Scott suffered terribly from the cold on what was supposed to be a 1,700-mile hike, but came up short due to a lack of food and water.

My point is, there is a degree of hype out there about "modern advances."

Horace Kephart in about 1914, listed three separate camping outfits from England sold as kits that each weighed about six pounds and included tent, sleeping and cooking gear, along with a small stove and other odds and ends.

I'm sure the stuff was entirely functional. So the notion, for example, that today we have lighter equipment is essentially false.

Today's alcohol stove and aluminium cooking gear is nearly unchanged from at least 1918. Same with sleeping bags. The other stuff has surely gotten a bit better.

I'm not going to give up nylon fabric nor shop in vintage boutiques, but my guess is that there is even less functional differences in the wardrobe department than in camping gear.

I especially do, however, prefer the newer footwear to leather-soled boots with tricouni nails.