[philmont] Gaiters and backpacks

Note to Jim and John:
  This seems to be slow time for more meaningful discussion about how to prepare for Philmont and it is sleeting here in the Midwest during lunch.
   
  The discussion about gaiters and internal frame packs points to a common problem in the outdoor retailer world - they sell what they got. Of course retailers also try to create demand for things they have on hand or on order. Young adults like to buy what's "hot", need is not always the driving force (consumptive society is a different discussion). Outdoor manufacturers will make what the stores want and designers will keep coming up with ideas, even if need is not the driving force. Having worked for a time for the company that made the original frame pack and still makes a decent version and being the owner of too many packs (external and internal) I realize that the 20 something staff folks have lots of influence on what the kids buy - they want to look cool on the trail (even if that means wearing gaiters for no good reason). If ever a place was designed for the use of external packs and not internals Philmont is that place. Some things have happened in pack design
 since the first pack board I rented for 50 cents at Philmont. The waist belt idea that Dick Kelty first designed for his external alum frame is now on every pack, internals now have frame sheets and bars (some weighing more than externals), internals now have pockets and compartments instead of being just a bag with shoulder straps. Externals can look like internals with compression straps and curved frames that mimic the fit of internals. Both types have the same shoulder straps with load lifters, waist belts with stabilizer straps. Back to the outdoor retailer: try to find a retail floor person that knows how to sell an external and can even discuss what it is good for and then see what they have to sell. On the trail observation at Philmont: most folks with internals are clueless about how to load, fit and carry 'em. The externals are very forgiving but tough to find. Buy what you can and what you can afford - all packs are overbuilt and most have great warranties. It
 is after all the journey and not the equipment that is important - but boys and their toys keep the retailers alive and gives us lots of discussion fodder.
   
   
  Terry Pogue
  Greater St. Louis Area Council
   
  PS: I still have a Svea 123R stove I bought in 70 something, wish I had gone to PSR as many times as it has - still haven't had to repair it. Good stuff sometimes last forever.

       
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Received on Tue Dec 11 14:39:53 2007