2005 Backpacking Light Trip Planning Spreadsheet Contest Entries

Marc:

Thanks for your nice comments. I appreciate your feedback. Ironically, I used the CONVERT function in my previous version, and then decided to take it out for the version I submitted to the contest. I was tired of having to make sure that the right Toolpack was loaded, and explaining how to load it to other people who were less familiar with add-ins. And you are right, the formula in those cells is complex, but the conversion is only part of it. Most of the overhead in those cells has to do with deciding whether grams or ounces is in effect for the entry weight. And I don’t think (but I could be wrong) that CONVERT has a means of displaying either decimal pounds or lb/oz. So, even though it took more programming initially, I’m now pleased that I took out CONVERT — it opened up some other possiblities.

(PS. If you want to see some complex cells, look at the Print page. I’m not very good with pivot tables, so I used the brute force method of compiling the report for printing. Not very elegant, but it works!)

The love child of Dave Johnston and Meir Gottlieb’s spreadsheets would share the best aspects of both—-Mier’s Gear Closet (love the built-in gear library), Pantry, and Menu(Nutritional info!) organization (and some clever data entry aspects)

For “just the facts, mamn” gearlist purposes, it’s hard to beat John Shannon’s. Simple, easy to use, and it works great in NeoOffice (for we Mac using, allergic to Microsoft types) .

Love child! I’d like to see that!

I agree; Meir’s Gear Closet, coupled with the drop down combo boxes to choose gear for each row is a great idea. Wish I’d thought of that. I have a separate spreadsheet, still under development, where I enter data on all the foods I use and use that to build a trip menu, complete with daily weights, calories, averages etc. Someday when I finish that it would be a great idea to incorporate that into the gearlist. It looks like Meir already has that nailed.

Ken! Why does a duplicate of my latest message get posted every time I visit this page?

Dave

A bug on the Print page of my spreadsheets has been pointed out and I have now fixed it. The bug made the 10th item of any group appear in Bold Italic, which should be reserved for group subheads. I tracked that down and fixed it. There is still a limit 20 items under each group subhead that can show up in the printed report.

If anyone would like a copy of the corrected version of the spreadsheet, I’d be happy to email it. Send me a message at dsjohnston ‘at’ cox.net.

Dave

I knew I wasn’t using the full capabilities of Excel, but yikes! Looking at the entries, I’m a babe in the Excel woods! I’m glad I didn’t bother to submit anything. I’m a big fan of pull-down items, so I like that in Meir Gottlieb’s entry… and what great food data! I’ve never gotten more sophisticated with food than how much weight of it to bring, but if I ever get more interested, this is a great springboard! I love Dave Johnston’s spreadsheet, and so far that would be the one I would most likely adopt and tweak. I forget which one, but the one with the graphs was intruiging, especially the analysis of where gear was packed based on when you needed to access it…
Nicely done, everyone who submitted! There isn’t a single entry that doesn’t have something in it I like better than my own gear list.

Hi. I am really impressed with some of the spreadsheets in the contest. I was wondering if people are actually using the downloaded files. I especially like Kim Clements’ work and would like to use it for my own gear planning, however, I think I should try to ask for her permission or get an okay from BPL first? Does anyone have a suggestions?

Thanks.

I’m really glad for the spreadsheets, too. Lots of great ideas there. Jeff, if they’re useful, of course you should use them. The corresponding rule is that if you come up with good modifications, let us know!
-Mark

Jeff,
Everyone who entered the spreadsheet contest did so with the understanding that their work would be shared in the public domain. They are posted in downloadable formats to make them easier to access. Feel free.

Thanks Mark and Vick for your help. It’s nice knowing that the BPL police won’t be knocking on my door. These spreadsheets are great tools and I appreciate the opportunity to use them. Thanks again. Regards, Jeff

Jeff,
If I may plug my own favorite, take a look at the one Josh Mitchell and I posted. It isn’t a spreadsheet, but a tool for making decisions about which gear will meet your needs, based on your own experience. It’s pretty slick.

I remember 1/15/06, but the memory isn’t what it used to be.

Hi Vick, Thanks for the heads up on your spreadsheet. I’m going to check out. Jeff

And the winner is…….drumroll………..
…….Who?

Who won?

Has there been a winner?

Thanks
Dan

Come on, the suspense is killing me. I just had to restudy the entries because it has been soooo long. Any chance an announcement will be made by Memorial Day?

I wouldn’t expect a response any time soon. Follow through seems to be lacking on these projects.

How do we know contest winners have not already been selected? The winners may have been notified and already received their award. The spreadsheets were only to be “juried” by the Forum, but winners selected by BPL. Nothing stated that the Forum was to be notified of who the winners were. Perhaps the winners also wanted to keep it a private matter?

Patience, grasshopper.
Sorting through all the entries has taken time, just to create a short list.
Judging is in progress now.

Thanks Roger for the update.

Hi all,
We’ll be announcing the winners June 7th. I apologize about the long wait! We’re getting the gift certificates ready for the winners now – at least there won’t be a long delay between the announcement and getting the “booty.”

Congrats, Meir. Well deserved 1st place in a very competative field. Thank you for allowing my physical gear closet to reside so conveniently on a spreedsheet.

I also want to say “Congrats” to Meir, who definitely deserved 1st place in my opinion.

I learned much from his entry and have since revised my personal gearlist to incorporate many of his database lookup techniques.

How did y’all find out who the winner was? Did i miss something? Was it in a Forum Post that i missed?

>How did y’all find out who the winner was?

Backpacking Light Trip Planning Spreadsheet Contest Winners