Interesting thread. Seems a lot of other sports have condescension in them. Although with backpacking it seems less condescending than not understanding. In Lori's case, the gentleman had probably never seen an alcohol stove before (at least not a popcan one) and thought something had broken on hers, but lori was determined to use it anyway. I could be wrong too.

We've got a worse sense of it in golf. In that sport, you get a lot of "Look at ME! Clearly my gear is superior because it's lighter/newer/fancier than YOURS." Mostly it's just name brand clubs vs. my self assembled component oriented clubs. I buy a certain head (or set of heads), shafts, and grips, then assemble them myself to fit my game and me in general. I can't tell you the number of ties someone with name brand clubs has looked down on mine at the tee box, but by the end of the round wanted to know where he could get clubs like mine. In reality it has nothing to do with the clubs and everything to do with his/her ego and lack of knowledge about not only the gear they're using, but the WAY THEY PLAY THE GAME.

I see no difference in backpacking. How you hike is how YOU hike, it's not how I hike. As with everything, what works for you may work for me, but we won't know until I try it. Vice versa applies.
_________________________
Awwww...go take a hike!