I haven’t read every backpacking skills/gear book that’s ever been published, but the more of them I do read the more I’m of the opinion that this is one is the best.

In the backpacking world author Andrew Skurka needs no introduction: he’s the world’s greatest backpacker. On the other hand, my mom has no idea who he is. This book catalogs the wealth of knowledge that he’s accrued from a mind-bogglingly extensive career in backpacking which started in the summer of 2002 on the Appalachian Trail. Since then Andrew has gone on to do a number of impressive backpacking feats, my favorite being the Great Western Loop.

The book is not large because it doesn’t need to be: Andrew’s writing style is extremely concise and personal anecdotes from various trips are sprinkled throughout the book’s 240 pages sparingly instead of being self-indulgent. Rather than being an exhaustive survey of gear it offers a few specific (often recommended) examples in just about every gear category and scenario imaginable, frequently including even the MSRP and weight. This is all delivered alongside extensive coverage of the skills and decision-making required to actually use the gear effectively. In fact, despite the title the book is best considered to be a backpacking skills book with a heaping portion of gear examples. To top it off, it’s all delivered in a manner that’s incredibly beginner-friendly while still being full of useful tips for even the most seasoned veteran.

Insoles

I was surprised to read that Andrew prefers the flimsy stock insoles that come with most shoes rather than using an aftermarket replacement such as Superfeet. However, after a recent trip where I was pushing my daily miles up near the 20 mile mark I can see at least one downside to aftermarket insoles: blisters. On a day where I did 17.5 miles in Salomon XA Pro 3D trail runners with Oboz insoles I got my first blister in over 2 years. How? Well, the aggressive heel cup on the insoles was pushing the skin on the side of my heel upwards on every step and after an entire day it had caused the skin on the outside of the heel to separate in a massive deep blister, the nasty kind you always hear about which form underneath callouses. It was incredibly painful.

Now, I can’t blame either the shoes or the insoles directly because I’m pretty sure that Oboz insoles and Salomon trail runners aren’t really compatible, I think the shoes were too narrow in the heel which was forcing the sides of the heel cup upwards. Still, it opened my eyes as to how things that seem like they fit and work at lower miles can fail on higher-mileage days. Afterwards I switched over to Oboz Aretes whose stock insoles (and Oboz has really, really nice stock insoles) are supportive but with a less aggressive heel cup (again, this may just be a function of having a proper fit). Although in comparison they felt a bit “empty” around my heel I could appreciate that they wouldn’t contribute to any nasty blister problems.

Wind Shirts

Both Andrew and Adventure Alan aren’t hip to wind shirts. To me, the fact of the matter is that fleece doesn’t keep you warm in the wind whereas wind shirts do and at a fraction of the size and weight. What’s not to love? Andrew does point out one concrete example where fleece is superior: as a midlayer underneath a sopping wet rain shell. A fleece will offer some amount of loft and keep the cold rain shell away from your base layer whereas a wind shell will not. On the other hand I’ve never personally experienced being cold underneath a rain shell, usually it’s the opposite problem.

Compression Straps

Andrew considers removing the compression straps from backpacks “stupid light”. This is one of the first things I do with a new pack (not for weight reasons, mostly just to reduce clutter) since I have never seen the benefit of compression. Supposedly it’s to help stabilize loads by moving them closer to your back but I’ve never once felt that my load was “unstable”. I also use a pack which arches out away from my back, something which automatically moves the load away from my center of gravity but doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Watches

I can’t stand to have anything on my wrist but Andrew likes watches so much that he even requires them on his guided trips. From the perspective of someone who has hiked for a couple decades without wearing a watch I can’t say I see them as a necessity. I’ve tried both an ABC (short for Altimeter Barometer Compass, a way of referring to the features of a watch) and an AB watch and didn’t find them useful. For a time check I can easily pull my phone out of my pocket and for elevation or position it’s much easier to pop open Gaia than it is to fiddle with the watch (and configuring elevation targets on a watch is a nightmare). For weather I can pull daily or hourly forecasts off the satellite network at any time via the inReach Mini rather than guess at whatever the barometer is hinting at.

Now, I can see the argument that a watch provides simplified versions of features found on several other devices at a negligible power cost and that those other devices’s batteries are best used only when necessary. I can also see the argument for redundancy at a minor weight cost. But based on my own experience I don’t consider a watch to be a critical piece of gear.

What I Learned

  • The best synthetic insulation is only as efficient as 600 fill-power down. Fill powers of 800 to 900 (and higher) dominate high-end and cottage offerings and even budget mainstream lines such as REI’s Igneo use 700 fill-power down. As a result, today’s wet down performs just as well as perfectly dry synthetic insulation.
  • No-see-um mesh and mosquito mesh are two different things. Specifically, mosquito mesh has larger holes and is more breathable. I use Ben’s InvisiNet which appears to be mosquito-grade (no-see-ums aren’t mentioned) which might explain why I’ve never noticed any stuffiness.
  • Andrew uses durable cycling gloves (specifically, the DeFeet Duraglove) on his hands whenever temperatures are below 40F. This is a good example of crossover, gear designed for a high-output activity like cycling can also work quite well for backpacking. As a personal example, my long-sleeve cycling jersey is ridiculously breathable compared to any of my hiking shirts.
  • Air with a temperature of 86F can hold three times as much moisture as 50F air. I’m not sure how that fact is useful but it’s already taking up space in my brain (and yours) so I guess we’ll just have to learn to live it.
  • Your kidneys can only process about a quart (just under a liter) of water per hour. You should never drink water at a faster rate than this.
  • Last but definitely not least: a soft-sided water bottle can be partially filled with either water or air and then used as a pillow. Now that is some outside-the-box thinking. I was already sitting down when I read that but if I hadn’t been I definitely would’ve had to.

History

  • 2020-03-01: Initial version
  • 2020-03-28: Added some sections discussing specific topics in the book