The main reason my pack got lighter was because I realized that being prepared had little to do with the equipment I carried. I had first learned to backpack in the Boy Scouts, where fellow youth and adults alike took the motto "Be Prepared" to be synonymous with "Be Equipped." Truth be told, we weren't just equipped... we were equipped for just about anything. Socks and underwear for nearly every day. Full-size towel, washcloth, and toiletry kit - with a sawed-off toothbrush. The odd trenching tool and hatchet would find its way to the pack. We had a habit of carrying back-ups of back-ups - if something failed, we reasoned, we'd need a replacement to cover it since we were so far "out there."
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Being Equipped for Anything
- Being Prepared for the Situation
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# PHOTOS: 2
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Discussion
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I wish i could print this out and keep copies in my pack to give to people i see on the trails. I think you hit the nail on the head with this one.
Thanks!
Nice piece of work, Brad. But you and I and our small band here are no match for them marketing folks at TNF, MH, Gregory, Arcteryx… you name it!
"Better to have it and not need it", the saying goes, "then to need it and not have it". And thus the cash registers never stop ringing…
Thank you for the insight. That was a great article.
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