Traditional Is Ultralite

Traditional Is Ultralite

Ultra light is nothing new, it goes back to the Longhunters ( check out that gear) and most likely way beyond that. For our purpose here we are going more modern. Great debates about lightweight gear and ultra light gear are debated in many books, articles and are all over the internet. It is a highly touted way to go. That's cool.

” Go light, the lighter the better, so that you have the simplest material for health, comfort and enjoyment” Nessmuk , from his book in 1920. In reality it was said at least 40 years before the book. George Washington Sears 1821-1890 or Nessmuk.

The latest light weight craze started about 1992 and exploded in 1996 with the second edition of Ray Jardines ” Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Handbook” . Following that he wrote ” Beyond Backpacking . Through those books from Jardine came the constant weighing down to grams , crumb counters: I even tried it for ten minutes and rejected it , too be fair some things were very good, Jardine, knows his stuff and offers many good ideas. I rejected the gear choice.

George Washington Sears, from now on known as, Nessmuk, had his ideas also, over 50 years of being a guide, a fisherman , a hunter and at the end a writer, he started writing when he was in his 60s. Nessmuks ideas were about understanding the “why” and the real use of the weight of an object in question. In other words the use of the weight. That is the real core of the basics of enjoying and being comfortable in the wild.

” Owning the skills” is about being simple. Look at your gear, spread it out. Now get naked and you are left with you. Now add what is “essence”, basic to the core. What do you really need, ” Self-reliant”,  is just another word for “owning the skills” , in a word, proficient.

The traditional golden age of camping, the old style,  is alive and well in today's world. Why? Just the realness of the gear and the systems shouts volumes to the user. Nessmuk was a small man, maybe 100 pounds or bit more. He was not healthy, though he loved being in the woods. Loved to fish hidden trout streams . Out of experience, trial and error, and by necessity he sought out what he really needed. Worked those needs down to the weights he could manage with ease.

Now think of the “Why” as a kind of a “mood”. Returning to the likes of a Nessmuk engulfs a kind of simple meaning as to why we are attracted to the” golden age style”, ala Kephart and Nessmuk. Yes, it is a look, a feel, a smell and it has great style melded with practicality. A toughness built in so the gear will last years, not months. Built to be handed down to your sons and daughters.

Ahh but this is also “lightness” I am breaking this down to a list from Nessmuks book. It is a bit misleading and many  have failed to see what he was saying by thinking he contradicted himself. He did not. The list he has are the clothes, and gear. A sleeping bag, :waterproofed cotton a 6×8 cloth, a knapsack, a pouch with a sheath sewn in.
What he called his fly medicine, pain killers, a gang of hooks, brass wire, waterproof matches in a match safe. string, compass, and copper tacks. A ditty bag, 4×6 leather12 hooks, 4-6 yard lines, flies, 12 buttons, sewing silk, thread, yarn, sinkers, salve, a fine file, sewing needles. Tin dishes, up to 5 of them all nesting into the other. hunting knife, cotton tarp, 2 days rations, pocket axe, ( hatchet, to you) , a canoe and paddle. Clothes: 2 wool shirts, 2 wool pants, 2 wool socks, hat, boots gaiters, etc. Weight: 26 pounds. What? Yep. The list includes the ounces for each item. Now part of the fake out is the clothes. One shirt he wore, one pair of pants he wore and socks etc. His canoes were custom jobs some weighing between 10 and 12 pounds. His rations were for 2 days but he often struck out for 10 days, hunting and fishing for game to add to his supper. He seldom took all the tin dishes, most of the time it was two tins. Lesson, take only what you need not what you think you will need. Experience will teach you that in spades.

It should be obvious that it had to be summer,  mild weather. All of his gear was honed to a razors edge of “useful” . For him and his part of the world this worked for him. His background of over 50 years in the wood, in the field paid off by applying that hard earned woods lore and camping skills. He owned those skills.
When reading the book keep in mind that it was compiled after his death and is really a bunch of articles cobbled together from his many magazine articles.

My point is, light is nothing new. Nessmuk had his basics down first, the heart and soul, the core of being able to go light and not make it a drudge, not hard work, and being able to enjoy being a part of the woods, and field in comfort and harmony with the wild places left on the earth. The knowledge of “owning the skills”  pays off. .

Again the “why?”. Are we really looking back? I think not! I feel the look is forward at what is still real, the basics, start with the gear, the wool, canvas, leather ,and cotton, they all call out as they always have. It is almost an ingrained DNA thing. It  rejects the strange thing of nylon and super materials, the shiny high speed low drag, is the stuff of star trekkies and such I suppose, but they sure are alien in the bush, in the wood , stream and field,  too my mind

Adapting to  what Nessmuk called his Indian camp . Using whatever bounty we can still gather from the wild places, even if we have to stealth camp.
The old style is alive and is a living partner waiting for you to join those ranks of like minded  men who want the real deal, the real experience, and learning and feeling it through his choice of gear.

In his 60s Nessmuk began his writing career putting to paper his many adventures, and listing what worked. What is so damn refreshing is what he wrote on paper then  is as valid today as it was it was the day he wrote it. And that includes the old style , the golden age of camping, and all the gear. Traditional rocks.

By Dude McLean

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