The Cult of Gear

Written by Tim Bennett

I’m Really Not a Gear Geek

I’m really excited about my upcoming hike of the Long Trail and blogging about it here on The Trek. Although I’ve done a fair amount of technical/medical writing, I’m kinda new to this blogging thing. So I’ve been carefully consulting the Trek Bloggers Manual to get started. The manual suggests compiling a gear list as a topic idea because “people can’t get enough gear talk”.  I already had a long list of potential topics to write about. But a gear list? Yeah, no, probably not doing that. I’m just not much of a gear geek. Gear is just gear; the tools we use while backpacking, a means to an end. It’s certainly not something to overthink or obsess about.

Stickers? Did Somebody Say Stickers?

Towards the end of the manual was mention of a cool gear list tool for bloggers. And with it, the promise of some Trek stickers. Stickers? Really? Does Zach know I’m a sucker for stickers? I have stickers all over my beer coolers and homebrew kegs. I also put them on my bear vault, my dyneema food bag and my hiking water bottles. That got my attention!

Lured by the prospect of some new stickers, I took a close look at the gear list widget. I had to admit, it was pretty cool, just as advertised. You simply plug your gear items into separate fields, and it compiles a detailed list, and then calculates a base weight along with a price list. How cool is that? Next thing I know, I’m addicted to the widget and ready to add every item I can think of! As the list started to take shape, I began to think that maybe I did have something to say on the subject of gear. So here goes…