Andrew Skurka

You won't find any rhapsodies about amazing transformative hiking experiences in this book. As the title indicates, Skurka is focused on the practical, and this guide is valuable in figuring out what you really need and don't need while backpacking. He recommends specific brands and items, but his advice on trip planning is the most valuable part - especially since it won't go out of date any time soon.

This is a good book for someone is a serious backpacker. Andrew distinguishes between people who are focus on the "hiking" part of backpacking, and those who are more focused on "camping" or activities and backpacking is all about getting them to their destination. This is a book for people who are focused on the hiking, the journey. Andrew covers the topics fairly completely, providing a list of options, a discussion of the various trade-offs, and concluding with his preference. At times show more his preferences I think bias the discussion about options more than it should, but he tends to be even handed. I found the book reads a lot like my web pages about backpacking… I find that I mostly agree with content, the topics covered, etc… but the prose are not beautifully crafted. This is not a book to read to enjoy the words, it is a book filled with useful information for someone who is serious about backpacking. Content is four stars, writing is two stars. show less