The changing innovations of what we do for fun

[B the Hiker]

Backpacker Magazine asked three folks in the ultralight world about innovations.

The Future of Ultralight Backpacking, According to Industry Experts

More people are going ultralight than ever before—and there's more gear out there for them, too. Three ultralight gear pros take the temperature of the rapidly growing category.

www.backpacker.com

Okay, put the ultralight part aside. As I prepare for a two-week trip on the Continental Divide Trail this summer, my mind has been on gear a lot of late.

When I was a boy scout in the 1970s, we had canvass tents, external frame backpacks, aluminum canteens, wool pants, nothing plastic.

What is the thing you appreciate most that has changed since you started going into the mountains?

What innovation would you like to see going forward?

Brian

 

[Nessmuk]

What is the thing you appreciate most that has changed since you started going into the mountains?

Carbon fiber canoes and paddles.

What innovation would you like to see going forward?

This country and its "leadership" get a grip on the escalating inflation that is making the cost of everything that used to be affordable, go out of sight.

 

[B the Hiker]

For me, it's the ability to take good photos without having to bring a large camera with film in it with me. I've never taken (or been in) a selfie in my life, but I love capturing the beauty of what I see. Every half hour, a new photo comes up on my computer's background, and that gives me tremendous happiness.

As for what I would like to see, I would like to see lighter batteries and better solar panels, or backpacks with panels integrated into them.

 

[Andrew]

LED's

I can't believe we used to carry Maglights

 

[TomK]

What is the thing you appreciate most that has changed since you started going into the mountains?

GPS. I’m not that enthusiastic of a hiker, although I’ve improved as I’ve gotten older. Mostly, hiking is what I put up with to get to where I want to go. Being able to see at a glance *exactly* where I am, how far I’ve gone, and what remains (mileage, elevation) to get to the destination is a big morale boost.

What innovation would you like to see going forward?

A quicker way to get from my home in NW CT to the trailhead of my choice I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.


I experienced the canvas tents, external frame backpacks (hipstrap? Hey, that’s pretty neat! I need one of those!). But when I went to the Whites with some folks in the mid-70’s, we managed to find enough newfangled lightweight tents to accommodate everyone.

Some of the folks that I hiked with carried carbide lamps (and a can of carbide). I just brought a penlight that used a single AA battery, and only used it 5 seconds or so at a time. When it got dark, that meant I should be asleep.

It is a blessing to now have a lightweight pack, headlamp, GPS, etc.

TomK

 

[Nessmuk]

Being able to see at a glance *exactly* where I am, how far I’ve gone, and what remains (mileage, elevation) to get to the destination is a big morale boost.

Well, ok, I don't need to know "eactly" where I am to within a couple of meters at any given moment. A map and compass and a glance with my eyes looking around at my surroundings will get me as close to "exact" as is practically required for almost any purpose, and the ability to do that at almost any place in a wilderness area that has any kind of mapped terrain landscape is my own morale boost. If I am standing on the edge of a cliff or the edge of a body of watere, then I need no better navigation aid to fix my known location to within a very few meters. True enough, there are any number of commercial uses for GPS data. As I am a SAR team leader working with L.E. and other officials, GPS is a boon to assiist in planning and effecting SAR incidents, as well as when I am canoe race competing on remote or unfamiliar rivers. That is where I find those devices most useful.

Funny that you mention carbide lamps. During my college caving days in the years around 1970 that is what we used as our primary light source underground for as long as 20 hours in some caves we explored and mapped. Carbide lamps lasted longer and more reliably than any battery electric light in the days pre-LED. But we always carried three independent redundant light sources.

 

[CaptCaper]

What is the thing you appreciate most that has changed since you started going into the mountains?

GPS. I’m not that enthusiastic of a hiker, although I’ve improved as I’ve gotten older. Mostly, hiking is what I put up with to get to where I want to go. Being able to see at a glance *exactly* where I am, how far I’ve gone, and what remains (mileage, elevation) to get to the destination is a big morale boost.

What innovation would you like to see going forward?

A quicker way to get from my home in NW CT to the trailhead of my choice I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.


I experienced the canvas tents, external frame backpacks (hipstrap? Hey, that’s pretty neat! I need one of those!). But when I went to the Whites with some folks in the mid-70’s, we managed to find enough newfangled lightweight tents to accommodate everyone.

Some of the folks that I hiked with carried carbide lamps (and a can of carbide). I just brought a penlight that used a single AA battery, and only used it 5 seconds or so at a time. When it got dark, that meant I should be asleep.

It is a blessing to now have a lightweight pack, headlamp, GPS, etc.

TomK

True.. there are many folks today dead or had to be rescued that would gotten out if they owned and knew how to use a gps. Not a phone but a real gps. That's just a fact. Map and compass with no visibliity in a honking wind isn't going to do much. Good to know they didn't fly the shuttle to orbit with a map and compass only.
As a licensed USCG Master Captain and PADI divemaster I was so pleased to go from Loran C to GPS with Differental corrections and then a handheld for hiking. Now my Garmin 700 is the best yet. Still have hundreds of tracks saved of hikes across the usa as well from 1997 on. Nice to reload the track for a re do of not so easy winter or complicated hikes.

 

[Debarrunner]

I’m a little younger than done if you folks but I’ll add my perspective. I was a scout in the 80s and used external frame packs and that wasn’t too bad. For most of us the boots were not great. If you bought nice leather boots (too expensive for most of us, and not really available), they were pretty heavy for a lot of hikes we did. The cheaper boots were lighter and the trade off was that they fell apart pretty quickly. I remember a long hike in the ADKs with a sole flopping around the whole hike. I smile about it now.

Selfishly I would like an innovation that kept more people out of the mountains. A new sport or game that occupied a thousand would be hikers would be great!

 

[DayTrip]

Great question!

I agree that I most appreciate the evolution of camera phones. I've gone through a variety of cameras the past ten years, including a large clunky DSLR that with a tripod is quite a pain to carry, especially on overnights, and the progress of phones is astounding. My latest Samsung phone takes better pictures than that DSLR for a fraction of the weight and combined with a simple and light Gorilla Pod tripod I'm doing sunrise, sunset, night photography and other low light applications on my overnights with better results than ever. Game changer in terms of space and weight. The similar gains in GPS apps is also amazing.

As far as what I would like to see - innovation with things like toilet paper, plastics and stuff like that. One of the biggest things that ruins a wilderness experience for me right now is clumps of toilet paper and poorly handled waste on the trail and at campsites. I'm starting to see a lot of products to address this and I hope that innovation continues. Anything that can expedite the deterioration of waste, packaging and other items in an environmentally friendly way would be most welcome.

 

[Rick]

I’ll take a stab. Born in the 50’s, I did all the heavy boy scout camping but at least we were beginning to deal with the newfangled taffeta nylon tents, That is, until the Army. Still had canvas shelter halves and had to buddy up for a full tent. And as every young GI learned, don’t press on the wall in the rain.
For me, it’s the advancement in gossamer weight synthetics, tent design and refinement of ultra high fill down. To take an 8lb 2M tent to 2 lbs with bug protection and a 30° sleeping bag from 4.5 lbs to less than 2 lbs is amazing.

 

[Brambor]

1. GPS options. When I am on a trip I do not usually look at GPS routing at every turn. In fact I hike, ride, paddle the same as I did before but once in a while when a specific concern of location or important turn comes up I do look at a saved electronic map and a blinking dot of my location to verify whether I still am on the right track or whether I have gone astray.

2. What I would like to see still goes to GPS is overlaying/blending multiple GPS tracks. For example on a multiday trip I would like to see each day that I have done separate and also overlayed on the total trip gps track and also contrast it with PLANNED total trip versus ACTUAL total trip

 

[B the Hiker]

I am going to double-dip and say that I also think rain jackets still have a great deal of room for improvement. They still don't breathe well, and we all know the experience of being out in the summer and wishing jackets were not so warm. They also don't yet last long enough in a downpour, so much so that I still carry two if I expect prolonged rains.

This is a front where we will hopefully see significant developments going forward.

 

[s.e.charles]

zips to the pits!

 

[Brambor]

I am going to double-dip and say that I also think rain coats still have a great deal of room for improvement. They still don't breathe well, and we all know the experience of being out in the summer and wishing coats were not so warm. They also don't yet last long enough in a downpour, so much so that I still carry two if I expect prolonged rains.

This is a front where we will hopefully see significant developments going forward.

THIS ^


The whole understanding and experience and competency of hiking in the rain needs a total overhaul

 

[Mt Clinton Trail]

I’ll take a stab. Born in the 50’s, I did all the heavy boy scout camping but at least we were beginning to deal with the newfangled taffeta nylon tents, That is, until the Army. Still had canvas shelter halves and had to buddy up for a full tent. And as every young GI learned, don’t press on the wall in the rain.
For me, it’s the advancement in gossamer weight synthetics, tent design and refinement of ultra high fill down. To take an 8lb 2M tent to 2 lbs with bug protection and a 30° sleeping bag from 4.5 lbs to less than 2 lbs is amazing.

Ditto for me.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I’ll take a stab. Born in the 50’s, I did all the heavy boy scout camping but at least we were beginning to deal with the newfangled taffeta nylon tents, That is, until the Army. Still had canvas shelter halves and had to buddy up for a full tent. And as every young GI learned, don’t press on the wall in the rain.
For me, it’s the advancement in gossamer weight synthetics, tent design and refinement of ultra high fill down. To take an 8lb 2M tent to 2 lbs with bug protection and a 30° sleeping bag from 4.5 lbs to less than 2 lbs is amazing.

A friend had a double-walled, nylon, A-frame tent with a tunnel door at one end and a zip door at the other, both with ,osquito netting. There were vent tubs at the top of both ends, snow flaps extending outward from floor, dark brown nylon on the outside and white nylon on the inside. Wide sewn sleeves accommodated a pair of ski poles at each end to make the A-frame. My friend’s father designed this tent for the U.S. Army and was good buddies with Bob Bates who took these tents on the 1954 K2 expedition, I think. We took my friend’s tent to Tucks for spring skiing for several years in the 1960s when tent camping was still allowed there.

 

[ChrisB]

Sounds very similar to my old North Face Expedition tent featuring the “inverse catenary cut” design. Twin A frames, Snow flaps, tunnel and zip doors, air vent and removable cotton frost liner.

And about 20 stake out and guy line anchors.

I think modern free standing, stressed frame tents are a great invention!

 

[Rick]

I always wished Kelty would have bright back the Windfoil 3, 2 and UL in Sylnylon

 

[Dana]

The first big improvement was ditching the old single wall pup tent for a Goretex bivy sack (and tarp when necessary). GPS was second... I've done my share of off-trail navigation with just a map and compass, but when you come out on the trail it can be real convenient knowing whether to turn right or left. LED headlamps were third. And finally, fivefinger shoes, any time I'm not carrying an overnight pack.

 

[Nessmuk]

The first big improvement was ditching the old single wall pup tent for a Goretex bivy sack (and tarp when necessary). GPS was second... I've done my share of off-trail navigation with just a map and compass, but when you come out on the trail it can be real convenient knowing whether to turn right or left.

In this case, the useful navigation technique is called intentionally aiming off, or offset navigation. If you intrentionally head several degrees left or right of what you believe is the exact direction back to your intended target, then when you reach the trail or road you will know whether to left or right. Map and compass will always work if you use them correctly.