I've been taking Americans' gear recommendations seriously for years now and only now I find out that the big trails all the thru-hikers talk about just look like this
what the hell
this is just walking on a well-maintained road for a really long time
yes, footing is the only important consideration when PrepHole
sorry i just really didn't know that even American hiking trails had to be navigable by mobility scooter
damn. epic shitposting, PrepHole bro
1. What do you think is going to happen with such a heavily trafficked trail?
2. You would never make it the length of that trail on an unimproved surface.
Imagine shit taking the US and not posting your native country
boring
>muh off trail
>off trail
>hating trails
i see this sentiment constantly on this board. it seems really bizzare to me... then i think back to the times i've traveled abroad and how tame the outdoors was compared to the places i've lived (wa, or, cali, nw territories, mexico)
i think (sarcasm) maybe depending on region there might be a pretty big variance in what "off trail" entails... doesn't europe only have a single old growth forest left or am i mistaken?
there's a certain romance to going places barely anyone or no one's been, but anons, off trail pretty much means macheting your way through blackberry bushes the whole time at snail's pace getting completely torn up and having to throw all your gear away after the trip. ill do it but you gotta give me a good reason. off trail also sucks dick places where there's venomous snakes. there's reasons trails exist. they're older than humanity. even animals make and utilize them.
baka travel and get out more eurocucks. wild camp my balls toothless 4reigners.
Its just classic elitism done the autistic PrepHole way. Basically not like other girls but for people that think a hobby is the same as a personality. I like both. Theyre good in different ways. But it doesnt make you a pioneer badass when you say trails are for larpers or whatever the frick. Also im pretty sure people that say stuff like that go out the least.
lmao, you burgers are such a fricking joke, trails are for leisurely strolls, if you're going PrepHole you're not going on a prepared trail, that's antithetical to going PrepHole
>if you’re going PrepHole you’re not going on a prepared trail
Something euros also wouldn't know about
Depends where you are, but yeah, most of Europe is fricked
>getting completely tore up and throwing away your gear at the end of the trip
Wtf are you talking about?
I agree with your point in this post entirely, however on the other hand, I am absolutely one of those gays that will plow through waist high bushes slowly, painfully, awkwardly for a mile just to get somewhere for that romantic exploration element
But that might be me just because the whole reason I go outdoors is because I have some kind of complex where I feel the need to be as independent, and have as much privacy as possible or om horribly uncomfortable, so obviously needing to be off trail is part of that.
But yeah, like even wild animals use trails a big chunk of the time and maintain trails because it's so much less efficient and more dangerous to just go through the bushes.
>doesn't europe only have a single old growth forest left or am i mistaken?
Jesus christ dude.. It's too big to only have 1 old forest left.. I live in the netherlands and even we have a "forest" left.. it's small as fk, more like a bush, but it's still there..
"old-growth" doesn't mean old, fellow vriendelijke pannenkoek.
The last old-growth forest is in Poland; Białowieża forest.
I don't think that's the argument you want to make.
yeah there's only one old growth forest in all of europe. i don't even need to drive to be in old growth forest, my back yard's hiking trails lead to one.
Based shitposter, posting low effort obvious bait.
See you at the 300 mark :^)
>poorly structured 3rdworlder seethe
You'll be better at this if you calm down first, never good mind you, your geographic handicap will always be there, but you can be better.
Get off the trail?
Thru hikers usually do and they rent hotel rooms and eat 5000 calories of goyslop in one sitting. That isn't a solid thru hike yet every book written about the AT in the past few decades is by a LARPer.
most hotel stays on pct are because of the wild fires in cali blocking you from advancing for a while.
What the frick does this even mean? Im beginning to think no one on this board knows what larp means.
It means roughly the same as "hipster" used to mean : "anyone with unmitigated AUDACITY who does something in a way or for a reason I don't approve of."
>average burger male weights 240lb
>average burger female weights 210lb
Dude they're all overweight and half the population is considered obese so what the well were you expecting? Their national parks are massive parking lots.
you've either not been to the parks or you're admitting that you don't really leave your car. either way, typical PrepHole poster
They aren't called national parking lots for nothing.
>proving my point
They get a lot of foot traffic so they look like that. Also these trails were made to walk between towns. Google has been hiking a lot of trails, they did in my city of 35,000, so look before you go.
Now you know why they tell you that trail runners are all you need when PrepHole.
I go down scree slopes in trail runners like I’m skiing, but go ahead and tell me I need boots cuz muh ankle support.
Sorry, but I’m not some 300lb homosexual with weak ankles, and hiking boots aren’t stiff enough to stop you from hurting your ankle.
Just go hike in modern motocross boots with integrated ankle braces if you’re that worried about your glass ankles and want a boot that’s actually stiff enough to stop an ankle injury
that's what you get for taking anonymous advice. even outside of these boards, most people are weekend LARPers at best. you don't need 75% of the "gear" people say you need, just basic common sense survival skills, and minimalist gear. bubba and cleetus can "solo" all these trails in $20 rain boots and a t-shirt. going off-trail is where it gets interesting, otherwise you're just passing by tourists all day long on a maintained trail in the "wilderness."
>bubba and cleetus can "solo" all these trails
>implying those inbred morons can do 12h hiking days with their beer guts hanging.
Lol
they can though. the dudes work general labor jobs in the summer heat 12hours a day even well into their 50s or 60s. just because they have a gut from excessive alcohol doesn't mean they don't have endurance or strong legs that can go all day. just because you don't like their politics doesn't mean they don't know what they're doing. people who grow up outdoors don't have to have an PrepHole hobby like you because it's just normal life. you can do ad-hominem attacks all you want, but they were playing out there when they were 10 years old without supervision while you were playing with pokemon cards indoors.
Lots of projection there, redneck.
Also none of those beer gut subhmans can keep with my pace.
t. /rooner/
Holy shit can we stop projecting this myth that every “rural” person in America is Kit Carson? The vast majority of rednecks spend their off time at the local watering hole and are incredibly out of shape from years of smoking reds and eating slop from Walmart and Dollar General.
I will if ppl stop projecting the myths of noble savage indians and poor unprivileged Black folk being astronauts and doctors
it depends on what "rednecks" you are talking about. that's a problem with your semantics and worldview, not mine. the people you call "rednecks" are usually LARPers who live just outside of suburbia. I'm talking about real rural people.
>that’s the problem with your semantics and worldview, not mine
Actually it’s the other way around frickhead. See what you’re describing is the exception, not the rule. Like I said most rednecks are fat morons. I’m not doubting the people you describe exist, but for every “bubba and cleetus” that can do the things you describe, there’s just as much if not more ultra fit marathon/trail runner urbanites who would absolutely smoke those dudes.
oh yeah! ultra marathoners(who usually weigh like 130lbs soaking wet) would DEMOLISH a fat redneck. hilarious.
In an endurance event? They absolutely would. Posts like this make me glad I grew up in a state that values education.
they definitely woud
do you know what percentage of hikers are ultra-fit marathoners? you're deliberately being selective when the original debate was about the averag hiker. the point was that anyone remotely fit can hike your average public trails. any attempt to say otherwise just outs you as a shitposter or a salty unfit homosexual
I never said marathon runners are the average, just that for every redneck as described, there are just as much if not more PrepHole trail runner types that would outperform them, which is true. The original point was actually that your average trailer trash is putting is outperforming the average day hiker by virtual of having a trade, which is untrue. I’m sorry you’re fat and moronic but living in some delusion that those things are somehow virtues isn’t going to help you.
I'm actually not the original person you were arguing with. Seemed to me like they were saying the average manual laborer could do all the popular "trails" that are cleared out, and that you didn't have to be some unemployed giga-hiker to complete them. That seems pretty true, beer belly or not. I'm sensing that your delusions come from not having been to any of these places, so you think they are some Mission Impossible Hollywood movie type of shit. Either that or you are a onionsboy who watched "Free Solo" and plays Uncharted..99% of the population is nearly completely sedintary at least 350 days out of the year, to think that a laborer isn't the epitome of "physically fit" in comparion would be delusional.
>to think the a laborer isn’t the epitome of “physically fit”
It’s not and you’ve never worked a trade
If “could complete” is your standard, that’s an extremely low bar.
A guy with no legs climbed Everest, it just took an entire team to do it.
An 80yo grandma hiked the AT, it just took her three times the average length of time.
Anyone who can walk can hike almost anywhere given enough time and the right supplies.
Of course the average laborer is more fit than the average desk worker, no one is arguing otherwise.
The contention comes in when that other guy claims that beer bellied Bubba is just as capable a hiker if not more so than the average hiker or outdoor enthusiast, with the reasoning behind that claim being that beer bellied Bubba works a blue collar job
bubba spent his life outside though, was probably doing the things you consider a "hobby" from ane arly age. you are not foundationally built the same. nu-males cannot compete.
it is in this day and age. you grew up playing xbox while these guys put in 60hr weeks at 16.
If you were saying Bubba could fish, or trap, or build a better bushcraft shelter, I would agree with you, but none of that matters when taking about fitness.
If you’re a beer bellied fatass it doesn’t matter if you work a blue collar job or know how to run a trotline, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack trying to keep up on any sort of uphill with someone of average fitness who hikes regularly
>you grew up playing xbox while these guys put in 60hr weeks at 16
Kek I’m a fricking carpenter/upholster you dumbass and before that I was enlisted. You have an incredibly romanticized view of what “blue collar” people are actually like and it makes me believe you that’s because you have no experience in that regard.
> this is you
I go out more than you
theyre going outside i dont see the issue here
I'm an Asian?
There is no blue collar job that gets your heart rate into zone 2 to build endurance.
I do siding, gutters, and windows, and you might think climbing ladders all day with a heavy work belt on would translate well to alpinism, but it doesn’t.
It’s like 30 seconds of climbing and then 20 minutes of shuffling around on a running board, which does jack shit for cardio or endurance.
Sure it’s way better than sitting in a chair all day, but you’re kidding yourself if you think a blue collar job means you can run up mountains or hike 20 mile days for months
you don't need to be a serious athlete to do any of this shit though, that's the point. you just need to be remotely fit. people who work desk jobs and LARP can go do most of these trails if they have double digit IQ. being able to stay on your feet for hours translates better to this type of shit anyways, it's usally homosexuals crying about their feet hurting from a blister who tap out.
>remotely fit
And you think dudes with beer guts count as remotely fit because they walk around a bit in between driving their truck to drive a skid loader or use a nail gun?
Carrying sheet rock 20 yards every 15 minutes will make it easier for you to carry sheet rock, it will not condition you to hike 20 mile days.
Blue collar work does not make you fit, you’re more likely to have chronic back pain and weird muscular imbalances from doing the same thing everyday than some office worker who gets up out of their chair every hour to stretch and do 10 push ups.
> t. deskcel
>t. actual blue collar worker
You need to be 18 to post here kid
you press a button on a line in a climate conrolled warehouse?
Judging by the low quality labeling on the cheap toolbox, the Walmart "rugged blue collar" everyman thermos covered in escapist fantasy stickers of places he's never been to and gear that he won't ever use for its intended purpose, and his need to post this picture... yes, his life probably does consist of pushing buttons in some slave labor shithole dead end job. But he won't reply to this anyway.
In the summers I do windows, siding, and gutters.
In the winter that stuff isn’t happening, so I do basic repair work in a factory.
This place was built in like 1920, so it’s way to old to be climate controlled.
>cheap toolbox
>Walmart thermos
So now you’re bashing blue collar workers who aren’t richgay brand prostitutes who spend thousands a month at the snapon truck or buy the latest Milwaukee pack out coffee thermos?
Go frick your self.
>escapist fantasy stickers
Wtf are you talking about?
It’s a Yuru Camp sticker and some stickers I got for free when I ordered stuff from Dutchware and RBTR cuz I sew some of my own stuff.
Sewed a new hammock this past weekend, pic rel
Dude I unload trucks at costco and I'm sure I do more manual labor than you, and I would consider my jobs easy, shut the frick up. I've worked in factories like this, genuinely 90% of factory workers are basically part of an assembly line. I bet you stand still and screw the same 4 screws into a piece of paneling all day or some shit. Or weld the same 2 lines over and over.
I always figured I was in real bad shape because I don't workout, don't do cardio, and smoke a half a pack a day, till I invited some friends with desk jobs out hiking, just to see that they were out of breath having to sit down every hundred feet while I just wasn't.
The comparison wasn’t the average blue collar worker vs the average office worker.
The comparison was the average blue collar worker vs an outdoor enthusiast.
Of course your friends will have a harder time than you if their lifestyle is more sedentary.
The point is that working a blue collar job doesn’t grant you magical hiking abilities like the other guy thinks 5’3” beer bellied Mexican roofers have.
From what I can tell, he thinks that hypothetical guy would blow through the PCT, doing 30+ miles a day wearing nothing but a T-shirt and sandals
Nig stop, cletus isn't going to hike 20 mile days, you're a delusional moron.
cletus is driving his raised chevy as far as he can and then walk .5 miles to the waterhole. And then will lay all day on a chair because his knee pain is killing him.
b***h please. not all labor jobs are the same. try being a low-tier guy on a framing team. the boomer makes you do all the lifting, carrying studs, heavy door frames, and sheetrock up stairs because they don't want you to scratch up the elevators. now try doing that literally all day long. guys who do shit like that would twist you into a pretzel in 10 seconds. you have no clue the kind of endurance and mentality it takes to stay in a position like that for years. been there and lucky to be out. you wouldn't last more than a couple of hours I can assure you.
and the buildings I did this in were usually 10+ floors, most of the time working at least half way up. it's about as close as you can get to slave labor legally, hiking is a fricking cakewalk compared to that shit.
No shit there are fit people who work blue collar jobs, no one said there wasn’t, but that’s not who the subject at hand was.
The subject was beer bellied Bubba and Cletus having some magical hiking ability by virtue of them having a blue collar job and not sitting in a chair all day
>they sit in their lazyboy all evening instead
hiking is not that hard though, unless you're talking about the rare "hardcore" type of hiker... which would be strawmanning. general hiking only seems "hard" to people who live a sedintary lifestyle. everyone used to hike several hundred yeats ago. it's nothing.
Idk what you consider a hardcore hiker, but the claim was beer bellied Cletus can magically hike at the same level as an averagely fit 20 something thru hiker, all while wearing $20 rain boots and a t-shirt, because Cletus has a blue collar job.
>general hiking only seems "hard" to people who live a sedentary lifestyle
That’s the Average 1st worlder in 2023
I know fat mexicans who can go all day long, so like I said, having a big belly doesn't mean you are less fit than someone without. there are fat guys with lower resting heartrates than skinny guys. not all labor jobs are the same, so if you want to be picky about what I said, go ahead. I have guys I've hunted with that are fat and they can walk for miles and miles without b***hing.
>I know fat mexicans who can go all day long
No you don't and even if you do, if they're fat, their pace sucks. No 60lb overweight 5'5" mexican manlet can keep up with a fit hiker no matter what you say.
>posts archaic can-crusher who could not survive in the more athletic and disciplined heavyweight division of today
Wow you sure showed him
>having a big belly doesn't mean you are less fit than someone without.
Yes it does, keep coping fatass squatemalan
hiking 20 miles is not hard. maybe you are overweight? it's not a race. if anything, the only real taxing part is your thighs getting fatigued from inclines.
>hiking 20 miles is not hard
>it’s not a race
I’m talking about 20 mile days for months at a time, which is pretty standard for young and fit people who hike long trails.
Your hypothetical blue collar beer gut guy is not capable of that, you are delusional if you think otherwise
that's not what anyone was talking about. people like that don't have jobs like 99% of people. just stop. nobody compared a manual laborer to a professional athlete. you can keep reaching though.
>the big trails all the thru-hikers talk about
>no one’s talking about that
Obviously you didn’t even read OP, and you are struggling to read what I say too, you just skimmed and started taking shit about things you don’t know.
I never said anything about needing pro athlete levels of endurance.
20 mile days are standard for young fit people on long trails.
That’s not pro athlete levels; those guys are crushing 40-60 miles a day and pushing for FKTs or calendar year triple crowns.
Can a beer bellied blue collar worker hike the AT?
Sure, 70yo ladies have done it, but he isn’t gonna be averaging close to what a moderately fit 25yo dude will be; it would probably take him a whole month longer to finish.
>bubba and cleetus can "solo" all these trails
>implying those inbred morons can do 12h hiking days with their beer guts hanging.
>>they can though.
Totally delusional to think some beer gut guy could keep a pace like that for more than a couple days, let alone an entire long trail thru hike.
slow and steady dude
it's aint even a race lol
It actually is in some ways. Some distances require long water and food carries where a minimum must be met for safety. Most distance hikers also try to plan timing based on seasons; that can be flexible with yoyoing, section hiking but applicable.
>dirt sidewalk
It's like taking roads instead of driving thru people's yards. It protects natural areas from extra damage. Plus it's the easiest way to get to camping spots without losing your way even if it's only a couple of miles.
20 miles is 5+hours before and after lunch depending on trail. I could do that everyday if my pack wasn't heavy. Too much weight which heavy people already have before carrying anything would be bad but they are already use to it.
I usually don't see big people at 2-3 miles in, that I remember at least.
>you were playing with pokemon cards indoors.
Fatass cope
Anime posters go PrepHole more than you
>Anime posters go PrepHole more than you
can confirm. need to bring some anime rep with me next time.
Can't confirm. You don't have any pics to prove it. You tried tho.
Kek. Fricking based.
What altitude did you start at?
you can drive a jeep through most of the shit in the west, and in the east you're never that far from fresh drinking water. if you die in the us in a national park of anything other than falling off a cliff, you belong at a desk. the days of "survival" or "frontiersmen" are over and only LARPing remains.
> if you die in the us in a national park of anything other than falling off a cliff, you belong at a desk
Because hypothermia isn't a thing?
>the days of "survival" or "frontiersmen" are over and only LARPing remains.
Maybe if you exclude the entirety of Canada and Alaska.
hypothermia is a result of poor clothing and terrain research. aka common sense failure. you don't need a $300 jacket from REI, they didn't have those in the 1700s.
When I see geargays sperging out I remind myself that Nanga Parbat - an 8000'er - was first-ascended in leather boots (pic related). Obviously improvements have been made since (the biggest one being waterproof & breathable fabrics) but most of it does indeed boil down to common sense.
>common sense.
Common sense is only common to those who are experienced and knowledgeable. Which is to say, it's not all that common at all. Everyone has to start somewhere. No one is born knowing that cotton as a base layer is dangerous. No one instinctively knows how to read a topographical map. People's biggest mistake is overestimating their abilities and knowledge, and being above proper education.
PrepHole is a perfect example of this attitude. How many times have you gotten in an argument with an anon who clearly has no idea what they're talking about, and yet has the hubris of an expert? Those are the sorts of people who you hear about getting lost and freezing to death in national parks alongside their entire family.
I'm just warning against geargayging because it makes people think expensive = good in general. you can buy budget clothing if you pick the right materials for the environment, doesn't even need to be hobby specific clothing.
.
>How often do you get in an argument with an anon that has the hubris of an expert but clearly literally no idea what they're talking about.
Constantly. That is basically how I would summarize this board. It's driving me mad. Just people who clearly don't even have the self obvious knowledge someone who has done X thing once would need to have to have done it, spouting off randomly made up advice as if they were an expert.
Good job leaving out the fact they lost toes and whole chunks of their feet due to frostbite
they still do
>8,000er
I really hate that some gays misappropriated an American colloquialism to fit their own needs. It’s cringe.
> you don't need a $300 jacket from REI, they didn't have those in the 1700s.
The jackets they wore in the 1700s in northern climates would have been made of fur and/or thick wool, which by today's standards would run in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Yeah but people shot the animals and made the coats themselves back then
What's your point? Most of us can't do that today, so we have to spend big money on equivalent gear to keep us warm. You can't just go buy a shitty $70 coat from walmart and think you're better off than an explorer from the 1700s because muh technology. Even today the warmest gear is made of natural materials, and shit's expensive.
not him but the actual point is that there are cheaper alternatives to real furs these days.
There really aren't. Even poor Mongols in Siberian villages wear expensive fur because that's the only thing that will keep them alive.
people that go the the himalayas or the poles dont wear furs; they wear down, wool, polyester etc. all of which is relatively cheap and gets the job done
That's because fur is too heavy for mountain climbing. They all wear top of the line down coats though, mixed with wool base layers and synthetic base/shell layers.
>all of which is relatively cheap
Down is not cheap. Good wool is not cheap.
>Down is not cheap. Good wool is not cheap.
It is compared to fur. And down is just a better insulator anyway.
Any jacket suitable for mountain climbing will run you over $300.
>And down is just a better insulator anyway.
False. Fur is the best insulator by far if weight and price aren't an issue.
I think what you mean is that most people going PrepHole in America don't need super expensive fur or down coats because they aren't going to the arctic and will be able to stay warm by layering well using cheaper materials. I agree that it's hilarious seeing citiots on trails in their thousand dollar canada goose jackets when it's 30F out. But if your goal is to be warm in arctic-like conditions then yeah, you're going to be paying a lot of money on a high quality fur or down jacket end of story.
I don’t think this is true. ‘Jack of all trades master of none’ has been recognized by humans since the beginning and every person typically has a specialty that contributes to the whole. What I’m getting at is that people have always had to barter for items so it’s not breaking your larp just because you didn’t hand make everything you’re wearing.
>you can drive a jeep through most of the shit in the west
what does this even mean? You aint driving a jeep thru millions of acres of forests.
Come again?
The furthest you can get from a road in the lower 48 is like 20 miles
so yeah, you can pretty much drive to any point and then walk the last couple miles
Seriously. I say this and get called a larper who dosent go out, but like, look at a map. 15 miles from a road is maybe possible in like the frank church wilderness in Idaho, and sequoia in callifornia, and a couple deserts in nevada and that's about it.
yeah but those 20 miles aren't easy especially when you go off trail trying to navigate over and around deadfall, boulder slides, and marshy meadows
I know this is bait but its true. I sued to work at outdoors stores and people would come in and I knew they watched Darwin on YouTube because they would be trying to buy what he recommended, except Darwin lives and hikes in California and we live and hike in Ontario. Saving weight by not having a bug net tent will not work up here
REI doesn’t sell the Zpacks Ultaplex. Darwin uses something like that because he’s really tall and a typical single wall tent is too narrow.
And I’m not sure what you mean by “a bug net tent.”
Yes, this is luckily something I realized early when I was searching up youtube videos. Most of the people recommending stuff are americans, "hiking" paths where there's easily multiple other people they run into and camp together with. Like its borderline taking a walk downtown. You suddenly realize how so many of them get away with using light shoes and a pack weighing less than a schoolkid's backpack. If you follow their advice, and you live anywhere with a bit of cold, or with actual terrain, your bound to have an awful time.
>Be Yuro
>Google tourist traps
>Be mad you showed up to a tourist trap
A tale as old as time
They are probably the most well know, and thus well trodden trails in the entire world, what did you expect?
Did you expect for them to be all overgrown and and barely visible?
moron
You should see the trails in Europe, half of them are paved and the other half are paved roads with bus stops
>cherry pick a valley on the PCT
>Anon from country the size of Maine is surprised when not American trails are the same
>I've been taking Americans' gear
GIVE IT BACK!!
No shit bro what did you think trail meant?
You don't know what hiking is until you've hiked in scotland during summer. Weather that changes ever 20 minutes from torrential rain to sunshine, No visible trail, knee-deep in stinking peat bog getting eaten alive ticks and midges.
me too, I did the same mistake. The gear just dont hold up outside of big trails and well prepared camp areas. But my bag is alot lighter now though, so i dont think its all useless. However, the trousers, shoes, jackets and less than 50l bags is made for camp to camp on a big trail
take the infantryman pill
I don't think euros know what that is Tbh.