Questons abour AT

imported
#1

I’ve got two questons for you.

  1. Are bounce boxes worth the hassle on the
    AT?

  2. I was thinking about taking along a small tarp (7 oz) to put up for shade/rain at breaks. Is this worth the effort to carry 7 oz? Don’t want to carry it to Neels Gap and then send it home because I never used it.

    Thanks for all your help folks.

Eor

#2

bb- I like having them but you can certainly get along without one. I plan to have in mine: vitamins, meds, batteries, hair clippers, duck tape, extra mp3 data source- hard drive so when we tire of the 2gb of songs our 1oz AA run MP3 players hold we can refresh our collection. Lots of other misc stuff.

tarp- its extra weight, you probably won’t use it much if at all. If you change your mind, you could put it in your bounce box and then if you decide you want it you could get it. One things that is sometimes useful to do once you are out there and thinking of sending a piece of gear home but aren’t sure- mail it to the next town, if you decide you want it back you have it, if you don’t- as long as you sent it priority and don’t open it, you can forward the package to your homebase for free.

doodlebug

#3

In preparation for this year’s hike I prepared a bounce box with everything imaginable in it just in case. Turned out I only accessed it three times. Once in Pearisburg, VA, Harpers Ferry, and Hanover, NH. You can get most of what you need along the way and you will save bundles of money on postage. The times you will need it is to change out clothing and gear from winter to summer and back again when you get to Whites.

As for a tarp, leave it home along with your stove. I went stoveless from Harpers Ferry and didn’t miss hot food on the trail. If I did any trail again I would go stoveless. Started at Springer with 4 days of food and water and weighed in at 30 lbs at the Hiker Hostel. During the summer my gear only filled up halve my pack and weighed about 15 lbs without food and water. Nedthefed

Ned

#4

I did not use bounce boxes. If you plan your daily miles using the Thru Hikers Companion Guide you will be in a town every 3-5 days and can get what you need there. I did have a few mail drops…the guide gives you info where resupply is advisable due to poor selection of food available. I called my family when I wanted something “extra” mailed to me. I calculated how many days it would take for me to get to the town I wanted to pick up mail in. I had them mail priority express thru the post office. That usually takes 3-6 days depending on where the mail is sent to.

Leave the tarp home, save the weight! You will not need it, you will not use it. Once you start hiking if you are really missing it have someone mail it to you. I started out with a base weight of 18 pounds, that was my cold weather gear and when I got to Neels Gap, I still found things I could mail home.

Have a great hike. The planning is so much fun. Once you hit the trail know your goal, but keep the joy in the day. B

B

#5

What did you eat Ned?

Eor

#6

Dunno about Ned, but I also went stove-less and preferred it.

I carried powdered milk and cereal. The cereal doubled as snack and meal, I would mix the powdered milk, water and some cereal in a screw top nalgene cup (8oz). Worked well but the cup needed a good rinse afterwards.

Also ate lots of energy bars.

No gas concerns. No pot, no stove, no preparation. Cleaning up was much easier. There are enough chances to get a hot meal as you pass through or near towns.

I started with an extra tarp and sent it home at Neels. You will take breaks in shelters or under trees.

I did, however, find use for my hammock tarp on several occasions–saw a storm blowing in each time, rigged up the tarp in time to hunker down till it blew over. One of those times was in VA, and it hailed like mad…I wsa safe beneath my tarp.

So, for find something that can double as your rest break cover–your tent fly, hammock tarp, groundsheet, etc.

And on the BB…find ways to minimize the need. I over-used mine, simply because I could. Didn’t really need to as I look back at it.

Jason

#7

I never used a bounce box and did not miss it. I did however carry a tarp. Actually, I replaced the tarp that came with my hammock with a larger - 10X12 tarp. I used it very often. Obviously when i camped with the hammock I set up under the tarp. The extra space gave me plenty of room for preparing meals and organizing gear. I sued it at shelters to block wind, rain snow. I set it up quickly to get out of passing storms. I set it up over picknick tables during rain storms. Often, I invited fellow hikers to join me under the tarp - met a lot of fiends that way. Once it got cold and the bugs were gone I sent the hammock home and used the tarp as my shelter. I feel it worked great. Spent the night on top of Carter North when a rain storm turned to freezing rain making the trail a slippery ice slope. I believe it saved my life. It was worth its weight.

Gabby AT2004

art

#8

The second half of my hike I would eat large cookies for breakfast. A bunch of breakfast bars during the day and for dinner I would eat several large sandwiches of turkey and cheese on Arnold sandwich bread with mustard packets. The turkey, ham, roatbeef and cheese would last 3/4 days in the pack even in hot weather. Also, lots of hard sourdough pretzels, Pretzels are rocket fuel on the trail. Lots of carbs. I could really tell the difference when I started eating lots of pretzels energy wise.

Ned

#9

Art, almost spent the night there also. Coming down North Carter was one of the most scariest parts of the entire trail hnads down!!!

Nedthefed

#10

I do not use a bounce box because experience has taught me what I will need on long trips and when to replace gear such as sneakers ect… in my mail drops. I would reccomend a bounce box to someone working out the kinks of what they would like to carry in their pack. It is a great way to build confidence in removing items knowing that if truely missed they can be replaced a short way up the trail. Good luck.
Tarp and Tent in pack? Why not just bring a tarptent? check them out on the web.:cheers

stalthblew

#11

there are plenty of places to get what you need in trail towns (which are abundant)…paw-ee and i have always done maildrops, but i think on the AT i would be tempted to just resupply on the trail (even vitamins are available at most grocery stores)…as for the tarp, i’d nix that, too…if your gonna splurge on ounces get a golite umbrella instead…they’re supposed to weigh 10 ounces, but ours weigh in at just EIGHT!..we’ve used them so many times for so many things!.. i would NEVER be without my umbrella! (except for that last climb up katahdin, and for that, just pray for a ‘Class I’ day!)

maw-ee

#12

i forgot to say that we did carry a tarp for our shelter…we have used it occasionally if a storm was brewing, but usually we just hiked in the rain…on the PCT we never had rain, but we did use our tarp for shade…(shade is not as much of an issue on the AT)

maw-ee

#13

start off with a bounce box and then decide if you want to continue. a lot of stops don’t have some of the things that will be particular to you, dry goods that are comfort foods etc.

bob