Trail Days – Damascus May 19-21

[Tom Clark]

BPL,
Are you folks going to be at Trail Days 2006 in Damascus? The fastpacking presentation that you participated in (along with GVP, Flyin’ Brian, & Coup) was well received. It’d be great to see more BMW equipment on display or hear what you have to say.

Everyone,
Did anyone else go to Trail Days last year? I’d be interested to hear other members’ comments about the vendors and/or presentations.

Tom

[David Patterson]

I was wondering the same Tom. Damascus isn’t too far off from where I am, and I’d love to make the trip if I thought it would be worth the effort. I hope we might find out whats going on.

-Dave:)

[Jeremy McDaniel]

i can’t answer for bpl.com, but according to the schedule there will be something from GoLite. taken from http://www.traildays.info/schedule.html

GoLite Seminar and 3.4 mile Hike. Snacks and beverages sponsored by Backpacker Magazine.Meet at GoLite Booth. on saturday may 20 from 9-1, ending just before the hiker parade

[Tom Clark]

Trail Days is next week. I saw the list of scheduled events, but still haven’t seen any details on the GoLite event (certainly not the build up like last year, with the Fab Four).

Anyone have any info on it?

[john Tier]

Tom, et al,

Jacks’R’Better the quilt and under quilt experts will be vending for the third year at Trail Days.

Pan

[Tom Clark]

Great! There are many sections along the AT, where hammocks really make sense, and you folks have some nice products that expand their temperature range and even extend beyond hammock use.

I’ll stop by the booth.

[andy winz]

I wont be there this year for the 1st time in 6 years. I went to college down there (Emory and Henry College) and used to work with Jeff and Dave at MRO and was a mechanic at AD. Enjoy all who go and bring me back some schwag!

Also note: a 4500 ci pack can carry a substaintial amount of waterballoons until someone decides to ram you between a fire hose, wall and 20 little kids with a cooler.

[Tom Clark]

Trail Days followed tradition with festive bonfires and multiple deluges to keep the dust down. I was really surprised by the number of lightweight gear manufacturers there, even though it had been growing over the years.

The vendors included Six Moons, Gossamer Gear, GoLite, Hennessy Hammocks, Jacks’RBetter, Speer Hammocks, TinMan, Vargo, Packa, LuxuryLite, and others that just aren’t coming to mind. The great thing with these smaller companies was that most of the owners were there to really provide some insight. One exception was Glen van Pelski, who couldn’t make it but, Grant Sible was there.

Although Tent City was populated by mostly the heavier 2-man traditional style, there were a noticeable number of TarpTents, Hammocks, and a few tarps (however, I don’t remember any 5×8′ tarp/ponchos). So…although the light weight message is making it’s way to the east coast, the hardware is changing more slowly. Maybe it’s just the time delay needed for the old equipment to wear out, before buying new stuff…a foreign concept to some of us.

I got the Justin Gunn video featuring Glen van Pelski & Jackie Paulson, and we watched it on the way home in the minivan (the family had dropped me off at Trail Days for a separate trip). I found it a great intro to ultralight backpacking for traditional hikers. Here is the link.
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/Ultralight_makeover_DVD.html

There were some good talks, but unfortunately I missed the “Survival-lite vs Ultra-light” talk that Paul Fitzner from Etowah Outfitters led. He also sponsored a tarp pitching contest that exposed people to tarp camping in a nice hands-on and fun way.

GoLite sponsored a short hike to talk about ultralight backpacking and demo some equipment. Hey…BPL, where were you guys? Ryan, you should have heard what Coup was saying about you! ;-)

Tom

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