I should preface this with the fact that this is mostly ignorance and stupidity. Thankfully no-one or hting was harmed. The guy in question has learned the error of his ways and doesn't do it anymore, however he still gets a load of crap every time we talk about camping.


About 10 years ago a bunch of my buddies knew that I packed and asked if I'd go with them. They were just getting into it and didn't necessarily want me along for experience sake, though it helped, but moreso because they new I'd enjoy myself. Because of that I didn't go with them when they bought or rented gear and did no more than pack my own gear, be certain we had the right community gear and pick a trail.

a few of the guys asked every question known to man to the salesperson at the 3 (now only 1) backpacking shoppes around town. The one guy was ex army special forces etc. (special being the key word here because he really is special.) He had the standard issue kelty pack, however I refer to it as a clown pack because it was like a clown car - small but the clowns keep coming out.(more on that in a bit). Generally speaking I go lighter but not light, I'm lighter now than I was back then, however I still have things you aren't going to get out of my pack - so I suck it up and carry the weight.

Back then I checked in at about 55lbs gear water and food. That probably included a bottle of something - for medicinal purposes of course. We all started out on the trail and Mr. Delta Force is really laboring and wants a break. No problem short loop trail, lot of time - we can take it easy. We all suck down some water, one guy grabs a bit of jerky, I have granola, another guy has nuts. Capatain America pulls out a 10 pack of snickers bars.

It was November and rainy and we started getting cold so a few of us started to layer up. He pulls out a pair of wool army pants (weight when dry was about a lb.), they were circa 1930 he also grabbed a cotton sweater. A few more miles down the trail all that food and water started causing some issues. I offer him my small plastic trowel, he says no thanks and pulls out of his pack a military entrenching tool which checks in at at god knows how many pounds.

So we finally get to where we are going to camp for the night - 1 guy on Water patrol, one on firewood, 1 on tents one on cooking. He's on his back in pain and can't understand why. We all had our own meals for the night - I brought some dehydrated pasta thing and similar all the way down the line for the others...Clint Eastwood pulls out a coffee sized can of dinty moore beef stew. Do you get the clown pack thing yet? Stuff just keeps coming out of this pack....but wait it gets better.

After dishes, general camp cleanup we hung out by the fire and all took our medicine for the evening. I prefer gin and tonic, but gin and flavored water worked well. Another guy brought a single 6 oz can of coke and a small flask of Jack. One guy wasn't drinking and low and behold Rambo pulls out a black contractor style garbage bag from his pack, reaches in and pulls out a beer. No big deal right, 2 bears maybe another lb in weight - hell the dinty moore must have been 2 -3 lbs. I asked my buddy how his jack and coke tasted - his reply - good but it needs ice. Gunny Highway says hey - just grab a few cubes - it was cold enough today that hardly any melted....So to the detriment of his back and clown pack, we all enjoyed ice cold cocktails 4 or 5 miles in the middle of nowhere in front of the campfire.

Curious, we recreated his pack once we got back home.....85lbs


By the way for my next trip coming up, roughly 10 years from this particular one Im sitting at 38 lbs w/o food but with water. He's checkin in at 44....