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Posted by calamity on December 3, 2007 at 6:26:21 pm EST
In reply to Re: Curious, And wanting to know? posted by Old Hermit on December 3, 2007 at 3:07:08 am EST

I'm of the view that all things being equal (with a stress on equal), gear is best packed inside a pack rather than outside.

The first time I encountered this view was in Colin
Fletcher, who offered various reasons that he made explict in some rather long-winded, but enjoyable and convincing passages.

In the earlier editions of his work, Fletcher exclusively used external frame packs, and favored at the time a full-length sack (what he called "a bloody great sack," great meaning large), rather than a three-quarter-length. He later switched decisively to internal frame packs, but retained his view of lashing & strapping.

I think there are exceptions, some described above, & many are obvious; skis, bits of moose carcass, certain woodstoves & 50-caliber machine guns, for example.

Carrying a pad outside is indeed common, though making it potentially vulnerable to mud and wetness, which could conceivably then contaminate sleeping bag via shell.

It may be wise to assign a very high priority to protect from puncture certain critical items (thermarest, certain egos, and similar) that depend on inflation.

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