The Evolution of Packweight for a Typical BPL’er … warning, not serious at all

[Adam White]

The "is UL a phase?" thread in the philosophy forum got me thinking…so, just for fun, in the stylings of xkcd:

Edit: poetic addition from Doug I:

To the tune of Pink Floyd’s “Time”
(With apologies to Roger, David, Nick and Richard)

Toiling away on the trail you’re a car camping cliche.
You fret and you sweat every pound in a serious way.
You’re pretty unsure if those lawn chairs are going to be worth it.
You’re waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lifting heavy packs, your shoulders crying out in pain.
You’re not young, the trail is long and every step just makes you pay.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
Your knees make noise, you’re filled with dread, then you find the UL thread.

So you go get a scale and you weigh everything down to ounces.
To you REI is nothing more than a sad lifestyle store.
Your blood on your DIY cat can stove is a trophy.
When your Sawyer’s up in your arse, you've probably gone too far.

Your gear list isn’t getting shorter, spending much more time in chaff.
Screw gear forum, where’s Bob G, he’s always good for a laugh.
The weight is gone, the song is over
Nothing really more to this faff….

If you're going to take this seriously at all, please move on…

[Diane Pinkers]

Hee hee! Most excellent!

[Adam Kilpatrick]

like

[Alex H]

Awesome!

[Ken Thompson]

Spot on.

Sawyer location redefines back flush.

[Mike M]

very nice :)

we need a poem to go w/ the graph! calling Doug

[Jerry Adams]

ha, ha,… very clever…

[George F]

Good work, and it makes me feel better about not actually knowing what my kit weighs.

[Duane Hall]

Cleverest thing since edible gear.com

[Ralph Burgess]

"it makes me feel better about not actually knowing what my kit weighs."

Bro, do you even lift your pack?

[Hiking Malto]

While done in humor, this was my exact journey sans water filter storage. It's actually quite funny to see it laid out in this way.

[Barry Cuthbert]

An excellent diagram!!! I could tick off so many of the milestones.

A similar graph charting money spent on gear vs. number of items stored in the gear locker vs. packweight would also provide similar enlightenment…

[BlackHatGuy]

"we need a poem to go w/ the graph! calling Doug"

Not my best, but as requested (though song instead of poem):

To the tune of Pink Floyd’s “Time”
(With apologies to Roger, David, Nick and Richard)

Toiling away on the trail you’re a car camping cliche.
You fret and you sweat every pound in a serious way.
You’re pretty unsure if those lawn chairs are going to be worth it.
You’re waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lifting heavy packs, your shoulders crying out in pain.
You’re not young, the trail is long and every step just makes you pay.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
Your knees make noise, you’re filled with dread, then you find the UL thread.

So you go get a scale and you weigh everything down to ounces.
To you REI is nothing more than a sad lifestyle store.
Your blood on your DIY cat can stove is a trophy.
When your Sawyer’s up in your arse, you've probably gone too far.

Your gear list isn’t getting shorter, spending much more time in chaff.
Screw gear forum, where’s Bob G, he’s always good for a laugh.
The weight is gone, the song is over
Nothing really more to this faff….

PS-Your graphic made me laugh out loud Adam!

[Mike M]

Wonderful!!

[Allen C]

[David Thomas]

That is VERY much in the style of xkcd – what Randall would have done if he was a UL geek instead of a math-science-computer geek. Good job!

[Justin Baker]

Maybe I'm the odd ball here, but my I didn't start with a heavy pack. My first ever backpacking trip my pack probably weighed 20 pounds. My suffering came from sleeping in sub freezing temperatures with a military surplus patrol bag (like 55 degree comfort rating) on a thin foam pad. Clothing consisted of a cotton hoody and jeans.

[Peter Boysen]

Wonderful comic (and +1 to above, perfectly in the vein of XKCD). I'd love to see more ongoing comics in this style. I sort of see the "man in the hat" from XKCD as Bob Gross (though really there are quite a few folks here who could fit that category).

[Ian]

Funny!

[Adam White]

Doug, excellent!!! Well done!

I'm going to add that to the original post to make sure nobody misses it…

[Angus A.]

LOL…so accurate!

[Adam White]

Some of you might be interested in my new post over in the Gear Swap forum.

[Mike Oxford]

Great infographic and you nailed both the style and snarkiness of xkcd!

/applause!

-mox

[Rob Bartlett]

LOL excellent.  I’m at the “cut finger on cat food can”stage.  Nervously eying KY jelly for the Sawyer…

[Author]

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