Does your bushwalking library count as "Equipment"??

[Moondog55]

I replied to the author of this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10969

Being a dinosaur and a bit of a hoarder and packrat I do have quite a library of books related to this subject, I was surprised however that my only guidebooks are souvenirs from O/S.
I assume most of the rest of you also have lots of walking and climbing related books on your shelves.

[Pongo]

They most definitely do form part of my kit.

I love bush walking books and guide books alike and really have to resist picking them up. I'm new to walking, but at this point have 2 guide books on vic day walks, chapmans OLT and SCT books, a book on the apalacian (300 zeros) and text book style guide to bushwalking.

A cookbook is on the list next, then some more apalacian stuff and maybe something on k2... then...

[ULWalkingPhil]

I love reading.
I take a amazon kindle with me on my hikes and its always included in my base weight. Ive got apx 60 books, most of them on hiking

[enjois]

Guides and reference books are definitely an integral part of my kit. A lot of my walking has been in unfamiliar territory (Nepal, USA, Europe) and without guidebooks my experiences would have been a lot less rewarding. Nothing can replace local knowledge, but a guidebook at least allows you to identify flora and fauna, and a well written guidebook will also usually provide interesting facts and anecdotes about the area you are exploring. pity they are so *&%$#! heavy...

[ULWalkingPhil]

Guides and reference books are definitely an integral part of my kit. A lot of my walking has been in unfamiliar territory (Nepal, USA, Europe) and without guidebooks my experiences would have been a lot less rewarding. Nothing can replace local knowledge, but a guidebook at least allows you to identify flora and fauna, and a well written guidebook will also usually provide interesting facts and anecdotes about the area you are exploring. pity they are so *&%$#! heavy...

thats where the Kindle comes in handy, its apx 240grams, but it does hold a lot of books.

[enjois]

thats where the Kindle comes in handy, its apx 240grams, but it does hold a lot of books.

I've never looked in to the range of outdoors ebooks available. How is the selection? very US specific or can you get a pretty decent number of ebooks specific to different regions?? is Amazon the best place to look?

[ULWalkingPhil]

thats where the Kindle comes in handy, its apx 240grams, but it does hold a lot of books.

I've never looked in to the range of outdoors ebooks available. How is the selection? very US specific or can you get a pretty decent number of ebooks specific to different regions?? is Amazon the best place to look?

selections are excellent. No issues there, and the books are nearly always half price in the kindle version.

There are lots of US oriented books, but theres also a lot of general books on hiking that are not based on a specific country, Ive found Amazon to be the best.

[ULWalkingPhil]

I read you hike in the US, there are a lot of ebook guides for hiking in the US on the Amazon store in the ebook format.
If your interested in purchasing a Kindle, may i suggest to purchase the Kindle Keyboard Version, the kindle keyboard has free internet access where ever there is 3G available, the newer touch version, dont have free access to the internet like the keyboard version.

[ninjapuppet]

How do you actually find that net service Phil?
Ive also got that original kindle but find that internet is just too slow. So slow to the point it is virtually unusable except for downloading kindle books or visiting very basic sites.
bushwalk australia for example, takes over a minute to load, then it just times out most of the time. If i'm going overseas, i might aswell bring my mobile phone and buy a local prepaid simcard if I really needed mobile internet where 3G is available.

[ULWalkingPhil]

How do you actually find that net service Phil?
Ive also got that original kindle but find that internet is just too slow. So slow to the point it is virtually unusable except for downloading kindle books or visiting very basic sites.
bushwalk australia for example, takes over a minute to load, then it just times out most of the time. If i'm going overseas, i might aswell bring my mobile phone and buy a local prepaid simcard if I really needed mobile internet where 3G is available.

Works fine for me, it is a bit slower, but its free. Ive mainly used it to check emails and the weather and for purchasing books.

[north-north-west]

Guidebooks and maps, of course. Not the rest of it. 'Equipment' is stuff I take with me.

[walkinTas]

'Equipment' is stuff I take with me.

Agree! ... and I refuse to lug books around the bush.
I have thought about a tablet a few time (larger scree), probably will sometime, but for now I have kindle on my phone and that will do. Besides, I'm not one for sitting around reading - I prefer to walk or sleep.

[Kinsayder]

I usually take a paperback with me, either some early 20th century works like Hemingway or Camus or something a little later like Murakami or Franzen. We picked up some more activity relevant books from Krakauer and Simpson when we were in Nepal but I've not read them yet. Maybe on my next hike (although the wife was due to give birth to our second child last week, so hiking has been vetoed until next Autumn). If I'm doing a walk from a guide book, I'll colour photocopy the appropriate pages to keep weight down. Regardless, books are not far behind water in importance for me.

[Moondog55]

Well I asked so I have to give my opinion.
My library is definitely part of my "KIT" and so part of my equipment. So to would be the books I pack in winter to see me thought the possibility of a 4 day blow or my iPod if I owned one.
What I carry in my head is as much a part of my "KIT" as the stuff on my back and a lot of that I glean from my books

[andrewbish]

I usually take a paperback with me, either some early 20th century works like Hemingway or Camus or something a little later like Murakami or Franzen. We picked up some more activity relevant books from Krakauer and Simpson when we were in Nepal but I've not read them yet. Maybe on my next hike (although the wife was due to give birth to our second child last week, so hiking has been vetoed until next Autumn). If I'm doing a walk from a guide book, I'll colour photocopy the appropriate pages to keep weight down. Regardless, books are not far behind water in importance for me.

+1 on the colour photocopy of the guidebook.

I like to read at night. I take a paperback plus use EReaders on my iPhone