Sunday
Apr252010
Getting by on Less
Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 8:35AM
[col-sect][column]In backpacking, there are two camps: ultralight backpacking, and what I call "gear packing."
A true ultralight backpacker can get by living off a 12lb pack for 3-5 days. They sleep on the ground under a tarp, they eat super efficient (but not tasty) meals and they don't carry any extras. To the "Ultralight-ist," weight is what keeps you from being present in the wilderness. A heavy pack can get you hurt and it kills your endurance, limiting what you can accomplish. But God help you if things go south. In fact, most ultralight blogs have large sections devoted to survival.
On the same 5 day trip, a gear packer might be hauling 45lbs of tent, sleeping bag, pads, meals, first aid, games, and rope. This is the stuff of REI. If I'm honest, I've been in this category most of my life. Gear is fun and it does neat things. "GPS and batteries (and a solar kit) are so much more reliable than a topo map and a compass." But you don't go as far or as fast.
Right now, I would contend that solo journalists are in the second camp. A lot of new crap has come out. HDSLRs, awesome digital recorders-someday the Red Scarlet will actually exist–laptops, batteries, hard drives, cables and more cables. So, how do we get by on less? But not just us.[/column]
[column]It's the mantra of the journalism market right now. Can we get by on less staff? Can I get by with less clients? Can we get by with less ad revenue, less office space, a smaller distribution?
Even in the field, I'm constantly confronted with the need to scale down. Smaller budgets, less gear, less power access... in the journalism industry, the answer to can I get away with less? is probably going to be "yes" regardless of the question. Technology means we can shrink overheads, cut our gear footprint, even scale down staff. That's easy.
But we don't just mean "can I get by?" We mean "can I get by with most of my creature comforts and security."
The real question is, are you interested in the lifestyle attached to "less" and for most of us, the answer is much harder. Am I willing to scale down for the sake of speed and response? Can you sleep under a tarp for the sake of the story?
[/column][/col-sect]
A true ultralight backpacker can get by living off a 12lb pack for 3-5 days. They sleep on the ground under a tarp, they eat super efficient (but not tasty) meals and they don't carry any extras. To the "Ultralight-ist," weight is what keeps you from being present in the wilderness. A heavy pack can get you hurt and it kills your endurance, limiting what you can accomplish. But God help you if things go south. In fact, most ultralight blogs have large sections devoted to survival.
On the same 5 day trip, a gear packer might be hauling 45lbs of tent, sleeping bag, pads, meals, first aid, games, and rope. This is the stuff of REI. If I'm honest, I've been in this category most of my life. Gear is fun and it does neat things. "GPS and batteries (and a solar kit) are so much more reliable than a topo map and a compass." But you don't go as far or as fast.
Right now, I would contend that solo journalists are in the second camp. A lot of new crap has come out. HDSLRs, awesome digital recorders-someday the Red Scarlet will actually exist–laptops, batteries, hard drives, cables and more cables. So, how do we get by on less? But not just us.[/column]
[column]It's the mantra of the journalism market right now. Can we get by on less staff? Can I get by with less clients? Can we get by with less ad revenue, less office space, a smaller distribution?
Even in the field, I'm constantly confronted with the need to scale down. Smaller budgets, less gear, less power access... in the journalism industry, the answer to can I get away with less? is probably going to be "yes" regardless of the question. Technology means we can shrink overheads, cut our gear footprint, even scale down staff. That's easy.
But we don't just mean "can I get by?" We mean "can I get by with most of my creature comforts and security."
The real question is, are you interested in the lifestyle attached to "less" and for most of us, the answer is much harder. Am I willing to scale down for the sake of speed and response? Can you sleep under a tarp for the sake of the story?
[/column][/col-sect]
Reader Comments (4)
Thought provoking Shuler. The industry continues to try and weather the storm with less yet still providing almost as much content. Quality continues to suffer when we are pulled in six different directions. Keep up the trend observations.
Right! I think this idea of "weathering the storm" speaks at the heart of the issue: our world (and therefor our industry) is changing. I think we are in a situation similar to the Book Industry: Cost on entry is now very low where it used to be very high, the delivery mechanisms of choice are democratizing, and there are only more people interested in saying, "I'm a photojournalist!" than ever before. Bottom line, we can't compete in every direction like you said, and we are probably too bloated to move forward with excellence.
I could sleep under a tarp for the sake of a story, but why do it more than once?
To keep your pack really freaking light.