Lightweight backpacking, and much of what BPL has been about through the years, is less about "weight" than about the "performance:weight ratio" of gear.
For those of you familiar with "pinewood derby", or "pine car racing", you'll see the theme there as well: maximum performance (speed) into a limited weight (5.0 oz) pine car.
Pine car racing has evolved into a tremendously popular activity in youth organizations like the BSA, and for adults as well, but "open" races that integrate adults and youth and are not limited to organization members are limited (with the WIRL monthly racing series among the most popular).
We are considering sponsoring a National Pinewood Derby race. There would be entry fees (to cover race management costs and provide a fundraising vehicle for nonprofits), prize purses (cash/lightweight backpacking gear from race sponsors, of course!), 'net-downloadable videos of each heat, etc. You would not be present to race: cars would be mailed in, and mailed back to you at the finish. This would be an annual event, with PR reflecting the scale of a "National Open" race.
Entries would be open to the public and accepted on a first-come first served basis. This first year, we'd be limiting the event to "stock" cars meeting standards for BSA races, and if interest was high, move towards "open" divisions, and (under discussion), a National BSA Championship race open only to winners of BSA council races throughout the U.S.
I'd like to gauge interest in an event like this from the BPL community, it could be a really fun way for us to enjoy applying some of the neat performance principles (engineering, physics, etc.) that we use on a daily basis to analyze gear towards some friendly community oriented competition.
In addition, I'd be seeking a volunteer from the BPL community to serve as a Race Director. You'd be responsible for searching out the absolute best quality equipment (tracks, timers, software, etc.) for us to purchase, researching and helping us write the Rulebook, and managing the logistics of the race. We'd probably fly you out to Bozeman for a few days as well for track testing, running the actual race, and with other members of our staff (so we have a solid check and balance in place), act as judge and ombudsman for validating final results.
