Old backpacker Article on the Barrens

Thanks for article, it brings back a lot of memories, not so much of times spent in the pines, but seeing the advertisements of the hiking equipment. Those times were the heyday of my backpacking trips and I had some of the equipment advertised. Equipment has certainly changed and improved over 30+ years.
 
I still have the first tent I bought, a wall tent from Morsans on RT 18 in New Brunswick. Used it when traveling out west many moons back, it is still like new. Morsans morphed into Campmor located on RT 17 in Paramus. Still have the Bernzomatic lantern and propane cook stove I bought when I got the tent. They just don't make stuff the way they used to.

Sometime ago a friend was cleaning out his basement and gave me a box full of old magazines. Just got around to taking a look at the 'garbage' he unloaded on me :D Scanned some and I think I'll print them and hang them on the wall. The best thing in them is the advertisments.

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Thanks for the link Al. Things have not changed I see :) I agree imkms about the ads. They have the Minolta camera I used for many years in the magazine. Except mine was the SRTSC2

Guy
 
46er said:
They just don't make stuff the way they used to.
Click to expand...

And sadly, they don't make stuff in America the way they used to.

Many of those ads were for products made here. The Schrade LB 7 shown in one ad is my daily carry. The guarantee against loss was no bullshit either. I exercised it on a lost LB 3 back in the 80's.
I bought a lot of Schrade knives right before they sold out and went Chinese. I have many that are brand new that I will pass them on to my sons and future grandkids.

It was also interesting to see the Jack Daniel's ad when Old No. 7 was 90 proof, not the kinder, gentler (girlie), watered down 80 proof offered today.

The article about the Pines hike reminds me all of how regulated we are in our State forests.
But after living here in the pines over thirty years and coming here to hunt deer starting in the late 60's, I hardly ever notice. I was really only a scofflaw in the early through late 80's when I rode my CR 480 on a regular basis throughout the pines.

I am now very reformed, except when my hiking buddies make me do things that are against the law.
:cool:
 
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they have every backpacker magazine on there from it's beginning in the 60's up till 2009 If you can't get to the home page from that link I can post the link to the index page.
It amazes me how to backpack the Batona trail you are left with no option but to do it illegally or alternate been short days and at last one very long day from Lower Forge to Buttonwood and then you have to hike a mile off the trail to get to the camp. I see I'm not the only one who sees the ridiculousness of the states camping poilicies.You seek to get away from the crowds so they pile everyone together where they can get on each others nerves and the easier for them to keep watch over you.Then again many folks are not responsible or knowledgable enough to know how to make a safe fire or not to make one when it's not safe to do so and many would tear their self made site up so badly you'd know they had been there years later.I frequently find old fire mounds full of melted glass and scorched cans.Till people wisen up maybe they don't deserve any greater freedom.
 
I've done the Batona end to end twice now, each time over four days. The campsites are definitely spaced terribly. Day 3 ended up being 20 miles from Lower Forge to Brendan Byrne with the new reroute. We could have stopped at Batona Camp at the end of Day 2, but then that would have made Day 2 a ridiculous distance. The last time, in April, we passed two separate groups who were illegally camping. I can't say that I blamed them one bit.

On the other hand, they should NOT have all those years of Backpacker up. Backpacker is like crack cocaine. Just when I finish up some ridiculous backpacking trip and swear "NEVER AGAIN!", the new issue of Backpacker comes in the mail and the whole cycle starts all over again.
 
I get the magazine myself.I just don't have the time to get to most of those places.Uncle sam sent me half way around the world but I still haven't seen the western half of my own country.Momma won't fly and the drive time makes it impossible with what vacation i have unless i want the entire vacation to be a drive.
 
I should have that issue in my stack of early backpacker mags. They were works of art w/ alot less hype b/4 Ziff-Davis took over. It was fun to read the article.
 
Carry on camping - can a week under canvas reset our body clocks?

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Researchers say that camping for a week can reset the biological clock that governs our sleeping patterns. The scientists argue that modern life disrupts our sleep through exposure to electric light and reduced access to sunlight. But after spending time in the great outdoors, the researchers say the body clocks of eight volunteers synchronised with sunrise and sunset. The research has been published in the journal Current Biology....​
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And while it's not possible for everyone to go camping all the time, the scientists say that some small, simple changes to the way we live our lives could help us attain some of the benefits of sleeping under the stars. "Start off your day with a walk outside," said Prof Wright."At night reduce lights in the house, dim computer and electronic devices. We are sensitive to dim light levels, even the light from cell phones in the evening hours is a cue that pushes our clocks to a later time."​
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Now I know why we all love to be out in the wilderness. That's why I'm pissed at all the new redevelopment streetlights in Richland along US Route 40. It looks like the AC Airport runway. I live almost a mile away, mostly through woods, yet the streetlights still affect my darkness. When snow is on the ground the light pollution makes it look like dusk all night. They cost something like $30,000 ea. and sure use up a lot of electricity.

S-M
 
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