Vent: wasted $60 on a fancy compass I never needed on the Appalachian Trail

I bought a $60 mirror compass with a clinometer before my first thru-hike of the AT (you know, thinking I'd need to navigate off-trail). After 2 months I realized I just used my phone's GPS and the trail markers, so it sat in my pack the whole time, adding weight. Has anyone else bought gear like this that turned out to be totally useless on the route?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanc326d ago

adding weight" - man that sucks but honestly it's such a classic rookie move lol. My buddy Greg bought this super expensive water filter pump thing for his PCT hike, like $80 or something, but he literally never used it because the trail had water caches and he just used tablets instead. The thing sat in his pack for 4 months just gathering dust and adding ounces. He still brings it up when we're drinking beer, calls it his "stupid tax" for that trip. At least you learned from it, most people just keep buying the same junk over and over.

troy8326d ago

Classic rookie move" is right... but I gotta call out the water filter thing a bit. Tablets are great for viruses and bacteria, but they don't filter out sediment or stuff like giardia cysts unless you wait way longer than the package says. Your buddy Greg might've been fine because the caches were probably treated, but on a lot of trails you actually need both the pump and the tablets to be safe. Still, $80 is a heavy "stupid tax" no matter how you slice it...