Gearing Up for Backpacking, Part 9: References

Here's a quick run-down of four books I've found useful.  Amazon links are provided, but if you have a friendly neighborhood bookstore, give them a shot at your business first.

Backpacking 101  This is a good, new (mid-2017!), and thorough introduction to the subject.  I can't say that the author's writing style exactly inspired me, but it's all there and not horribly out of date.

The Backpacker's Handbook, 4th Edition  A few years old (2011), and with way too much gear-specific advice.  A TON of detail in some places, and the author just glosses over some other important topics (like water treatment...).  It's a slog, but I did learn a lot about boot construction and some of the topic's mysterious terminology.  ("Shank"?  What the hell's a shank?  Only thing I knew the word to mean was a filed-down cafeteria spoon.  But I went to a rough college, lived in a rough dorm.)

Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backpackin' Book  Pretty much my favorite here, though having been published in 2001 it's now getting a little outdated on some of the gear.  Mike Clelland!'s (yes, he adds the "!" consistently) illustrations make it a lot of fun to read.

Ultralight Backpackin' Tips  Also by the same Mike Clelland!, it's an extended list of things you can do to shave weight.  You owe it to yourself to thumb through this one, if only to see what is possible.  Also, the author's illustrations are again a hoot.  I'm not going ultralight – got to have a full-wrap mosquito netting equipped tent and a filter around here.  What's more, some of the tips cross the line from "ultralight" more into something akin to "how to be mistaken for homeless."  Still, it helped me keep the gear weight in check and at least qualify as "lightweight."  All about just being aware of the possibilities, and imagining your way from there.

Bonus link: the post about water filtration with the CDC links from a couple of weeks ago.  Honestly, none of the above books had anything close to this amount of information.  You might take a chance on sipping from a mountain stream in the Rockies, but faced with a green pond in south Mississippi you don't cut corners.

OK, that's all about getting ready to go backpacking for a while now.  I've researched and over-thought this stuff into the ground, but then it's not like there's a backpacking club around here to show the ropes.  Just have to wait for a weekend with decent weather and hit it.  Give it a couple of weeks, October is right around the corner.  Yeah, I'm excited.