HAHAHA...yes, those are the top quotes of the evening! I definitely heard a bunch of chuckles when I put on my Nunatak Raku and modeled it for the crowd.

Lots of people interested in Cuben Fiber and where to get it. I don't think many of them had seen it before.

I was asked about my first aid kit and ended up handing it to the crowd to pass around. I made the helicopter or bandaid comment but based my kit on past experience and what I was capable of using. I told a story of a time I had no first aid kit and actually had a fellow hiker chop his foot with a small hatchet. Application of a feminine napkin, wrapped with duct tape, lots of pressure and a few advils for the pain allowed him to walk out the next morning.

I told the crowd how I used the peppermint flavored soap as toothpaste and had some laughs but after the presentation I started letting people taste it and they were pretty open to giving it a try.

In the end, it was a pretty fun night. I got a chance to look at Philips GG trekking poles, and I am totally sold on those!

sounds like you had fun!

Diane brings up a good point. Safety is a tough one for the audience. With his permission I use one of Andrew Skurkas slides to help illustrate some of the reasons UL can be safer. Less chance of injury when you are not struggling under a 50# load.

Yes! Way to whip out the Raku. Did you manage to don a poncho tarp and cuben chaps also?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have on the website and will definitely be sending some people to check it out. If you do any other presentations in the area, do let us know. A colleague of mine is up there and would surely benefit from it.

I think one of the impediments to adopting UL concepts is that many different types of activities are all lumped into one category called backpacking. There are at least three quite different activities (and likely many more) that are all called backpacking. The one that benefits most from UL concepts is hiking. When the activity is the hike itself. UL concepts are a large benefit here. Another activity is camping. This is where the hike is only a means to get to the destination. The shorter and easier the hike the less benefit (and the larger the sacrifice) UL is. The more time you spend in camp the more “luxuries” you want. The last one I don’t have a label for, but is where some other activity (fishing, hunting, photography, etc.) is the reason for carrying the pack. UL concepts may be a huge benefit here, or may not; it just all depends on the equipment desired for the activity, the difficulty of the hike and probably the amount of time spent “in camp”.

UL concepts are a benefit while hiking. If that is already easy enough the concept of making it easier while doing without something is a harder sell.

BTW, I go camping every year with a backpack. I carry a base weight of 38 lbs. I UPPED it this year to provide more comfort while in camp. The consumables were significantly MORE than 38 lbs (its downhill all the way into camp).

This year I went hiking in Yosemite. While I left out many of the luxuries from the camping trips I still ended up taking things I could have easily done without. I quickly learned that the less time spent in camp the less you use. ;^)

The gear needs to fit the activity.

Aaron: Even the servers at the restaurant laughed when I put the Raku on. It is the craziest looking piece of gear I own :) I put the poncho/tarp on for them afterwards. No cuben chaps though, but there is a picture of me in the presentation wearing them. It's still in the works, but it's up on my website now.

http://www.suluk46.com/presentation.html

Edited by Steve_Evans on 09/15/2010 15:00:41 MDT.

I'd love to see a "Light and Cheap" presentation. Perfect for Boy Scouts.

Same underwear for 16 days? You should have lied and said you washed them every other day.

Maybe Philip should have stood and said, "It's ok, I've worn Steve's underwear for 16 days. It's no big deal." :)

"You should have lied and said you washed them every other day."

LOL, I never said I didn't wash them, simply that I wore the same pair for 16 days. The answer to how often I washed them will be my little secret ;)

Ex Officio's inspired marketing department was paying attention:

"17 Countries. 6 weeks and 1 pair of underwear. Okay, maybe two."

(Originally, I don't think they had the third sentence.)