You can | moleskin milers..... walk on! |
You can bring
only 35 pounds of "stuff"
with you. Stand on your bathroom scales and weigh yourself. Then pick
up your duffel and weigh yourself again. Subtract your first weight
from your second weight. If it's more than 35 pounds, you have packed
too much. Remember that you will have to take your bag from the gear
truck to your tent site after walking 20 miles. Pack light! Ziplock bags are your new best
friends. Buy a box of 2 1/2 gallon ziplocks. Label one for each day of
the walk and pack everything you need (e.g., shorts, socks, shirt,
etc.) in that bag. Be sure to label each bag with your name, tent
number, walker/crew ID number. Now get three sandwich-sized ziplock
and pack the refills for your fanny pack (e.g., foot powder, fresh
socks to change into at lunch, rain poncho, etc.). Place one in each of
the big daily ziplocks you have already packed up. In another of the large ziplock bags,
pack all of your toiletries. This will make it easy to get everything
you need to take a shower in the evenings. Also, should that tiny
bottle of shampoo leak, it won't ruin your clothes for the next day's
walk. In yet another ziplock bag, pack your
first aid kit, including moleskin, bandages, aspirin, and so forth.
Tylenol PM or Advil PM will help you sleep at night and relieve some of
the muscle soreness you might have. If you require prescription
medication, though, you might consider packing them in your daily bags
so you won't forget to take them each day. Bring 2 pairs of shoes; one you will
wear on the first day and the other, of course, will be in a ziplock
bag in your duffel bag. You might also consider packing a
final ziplock bag with "camp stuff" -- like your flashlight or head
lamp, tent marker, Cylume (glow sticks), and tent decorations. Pack a few large garbage bags so that
you can put your bag in it if the weather turns rainy. Or, so you can
leave your bag outside rather than inside your very small tent; this
will keep everything nice and dry. Thousands of walkers will pack
thousands of bags for the 3-Day. Yours will NOT be the only black
wheelie bag. Mark your bag with something that is easily recognizable
(a crazy bandanna or piece of ribbon, for example). A pink bandanna or
ribbon will not be unique (this applies for tent markers too). Speaking of your bag, make sure that
your name and tent number are clearly marked on your bag. Buy a bag that is large enough to
hold ALL of your stuff. You can only bring one bag. You do not want to
strap or tie your gear to the bag. It will most likely become
separated, get dirty, get lost, or all of the above. If you absolutely
must strap something to the outside of your bag, DO NOT use bungee
cords, which can snap and really hurt a crew member. So what type of LARGE bag should you
cram your stuff into? I saw two main types of bags at the 3-Day in
Dallas in 2006. Many people packed a very large duffel bag, and
especially popular were duffel bags with wheels. Others packed their
gear in suitcases, especially those with wheels. Obviously wheels on
gear are great when you're tired from walking all day and still have to
set up camp. I went with a large internal frame backpack. The main body
of the pack held all of those ziplock bags I'd packed, as well as my
sleeping bag. There was a separate zip-off day pack on the front, which
I filled with toiletries and everything else I'd need to take to the
showers. When it came time to hand my gear off to the crew, the
backpack straps hid away and the whole thing became an easy to deal
with duffel bag. But alas, no wheels!