1 Heavy essential item you can’ leave at home?

[Curt Peterson]

Sandra,

Sounds like you already have the spare batteries, so this might be a bit late, but you can save a few $$ and never not worry so much but about battery life with these options:

Sidewinder manual charger: http://www.istdesigns.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=1

9V Battery key chain charger – ~$8
http://cgi.ebay.com/For-Palm-Treo-650-9V-Portable-Emergency-Battery-Charger_W0QQitemZ290018737930QQihZ019QQcategoryZ48663QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There are solar options as well.

I’m trading in my phone and Tungsten T3 for a Treo currently. What GPS system are you using?

By the way, are you the same Sandra from Applied Math??

-Curt

[Mike Barney]

I used a 10 V 200 mA solar panel (http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/oem_components/modspecs/mp72150.htm) on a recent 10 day 75 mile trek for recharging camera and cell phone batteries. Total weight with charging cords was 3.5 oz. and it’s about 10″ x 6″. One major advantage of the Iowa PowerFilm panels is they are incredible thin, lightwieght and flexible, and can be velcro’ed on the top or your pack or just set out in the sun for recharging.

While nominal 7.2V, it typically puts out between 10 and 11 Volts, which I found adequate to run the little chargers that are looking for 12V input (If the batteries you’re charging are 6V or less, you shouldn’t have a problem.) They make other sizes.

[Robin McKay]

You guys are going to kill me on this one. My one and only heavy item is a book. I just love setting up camp, washing off the days sweat, putting on dry cloths and slothing out in the pit with a good read. I usually consume the contents half way through a trip and leave the book in a hut for the next person. The only trouble is somebody usually does the same so I pick up that book to continue the trip. I hasten to add I take a paper back and not “war and Piece”!
I am trying to wean myself of this addiction. My big 14 day Christmas 06 trip could be when I go “cold turkey”!

[Vick Hines]

Dollars to donuts a book is the most common heavy luxury item. At least among us more smarter wilderlings.
Years ago the Early Winters company tried to promote books on microfische with a lightweight reader. It didn’t catch on. Unfortunately. Wouldn’t it be great if PDAs or Ebooks were light enough?

[Brian James]

PDAs with eBooks are lighter than most books and can hold millions of pages of text. Just get a monochrome screen and you’ll be able to read War and Peace twice on a set of batteries!

I used my old PALM IIIX for hours a day and I remember replacing the batteries monthly — if that. It’s the wireless features and color screens that give modern PDAs their comparatively short battery life. Aah, the good old days…

[John Carter]

You may also want to consider buying a small mp3 player that also plays audio books from http://www.audible.com. You can get some for less than an ounce now, I belive. If you go to their website, they list compatible devices. You can also search their library, which I have found to be quite extensive. You can download individual books, or for $20/month you can downlaod 2 books a month. That is a great deal considering many of the larger books on tape normally sell for between $30-$80.

I know it’s not quite as tactile and ‘romantic’ as a good paperback, but I have come to prefer audiobooks when hiking. Besides being able to listen to the book on the trail, I can listen while lying down or staring at nature–no more kinks in my neck from staring down at the pages, and I spend more time staring at and enjoying the beauty around me.

I personally use an Audiovox SMT-5600 Smartphone, available through Amazon for $100. It’s about half the size of a Palm Treo 650, it’s only 3.5oz with battery, and it plays audible.com books. Sometimes I take headphones, but often I just use the speakerphone. I average 17 hours of use on a single charge with the phone portion turned off (much better than any color Palm or Pocket PC phone I’ve ever tested).

I also use it with a bluetooth reciever (Globalsat SiRFIII, also with about 17 hour battery life), and download 7.5′ USGS quads using OutdoorNavigator.

Of course, you can also read eBooks too, but you use more battery with the backlight on than you do with audiobooks.

I also download podcasts, such as from http://www.trailcast.org, and sometimes mp3s (though I much prefer listening to audiobooks than music). Heck, I sometimes even transfer a movie onto my phone, though that’s usually for the kids on a long car trip.

You can also purchase a bluetooth keyboard for this, but I have not tested this, and I imagine it has the same problems as listed above with not being very steady on one’s lap, but I like knowing I could do office work if I really had to.

I know this is beginning to sound like an ad for this phone, but I have gone though quite a few phones and GPS’s, and this is by far the most elegant solution I’ve found; small, lightweight, great battery usage, rugged, a very stable OS, and as full-featured as a PocketPC phone (minus a touch-screen and qwert keyboard, but that makes it more rugged IMO).

[John S.]

Outdoor Navigator is no more.

https://outdoornavigator.maptech.com/outdoornavigator/index.cfm

[Dale Wambaugh]

” used my old PALM IIIX for hours a day and I remember replacing the batteries monthly — if that. It’s the wireless features and color screens that give modern PDAs their comparatively short battery life.”

There are still lot of Palm IIIxe’s and such out there, as well as Handprings. I’d love to see ebooks available on a chip like an SD card and a small monochrome battery operated PDA/reader. I’ve been converting Gutenberg texts to Palm Reader which is great for classics.
All the attemps at creating ebook systems required downloading texts on the Internet, which broke all the rules of book reading. A chip-based book could be packaged and sold right next to the paper version, and lent, traded, or sold just like a paper book. There is no need to have a reader much heavier than a Palm unit and the technology is all over the place. An encrypted chip would take care of the intellectual property rights and leave the device memory free for PDA functions. With SD-sized chips, you could carry a whole library inside the cover for the reader.

I want to do more writing than reading. I’ve used the Stowaway keyboards, but they require some sort of hard surface for support. I have a GoType! keyboard on the way from an Ebay auction. It is heavier, but I can sit it on my legs and type. It does have agood cover and is robust enough to survive life in a backpack. The Palm III/GoType! combo is the lightest viable electronic writing platform I have been able to put together and it runs on AAA batteries. Handwriting on the Palm is fine for notes, but you can’t wail out ideas like you can with a keyboard. I’m drooling over the Alphasmart Dana, but it is spendy and larger and weighs 2 pounds.

[Vick Hines]

I’m with you Dale:
Gimme chips
And while they are at it, the Palm III, which I use, takes AAA batteries making it practical in the field. But & its a BIG BUT, It is still too heavy and not nearly weatherproof enough. Mine stops working after a few days high humidity. It’s OK after it dries out. Impossible to keep dry enough in the long haul.

[David Lewis]

It’s HUGE… and weighs 250 grams / 8.5 oz… but the new Sony Reader PRS-500 is pretty cool. It’s the first electronic book reader to use e-Ink technology. e-ink… or e-Paper… for those who may not know… is a new display technology that is reflective rather than light emitting. That is… it doesn’t give off any light… you see what’s on the display by light reflecting off of it… so it looks just like real paper. The “paper” actually has millions of microscopic white and black “blobs” that, when charged, either float to the surface or sink to the bottom of the paper. There are color version too that work a little differently. It’s even flexible… like paper (although the Sony reader is not flexible). In the future… imagine a newspaper that is actually like a newspaper… actual sheets of “paper”… but you download a new issue each day. Don’t know if they’d actually make something like that… since it makes more sense in the digital realm to have just one sheet of “paper” and use a touch-activated page turning gesture to turn the page… but it could be done :)

The benefits of electronic paper are much higher resolution… they claim the display is almost as sharp as a laser print… it should also look the same from just about any viewing angle… and it also uses a lot less power. The Sony reader claims 7,500 page turns per charge. That’s a lot of books :)

Here’s a link

Oh… and this is just a reader BTW… no input. It’s meant purely as a book replacement… although it does play MP3’s.

[Mary Simpson]

I take a book–preferably something outdoorsey. I rip off the covers and extra pages to salve my conscience. Half a pound. Mary

[Rod Lawlor]

Mary,

I’m with you. Plus, I’m guessing you and I will find it much easier to get a fire started with our luxury item, than what all those gadget whoosies wll! ;>)

Rod

[Dale Wambaugh]

Did you mean wussies? :)

The only reason for the electronica is the multiple use factor: input as well as output. It is still hard to “curl up” with a PDA for a good read.

[Rod Lawlor]

Dale, I was thinking more like Whoosy-whatsits. Not sure of the spelling on that one tho.

Now input– Umm, a pencil? The batteries on those things seem to last forever!! :>)

And since I have to admit to being in awe of your gleaning ability (I saw your $1.99 windshirt) (Ever thought about gleaning to order? I reckon I’m not the only one who would be keen to retain your services) I pick up my bushwalking/rogaining/S&R pencils at the big Swedish indoor playground. They’re in the tray next to the free tape measures.

Cheers, Rod

[Dale Wambaugh]

Hmmm, don’t know if you mean a whatsit, a whatchamacallit or a thingamajig. I get the idea anyway :)

Yes, I will glean to order. That makes the challenge even more fun. I have a co-worker who I have been converting to UL hiking and she said she needed a deal on a microfleece shirt. Of course I found A Black Diamond one her size, color liking, and in like new condition for $2.99 :)

I got a used Bogen 3011 tripod with a 3126 fluid head at a garage sale this weekend for $1. I was flabbergasted (another good word)– that tripod goes for $179.00 new. It had some scratches, but was in perfect working condition. A Craigs List ad and 24 hours later, I had a $50 bill in my pocket.

Seriously, that wind shirt was on the same rack with a nice Columbia Omnitech parka, a Patagonia lined windshirt (like a Marmot DriClime windshirt), a pair of brand new Timberland hiking shorts and I did a quick scan of the women’s section and got my wife a pair of North Face pants– all were $2.99 each. I spent $15 and went home with a pile of clothing that would easily cost $350 new. It is rare to find that many quality items in good shape in the same place at the same time, but every now and then it is mind-blowing. I was on my way to picking my son up and made a 15 minute stop. My motto is, “you never know.”

[Rod Lawlor]

Dale,

And I was excited about getting a BD avalanche shovel for $A56 yesterday. Next time I’m over your side of the world, I’m coming on a shopping trip with you. Or maybe I should offer to run your kids around for a week!!

(I figure if I come take your neighbour out for a few beers, I can call it a conference, and write it off on my tax)

Cheers, Rod

{BTW if you ever see a cheap Snow Peak single wall 450ml Ti mug, you know who to call. :>) }

[David Lewis]

Dale wrote: It is still hard to “curl up” with a PDA for a good read.

I’d have to disagree. I’ve seen e-paper (like the Sony Reader uses) and it’s just like reading from paper. And I’d rather have one device with a hundred books on it than a million dead trees on a shelf made from more dead trees. A PDA… I agree… I would not want to read off your typical PDA with a small, low-res LCD screen… but the Sony reader is a completely different class of device. It is a viable book replacement.

One thing sorely missing from Sony’s reader is a gestural interface… i.e… touch the bottom right corner of the screen and “flick” your finger to turn to the next “page”… or the bottom left corner to turn back a page. This would be much more natural than pushing a tiny plastic button to turn a “page”… and it’s not far away at all. You might also touch two points with your index fingers and then drag them away from each other to make the text bigger (if you prefer big text)… or drag your fingers closer together to make the text smaller. Apple Computer is working on gestural interfaces and is rumored to be releasing products in the near future with this kind of technology. You’ll probably see it first in the iPod… and then other devices. Eventually… the age of pointing and clicking do do everything on-screen… which is about a sophicticated as a cave man pointing and grunting… will be a thing of the past… you’ll be able to interact directly with objects on the screen.

[Vick Hines]

Dale,
What are you doing? Dumpster diving on Rodeo Drive? My local Goodwill has nothing but overstock T-shirts from the last Snot Rockets tour.

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