We take a look at the brand new third edition of Chris Townsend's comprehensive bible of long-distance backpacking skills and kit.
|
'The Backpacker's Handbook'
Tested
|
|
|
Price:
£11.99
|
|
Weight: 440 pages :-)
|
|
Features: Written
by Chris Townsend of TGO, published by McGraw Hill, new
edition expanded to include latest kit plus desert hiking,
ultralight backpacking and 'adventure trekking'. Soft cover,
illustrated with black and white photos
throughout.
|
|
Incredibly comprehensive backpacking bible.
Erm, the cover feels a little flimsy, kit section will
date.
|
The Concept This is the newly published third edition of Chris
Townsend's Backpacker's Handbook and it basically aims to do what it
says on the cover and be a comprehensive guide to pretty much
everything you need to know about backpacking, erm, because that's
what comprehensive means. It's also a distillation of Chris's
considerable long-distance walking experience and gives pointers on
everything from the skills you need through to evaluating specific
items of kit, stoves for example. Chris is the gear tester for TGO
magazine.
Features It's a reassuringly fat 440-page paperback
effectively illustrated with black and white photographs and line
drawings where appropriate with chapters covering individual aspects
of backpacking from the basics of pack design and use through to
useful skills like river crossing techniques.
In
Action The Backpacker's Handbook is far and away the most
comprehensive guide to backpacking and trekking that we've come
across, in fact the only other 'how to' outdoors book we'd rate as
being of the same calibre is Mark Twight's excellent Extreme
Alpinism.
Delve into it and you're struck by the sheer detail that Chris
goes into over every aspect of backpacking. He not only talks about
the general principles of particular types of equipment, he also
assesses the latest products and, where appropriate - eg with stoves
- compares performance figures and details.
The great thing is that he constantly relates his thoughts to his
own extensive experience, backing up his advice with practical
examples from his many long-distance trips, often solo. It's a real
mine of information with the answer to just about any question you're
likely to pose and refreshingly down to earth. Even the experienced
walker will find handy new information and for the relative novice
it's a fantastic shortcut to acquiring essential skills and avoiding
the sort of basic mistakes that can make a dream trip into a bit of a
nightmare.
It's perfectly readable too, though entertainment is always
secondary to imparting information. If it has a weakness it's that
the specific kit mentioned will be obsolete in a year or two, but
don't let that put you off.
Essential backpacker's bible with sections ranging from ultralight
camping to camp entertainment - 3.5 ounces for a pack of cards - with
comprehensive advice convincingly backed up by Chris's years of
hiking experience and the knowlege acquired as gear tester for TGO
Magazine.
It's not something you'd read for entertainment value, but if
you're after a long distance walking manual with the bonus of
informed advice on the specifics of all the latest kit, look no
further.
|
Performance
|
|
|
Value
|
|
|
Pushed for time:
Comprehensive backpacking bible featuring informed
comment on all the latest kit and the skills you need to
walk for ages... Excellent.
|
Know more or want to?
If you'd like to add your own experiences of this product check
out our user review system and post your opinions to the world. If
you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear
forum.
