intresting article ultralight hiking

[Matt DeWitt]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/11/camping-comfort-goes-heavy-on-the-gear/

[Lynn Tramper]

Un-interesting as far as I'm concerned. They are talking about "car camping" where you only have to carry your gear from the trunk to the grass. It has no relevance to UL hiking.

[Ken Thompson]

Matt, did you read more than the first sentence or two?

[Brad Groves]

Hey, gang- Let's give our friends a bit of benefit of doubt. Most people who post here aren't tools; my guess is that Matt saw a reflection of himself in the article, and thought some of us also might appreciate the different point of view. Are we that one-dimensional that ultralight backpacking is our singular viewpoint of the world? I don't think so. I pretty much live for lightweight backpacking and backcountry exploration. That said, I also enjoy sitting around a campfire with a stack of hotcakes and bacon. Nothing wrong with that! You'll note that the article author wrote from a compare/contrast perspective, not a one-dimensional perspective–ultralight: car camping–and why each have their place. I think you could also argue that we get so caught up in all things ultralight, that it can be instructive to be reminded that ours isn't the only way to approach the outdoors… The article's just a fun glimpse into our (hopefully) multi-faceted lives.

[Dave T]

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[Bob Ellenberg]

I guess I missed the point of referencing the ariticle to this site as well but decided to jump in because we both backpack and car camp. However, after light backpacking we take some of the principles (and gear) over to our car camping excursions. "Real" car camping gear takes too much space, too much lugging and too much time to set up. We use basic backpacking gear with a light but slightly larger tent, more comfortable air mattress, a little more cooking gear and some fresh food and all the good wine we want!

[Art Sandt]

It's kind of an annoying article. Basically just trying to sell us a bunch of expensive gear because by being unenlightened about ultralight backpacking, some people are really enlightened about "life" or some such nonsense. Mostly the target audience seems to be people who have never backpacked a day in their lives.

[Lynn Tramper]

Brad, I realise the article was a fun poke at UL attitudes, it's just that Matt's title said "interesting article on ultralight hiking" when in fact no hiking was mentioned in the article, merely camping. Sure thing when I go car camping I take along lots of comfy luxuries. It's a completely different activity to hiking in my mind.

[Andy Bailey]

Boy, I wish I was rich enough to be a gear-savvy car camper!

[Brad Groves]

Yah, yah– don't get me wrong, there's a fair bit of B…Baloney, too…

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