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UL positive feedback system
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Dec 28, 2013 at 4:55 pm #2058329
This summer I hiked in Glacier. The ranger sets your itinerary. We had a few days where we only hiked 7 or 8 miles, one where we hiked 3 miles and one where we hiked 1/2 mile. We also had some 14-15 mile days and one 20+ mile day. It was great! You CAN hike a nice 7 mile day with an ultralight kit and find it enjoyable. We picked lots of berries, swam in lakes, lolled around telling stories, cooked and ate, got late starts, sat at the top of the passes for hours since we had no rush, played music, showed off our gear and took naps.
Dec 28, 2013 at 5:17 pm #2058335Which is a fine way to hike Piper. People who are against longer miles forget that it is a CHOICE. It's not like because i have only 20lbs in the pack I'm forced to go further. I tend to walk quickly and have good endurance so it just happens for me, especially solo.
on the Long Trail I would pass 2-4 shelters per day and could choose to stay at any of them. a few days I chose to stop earlier and hang out. a few days I got to where i had planned and went huh.. lets go one more.
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:25 am #2072598Truth be told, this isn't just a UL BPL phenomena, it's true throughout all life. The more crap you collect, whether in your pack, your garage, or your soul, the higher the price and the more it takes to maintain, clean, store and worry about. Less truly is more. Well, invoking proper moderation and balance of course.
However, I tend to see it more of a reversal of the negative feedback syndrome of western consumerism, rather than a positive loop. But that's just semantics ;-)
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:54 am #2072607What's interesting is that I found BPL while I was purging the crap from my life. I had found a blog called "100 things" and it was a challenge to live with only 100 things. A plate? That's 1. A fork? That's 2….
I so felt like my "living metabolism" was so high I couldn't keep feeding the beast. I made a lot of money, but all of it went to bills and the price of simply living. Mortgage, assessment, car payment, insurance, student loans, parking tickets (Chicago!!)…I didn't seem to have anything left for ME and other random things. So I sold my car and commuted by bike. Cable…gone. Mortgage? Sold my condo. My beloved floor-to-ceiling bookshelves? Bought an e reader.
This lead me to BPL…and I saw the light!!!!!
I started culling my gear..not so much in a sense of weight, which of course superficially it is, but also simply needing to keep track of less stuff.
I want to live small, with a small footprint, and this translates perfectly to the OP's point about a positive feedback loop. It is now part of my whole life and it's so very freeing.
Feb 12, 2014 at 9:17 am #2072615Many religions teach anti materialism. You can be owned by your possessions and putting the material things before people, or God as the religions are trying to teach.
Materialism can take from the environment and foster abusive labor practices. A negative feedback loop indeed!
There have been some recent articles on the spread of obesity in the world and one scientist noted that food is available everywhere we go, even the hardware store! And the food is usually sugar, fat and salt.
In the same vein, we are surrounded with cheap material goods. Our Big Box stores end up feeding 50,000 square foot thrift stores full of the junk that didn't make people happy. It's all so weird!
The stringent analysis of gear to get UL feels very materialistic and I've called it hypermaterialism, but there is a leap between all the weighing and spreadsheets and getting the lightest gear and then buying a horde of UL gear. Shed as you go or suffer the consequences.
Sometimes we feel like gear freaks, but compare your UL kit to a full blown car camping kit. My whole setup is smaller than a cooler! As with UL gear allowing lighter shoes, UL gear on a road trip allows a smaller car. Keep applying the principle and you can have a smaller house, allowing more time to go UL hiking :)
Feb 12, 2014 at 10:09 am #2072641For me, the main positive is that going lighter has made going possible, period. With a wonky back, bad knees, and damaged feet, carrying the old 50-60 lb pack wasn't an option for me. I'm not a long distance hiker- 10 miles in a day is plenty for me. But I do like to get out. Dropping my full load-out to 25-30 lbs has made a huge difference in my ability to get out. Note I said "lighter" – I've adopted the UL practices that work for me, but kept some of the heavier items that make my trip more enjoyable to me. I'm still fine tuning my kit. This year I will get the dog carrying her own food and blanket, and that should lighten my load up a bit.
Feb 12, 2014 at 2:11 pm #2072741"I want to live small, with a small footprint, and this translates perfectly to the OP's point about a positive feedback loop. It is now part of my whole life and it's so very freeing."
Okay, that's it. When are we getting married? Or do we actually have to meet first…..
Feb 12, 2014 at 2:17 pm #2072744Jennifer wrote, "What's interesting is that I found BPL while I was purging the crap from my life. I had found a blog called "100 things" and it was a challenge to live with only 100 things. A plate? That's 1. A fork? That's 2…."
That is like my one meter cube concept, where you get a one meter cube and all your belongings need to fit inside. I like the number version!
Feb 12, 2014 at 2:28 pm #2072751"Okay, that's it. When are we getting married? Or do we actually have to meet first…"
I think it's definitively time you two get a room, but big enough for Mark too. :)
Feb 12, 2014 at 2:30 pm #2072752"OK, let's meet today's bachelors… actually our only bachelor. Bachelor number two was apparently last seen under arrest at REI after rioting and screaming "10D my @$$! I know my fabric!" Bachelor number three called in sick… something about his hiking partner "stink-palming his GORP" and now he's down with a stomach bug.
(ahem)
"Bachelor number one enjoys hammocking, wood stoving, single malting, has a Nobel peace prize in profanity arts, has a restraining order (under review) from an unnamed national park for (air quotes) allegedly fighting a bear over a Lara bar. He's nearly twice retired, a loving dog owner, been known to call other innocent campers who were minding their own business at the GGG a female genital, and is soon to relocate into a luxurious camper van in pursuit of a dirt bag lifestyle…"
"Bachelorette… please ask Bachelor One your first question."
(nervous giggle) "Bachelor one… if you and I were hiking the CDT in whiteout conditions and my last Chicken and Rice Mountain House Meal was stolen by a grizzly bear… would you share your dinner with me?"
"%$#@ *!&^@@ #&%$$@ maybe but only if &+#@$## <#$?*! egg salad."
Feb 12, 2014 at 7:42 pm #2072848Officiated by either Nick G or -BG-
Takes place somewhere in the Sierra (because here on BPL nothing else exists…)
I will register at ZPacks and MLD. Just so you guys can plan you know……I think my entire wedding party could be made up by the entirety of the ladies who visit here.
Shall I have my dress made of cuben????
Feb 12, 2014 at 7:51 pm #2072853Always a bridesmaid . . .
Feb 12, 2014 at 7:52 pm #2072854Ooh, absolutely… and it should be minimalist in style, short (so as not to be too heavy), and no extras like lace, perhaps a few tie-out loops for multipurposing, but on second thought that will probably only encourage Doug…
But if the wedding party is gonna wear cuben, can I be a bridesmaid?
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:23 pm #2072863Could have the ceremony atop Wedding Cake in the Trinity Alps.
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:27 pm #2072868"Could have the ceremony atop Wedding Cake in the Trinity Alps."
That would mean an October wedding. I always liked autumn…
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:36 pm #2072873I would be honored to attend and read some of Doug's poetry.
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:53 pm #2072882Sounds like we have a trip planned.
See. This thread works.
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:54 pm #2072884"See. This thread works."
I'm sure she'll be okay with my philosophy. I hope she's okay with my technique…..
Feb 12, 2014 at 8:58 pm #2072886I am an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and would be honored to officiate. My formal wear will consist of base layer, Houdini, REI Sahara pants and Sunday Afternoons Adventure hat.
DEARLY BELOVED, WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY….
Feb 12, 2014 at 9:01 pm #2072888"I hope she's okay with my technique.."
Is that what you call it?
Feb 12, 2014 at 9:12 pm #2072893"Is that what you call it?"
That's what Mike Damone called it, and I learned everything I know from him….
Feb 14, 2014 at 7:38 pm #2073663Thanks, Bas, for starting such an interesting thread. I'm not sure I buy all the feedback loops. Lightening my footwear and lightening my backpack doesn't necessarily enable me to lighten other things, at least not directly, and it's not at all clear to me that having a light system leads to an energy surplus, but it's all thought-provoking, especially the broader implications raised by Jen's re-start of the convo. For me, personally, the answers depend very much on whether UL comes from less stuff or from lighter stuff. Backpacking UL through carrying less stuff is consonant with the smaller footprint. Getting lighter by going for lighter stuff feels like it pushes me the other direction. Don't get me wrong – I like carrying a lighter pack. But there was something simple and nice about packing a bag, albeit a heavier bag, with the things I already had around the house.
Cheers,
Bill S.
Feb 14, 2014 at 8:22 pm #2073673"That's what Mike Damone called it, and I learned everything I know from him…."
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