No one should be fired for trying to get laid.

[Lonestar]

The worst thing about being in boy scouts was all the retarded **** they made you take on a camping trip that no one actually needed.

It sounds like you had a ****ty scoutmaster.

The scoutmaster that had the most influence on my was a guy name Warren Chan who was a crazed Vietnam vet. He was also a ounce counter, and was of the opinion(correctly, IMO) that heavy packs made miserable trips; which turned kids off from the outdoors.

On trails in VA I've gone past troops that looked like they were doing the Bataan Death March with a scoutmaster that treated it like a forced march. All hiking into some place with cast iron dutch ovens, for instance. What do you think kids are going to think of the outdoors after trips like that?

[Hauldren Collider]

It sounds like you had a ****ty scoutmaster.

The scoutmaster that had the most influence on my was a guy name Warren Chan who was a crazed Vietnam vet. He was also a ounce counter, and was of the opinion(correctly, IMO) that heavy packs made miserable trips; which turned kids off from the outdoors.

On trails in VA I've gone past troops that looked like they were doing the Bataan Death March with a scoutmaster that treated it like a forced march. All hiking into some place with cast iron dutch ovens, for instance. What do you think kids are going to think of the outdoors after trips like that?

Bingo. We actually never went on any backpacking trips--just car camping--because the adults in the troops insisted on bringing our two-burner propane stoves, 20 gallon water jugs, cast-iron dutch ovens, HUUUGE 3 and 4 person tents, etc etc which all went into a huge ****ing trailer that actually blasted the transmission on one poor scoutmaster's Honda Pilot when he tried to tow the ****ing behemoth.

[regexcellent]

It sounds like you had a ****ty scoutmaster.

The scoutmaster that had the most influence on my was a guy name Warren Chan who was a crazed Vietnam vet. He was also a ounce counter, and was of the opinion(correctly, IMO) that heavy packs made miserable trips; which turned kids off from the outdoors.

On trails in VA I've gone past troops that looked like they were doing the Bataan Death March with a scoutmaster that treated it like a forced march. All hiking into some place with cast iron dutch ovens, for instance. What do you think kids are going to think of the outdoors after trips like that?

Ahahahaha cooking supplies. You don't need it. If it's a short hike, like a couple of days or so, just bring a jar of peanut butter. While a lot of folks may ***** about MREs, if you can get a crate of those they're actually pretty awesome in terms of weight vs calories. Plus if you can get the heaters, even better. And a lot of em aren't even bad, like the Sloppy Joe one.

Oh, and replace cast-iron skillets with M240s...yeah...

[Lonestar]

MREs are heavy for what they all.

Just carry a canister stove and commercial freeze-dried stuff. I've done hikes with couscous as the main food.

[Aeson]

We went on 3 to 4 day 50 mile hikes in boy scouts every year. We were allowed to bring whatever we wanted to carry. I usually ended up with about 60lbs of granola bars and instant oatmeal. I would have brought more but that's as much as I could convince my parents to buy.

One of my friends once went with nothing and just bummed food off the rest of us. That was pretty slick, but could fail badly depending on how nice your friends are.

It wasn't until my final hike that I found out the perfect gear to take: a 3-4 person tent and nothing else. It's about 10 lbs, but can be leveraged into anything you want. Sell the spaces in the tent to the highest bidders who don't stink too badly yet. Works best if it rains and/or there are swarms of mosquitoes at the camp site. (As it's a Boy Scout outing, both are guaranteed.)

[Hauldren Collider]

When I was in boyscouts I put some thought into what I would bring if the sky fell and we went on an actual goddamn hiking trip.

I think I would go with one of those biouvac+sleeping bag things, a camp stove & portable LP tank, a water filter + iodine tablets, an aluminum pot & spork, and a bunch of freeze dried food. Oh, and a flashlight and swiss army knife, because you aren't a boy scout if you don't have a flashlight and swiss army knife.

Altogether I don't think that would come near 30 lbs.

[regexcellent]

Depending on how long it is you may want extra clothes...and you're definitely going to need spare socks.

Real food solution, bring a gun, shoot animals, roast them on a spit over a fire.

[Hauldren Collider]

Forgot about clothes. A critical oversight. Re: guns, the gun and ammo probably weigh more than several packs of freeze dried food.

[Aeson]

Fishing line and some hooks weight next to nothing though.

[Hauldren Collider]

The best choice is, of course, to not ****ing go hiking because hiking is stupid and boring and dumb. I derive no pleasure from being removed from my creature comforts for days at a time and being forced to march with **** on my back for tens of miles. The fact that people enjoy this is something I can attribute only to a sort of psychosis where discomfort somehow goes around the end of the spectrum and becomes comfort.

The thing that baffles me most about hikers is how they spend insane amounts of money and use extremely high tech equipment even though the fundamental goal is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere without modern resources. It's like going forward and backward at the same time. Makes no ****ing sense.

[Ben Kenobi]

I did several hikes of about 50 miles or so with my former scout group. Used to be a patrol leader, so I was responsible for kits. Never had any injuries in my patrol, although we did once have a very bad scare when we had a snow cave collapse when it was being built. Almost crushed the kid. That's about the worst we had of it, so we ended up having to practice that for awhile just so everyone knew how to build them in case they had no tents.

Number one problem - unnecessary recreational garbage in the packs. You don't need or want the weight when you're carrying it. Especially if it's snowshoes.

My kit was the following (this was for Canadian winter at -20, and about as much as you'll ever have to carry).

Tent.
I wore most of my spare clothing. Outer Gore-tex jacket. Inner jacket, sweater, shirt and t-shirt. Pants, snowpants and thermal undies. Gloves. Boots. Toque.
With proper kit I could walk wherever at -20 and bunk down in -40 and do just fine.

I usually packed a small swiss army knife for detail stuff and a larger knife for trim work, since I didn't pack a hatchet. Someone always had a hatchet.

Survival pack with: battery, steel wool, about 15 encased, waterproofed matches, space blanket, purification tablets, small mirror, snare. Some odds and ends like buttons or whatnot. Thread and buttons and needle for repairs and electrical tape. Bandages and a little peroxide.

I packed trailmix+chocolate and bannock and pemmican, which was cooked beforehand. Bannock is basically the canadian version of Lembas. Pemmican is like jerky - best of all you don't have to cook it. It's all premixed and cooked so all you have to do is pack it and eat it. So the only thing that we would usually bring that needed to be warmed is the water. We could just melt snow. I brought stuff that didn't need to be cooked because 1, I was lazy, and 2, I didn't have to share with the others.

Let's see. For that weekend snowshoe hike in and camp - snowshoes - good boots, and small runners if you don't have moccasins or some kind of soft footware. Again, you don't want to sleep in your boots inside your tent, boots go on the outside and stay on the outside. Sleeping bag. Spare clothes, pajamas, shirt, shorts. Socks about 3 pairs. Waterbottle, usually about a litre or so. Would just melt the snow with the fires. Tin with a frying pan for cookware. Spoon. Oh, and yes, tp. Thanks MtG! Knew I was forgetting something...

Kept pack to no more than 40 pounds with all of the gear. Heavy, yes, but you don't want to **** around in -20.

Stuff I made sure our patrol had.

1, everyone had to have a knife of some sort, either a large one or a small one. Someone had a hatchet. Someone had a shovel.
2, I wasn't big on the camera and stuff, but someone always brought an extra tent just in case something went wrong with someone's tent.
3, Medical gear. Someone got the extra medical gear. We could fix pretty much everything out there, well enough to get them home and safe.
4, Gas - I usually had one person in the patrol keep a bit of it on hand just in case. Usually we didn't need to use it, but again, you don't **** around.
5, somebody had to take a radio along for emergencies in case we got stranded.

I usually carried the extra cookware - usually kept small pots and whatnot.

[giblets]

The best choice is, of course, to not ****ing go hiking because hiking is stupid and boring and dumb. I derive no pleasure from being removed from my creature comforts for days at a time and being forced to march with **** on my back for tens of miles. The fact that people enjoy this is something I can attribute only to a sort of psychosis where discomfort somehow goes around the end of the spectrum and becomes comfort.

The thing that baffles me most about hikers is how they spend insane amounts of money and use extremely high tech equipment even though the fundamental goal is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere without modern resources. It's like going forward and backward at the same time. Makes no ****ing sense.

What do people do when they're hiking? Look at trees?

[MichaeltheGreat]

The best choice is, of course, to not ****ing go hiking because hiking is stupid and boring and dumb. I derive no pleasure from being removed from my creature comforts for days at a time and being forced to march with **** on my back for tens of miles. The fact that people enjoy this is something I can attribute only to a sort of psychosis where discomfort somehow goes around the end of the spectrum and becomes comfort.

Ranger school HOOAH! Discomfort redefined, so all else is comfortable in comparison.

The thing that baffles me most about hikers is how they spend insane amounts of money and use extremely high tech equipment even though the fundamental goal is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere without modern resources. It's like going forward and backward at the same time. Makes no ****ing sense.

Nope, the goal is to get to the middle of nowhere. Resources != amenities, but I do pack along some real toilet paper, even if I'm staying someplace where the facilities are cat-hole latrines. As far as high tech stuff goes, if it's lighter and more durable, or more comfortable (if carried or worn), then I'll go for it. It's worth having stuff that doesn't suck, doesn't rub your ass or shoulders or balls or feet raw when you're 50 or more miles from any external form of aid.

[MichaeltheGreat]

What do people do when they're hiking? Look at trees?

****in' yuppies. Go choke on smog.

[Ben Kenobi]

I do pack along some real toilet paper, even if I'm staying someplace where the facilities are cat-hole latrines. As far as high tech stuff goes, if it's lighter and more durable, or more comfortable (if carried or worn), then I'll go for it. It's worth having stuff that doesn't suck, doesn't rub your ass or shoulders or balls or feet raw when you're 50 or more miles from any external form of aid.

Makes for excellent firestarter in a pinch.