Pack Mule? Or at least a Cart to carry this stuff around!

[DougC]

I call 'em like I see 'em. If that offends you, that is your right.

[GypsyHighSide]

There are companies that specialize in carts for use on sporting clays courses. Here is a link to Rugged Gear Carts. They should be able to carry all of your gear. There is a youtube video on the page as well. I hope this helps.

Shooting Carts

[parrotmomma]

Rob, thanks for the link. Those are nifty carts and it looks like they took the jogging stroller frame and adapted it for shooting. I did end up getting a stroller and making a cart out of it, which I posted pics of on another post. But this has given me some ideas for additional storage, so I think I'll hit the stores again and see what I can come up with. I like the ammo tray on the handle bars.

[Abel]

Did everyone not see my post in regards to laying off and reading our rules?!

[jeffkohn]

It was nothing personal. The bottom line is she asked specifically about a cart and she mentioned that not only does she carry multiple lenses, she USES all of them all the time. A simple answer to a simple question was desired. My interpretation of answers like yours and several others is that one might take it to mean they are doing something wrong by using multiple lenses.

The thing is, sometimes the questions folks ask just aren't going to have the answers they want to hear. I have nothing against using multiple lenses; when the situation allows I tend to bring as many lenses as I can (and I have quite few). But sometimes you have to face reality and recognize that circumstances dictate a different approach, and adapt your thinking to the situation.

If the original question was about something for hauling gear at the beach, or on downtown city streets, that would be one thing. But Suzanne specifically mentioned hiking in Grand Teton NP, presumably at least some of the time on trails up into the mountains. Anybody who has been hiking on trails like that will tell you that there is just no way you're going to be able to take any sort of cart or modified stroller with you. Even if you somehow managed to do it (and I don't think you can), the fact is that you would be a huge nuisance to other hikers, and even pose a threat/danger in some sections of the trail. Mountain hiking trails just aren't designed for wheeled traffic.

I'm sorry to hear Suzanne & her husband have back problems that make carrying a camera backpack unthinkable. But that doesn't change the fact that if you want to carry a significant amount gear into the mountains, a backpack, chest harness, or belt system is the only realistic solution. Either that or scale back the gear.

The thread title jokingly mentions pack mules, but pack animals are a far more realistic solution than a stroller. The downside is that you'll be limited to multi-use trails (many trails in national parks are intended for hikers only); and you'll have to charter your hikes through an outfitter that offers such a service.

[parrotmomma]

I guess this all began with MY fault for not being more specific with describing the exact nature of the trails we plan on hiking. If you've ever been to Yellowstone or Teton, you'll know there are hundreds of trails, and yes, some of them do go waaay up into the mountains. But many of them just go around a limited area; a lake, a geyser, a hot spring area. There are a few that are well established and may go a mile or two, to a waterfall etc., but they're easy and level, and not hard to navigate for the thousands of people who do it with a baby stroller, so I don't see them as an issue with my cart. These are the trails we will doing most of our hiking on. There may be some that the cart obviously won't traverse, so either we'll skip them or lug the bag. It isn't rocket science to figure out which are which, and I'm not so totally dense that I would try to push a baby buggy up a cliff and endanger other people.

Sorry this has caused so much controversy!

[groovyone]

No need to apologize, Suzanne

[jeffkohn]

....easy and level, and not hard to navigate for the thousands of people who do it with a baby stroller, so I don't see them as an issue with my cart.

OK, that's certainly a different scenario from the meaning I took when you originally mentioned 'hiking', and I suspect from some of the other replies that I'm not the only one.

[parrotmomma]

Jeff, I certainly don't want to get ugly like some of the other posts have been, but honestly if I meant mountain climbing, I'd have said "mountain climbing". In your avatar.. is that you at Gorman Falls? It looks like Gorman Falls. To me that's "hiking". And "easy and level" does not mean clamoring over boulders or rappelling up or down cliffs. To me "hiking" is traversing a path that isn't paved. "Backpacking" is something different, that usually applies to carrying things on your back, over very long distances, and often overnight. If anyone assumed that by "hiking" I meant "backpacking" it would not seem logical that I would ask about a cart. I was trying to be "funny" about the term "packmule" as that is the pet name my husband has given himself. Again, I'm really sorry I asked!!

Edited to add: And regardless of my proper or improper use of a term, I asked about carts and only carts, and the majority of posts had something else to say regarding lenses and backpacks. I think that's the main issue, is that so much of what was said was contradictory to what I was asking. I do appreciate all the replies, but really all I wanted was ideas for carts.

[Abel]

Dead Horse.

Errr... or it should that be:

Dead Pack Mule.



Thread Closed.