As we continue to pack for our cross-country move, I have carefully gone through the outdoor gear. Even through two other moves, I still carried a lot of it, knowing I would probably never use it again. Bit actually getting rid of it? That is a lot harder. It just got tucked away, into boxes and crates.
One of the hardest things was my Sling Light chair. Kirk bought it for me as a gift, knowing I’d not treat myself. At the time, they were quite coveted on the internet hiking forums.
This was me in the summer of 2003. I had not yet found UL hiking. That backpack was massive (an old Mountainsmith, over 5000 CI), and every spot was filled in it. (And that pack was not made for my 5 ft 4 inch and short torso body.)
I’d eventually start shedding pack weight and getting a smaller pack, year by year, until I was at my height of backpacking.
A lot of gear came and went those years – and this came into it for a hot minute.
Sitting outside, on the shoulder of the road we live on. I have a never-ending pile, and people love “shopping” it. I’d rather see things go to new homes than the dump. And, for every item that leaves, the place gets emptier. Moving isn’t cheap, and if I am never going to use something again, why would I pay to move it?
I was sitting at Sheep Lake, on the PCT, in early fall. In that always fashionable time period of “hiking shorts and leggings” combo. The Merrell hiking low tops alone make my toes ache…..and socks over leggings? So couture!
Chair sitting outside my tent.
It was funny because the chair was considered UL compared to other similar chairs/mats at the time. But was it truly UL? I don’t think it was, at least in my opinion. While I took it with me, I found that it was only on short trips, where weight wasn’t a huge issue. On this trip, it was only a couple of miles on the PCT to Sheep Lake (near Chinook Pass in Washington State). I was carrying a two-man REI tent, not my usual UL hiking tarp tent. Weight wasn’t an issue at all.
Strapping it on my UL hiking packs, it didn’t work well. It was odd shaped and too wide, so it would bounce on my back. And with the self-inflating seat pads that were coming out then, I found I didn’t need a chair anymore. The sit pad was enough – and on most trips I slept either in a tiny one man tent, or a tarp tent, which wasn’t big enough for a chair to be inside.
It was an item that, while a cool idea, didn’t work as great as one might think it would. It was ungainly to sit down and get back up out of it, and it was far too easy to tip over. The headrest also never worked right, and I never brought it along. I probably should have sent it back to be refitted, but I was too busy actually hiking.
Maybe someone will see it along the road and get excited. Maybe they will use it.
~Sarah