Book Mention: Hiking Over 60

Full title: Hiking Over 60: A Modern Guide to Hiking Gear and Techniques for Active Adults

Philip Werner from over at Section Hiker has put together a comprehensive guide to day hiking, which despite the 'over 60' in the title, applies to most anyone interested in taking up day hiking.  Furthermore, those day hikes can be a foundation and springboard into full-on multi-day backpacking trips.  It seems to only be available in kindle format, so here's the link.  Here's the review I left over at Amazon (so please excuse the possible change in type face; as a former printer, these things still bug me); 4 out of 5 stars:

pro: Good intro section to hiking, mostly pertaining to day trips.  Lots of up-to-date recommendations on gear.

con: Doesn't delve into the 'why' of lightweight gear.  No mention of two-way radios in either of the communication sections.  Really could use an outro chapter to cap the end of the book.

If you're hiking or even thinking of taking up hiking, you should probably buy this book.  It's divided into two major sections, the first on general hiking advice and how-tos, the second on specific gear selection.  It makes for a good mix of "why do this" and "now go do this" to get anyone started, including both those under and over 60.  It's packed with honest, no bull wisdom and gear advice from an experienced hiker.

I wish the author had put in a word for how lighter gear makes everything easier on older bodies.   However, that topic was amply covered a decade ago in Rick Allnutt's "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike," so pick up a copy of that book when you finish this one.  This book is more about day hiking than multi-day backpacking, but the same weight reduction principles apply.  For all the discussion of communications, there was no mention of either FRS walkie-talkies or ham radio, both of which I find immensely useful in the woods.  Finally, a brief closing chapter to cap the book's main text would have been nice.  As it is, it simply ends and crashes into an appendix of retailer and manufacturer links.  A transition chapter to these links would have signaled the end of the main part and been smoother.

In brief, if you've read this far you should probably buy this book.  The next time a friend asks about hiking books, it's the one I'll recommend to pick up first.