RE: [Philmont]: Novice backpacker with Philmont questions

Mike,
 The reason nobody talks about ponchos is because they don't work. They
are useful for sitting on, doing dinner prep on, or spreading out your
gear when doing shakedown or repacking. In Philmont rain/hail
conditions, they do not do the job. Picture horizontal rain and hail
with a 20mph wind changing direction every 2 minutes, Two guys in my
crew this summer had ponchos, and they made it through, but they were
wet. You need a pack cover and rain gear to get through it cleanly. The
jacket should be as breathable as you can afford. This is why the pholks
on this board recommend a raingear shakedown by having everyone stand
under a shower for 5 minutes, then check the resultant wetting of the
clothes to see how the gear performed. This is something I will
definitely do with my next crew. It checks out the gear AND raises the
level of knowledge for the crew members so that they are making an
informed decision. We climbed Phillips in a heavy hail storm and one of
my poncho guys spent the whole storm trying to keep the poncho out of
his face. Fortunately we were hiking mostly under the trees during the
storm, so we didn't get the full force of the wind, but I would guess it
at about 20mph.
 The reason we've only had 2 responses on the MIOX is because it IS new,
and it IS expensive for a Scout unit to buy when taken with everything
else. I think we will see a lot more of these on the trails in the next
two years as word gets around. I plan on getting one for my Troop when
the prices drop or if we get lucky and score a spot for 2006. The pump
works fine for our mountains around here, and water temp is an issue
with the polar pure. Most of our hiking is September to April and we
have some ice for most of those months up on the hills.For Philmont,
polar pure is the way to go, but the MIOX works so well from everything
I've heard, that I can't wait to get one and try it. (I am a pathetic
gear junky and always will be.)
Happy Hiking,
 Tom
SM T66
808-F (2004)
IWGBTP

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Michael Casey
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 8:13 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: Novice backpacker with Philmont questions

Hi All,
 
I'm a novice hiker and backpacker (I must admit, I have never purified
water) and I have a lot to learn in the next 11 months because next July
I'm headed to Philmont. I just found and joined this list within the
past two weeks and I'm astounded by the level of activity. The courteous
and kind exchange of information is great and I guess attributed to the
fact that everyone is a Scouter.
 
Since I have been on the list the two dominate discussions have been
about water and gear (primarily raingear). Having read there are no bad
questions, I have two:
 
1. Nobody talks much about using a decent pancho. I know they
(e.g.Campmor) make backpacking panchos that fit over a pack and are more
long lasting than the kind WalMart carries. Does anyone use a good
pancho rather than a rain suit? If not, why not?
 
2. Throughout the discussion on water treatment, only recently did
someone mention the MSR Miox system. No one has really commented on it.
I'm curious as to why? Maybe because it is so new? I saw it at a local
outfitter store and it's about the size of a flashlight, uses batteries
and charges a mixture of salt and ordinary water to create a "cocktail"
that is put into the water to be treated. There are no moving parts and
the product is odorless and tasteless. I've seen it on sale for $110
which seems to compare to a good pump filter with extras filters.
 
Thanks for any in put on these items.
 
Mike
ASM Troop 646

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Received on Thu Sep 9 07:31:46 2004