Thesis Survey

[SM Maddox]

I am a Master's of Industrial Design Student at Georgia Tech. I am working on my Thesis on Ultralight Backpacking Gear Design with a focus on training for novice Ultralighters. The purpose of this survey is to test some initial concepts and test if any of these directions are worthy for refinement. These are by no means complete or finished concepts, assume that each concept would work and that added weight is negligible.

There is one page on demographics and then two pages of concepts. It should take about 10 minutes to complete.

The survey is linked here:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1565226/Backpacking-Gear-Design-Survey

[Mitchell Ebbott]

You should probably fix question 5, you're going to get inconsistent results. The initial question implies total pack weight, then the parenthetical explanation changes gears for people who know what "base weight" is. A better question would be "How much does your pack usually weight before adding consumables such as food and fuel?"

[David Chenault]

May your n be large.

[Trace Richardson]

Awesome, sounds like a great idea.

Quick question, I'm already a little confused: Questions 3 and 4 refer to camping and 5 refers to pack weight. Did you mean backpacking for questions 3 and 4? Camping / car camping is not the same as backpacking, they're two different activities with two different goals and gear requirements .. …. the wording may mean different things to different people, so may want to clarify …

I don't know if I spent more than a day or two camping last year but spent may days backpacking on trips of 2 to 5 days …. … Andrew Skurka makes this distinction as well when discussing gear and technique, if I recall correctly …. clarification appreciated.

[Tad Englund]

SM, let us know when you have cleared up some of the above posted confusion and I'll be happy to take some time for the survey (but I don't want to waste time on nebulos questions)

[Greg Mihalik]

Echoing Mitchell –

Clarify your definitions on weight. Lot of INJTs here…

A lot of folks consider "skin out" to be the base weight number. That way you can't get away with wearing a 1# fleece and carrying your 2# trekking poles so your pack weight is under some magic number.

Then you add consumables.

Then some add "optionals" – the book, the camera, the bear can…. or not.

Also, UL is more of a philosophy than a gear list. Gear lists expand your horizons to what is possible, but it is the "mind set" of examining every item that finally suggests taking only two pair of socks instead of four. Or a tarp versus a tent. After you've made those decisions, then you move on to optimal gear and how to pack it.

[Rick Reno]

and don't let the naysayers get you down!

[Chad B]

The thing I find most interesting about your survey is comparing the responses here with those over at backpacker.

[Sumi Wada]

>> The thing I find most interesting about your survey is comparing the responses here with those over at backpacker.

No kidding! I'm having a serious light-bulb moment about what many (most?) UL hikers' priorities are.

[Tony Ronco]

This is just a refinement suggestion on the question for "I feel most successful in outdoor activities when…."

All of your listed answer selections can be categorized in one of two ways
1.) Being competitively focused ("I'm somehow better than others") or
2.) Is in terms of learning new things & the effort required to do so.

It does not have answer selections for:
A.) The simple enjoyment of the being outdoors away from our daily distractions, or
B.) Being in and seeing wonderfully beautiful places and views, or
C.) Just having enough uninterrupted time to enjoy the fellowship of your friends or family in a beautiful backdrop.

… All of those experiences I would consider make me feel the most successful on an outdoor trek.

[Author]

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