The Things They Carried Part I

In the 1990 book of the same title by Tim O’Brien (thank you Jeremy for the gift!), he writes about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and what they carried in their rucksacks – both literally – and also what they carried with them in terms of other emotions and memories.

In this post, I wanted to give some sense of what I am carrying in my bags and backpacks, and save some of the thoughts, hopes and fears fora Part II.

I love electronics and technology – heck, it’s the field that’s been my career for a long time!

In the picture above is a small collection of what will be carried – some only to base camp, others to the top.  From top left to bottom right: GoPro helmet and chest mountable automatic HD/still picture camera capable of 30fps & 1080p (thank you GoPro), two other hand cameras – both all weather and 10-13mp, three iPods (they are fragile on the mountain and get cold and stop easily) with some special Everest song lists, audio books and comedy clips , a ruggedized Panasonic ToughBook Pro with 320gb of storage, 3G connect (and currently loaded with about 25 hi-def movies thanks to Nick to kill time at base camp), Amazon Kindle with about 20 new and unread books – also for base camp tent time), two high altitude altimeter watches (thanks Leonora), satellite phone from GMPCS and Inmarsat capable of 11hrs standby time (thanks to Juniper), a small solar charger for the smaller electronics and a largish IDG (made in Sweden!) solar display charger by capable of charging laptop, cameras and sat phone.

All of this has to come with a myriad of batteries, storage cards, cords, cables, chargers, connectors, straps, cases, straps and converters – where one tries to consolidate the different connectors into reusable items.

To make this all work seamlessly and ability store and transmit both live and delayed voice, data, images, messages and video is just as complex.

This site will be the main vehicle to post updates and photos and videos both during and after the expedition.  I’ve set up a Google phone number that is linked to a dedicated email address (climbingandrunning@gmail.com) where some volunteers will pick up the recorded messages that are automatically (but not perfectly) transcribed and then posted on this site – which updates Facebook and Twitter.  I can also receive text messages for free which can be sent from the GMPCS site from anyone and I can call or send messages from same phone.  Dan and the SummitClimb team will have internet access to send photos, mail and low res video from the expedition desk in camp – which requires me to pull everything off of the cameras to get to the shared PC or send from my own through potential WiFi and 3G connections at low altitude.  And the trusty iPhone will have calling, texting, twittering, Facebook and email reading/sending capabilities (at some exorbitant roaming prices).

Whew!  I’m exhausted just writing about it, let alone trying to keep things warm and stored and protected.

The gear and assorted other carry-ons will have to wait to Part Ib!