Under what conditions would you abandon your gear?

[Eric Blumensaadt]

That one reason I'd abandon my gear is if I met a beautiful supermodel of a woman who said she'd marry me if I gave up backpacking. (I think…)

No, a super rich woman won't do it. Been there and turned her down, all $138 million. No lie. (And she didn't even want me to give up backpacking.)

[Jeffs Eleven]

No not Bear Claw, Grizzly Adams.

Bear Claw would stick a grizzly in my face.

Grizzly Adams is a pretty boy. The Detroit Lions of bear trappers, the Texport of mountain men, the The Dustin Diamond to Bear claw's Mike D.

Is your name Micheal Diamond?

Naw, mines Clarence.

[Anonymous]

"No, a super rich woman won't do it. Been there and turned her down, all $138 million. No lie. (And she didn't even want me to give up backpacking.)"

We won't ask you about her looks. ;)

[Mike M]

while most of us would never intentionally abandon our gear, I'm w/ Dale that in the event (unlikely as it is) that I am separated from my pack, I have some minimum (whistle, fire starting, cord, knife, button compass and light) bits on my person so I can start a fire, build a rudimentary shelter, signal and navigate

[Jim W.]

Buried in an avalache.
Having to race a forest fire.
Caught in a river and unable to swim with the pack.
Attacked by bad guys.

That said, if caught in cold rain with threat of hypothermia I think abandoning my gear would be pretty stupid.

[Anonymous]

a circumstance where I would abandon my gear. Technically possible, I suppose, but I've been doing this for nearly 40 years and have never come even close to considering the possibility.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I suppose I would abandon my pack in any situation where the weight/bulk of my pack is physically limiting me from accomplishing a life or death goal.

So that could be swimming if I fell in a raging river, carrying a critically injured partner to safety or a making better time on the trail in the event of a medical emergency.

When you go light, there can be fewer situations where you choose to abandon your pack since it's less physically limiting. For example, if I'm out of water and I'm not sure I can make it to that next stream 20 miles away, I might keep a 7 lbs pack on my back but not a 50 lbs pack.

[Hiking Malto]

I can't think of a situation where I would abandon all my gear. I could see leaving all but a days food but my gear is down to insulation and shelter and would almost consider it "emergency gear" already. I also reularly run with my full pack so it really isn't slowing me down much either.

[Bob Gross]

"So that could be swimming if I fell in a raging river"

Don't most of us have a backpack so light that it would float on its own?

Once, many decades ago, I spent an extremely cold night halfway up Mount Rainier during late November, and by morning I was already down through the top stages of hypothermia. All of my gear was rain and snow soaked, so it was heavy. We decided to abandon the climb, but I was not going to be able to carry everything down the mountain due to the wet weight. Instead, I carried out only the most valuable items, and the rest was jettisoned into a crevasse. We were only a matter of hours from the bottom, so we just ate a few gulps of food and the rest went into the crevasse along with 150' of rope, fuel, and whatever else had gained the most weight.

All that came out with me was the backpack, wet sleeping bag, ice axe, and camera. One learns lots of lessons about what never to do again.

–B.G.–

[Kevin Fink]

I abandoned a cheap tent, poured out extra water, and ate all my remaining food once, after a botched river crossing in January, at Dolly Sods. I was trying to warm up in my tent, 6 miles out from my car, at night, and it wasn't going to happen. If I stayed awake, I'd lose toes, if I fell asleep, I might not wake up. I was planning on packing my tent up, but I was well into hypothermia, and couldn't unclip the fly from the poles, my hands weren't really functional, so I left it, deciding to hike out, move quickly to get my body working. I was a little out of it mentally, so it seemed like a good decision at the time. I'm not sure what I would have done in a proper state of mind.

As for trying to ditch a pack when in a river, mine saved my life, kept my head elevated and off of rocks. The next day I was black and yellow from mid torso down, the flotation was the only thing keeping me from tumbling, or drowning.

[Doug Johnson]

If the weather turned beautiful unexpectedly, I'd ditch the whole lot. Who wants backpack tan lines? Not this guy!

Seriously, when I read the name of the post, I went through different scenarios in my mind and came up with two:

1) Falling in a creek- pack or life? Life.
2) Backpack far too heavy and hindering me. That hasn't been the case with me for years, but I could certainly imagine ditching my 70 pounder during my first week-long trip to go cross country. Or at least a lot of it. These days, every item counts.
3) I guess there's a third. Full body-width crack climbing. You know, like Bear Grylls or Eiger Sanction. Again, not very likely.

These folks don't sound like they were making wise choices- either in the moment, or possibly when packing their packs before leaving town.

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Great story Eric. Reminds me of a woman I dated a while back- she offered to make me debt free or buy me a new Ducati. I got to drive her new Porsche whenever I wanted (man, it was sweeeeeeeeet). But I couldn't stick with it- that whole "love" thing. What a load of cr-p- I could've had a Ducati!!!!

But 138 MILLION?!? Double cr-p!!!!!

[Jack H.]

"I wonder if any BPL'ers on the AT (Freefall or Jack) have heard about this incident."

I have indeed herd of the incident. Freefall and I were at Tricorner Knob shelter the night after the rescue. I've also met one of the rescuers, Hap, and have heard various stories and rumors.

Here is a bad photo of a hiker reading the story in the shelter:

[Gregory Petliski]

Life or death, and at that, only the less important gear like.. darn, I only carry essentials. But I suppose I could drop the sleeping bag and trekking poles and survive if need be.

[Gregory Petliski]

Martha: I'd be more afraid of going two days in the desert without water! You could die of dehydration in hours, let alone days.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

That is interesting about having your pack float. I had that happen when I had to swim some creeks in the Sierras. I don't buy the rule that you have to unclip yourself anymore. If your pack floats and you can swim on your back, seems safer to stay clipped.

As far as dehydration in the desert, there's so much hype about filtering your water and brainwashing about bottled water these days that there are people who won't drink natural water. On Sierra Club hikes we'll tell people you should drink the water and then go get treatment for giardia *if you get it* rather than risk dying, for which there is no treatment.

[Mary D]

You are so right! The incubation period for giardia is 10-14 days. By that time you can be home and close to medical care if you do get it. That's far safer than the alternative, which is dying from dehydration or at least getting so dehydrated that your judgment is impaired and you die in a fall.

[Sean Staplin]

Avalanche, Been there.

[Author]

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