Customer Reviews

The Appalachian Trail Backpacker: Trail-Proven Advice for Hikes of Any Length

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The AT Backpacker is a well-written, no-nonsense guide. The Logues give the low down on hiking with an eye toward the Appalachian Trail. I found everything I needed to know about foods to eat and how to be safe in drinking water. They also go through the dizzying array of gear out there, from tents and backpacks to stoves, sleeping bags, boots and clothes, all with the AT in mind. There are also chapters on winter backpacking, backpacking with children, and long distance hiking which expand on the basics.

An earlier edition of this book gave me the confidence to get out on the trail for some shorter hikes (weekend hikes and a week-long trip). I have used the checklist for overnight hikes in the back of the book to prepare for many hikes and find it the best equipment checklist anywhere.

I bought this third edition to get the latest as I prepare for a thru-hike of the AT. The Logues have made numerous changes throughout the book. I'm glad they have kept the AT Backpacker current. The additional appendix on websites has proved helpful for planning my hike.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more before hitting the AT for a hike.

The only things more annoying than the complete absence of any useful information were the condescending attitudes of the authors. They open the book by bashing some children for not knowing the exact start of the Appalachian Trail. All non-thru hikers are portrayed as unenlightened idiots. The authors seem to forget or ignore that for anyone who hasn't thru-hiked the AT, there are going to be a lot of the usual questions ("How much food do you carry?" "How long have you been in the woods?") Maybe the authors should show a little more patience when asked these questions, especially by Trail Angels.

We could've written a better book by spending a few hours in a hiking store. Nothing was specific to the AT. 90% of the book was sheer common sense. (p. 89, second sentence, "You don't want to wear wool pants and a sweater when it's 90 degrees outside." ) Gee, thanks.

This was one of the worst purchases we have ever made.

This book is very well written, including gear reviews, trail tips, advice, and references for collecting additional information. While not enough to plan a hike solely on the basis of what is written, it surely is useful for AT day hikes, thru-hikes, or any hike you make care to attempt. Best for beginner-to -intermediate level backpackers. but everyone can learn something new from it.

The Appalachian Trail Backpacker taught me what I needed to know to successfully thru-hike the A.T. The advice is straightforward, and the anecdotes make it enjoyable to read.

This is a super little book that has a lot of practical information on backpacking and hiking. There are sections on nearly every type of gear, food, shelters, wildlife, hiking strategy, and trail courtesy. Most of the information is not specific to the AT, and you probably won't find much use for the book once you're out on the trail. The book has thorough appendix that list gear, other sources of information, and AT organizations. The book is aimed more towards the novice, but since the authors relied on hikers with more than 100,000 miles of AT knowledge, nearly everyone should be able to find something useful in this book.

The Appalachian Trail Backpacker delivered what it promised--trail tested advice for hikes of any length. I found the info I wanted to give me the confidence I needed to get out for a week long hike on the AT. They taught me everything I needed to know to go out and do it. I recommend this book to anyone interested in hiking the AT. It's a well-written, no nonsense guide.

This book provides vital information for anyone preparing to hike any part of the AT. This book utilizes good format with headings and different sections to outline almost anything that one will need to know about planning a hike from packpack size to water filters. Since the book is advice from other hikers, it is general information, but DEFINITELY useful! I was extremely pleased!!

This is a number one book. It has all the simple features of an easy to read book. This is good for Hiking the AT or just hiking and camping in general!A humorous book,with a lot of good stories and hints. VERY HELPFUL!

This guide is advertised as a tool to use when hiking the Appalachian Trail, but the information about preparation, mental and physical conditioning, choice of gear, meals, insects, first aid and dangers is very useful to anyone planning a hike of more than one day. The information I read will be very useful when I do my Appalachian Trail next year.

I am relatively new to backpacking, did some as a kid. This book is full of useful info for almost any length hike. I haven't thru hiked the AT yet and probably won't anytime soon. 5 or so months is a long time in the woods, work would suffer. For the short trips I do have time for this book is very handy. I think if you need a book (as I did) to help you with preparing this is a good one!