my own backpacking tents (12 of them,
enough for 2 full Crews) for Philmont; they weigh about 2/3rds the
Philmont "Adventurer" (or whatever they call those things.) However,
they're pretty tight and we rarely allow them to be set up until just
before we go to bed (avoid rain, avoid Scouts sneak-eating in their
tents, avoid Scouts crashing or sulking in their tents while programs or
work are ongoing, etc.) Note that tight tents also reduce the need for
cold-weather sleeping bags; ours are worth at least 15 degrees versus a
classic dome or A-frame. In exchange for the tents, however, we also
bring a much larger tarp than the classic Philmont rain-fly; it's big
enough (12 x 16) for both us and our gear. Thus, we have group
interaction during "rain delays," and all our gear (except the tarp) is
kept dry until we absolutely need it. I hate seeing other crews all
isolated in their tents during afternoon rain-storms - some of my better
Philmont moments have come while we've all been gathered together,
telling stories and jokes, laughing and having a good time, under our
tarp. Got lemons? - make lemonade, right? Similarly, we bring
specialized cleaning gear, extra ground-tarps for drying pads and crew
gear (I hate laying our stuff in the dust, especially in the high impact
campsites), our own bear-bags and bear-bag rope (all much lighter than
the Philmont stuff), and a highly abbreviated set of cookware and
cooking utensils. The total number of non-mandatory items my crew picks
up at Philmont in the way of crew gear is exactly zero, and I'm still
working to reduce the total carry weight of what we do bring. And last
but not least, note that all my Philmont crew gear is completely
separate from all my other Troop stuff - we use it only for Philmont
shakedowns and treks and similar high adventure treks like our
Appalachian Trail Death-Marches; nothing else. The added advantages of
these last two points are that: (A) We save a tremendous amount of time
at Philmont on arrival and off-the-trail days, because we don't have to
check everything in and out; (B) Our crew is fully trained in our gear
well before we ever hit the Ranch (I usually ask the Rangers to sit and
watch while the Scouts set up our first campsite; they're invariably
highly impressed); and (C) Our gear is "bear-safe" (no leftover soda
spills or stray M&M's from the Tommy Tenderfoots of the Troop).
On to the last point - reducing food, fuel and water. The first is
fairly standard, although I've added some wrinkles which might interest
you. We "field-strip" all our meals at each commissary point -
including Basecamp - of all the items we know we won't eat (that is,
based on past experience and the desire to have all no-cook breakfasts.)
Why carry it around to dump at the next swap box when you know you
aren't going to eat it, and there's a swap box right there where you got
it? Included in this list are Hot Chocolate, Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat,
half our Spreadables cans, a third to half of our drink mixes, and some
of the less desirable meal items. Most people would stroke out at
dumping this much food (cause they're always "starving to death"), but
it's not a one way street for us - we usually substitute other items in
for the removed items (including some things we bring from home). This
past year was our best - I'd estimate we reduced our total carry weight
in food by 15 - 25 %, despite increasing the amount and quality of the
food we had.
On fuel, you've already gotten one hint above - we never cook anything
for breakfast. In fact, we always eat on the trail, after at least 30 -
60 minutes of hiking. This cuts fuel use dramatically. As you know, we
still use Peak I's, which seems an inordinate amount of weight (and
contrary to my fanaticism), but I like the fact that they're their own
fuel containers, and are much more rugged and stable versus the
"spider"-type stoves (MSR's, etc.). In general, we bring 2 stoves and 4
pint fuel bottles, for a 3 pint per stove total capacity when the stoves
are full. This is in itself less than most crews carry, but we also go
a little further. To whit, we don't just fill everything up and sail
off down the trail - instead, we carefully monitor how many days to the
next commissary, and adjust our fuel requirements accordingly. In
general, I need about 2/3rds of a pint, per stove, per day. Of course,
this again requires training the crew to not waste fuel, or have stoves
burning with nothing on them - all the things that you, Wally and I
preach on this topic. Now, on meals, I still use the 2 gallon pots
(although now that they've dumped the pancakes and bacon, I've now
happily dumped the fry-pans and handles in favor of light covers - a
savings of about 1.5 pounds!) Our cooking style is different than yours
or Wally's - we fill one pot with all the water needed to prepare the
meal, and place it on both stoves side-by-side - a much stabler platform
than a single burner stove of any type. In addition, the water boils
about 5 minutes faster than the same amount divided into 2 pots on 2
separate stoves (yes, I've timed it.) On the stability, you'll be
interested to know that I've only lost part of one single meal item on
my last 5 treks, so it's a pretty good setup. Once the water boils, we
then divide it as needed among the other pots, and proceed normally. If
I have a leftover 1 or 2 gallon pot (which happens in about half the
meals), the cleanup water goes on instantly. Otherwise, we turn the
stoves all the way down (not off), and get a cleanup pot going as soon
as practical. My cleanup protocol is also quite a bit different than
everyone else's, but that's another letter....
On water, the above described fuel protocol holds - we take what we
need, and little more. We carry three 1-liter bottles with us, but
other than heading to dry camps or the run from Clark's Fork to
Basecamp, we rarely actually have that much water on us. As you know,
water weighs a ton, so I'm very reluctant to go fully stocked everywhere
we go (just for the sake of having it.) As with fuel, we pay close
attention to where the water points are, and adjust how much we carry
based on how far we have to go, how tough a hike we're faced with, what
time of the day we're hiking, and how hot it's expected to be.
Obviously, we carefully review the water chart at Planning and Logistics
at Basecamp, and so have a good feel for how things will be out on the
trail. And once we're on the trail, we talk to the Backcountry Staff
and also oncoming Crews about water situations down the trail. And of
course, we always camel up when we start and also at all good water
points, and also always try to hike very early in the day, so our water
requirements are therefore accordingly smaller. Note that we're very
conservative on this - I don't want to pull into anyplace "dry" - but
nor do I want to carry a bunch of extra water just for the exercise,
either.
[To non-Coop readers: Be very, very careful with this last hint!
Frankly, until you know your way around the Ranch as well as Coop,
Wally, and other veterans, I'd probably always carry 3 liters per man.
Your next water point may be only a mile away, so no problem - unless
you get lost, or the well is unexpectedly dry, and then you're screwed.
Some places you can go 6 or 7 miles without a drop of water to be
found. And there's never a thunderstorm around when you desperately
need one, either. Fair warning, OK?]
So there it is, all my "secrets." For what it's worth, I expect that
my 1998 crew will average about 33 pounds per man - we're taking a lot
less film and 1 less camera (we brought 3 in 97, with 1 reserved for
slide film), carrying lighter cookware and utensil kit combinations,
cutting the size of our drying and crew equipment tarps, deleting 1
diary (experience has shown that I'm the only one who will actually keep
a diary), dropping the full-scale map (and just bringing the North and
Central Country expansion maps), taking a lighter set of vitamins (the
Centrums I use actually weigh quite a bit when you're bringing 150 of
them per crew), and probably dropping the monoculars (surprisingly, the
Scouts rarely use it, even on Baldy or the Tooth of Time.) I may cut
even more - I haven't reviewed it all that carefully yet. We have a
July 4th trek, so the weather situation should favor us. In addition,
this will be my first crew with a significant number of repeats, so we
have less to learn - and a lot less to "unlearn."
I hope I've given you lots of food for thought! We'll doubtless have
much to discuss during our next tete-a-tete. Regards....
- Bob
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Received on Tue Dec 2 21:56:18 2003
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