Customer Reviews

Lightweight Backpacking and Camping: A Field Guide to Wilderness Equipment, Technique, and Style (Backpacking Light)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who are skeptical that backpacking relatively comfortably while carrying less weight is possible, this book does a pretty good job of making the case for dropping the extra pounds. However, if you're already convinced that lightweight or ultra lightweight backpacking is the way to go, this book feels a lot like preaching to choir.

I've been a lightweight convert for two years, and I bought this book hoping to learn some advice and techniques to shave my pack weight down even further. While the book has some useful specifics on some topics (I now swear by the bear bagging technique I learned from it, and the first aid section is very good), I found that it mostly lacked the level of detail I was looking for.

The essays all talk about how great going lightweight is and drool over expensive boutique gear. Indeed, there is a distinctly worshipful tone when discussing the latest carbon fiber and silnylon technologies. The book promotes a lot of very high end equipment while remaining seemingly oblivious to far less expensive alternatives that offer minimal performance compromises. But nothing really goes into specifics beyond what you could find on the internet for free. For example, the book extols the virtues of using a tarp tent, and has pictures of several brands, but provides only vague information on how to actually pitch one correctly, or how to pitch one when there aren't any trees while keeping it stable.

It seems obvious to me that carrying 20lbs would be better than carrying 50, I no longer need to be convinced. I was looking for more technical information and this book just didn't have it.

Also, the book is really just a collection of essays, many of which were written for Ryan Jordan's magazine/web site Backpacking Light, and as a result the book lacks a consistent voice and tone. The essays are also not really organized in an intuitive way.

Ryan Jordan also seems obsessed with light weight for light weight's sake, rather than as a means to add enjoyment to your backpacking experience. Sure it possible to get your pack weight down to 5lbs, if you're willing to shell out lots of money for lightweight fabrics and gear that's often not versatile and that you will probably have to replace every season because of its lack of durability. This might give you bragging rights at the trailhead, but I question if its really worth the added expense and inconvenience over say, a 15 pound pack, which is less weight than the average middle schooler carries every day, and can be acquired much less expensively.

This book has some useful ideas and recommendations on gear, so I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about lightweight backpacking for the first time, which is why I'm giving it three stars. If you've already shed some pounds from your pack, or are trying to enjoy the outdoors on a fixed budget, there are better and more detailed books out there, like The Complete Walker IV or Ray Jardine's Beyond Backpacking.

Ryan Jordan's Book has no index, and that always bugs me. It is a collection of pieces by no less than eleven different authors. The central idea is that you should lighten up you pack, even though the preface admits that it isn't for everyone. He believes you can maintain, if not increase, comfort and safety with lighter gear. They don't necessarily recommend the most expensive or fashionable gear offered by current manufacturers, and I find that refreshing. The authors offer some very accurate data and information on lightweight gear, food and first aid. It reflects the trend toward lighter weight backpacking that has been going on for some time. Much of the information, but certainly not all of it, already exists in other backpacking bibles and on the Internet. The book is well organized and I especially liked the way some subjects were classified and explained, like "Protection" and "Risk Management". For me it seemed to be an above average book on the subject of backpacking (I have read several), but not superior. Perhaps it is just a matter of style. Nevertheless it is a valuable reference for the light and ultralight backpacker.

This book is well worth reading. It is not, as the authors assert, the new ultralight hikers bible. It is useful to compare this book to Ray Jardine's classic Beyond Backpacking. I see it as a good update and companion to Jardine's book. This field guide, edited by Ryan Jordan with contributions by himself and several others, certainly has the advantage of a variety of very sound authors. Jardine asserts only one way of doing things. However Jardine's way is much closer to my preferred style of hiking than Jordan, et al. Jordan focusses on finding excellent commercial ultralight gear; Jardine gives instructions for making and improvising gear. On a variety of topics, from water purification to nutrition to pack design, I tend to agree with Jardine over Jordan and his pals. But if the Ray Way doesn't work for you, perhaps this will be your hiking bible.

This book does contain comprehensive and useful information on first aid, a wide range of shelter and sleep systems and apparel, and general hiking styles that are not covered by Jardine. It also gives good information on commercially made, but hard to find, ultralight gear. For this info it is well worth the price.

Jordan can be highly technical. Here is a typical quote:
"..this excercise emphasises the downward force of gravity that exerts itself at the center of gravity of both pack and the body. The horizontal distance between these two distances is called the moment arm. In turn, the force exerted on the body's musculature to remain stable by that moment arm, which I refer to as pack torque (T), is defined as the rotational force exerted by the pack on the body."

You can simply gloss over the many passages like this if you don't want to follow Jordan's math. Jordan uses analysis like this to evaluate gear - very impressive. My only problem with it is that the conclusions he arrives at often don't agree with what works for me in the field.

After purchasing several books on backpacking, I was starting to come to the conclusion that most books simply were written by an author with the idea of pushing their own ideas of backpacking. Everything had this slant, but I decided to give Lightweight Backpacking and Camping a shot. I'm so glad I did.

First, with all the various authors, you get different perspectives on ultralight backpacking. No one approach is necessarily the right way, and different views and tones in thier writings help to cement that idea.

Second, this isn't necessarily a "gear guide" type book with listings of what gear to buy. While there are suggestions, they comprise a small amount of the text, which instead focuses on the meat of ultralight backpacking.

While it is true that a previous reviewer, Andrew Skurka works for Ryan Jordan, what he says is no less accurate. It is, quite simply, the best book out there for ultralight backpacking. Further, it works well for the beginner backpacker or the advanced hiker like Andrew.

Now, despite the five star rating, it's not without some flaws. First, one company seems to get top billing in most all of the gear suggestions, though admittedly they tend to be the lightest gear out there. Second, as another review said, there is no index, which makes looking up information a bit more difficult. Still, to me these are insufficient to rate this text as less than a five. Style issues in the layout and a brand preference I don't necessarily share are minor things not worth considering in my opinion.

I thought this was a pretty good book. Equipment changes quickly, but the book is fairly recent (2005/2006), and the authors generally tend to do a good job of explaining basic principles (e.g., loops are more durable than grommets in a tarp), rather than focusing on specific brands and models that will quickly become out of date.

I'm a geek, so I enjoyed the tech stuff, like the discussion of the torque exerted by the backpack. For me, this analytical engineering approach works much better than some of the alternatives, such as: fanboyism; gushy New Age stuff; or original ultralight guru Ray Jardine's dogmatic opinions on issues like unprocessed food, which he doesn't back up with any evidence.

The bad news is that it's not really a coherent book, it's an anthology of magazine articles. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of an index. It's a real drag when, e.g., tarps are discussed both on p. 176 and 291, but there's no index that would let you find both discussions of the topic.

Reading some of the other reviews, I notice some complaints about the focus on western US hikes and western US suppliers. This may be a valid point against the book if you're not in the western US, but it worked fine for me as someone who does all his backpacking in California.

I want to emphasize that the only reason this book doesn't rate 5 stars is that, being written in 2005, it is now a little dated regarding cutting-edge equipment developments. And despite what a previous review said about this book lacking a soul (or whatever nonsense the reviewer was muttering), technology matters in this field. Otherwise we would all still be hauling canvas tents and sleeping under buffalo skins, wouldn't we?

This book is not for warm-fuzzy touchy-feely neo-hippies interested in the zen of hiking. This book presupposes that you already know why you hike, and that you want to hike better. It immediately makes its case for lightening your load- which seems intuitive, I know, but almost everyone carries more weight than they need to. About half of the book is a detailed technical analysis of various subjects. For instance, a couple of chapters are spent on the mechanics of human walking, and how footwear works. No kidding. (Not a surprise, really, considering that Leki trekking poles come with walking instructions!) There is a chapter on how carrying a pack affects human walking, how best to carry a pack depending upon what you're doing, etc. There is a discussion on thermoregulation, including techniques for combating the sources of heat loss- conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation.

I thought that there was actually very little fanboy behavior, contrary to an earlier review. If Ryan tended to recommend the same companies over and over again it is because in 2005 there were only a few fringe companies making certain ultralight items. On the contrary, he discusses options in great detail, including inexpensive ones, listing pros and cons. Most hikers are familiar with the differences between down and synthetic sleeping bags. This book goes a step further and discusses several different synthetic alternatives- and this is one area where the book can be dated since new insulations have been developed- in particular the new continuous-filament ones. It also discusses exactly what all the current (for 2005) miracle fabrics are and how they work- like Gore-Tex, Epic, etc. It unflinching tells you the ways in which they fall short, too, in particular when discussing "waterproof-breathable" footwear.

Again, being dated, many of the specific products he lists as examples are no longer made, or have since been changed somewhat, but almost all of the fringe ultralight companies are still in operation.

Despite being a little dated when discussing this gear minutia, this book nonetheless contains the best technical discussion of hiking and camping technology you will find, without the commercial gibberish that you get from the manufacturers.

That said, a previous reviewer was correct- the book chapters were actually authored by many people who work for Ryan at BackPackingLight.com, as well as Ryan himself, and many chapters began life as articles in the magazine. The upside of this is that the authors tend to really know what they are writing about. No kidding, they do. People who work for Ryan teach the NOLS courses, for instance. Incidentally, at the risk of sounding like a commercial endorsement, the (NOT free) website continues with very detailed technical assessments, if you are looking up to date for specifics on individual pieces of gear. For instance, at least one reviewer not uncommonly measures humidity and dewpoint in tents that he reviews. Another series discusses carbon monoxide measurements while cooking in a tent with various stoves (which is definitely NOT recommended by ANYBODY).

This is a GREAT book for the technically minded people who are scratching their heads trying to decipher commercial advertising claims, and understand what is really going on with their gear.

Great reference with lots of practical information on ultralight backpacking. It's full of ideas on how to keep your pack light without compromising too on much comfort.

This book is a great in-depth manual for the art of UL hiking. They are a little sold-out to promoting their own products, but still highly recommended.

Backpackers who hope to lighten their load will find valuable information in this book. I did. I was impressed with the author's experience, knowledge and research. He clearly offers a unique perspective on the art and science of lightweight backpacking. With the current technology available I am also convinced that the days of 30+ pound backpacks are over when one is heading out for a week on the trail.

This the best book on the subject. I think the detail is a bit too much for the novice. "Lighten Up" is a better introductory work, but the depth offered here is without comparison. I loved it all except for the detail on walking. Either I don't have the patience/intellect, or it's just a bit too much. All that said, it truly is the best book on the subject, and I learned an incredible amount from it.