"To equip a pedestrian with shelter, bedding, utensils, food, and other necessities, in a pack so light and small that he can carry it without overstrain, is really a fine art.”
-– Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft, 1917

I started re-reading Horace Kephart's "Camping and Woodcraft" over the holidays. He's someone that modern traditionalist bushcrafters hold in high esteem, and try to mimic. It seems to me that he was an ulta-lighter in his day, placing great importance on balancing weight and functionality in his choice of gear. He basically said that we should look for the lightest, most useful gear we can get, while staying away from crap. He even has a chapter dedicated to the ultralight movement of his day.

I'm not sure where he'd fall in today's range of traditionalist to ultralight backpackers, but I wouldn't expect him to doggedly stick to the exact same gear he used in his glory days, as his tribe of modern day followers do. They have him frozen in time, but I expect that he'd update his choice of gear as technology advanced,and probably have a mix.



Excellent point, wildman. Lost gear or gear that's soaked...