I attended the presentation by Randy and Sheri Propster at the Benchmark Outfitter in Cincinnati from 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM.
I had to work in Troy, OH today until 4:30 PM, and thought I would have no trouble making it to this event. I was about 60-70 miles away, and had plenty of time. (I thought so at the time). Traffic was stopped dead for over 45 minutes in Dayton on I-75 due to an accident, I had not eaten lunch yet, and started to worry about making it. By the time I had eaten, and driven the distance, I arrived tired, but excited at the Benchmark Outfitter at 6:55 PM. Ok... enough about me and my obstacles to fun.
Sheri and Randy are an interesting couple who have hiked the Appalachian Trail and have hiked the American Discovery Trail. They spend a lot of time backpacking, and have a lot of experience to share.
They covered 11 basic essential categories of things to take backpacking, which is an update to the circa 1930 "ten essential items" list. They showed some interesting gear and had some fun questions to test our knowledge. I won't reveal the questions in case you go to one of these events yourself. There were also lots of great prizes. There were so many that I even won a prize.
I highly recommend that anyone check this out who is a backpacker, or is interested in getting started. I consider myself a novice, but I am always looking for ideas and information from the more experienced. Attending this event could steer a new hiker away from making some expensive gear mistakes, and from making bad decisions on the trail. I would have never started the Buckeye Trail last year with my ill fitting Swiss Army surplus pack if I had been to this event before.
To find out more about one of these events near you, go to backpacker.com/getoutmore.
For more info on the Benchmark Outfitter, go to Benchmark Outfitter
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