Sharing the load

“After being elected as hiking guru and coordinator for my employers wellness program, I have some questions.
1. How many people can reasonably share a bping stove on a three day/two night trip?
and
2. What is the best way to split community gear? (tent, stove, fuel, food, aid kit, whatever else)

Previously, I have only hiked solo or with one other person. The activities poll showed that 12 people were "very interested" in a backpacking program. While I don't think that twelve people would come all at the same time, I do think that maybe 5 or 6 people might actually go.
Would you reccomend that I read any particular books? I have already read the NOLS outdoor leadership book, any others I should look at?”

“I've found it's best to split community gear by weight based on each person's physical makeup/strengh, experience, and how heavy their pack already is.

Sharing a stove depends on what they're going to be using it for. If boiling water several can share one stove. If cooking, only one or two per stove will work unless they are very patient people who don't mind waiting.”

“sharing stoves is easier if the meel is for everyone”

“Community meals will be the standard fare for breakfast and supper. I am going to try to keep it simple as far as cooking goes. Mostly hot water types of things.

Part of the coordinators planning includes meals. (Lucky for me) I am honestly considering using Mountain House stuff mostly. No cleanup. As far as lunch and snacks go, everyone is on their own.

Do you think a planning gathering would be appropriate, so that people could partner up and decide who is carrying what? It seems like this would make for a quicker start from the trailhead.”

“I find that if I carry the tent, the food, and the stove that any arguments about which route to take are always decided my way. Since I sometimes hike with directionally-challenged friends, it becomes easier that way.

And if they should choose their own route, I wish them well and plod on my way. They usually come to their senses quickly.”

“T--

Doesn't SnowNyphm do this for her office?


She might be a great resource . . .you know . . .if she remembers anything after the head injury.”

“tahoe, I have only been on 2 backpacking trips, but they both fit your question perfectly. They were trips led by my local parks and rec. For $75 they provided transportation, all the gear (tents, bags, mats, backpack, stoves, filters, trowel, etc) and food for a 3 day trip. The 4 day trip was $100.

For a group of 12 people - 2 park staff, 1 intern and 7 "clients" - we took 4 stoves, 2 pur filters, 2 collapsable water containers, enough pots and utensils to cook 4 seperate meals each night, 2 first aide kits, etc.

They provided 2-man tents and either you selected your own tent mate or they would pair you up with someone else who didn't have a tent mate. They did give us each our own sleeping bag and mat, though ;).

At a prehike meeting, they passed out all the gear. tent mates would take one two-man tent and seperate it between them. Then either the leaders designated who would carry what gear or gave the people there choice on what they wanted to carry. Macho people grabbed the heavy stuff and smart people waited to see what was left. A breakfast menu was passed around and you selected whether you wanted coffee, tea or cocoa (or all three), oatmeal, bagels and peanut butter, (or both), how many sugars packets, etc. After the meeting, the group leaders seperated each dinner and lunch meal's ingredients into its own bag, then select one person for each meal (you were responsible for carrying and preparing that meal). The day of the hike, they would give each of us a food bag that contained our breakfast choices, snacks, gorp, etc, and the meals that we were responsible for. ideally you would want the first nights meal as opposed to the last :-D.

This is probably more info than you wanted, but maybe it might help.”

“Lee- I had no idea that snow did this for her office, I'll have to contact her.

Hyway- Lots of info but all very good.

Tanks!!”

“I ONCE took some newbies to the Rockies. I planned the food and route, gave the newbies a detailed list of what to bring. They didn't follow the list. And as we were repacking our packs at the trailhead they suddenly declared "my pack is full." Guess who ended up with an over-weight pack! But we managed four people on one Peak-one stove.

Also went canoeing with 6 people and managed well with one wisperlight. Breakfast and supper were community meals, lunch on your own. Just remember to plan your fuel.”

“Good luck Tahoe, and let us know how it goes, Healthcare is weighing heavily on "wellness" programs and prevention in order to cut costs. Maybe we could get programs such as yours implemented at our workplaces and hike for free.”

“One good F.A. kit should work for the whole group. I would reccommend that someone take charge of this task. With confidentiality that person should get a little medical history from all the hikers.

Communal meals would be the easiest way to feed. One good efficient burner should work. Pack a extra lite weight stove for back up or a warmer just in case. And a large enought pot to heat water.

Bring a scale to the TH for last minute divisions.”

“This is a new addition to the "Wellness Program" here. We do get some funds from our employer, it seems that mostly it will cover permits, also they have authorized use of two Ford Explorers for travel within about 100 miles of the office. Food will remain a shared expense, but that isn't so bad.
We will have the only vehicles with yellow light bars at the trailhead. Too Funny!!”

“Tahoe, On the group winter camping trip I went on in February, the leaders organized us into 2-person sleeping and eating teams. That seems to be a logical way to go - one stove per tent. Each team planned their own food, cookware, etc., and figured out the gear sharing. For my partner and I, I carried the tent and he carried the stove, pots/pans, fuel, and his share of the food weighed more. I may have had slightly more than my share of "community" weight, but it was pretty close without having to get anal about it. When backpacking with my wife and son this past summer, we had the one tent and one stove - it worked out fine (all just water-boiling stuff pretty much).”

“This is a very interesting thread. Several non-bacpaking friends have been talking about joining us on a trip and we have been discussing how to accomidate them. I wonder if I could get people from work to do this also?
dawn”

“SD, I think the biggest issue with nonpackers would be gear. Sleeping bags, backpacks, the more personal items. This would be an obstacle to overcome. For total newbies, gear rental would be the best option. That way if they absolutely hated the trip, they wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of expensive stuff.”

“I plan, organize and supply (gear and food) trips for my family. There's never more than four or five of us, so we always use one stove. We never do group meals and each person carries all their own food and gear. The only group stuff is fuel, stove, water bucket, and first aid. We always do lean-to so no tent and we quit carrying the filter a few years ago. We also go through packs before we leave the house.

If it's a bunch of friends who already backpack going, I don't like sharing gear. Geobeet's post is a good reason to avoid that.

For a college class of nine we had two or three stoves. We divvied up the stoves and fuel each morning. Tents were divvied up between tentmates. We hiked in pairs and the sweep team carried the first aid kit. We all carried our own food, no group meals.”

“I can't help you here, but it hurts.”