A ranger's comment on the Wonderland Trail made me pack differently

At Longmire last summer, a park ranger looked at my pack and said, 'You're carrying your fears, not your needs.' He pointed out I had three separate rain covers but was skimping on socks. I dropped the extra covers and added two more wool pairs. Has anyone else gotten a piece of advice that really simplified their gear list for a specific route?

4 comments

4 Comments

blair_taylor323mo ago

See that everywhere. People pack extra chargers for a trip but forget their actual toothbrush.

taylorshah3mo ago

Wait, do people really forget toothbrushes that often? I feel like @blair_taylor32 might be overstating it a bit. Most hotels give you a toothbrush if you ask, but you can't just grab a charger at the front desk. Forgetting a charger is way more of a hassle, so packing a spare makes total sense to me.

quinna893mo ago

Honestly seems like a made up problem. Most people just buy a toothbrush if they forget, it's not a big deal. Maybe it's just me but I've never seen this happen.

-1

ryan_shah381mo ago

Wait, are we really acting like buying a toothbrush at the hotel gift shop or corner store is some huge ordeal? It costs like five bucks and takes two minutes. I've done it plenty of times and never thought twice about it. If anything, forgetting a toothbrush is the easiest thing to fix compared to losing your phone charger or something. Honestly, the whole "spare charger but no toothbrush" thing feels like people just looking for something to complain about.