eBooks for the Trail

7 oz !

I've been know to spend over $100 just to reduce by 4 oz…

As I'm sure you know you can make copies of the Secor pages that would be relevant for any particular trip… with photos…

as for book entertainment, have you considered one of the really small iPods? about the size of a quarter and weight about 1 oz… or so I am told…

me… I'm retro… the fewer electronics with me in the backcountry the more I like it… there's something about having my face glued to a screen that takes away from the wild places… and the screens are what I'm working so hard to get away from on a backpack…

just my 2cents… there's no 'right' way…

bill

Just for poops and giggles I weighed a random paperback book I saw laying on my desk. 10.3 oz. I have 30 books and counting on my Nook. As the OP mentioned, 7.1 oz on my scale. The screen on the nook is pretty easy on the eyes and imo very comparable to reading a real book as far as e readers go. The simple glow light on it is a godsend with my failing eyes as I'm not fighting to find the perfect angle/light for my book.

To the OP, I have a few guides on mine (traveling not nature) and based on my limited experience can't recommend the Nook for books like that. Hopefully you'll have better luck.

Check these:

http://www.ronwatters.com/BkRonList.htm

also

What Light Can Do: Essays on Art, Imagination, and the Natural World
by Robert Hass

Listening for Coyote: A Walk Across Oregon's Wilderness
by William L. Sullivan

I bring my Ipod Touch sometimes . 4.7oz can do Ebooks, music, games etc to keep entertained on solo trips at night.

Not going to see me with one on the trail…

however I have a Kindle and an iPad and have tons for books on them. I take them with me on business trips and it is nice to have a complete library on a single device.

Black and white (my Kindle) is good for reading. Pictures and other stuff much, much better on a color device. What I like about the iPad is that it syncs on my iPhone and computer. I can read the same books on my iPhone and the Kindle app remembers what page I was on if I was reading it on my computer or iPhone.

Although not easy until you figure out how to do it and buy an app, it is easy for me to upload PDF files to my iPad and the page formatting and such is way better than a Kindle book. Also nice to load owner's manuals on it too. I use my iPad every day, except when hiking.

Just me, but I am more in Doug's camp – I prefer more literary choices than manual and technical style books. Yes I am a bonafide gear head and gram weenie, but absolutely my entire concern is for all of that to totally fall away once I'm out there. This never completely happens, but the ultimate goal is for the gear to just disappear in my mind just as much as on my back.

Also, though like Nick I have all the stuff at home, I am *very* far from needing (or wanting) additional "entertainment", especially of the electronic variety, on a backpacking trip. Its kind of the point of the backpacking trip to take a laxative to get that stuff out of my system and see what is left.

That said, I have been known to print out little DIY pamphlets to read. Stuff like Emerson and Thoreau are good – there is a nice thin paperback of 'Walking" and "Nature" I take sometimes. Also Dogen's (Japanese Zen Master from 11th century) Mountains and Rivers Sutra is a good one because it makes little rational sense, and will bear reading over an over again like a poem. Now that is multi-use literature! Also it is only about 10 pages or so. Anyway, it seem to work for me on a longish trip.

I've never had an e-reader so I have nothing to say about that except maybe you should just try it out. I actually read a lot when I backpack after dinner usually till dark. I go to goodwill or other thrift stores and specifically look for slim paperbacks which don't weigh much. 5 oz. max for a 200 or more page book is pretty good. They are usually only 50 cents which is great. I mostly hike solo and for me a book is very comforting. I never used to bring one along and I enjoyed just staring at the scenery. But recently I always have a book on my trips. Soon I am heading out on a 6 week trip and I will be packing a small book into each resupply and I will see how it goes.

I don't think it would be a bad idea to have a thread where people post their "best of" selections for reading while backpacking. Make sure they are all public domain – suggesters need to find or create the text files. Probably should limit these to some page limit like 20 pages or less. Then we can put them all together and print them out in paperback/pamphlet form (lots of places to do this online) or otherwise provide the pfd file for people to use how they like, kind of like "BPL Best of Suggested Trail Reading, 2013". Not sure I would read it on the trail, but I would definitely read it.

I'm really just looking for the potential to carry multiple field guides in one package.

I have the literature covered (Thanks for the list Doug, I've actually read many on it but will look into some others).

______________________________________________

On a side note, I've never quite understood the "best books for backpacking" idea. A good book is a good book; I don't think that just because I'm in the wilderness I have to read Thoreau or Abbey or Stegner or Muir…nor something in the outdoor adventure category nor in the new age/religious/spiritual/self-realization category. These genres certainly seem to dominate reading while camping.

Last summer I read Walter M. Miller Jr. (A Canticle for Leibowitz), one by Phillip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), two by Cormac McCarthy (the last two of the border trilogy), one Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls…again), and even a Stephen King 1000 page epic (The Stand) while camping and backpacking.

Next reads on my list are Frank Herbert's Dune, and Jeremy Scahill's Dirty Wars. They'll be going into the mountains with me this summer.

Hi,

Is there anyone who use MP3 audio books instead of reading ebooks?
Sure, no guides in audio books, but for entertainment this might be not bad considering it's 1-2oz weight of MP3 player…

Yep. I use an Ipod shuffle with audio books. You can get some free stuff, which is generally not read by a professional, but good enough. I also get stuff from Itunes. Only problem is that I tend to fall asleep after a chapter or so and wake up again several chapters on:).

Currently I have some P G Wodehouse. If you find yourself in a situation where Wodehouse doesn't lift your spirits, at least a little, then you are in big trouble. Next I am going to try some McCarthy. I have read The Road three times now, and continue to be absolutely blown away by the brilliance of it, so I really need to move onto some of his other novels.

A couple weeks ago I was hiking in Massachusetts and saw many strange and exotic trees and plants. Took pictures of them and did identification when I got home.

"Is there anyone who use MP3 audio books instead of reading ebooks?"

Yes I have on multi week and multi month bicycle tours. I used an older model iPod Shuffle and later my phone. I have not done this on backpacking trips yet.

I have been using my phone (Galaxy Note 2) for many functions lately. It can be ebook reader, audio book reader, gps, phone, camera, journal, internet appliance, as well as a host of other things. The battery life is WAY better on my kindle though so there is that trade off.

"A couple weeks ago I was hiking in Massachusetts and saw many strange and exotic trees and plants. Took pictures of them and did identification when I got home."

Funny when someone's "strange and exotic" is someone else's normal backyard. I read your blog post.. good stuff. what part of MA were you in? NH has more of a mix between western views and eastern greenness.

Most of John Muir's books are available for free, along with Thoreau.

I like the Longstreet series of trail guides that have a mix of etching/drawn style illustrations with text that should read well on an eBook.

I think it makes sense that field guides will always be image laden. No free lunch there I'm afraid.

Jake,

Down near the MA/RI border. Franklin State Forest and parts of the Warner Trail. The map showed parts of it as swamps, however having hiked in FL and LA I am sure the denizen's of those locals would beg to differ on the definition of swamp :)

well if you're back in the area and want to do some more exposed stuff in NH let me know. I'd be up there tonight but Tstorm forecast for the week is not good.

Jake – you're on. Think I may be in NH sometime after summer.

Cool. I love the Whites so i'm always up for it.