If your cast iron pan is also your primary weapon it counts as worn weight
They also protect you from bullets in the rear and their hitbox is super generous, so it’s an easy choice.
When the shady grey-robbed pyrotechnics carries an AK around, you gotta armor up to save your ass.
Strong Tiffany Aching energy.
The dung-covered peasant convention is that way
Always seemed weird to me how people get into hiking (or cycling or whatever) to push themselves and exercise, and then spend thousands on gear to make it as easy as possible.
Edit: I think I offended some hikers.
I’m into it to go far, and get away from people, and get to places less people go.
So optimizing weight (and my fitness) allows me to out range day trippers faster.
Some people are more in it for the journey than the exercise
Personally I’m in it for both so at this point I’ve started optimizing my gear less to get some challenge back in it for me
My buddies were definitely surprised when I busted out my 8 inch cast iron on the first night of a multi day backpacking trip though
If turning your exercise into a hobby makes it more fun, I don’t see the harm. At the end of the day that just makes it entertainment that’s good for you
Like im doing downhill king mountains tht justify the 9k $ bike that i own
Good exercise > bad exercise.
With hikes, it’s fun and interesting to go far.
It’s not too complicated.
Eh… Because the point isn’t to workout like you would lifting iron in a gym? People who do rucking do it so it’s hard, people who do hiking do it to reach stuff they want to see.
I’m used to the army, when I’m packing for field stuff, I know that no matter how much I pack for luxury my kit and equipment will still be 80% of the load minimum. Would I rather hump 80 lbs 20 miles and have a miserable night, or hump 85 lbs and have hot coffee and a single person tent I can jerk off comfortably in? Easy choice for me.
When I go hiking with my family I pretty much just carry emergency supplies and the liquor stash, knowing we’ll be back to the tents by nightfall.
Long and short, you remove weapons armor and ammo from the picture and it’s a lot more impactful to play with the weight. Shaving 5 lbs off a 20 lbs load can let you go 5 more miles when it’s for leisure.
We often do a mixture of both. I train all summer on a grueling unmaintained trail carrying jugs of water, just so that I can go on amazing backpacking trips without them being hard. When I’m at peak fitness, a hard rated trail is easy, and that’s the way I like it.
Cause my knees and hips are shit.
More than the actual message, I have a different issue with this comment.
It’s how it’s one of the most incredibly Uncool things to do to make fun of someone caring too much for their hobbies when you’re an outsider. The moment it implied that this user is not an hiker, it instantly corrupted everything about it. That edit carries malice.
There’s a word for it, and I refuse to do anything but downvote those people on sight.
I hike, and I’ve notice the “ultralight” crowd has more than it’s fair share of gatekeepers and snobs.
Lighter gear is fantastic, but people take it well past the point of diminishing returns. There are a lot of vocal hikers that spend absurd amounts of money on less practical, ridiculously expensive “ultralight” gear and think anything else is “wrong”.
I personally have a pet peeve with commenters who edit their posts to complain about having “offended” others when all of the replies are reasonable and calm. It always makes it seem like the commenter was actively trying to upset others, and when they noticed no one was actually upset and people only gave reasonable replies, they pretend everyone was upset anyway so they don’t actually have to engage in a conversation.
I used to walk over mountains with bottom barrel gear, canned food, and old Army boots. My entire setup probably weighed 80 pounds. But I’m a middle aged man now, with a lifetime of injuries, and a desk job. I’m definitely going for all the UL gear I can get my hands on. My big 3 are only 6 pounds now. My full pack weight without food and water is under 10 pounds, and I love it.
I agree. The only thing I wouldn’t be cheap about in hiking is footwear and safety equipment. Only a casual hiker though so I don’t need much to take a 3 mile trail.
That’s nothing, come to the ADV motorcycle world, where a 135 kilogram man will spend $150 for a set of brake and clutch levers for his 270 kg 1250GSA because they’re 30 grams lighter.
Hiking for me isn’t for exercise. When I’m exercising, I put 20# pound plates in a rucksack and walk the neighborhood. When I’m hiking (like the 1000 miles I did last year) I’m out there to enjoy nature and have an adventure, not be miserable every night with cramping feet.
Not only that, but there’s plenty of evidence that extra weight brings a greater chance of injury when hiking every day. Being able to do 1000 miles over 3 months means you have be able to perform consistently and without injuries building up.
I think it’s simply that these activities are more enjoyable with less weight. Hewhen hiking it matters a lot, carrying heavy load on your back sucks. In cycling people definitely obsess a bit too much because most people aren’t competing, but climbing is definitely easier on a lightweight bike. And people are apparently willing to spend a lot of money on this stuff, so companies gladly make carbon everything to save 5% weight at 500% the price.
Not everybody: My bike weighs 40 lbs with parts and my ebike weighs 80 lol
My camping gear probably weighs about 30-40 lbs, so, not crazy heavy but not exactly ultraight either.
That’s not a road bike though
It’s absolutely hilarious that you think you offended hikers while it was nothing more than you missing that everyone in the world uses available tools to make their lives easier.
What’s a hobby of yours? I bet you’re using modern tech on it instead of just banging a rock on it.
I spend a fair bit for multi-day stuff, but most of that is bedding, shelter, and first aid/emergency devices—shit that matters. Much else is dependent on bushcraft and resources around me so I don’t have to carry gear like some numpty with no clue. Flint, a good knife, and a container get you really far if you know how to use nature around you and are the kind of person that doesn’t have to have a fork to eat food.
Pick up a light dumbbell and see how long you can hold it. Take a rest and pick a heavier dumbbell and see if you can hold it for as long as you could with the lighter dumbbell.
You can also try and see how far you can walk while holding either the lighter or the heavier dumbbell.
Hot take, but if you’re planning a hike and the difference between 5oz will either make or break you, you probably should not go on that hike.
So the whole motto is that ounces add up to pounds, so it’s not 5 ounces making of breaking the lid, but ounces here and there adding up to many pounds.
I’ve done a substantial amount of hiking and climbing, and I definitely learned to appreciate cutting ounces over the years. Like all things though, done folks take it to a crazy extent or even dangerous.
Ultralight started as an exercise in minimalism but most online forums have devolved into gear fetishism instead. Done properly it is a thoughtful exercise designed to help you build and subsequently rely on your skills instead of having a different gadget for every scenario, but a lot of people online will just talk shit about your load out instead.
Like, excuuuuuuse me all to hell for not having $2k to drop on a bunch of cutting edge gear from Big Agnes.
Unfortunately, I feel like most hobby forums devolve into fetishism.
It’s sad, because that level of dedicated nerdism makes for some great information, conversations, and ingenuity.
I don’t know wether to blame our lack of time to actually do whatever it is, or of it’s because all of our brains are rotten from lifetimes of marketing.
Unfortunately, I feel like most hobby forums devolve into fetishism.
Nah, come on. I use Arch, btw.
Ironically, home server people are obsessed with spending as little money as possible. The TrueNAS hardware compatibility list prides itself on being infrequently updated!
The ugly little stack of older desktops and laptops sitting in the corner of the room running services I don’t need can confirm this.
“No but endeavour is not arch! See, like its completely different yes yes completely different”
Little of column a, little of column b…combine that with peoples propensity for one-upsmanship and the convenient anonymity of the internet and you have a great recipe for people that are more than happy to gatekeep and talk shit as opposed to putting actual effort into more in-depth analysis and discussion.
Agreed. Don’t know that I ever really followed gear threads online. However I did feel really clever when I made an altoid tin that carried a little baggy of tooth powder (basically dry toothpaste), a spool of floss without case, firestarter, small knife, cut-down toothbrush, and sewing kit. Small, cheap, mostly from the dollar store, and lets me get by for up to a week without much else.
That does sound clever.
I definetly didn’t buy a titanium spoon because titanium is cool
Titanium spoons are for casuals; true ultralight hikers use lithium spoons for maximum lightness (and a delicious spicy flavor!)
It just makes you feel good.
Well actually he didn’t. He only carried them part-way - but then he cried when he had to toss them into a crevasse.
I’d cry too. Have you ever used pans seasoned over years? I actually flinch every time I see that scene in the movies now that I’ve seasoned pans of my own. 😢
You need a pan to protect your butt from snipers
The PUBG strat
Pan shot!
They countered that with the nutrient density of Lembas bread, now on sale in your local Elven bulk store.
Lube them up before you enter hell and they’ll come out with a nice finish
Welp, off to create a D&D character whose pans were seasoned in hell.
Everything they cook gets a bit of spicy seasoning.
Approx. 200 g
Samwise was the actual Ringbearer like Neville Longbottom was the actual chosen one.
Motherfucker had the cast iron pans man. Shits heavy. You expect him to carry the fucking ring too? Frodo cant use his two hands to carry 1 oz of ring? Motherfucker had that shit on a a chain, around his damn neck, and you gotta rag on Samwise “cast iron champion” gamgee about only carrying that dainty shit for a bit, huh? Frodo cant even put that shit in his hands, but you blastin Samwise when he fucks up an ancient horror, tosses frodo on his shoulder, grabs the ring AND STILL GOT THE PANS.
Man has to carry the pans and the ring to get any respect around here, but you all about getting on that frodo “no pan” biggins jock lickity split, yeah?
Apologies. You misheard me. Allow me to restate for clarity: Samwise was the actual ringbearer. Neville was the chosen one. Oh, and Frodo & Harry are whiny, navel-fiddlin’ bitches.
(Also, and apropos of little: Rowling is a transphobic hack that mistakes her supreme luck with actual writing chops, and Tolkein hated the fanbase that grew up around the stories he doodled in the margins of his linguistic cathedrals.)
I really got into hiking right as I finished reading the LOTR trilogy. Sam is a powerful inspiration when that hill starts to feel too steep!
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You joke, but this is exactly what some early white explorers in Australia did.
Disclaimer: they had no idea what they were doing
I was thinking of exactly this story as I read that comment.
Cause they weren’t the ones carrying that weight.
I actually read his name as Sandwich. I could use a second breakfast
hobbits are like the pack animals of their world tho lbr samwise had an entire fucking kitchen on his back and showed no struggle
I misread that as Chadwise Gamgee.
You read it just right
laughs in bushcraft
