Jorgen Johansson was a traditional backpacker for decades until he started using and adapting ultralight and lightweight backpacking techniques to the demanding circumstances of the tundra mountains of northern Europe. Apart from his books he also contributes articles to outdoor magazines and holds courses and lectures on lightweight hiking techniques. More info can be found at www.smarterbackpacking.com -- from publisher.
For the first time since 1984, we have a new edition of the classic book that Field & Stream called “the Hiker’s Bible.” For this version, the celebrated writer and hiker Colin Fletcher has taken on a coauthor, Chip Rawlins, himself an avid outdoorsman and a poet from Wyoming. Together, they have made this fourth edition of The Complete Walker the most informative, entertaining, and thorough version yet. The eighteen years since the publication of The Complete Walker III have seen revolutionary changes in hiking and camping equipment: developments in waterproofing technology, smaller and more durable stoves, lighter boots, more manageable tents, and a wider array of food options. The equipment recommendations are therefore not merely revised and tweaked, but completely revamped. During these two decades we have also seen a deepening of environmental consciousness. Not only has backpacking become more popular, but a whole ethic of responsible outdoorsmanship has emerged. In this book the authors confidently lead us through these technological, ethical, and spiritual changes. Fletcher and Rawlins’s thorough appraisal and recommendation of equipment begins with a “Ground Plan,” a discussion of general hiking preparedness. How much to bring? What are the ideal clothes, food, boots, and tents for your trip? They evaluate each of these variables in detail—including open, honest critiques and endorsements of brand-name equipment. Their equipment searches are exhaustive; they talk in detail about everything from socks to freeze-dried trail curries. They end as they began, with a philosophical and literary disquisition on the reasons to walk, capped off with a delightful collection of quotes about walking and the outdoor life. After a thoughtful and painstaking analysis of hiking gear from hats to boots, from longjohns to tent flaps, they remind us that ultimately hiking is about the experience of being outdoors and seeing the green world anew. Like its predecessors, The Complete Walker IV is an essential purchase for anyone captivated by the outdoor life.
Backpacker brings the outdoors straight to the reader's doorstep, inspiring and enabling them to go more places and enjoy nature more often. The authority on active adventure, Backpacker is the world's first GPS-enabled magazine, and the only magazine whose editors personally test the hiking trails, camping gear, and survival tips they publish. Backpacker's Editors' Choice Awards, an industry honor recognizing design, feature and product innovation, has become the gold standard against which all other outdoor-industry awards are measured.
Backpacker brings the outdoors straight to the reader's doorstep, inspiring and enabling them to go more places and enjoy nature more often. The authority on active adventure, Backpacker is the world's first GPS-enabled magazine, and the only magazine whose editors personally test the hiking trails, camping gear, and survival tips they publish. Backpacker's Editors' Choice Awards, an industry honor recognizing design, feature and product innovation, has become the gold standard against which all other outdoor-industry awards are measured.
A comprehensive guide covering every aspect of how to backpack--from planning a first trip to advanced wilderness travel. For those new to the activity, longtime backpacker and author Brian Beffort covers the fundamentals, with sections on trip planning, gear, backcountry nutrition and cooking, navigation, and other essential wilderness skills. You will also learn what to expect on the trail and in camp, and how to stay safe with first aid, weather preparedness, and more. For experienced packers, this book is filled with practical tips and inspired ideas on how to update and refine your approach to backpacking based on trends in lightweight gear, high-tech gadgets, changing wilderness rules, and increasing opportunities for wilderness travel around the world.
Backpacker Magazine’sThe Complete Guide to Backpacking combines and distills the most useful and relevant skills necessary for backpacking in one easy to use guide, from the most respected authority on backpacking— Backpacker magazine. From detailed descriptions of what to pack and how to pack it, to navigation and campsite cooking, to managing outdoor hazards and more, The Complete Guide to Backpacking is the definitive resource for Backpacking-related know-how.
The backcountry is full of great stories, and we’re proud to bring you this collection of some of our favorites. From a peek at the military’s survival school to a journey inside the fledgling conservative Christian environmental movement, in every way, these stories exemplify the power of quality writing and the transformative experience of the outdoors. Table of Contents: Madman Walking? How hard is hiking the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail in one season? On average, the success rate for Everest climbers is better than would-be thru-hikers. Warren Doyle has hiked the AT 16 times, and he has a no-fee plan guaranteed to help others do it too. The toughest part? Hiking with Warren Doyle. By Bill Gifford Are You Tough Enough? Every backpacker dreams of a glory job in the outdoors. And mountain guide is the most glorious of them all. So what does it take to become one? Here’s how one hiker turned fantasy into reality. By Shannon Davis Hike, Pray, Protest Something curious is happening in evangelical churches and colleges across the country. Beneath the media radar, thousands of deeply conservative Christian youth are reimagining Jesus as a Leatherman-toting, wilderness-tramping eco-crusader. They’re hitting the trail, joining anti-coal marches, and professing a green theology that breaks with centuries of church dogma. But can this fledgling movement succeed? By Tracy Ross Die Another Day The surest way to get in trouble in the backcountry? Keep going forward when you should really be going back. One stubborn mountaineer examines the fine line between triumph and tragedy. By Mark Jenkins Around the Alps in 80 Days Well, maybe 105. But who’s counting when it comes to an all-new adventure in Switzerland, the well-trod birthplace of trekking and climbing? Our man defies conventional wisdom with a 1,400-mile circumnavigation of this über-mountainous kingdom. By John Harlin The Long Way Home Fifteen years ago, Karl Bushby made a vow: He would walk from the tip of South America back to his native England. Since then, he’s crossed Central America’s guerilla-ridden Darien Gap, traversed an ice bridge across the Bering Strait, and hiked some 17,000 miles. He’s also left behind his family, and recently, seen his expedition grind to a halt. It may be time to ask: When is a hike too far? By Bill Donahue Your Brain on Hiking Yes, the views and fresh air and exercise make every backpacking trip worthwhile. But now, new research shows, staying home is just plain dumb. Learn why backpacking boosts brainpower in this exclusive report from the frontiers of environmental neuroscience. By Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan Survival Bootcamp When an Air Force crew goes down behind enemy lines, evading capture is priority #1. But finding food, water, and shelter follow closely. At the military’s top-secret survival school, soldiers learn how to escape their worst-case scenario. With the highest level of access ever granted to a journalist, our scout learns how to escape when Mother Nature is only one of your worries. By Brian Mockenhaupt Everest Confidential Everyone wants to trek to the world’s highest mountain, which makes Everest basecamp Nepal’s busiest hike. But you can see the Himalayan giants without the crowds on the Three Passes route, a high-altitude tour de force that cross three saddles more than 17,000 feet high. By Justin Nyberg Over the Edge Nearly 150 years after John Wesley Powell’s pioneering trip through the Grand Canyon, the park still conceals remarkable places no humans have ever seen. Our man joins a crew of explorers on a journey of discovery. By John Harlin The Jesus Trail Every hike is a pilgrimage, but this new path from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee is holier than most. Literally following in His footsteps, the 40-mile route immerses hikers in biblical history—and a culturally diverse region where you’ll find traditional hospitality, not modern hostility. By Dennis Lewon Going, Going...Gone? For decades, hikers have journeyed to Isle Royale National Park for a life-list experience: see the island’s iconic wolves. But with the fragile population in jeopardy, biologists fear the Isle Royale pack will soon be extinct. By Gustave Axelson
Backpacker brings the outdoors straight to the reader's doorstep, inspiring and enabling them to go more places and enjoy nature more often. The authority on active adventure, Backpacker is the world's first GPS-enabled magazine, and the only magazine whose editors personally test the hiking trails, camping gear, and survival tips they publish. Backpacker's Editors' Choice Awards, an industry honor recognizing design, feature and product innovation, has become the gold standard against which all other outdoor-industry awards are measured.
Move over traditional sightseeing, throngs of visitors, and tourist traps! Explore Europe on Foot gives travelers an alternative way to discover Europe. A hiking vacation offers countless rewards: the time to admire the tidiness of a village farm, soak in the rugged alpine view from a rocky perch, and absorb a country through the smells of its landscape and encounters with locals. Explore Europe on Foot is a complete guide to conceptualizing, planning, and executing the slow-travel hike (or hikes!) of a lifetime. Author Cassandra Overby tells you how you can spend all, or even just part, of your vacation enjoying scenery, small towns, and cultural experiences most travelers miss—all without carrying a big backpack. This guide offers all the nuts and bolts you need: how to choose a route that is right for you, how to plan, what to pack, what to expect, how to find accommodations and food, how to deal with challenges along the way, and so much more. These aren’t wilderness backpacking trips, but rather a wide range of town-to-town walks that offer the opportunity to have an authentic, affordable, restorative vacation. Travelers will also appreciate overviews of fifteen long-distance trails in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, with itineraries that range from one to fifteen days. For those unwilling to go all-in, Cassandra also offers tips on incorporating day-hike outings into a more traditional vacation. The focus is on how to craft that more immersive vacation so users of the guide will be able to apply what they learn to their own dream destinations. 15 Handpicked Walks include: Rota Vicentina, Portugal English Way, Spain Mont Saint-Michel, FranceTour du Mont Blanc, France and Italy Cinque Terre 2.0, Italy Lycian Way, Turkey Alpine Pass Route, Switzerland King Ludwig’s Way, Germany The Moselle, Germany The Ardennes, Luxembourg and Belgium The Lake District, England, UK West Highland Way, Scotland, UK Laugavegur Trek, Iceland The Sahara Desert, Morocco
Backpacker magazine–branded and fueled by Falcon-Guides, this book provides essential mind gear from the two most respected and reliable publishers of outdoor-related information. Perfect for pack or pocket, it breaks down its subject into the essential topics, providing practical and portable information useful in the field. Full-color photos, charts, and illustrations are organized with text by an expert in a brief and accessible manner, introducing readers to basic and intermediate skills needed to safely and successfully get by in the outdoors. Backpacker Magazine's Backpacking Basics informs readers about choosing where to go; selecting the appropriate gear; properly packing their equipment; finding their way in the wilderness; and planning easy and tasty meals. This handy pocket-sized guide is 96 pages, includes two popouts, and incorporates color photos, charts, and illustrations as needed throughout the interior.
