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


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Home Forums General Forums General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion The Evolution of Packweight for a Typical BPL’er … warning, not serious at all

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
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  • #1331469
    Adam White
    BPL Member

    @awhite4777

    Locale: On the switchbacks

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

    BPL_Packweight_v1

    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…

    #2219885
    Diane Pinkers
    BPL Member

    @dipink

    Locale: Western Washington

    Hee hee! Most excellent!

    #2219887
    Adam Kilpatrick
    BPL Member

    @oysters

    Locale: South Australia

    like

    #2219906
    Alex H
    BPL Member

    @abhitt

    Locale: southern appalachians or desert SW

    Awesome!

    #2219908
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    Spot on.

    Sawyer location redefines back flush.

    #2219914
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    very nice :)

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

    #2219925
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    ha, ha,… very clever…

    #2219927
    George F
    BPL Member

    @gfraizer13

    Locale: Wasatch

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

    #2219946
    Duane Hall
    BPL Member

    @pkh

    Locale: Nova Scotia

    Cleverest thing since edible gear.com

    #2219956
    Ralph Burgess
    BPL Member

    @ralphbge

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

    Bro, do you even lift your pack?

    #2219992
    Hiking Malto
    BPL Member

    @gg-man

    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.

    #2219998
    Barry Cuthbert
    BPL Member

    @nzbazza

    Locale: New Zealand

    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…

    #2220022
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    "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!

    #2220027
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    Wonderful!!

    #2220052
    Allen C
    BPL Member

    @acurrano

    Suffering

    #2220056
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    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!

    #2220060
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    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.

    #2220087
    Peter Boysen
    BPL Member

    @peterboysen

    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).

    #2220088
    Ian
    BPL Member

    @10-7

    Funny!

    #2220147
    Adam White
    BPL Member

    @awhite4777

    Locale: On the switchbacks

    Doug, excellent!!! Well done!

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

    #2220149
    Angus A.
    BPL Member

    @mangus7175

    Locale: http://theshadedtrail.blogspot.com

    LOL…so accurate!

    #2220164
    Adam White
    BPL Member

    @awhite4777

    Locale: On the switchbacks

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

    #2220205
    Mike Oxford
    BPL Member

    @moxford

    Locale: Silicon Valley, CA

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

    /applause!

    -mox

    #3374055
    Rob Bartlett
    BPL Member

    @uke

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

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
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