Andrew Skurka's New Book

http://andrewskurka.com/product/ultimate-hikers-gear-guide/

Saw an article about this on Trailspace. Skurka is famous for his long distance UL trips.

Would be interesting to see this. IMO sometimes the more extreme users of gear are lousy at recommending gear for most other people. I think that there are very very few people that would want to hike anything like the way that Skurka does. And for me at least, gear and the associated process by which we use the gear are intimately related.

All that said, my guess nevertheless is that in this case it will be a good book; the little I know of Skurka suggests that he'll dial in suggestions that are more generally useful.

The other potential downside of a book like this is that any specific gear recommendations leave the book with a pretty limited "shelf life" in that regards.

I ordered a copy. It looks like it may be a good read. Thanks for the link. I can always use another book to read this time of year!

I just Finished reading Ultimate Hikers Gear List, Bye Andrew Skurka. Over all a pretty good read. If someone is tring to lighten there load without being minamalist. This would be a great book to read. I think most Lightweight hikers in this forum could relate. While he is a extreame hiker, he is lightweight. I wouldnt say ultralightweight, and neither will I ever be.

Thanks, Kent. I read the sample download, and couldn't really tell whether he was bleeding-edge ultralight (which I'm no longer interested in) or just for going as light as possible without doing dumb things. Between your comments, and his own comments in the first few pages about going "dumb light," I think I'll go ahead and buy it.

Order from his web site and you get a signed copy.

I'm almost done reading the book and will offer my comments in the next few days.

As the title indicates, this is a gear guide. It also includes anecdotes from the author, an accomplished hiker. The focus is on light. He distinguishes between hiker and camper and makes the point that one doesn't have to be one or the other. However the distinction is useful to understand why he recommends what he recommends.

Some of his suggestions are extreme (urinating while walking, p.19), some I simply don’t care for (don’t bring extra clothes, p.33). But just because I don’t care for some extreme measures doesn’t mean I can’t learn from them. He also provides other less extreme suggestions, along with tables comparing the pros and cons of various options. I especially liked his sample gear kits at the end of the book. Gear list with weights for different types of hikes.

I like to think one can always learn something, no matter the source, but I’m not sure that anyone who has been on this board for a few years will learn much. Nothing struck me as earth-shattering. I would certainly suggest this book to beginner hikers, which I am happily consider myself to always be.

LOL I doubt we women will ever try his "urinate while walking" advise!

Last year while hiking in the Trinity Alps I met a formal group of UL backpackers. This struck me as a good idea- if you are going to try out UL doing it with other people more experineced is a safer way to go than just going out on your own and it is very helful to see how everyone else's gear performs. UL gear is not cheap, so it is really nice to see it in action before buying it.

First off he mentioned he had tried it. He didnt say it was his practiced day to day routine? He is not ultralight in my opinion. He does hike very lightweight, with total consideration to all his gear. Course it is all his gear provided by sponsers I am sure? It is a good resource for someone wanting to go light.

"LOL I doubt we women will ever try his "urinate while walking" advise!"

Well, not intentionally anyhow...

I went to hear him give presentations the past 2 nights in Livermore. Monday night was on his Alaska/Yukon expedition - lots of amazing photos and videos, stories, and very inspiring. Last night was sort of a condensed version of his book, with him going through at the end what he would take in terms of gear for a JMT hike, and why those particular types of items rather than alternatives.

I think he's in San Francisco at the Sports Basement out by the Presidio tonight and tomorrow (March 7/8), with the same formats. I'd recommend it for anyone who's able to get there; he comes across as very likeable, high-energy, and supremely organized.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. You're right, I haven't learned much from it, but I still am enjoying it. It's well-written, and he's clearly very knowledgable. (It was a relief not to read 20 pages about how the upper is attached to sole of a shoe!)

It's not quite as lively a writing style as Colin Fletcher; I only mention that because he states early on that he was trying to emulate the Complete Walker series.) However, he does succeed by following the same general approach Fletcher did in the original Complete Walker: he covers the range of gear, and how to use it, mostly by describing what he himself uses.

As far as the "ultimate hiker" bias that he clearly discloses, it's not disctracting even though I don't intend to take it to that extreme. It helps inform you about his choice of gear, and he does incclude a fair amount of "if you're not an ultimate hiker, you may be happier with..." information.

This book is of limited value (but great interest) to me, after all these years of turning into a curmudgeon (I think that's what Fletcher called it?). However, if someone just starting out were to ask me what book to read first, I'm thinking this just might be the one I'd recommend. It could spark a lot of good discussions when we headed out to spend his/her money!

I noticed he speaks all over the country. Often times it's for free or a low price. See the schedule here. He's in SF tomorrow night so I'm taking some scouts along.

I know this is an old post, but I figured I'd throw my 2 pesos in. I received and read the book. I am happy with the purchase. What I found valuable was his take on clothing. In this age of every company out there confusing me on water-proof-resistant-breathable, etc. Skurka did an awesome job of comparing and explaining all that, and then adding that "you will get wet." If in the moisture long enough, nothing will keep it from happening and the best bet is to have stuff that will dry fast.

In all other areas of hiking/camping, he did great comparing options and explaining good and bad.

The book was a real world take on things. Many forums and internet sources give advice that is just a little "silver-spooned" or "uppity" without actually having used the stuff on real hikes, just the reviewers back yard and their theories of physics, thermodynamics, fuel consumption numbers, etc. I know the previous couple sentences may not have made sense, but it was my best try at the explanation.
That said, most of the guys here on this forum are very helpful and realistic and experienced. That other lightweight bp site; good gosh, those "office cubical hikers" are something else.

Thanks Tye. I just got the book and am looking forward to reading it. I know what you mean. I'm looking forward to it because of Skurka's extensive in the field, real-backcountry experience.

Here's a 1 hour video of Andrew Skurka, at Google, speaking his speak: CLICK

There are a lot of things I agree with him on - wet feet, clothing, etc.

Some of his advice is likely to lead regular ol' backpackers astry tho. He has NOT been correct in his assumptions about food storage in the Sierra - they have not "outlawed" bear bag hanging, and he is dead wrong that canisters would not be necessary if everyone could hang food properly - they are absolutely necessary in Yosemite where the bears have proven, time and time again, to be able to defeat properly hung food.

I don't know if he's wrong about bear hanging. Yosemite's bears have definitely learned how to get at them and most likely from bad hanging habits. They can do a lot more now, but that most likely would have been avoidable if people never had made it easy for them.

I bought it. I think it is pretty great, but most people on here probably know 95% of what is in it.

The positives, Andrew is a pretty humble guy, considering what he has accomplished. He does not put down other people's styles, just points out that if you are going to hike in with 50lbs, long distance days are moot.

His book pretty much finally hammered in the point that bullet-proof gear is not necessary. The most important piece of gear is your brain, and with knowledge and experience comes confidence, and that allows you to accomplish your goals w/o a life preserver.

Even though I have been familiar with the concept of light backpacking and Andrew for a while, I finally feel confident to go on a multi-day trek with a 12lb pack, instead of the 40lbs I lugged around RMNP a couple of years ago.

The bears have gotten properly hung food, repeatedly. It doesn't matter how they got that way - they are that way now, and they'll continue to be, because people don't believe they are and try to hang or use illegal storage methods like the Ursack, which has been defeated by black bears there too.

They get the food by being persistent. The harder we try to reverse this problem, the crazier the bears get trying to defeat what we do to keep them away from the food.

If bears in other areas learned that persistence paid off, as the Yosemite bears have, you'd see a lot more canister requirements. Consistent use of the canisters in Yosemite continues to be a problem as does carelessness in the campgrounds and parking lots, so the bears will keep breaking into cars, swiping food off tables, and stealing backpacks. Which they have done many times.

A friend of mine tells the tale of planning to do the JMT in one go, with a backpack loaded down with a couple weeks' worth of food, several years before the canister requirements went into effect. Second night out, he hung his food with great care and with plenty of distance between the trunk and the end of the branch, at least 20 feet off the ground - the perfect counterbalance. Within hours a mama bear happened by, sent the cubs up the tree to chew the rope, and made off with two full sacks of food. Discouraged, he returned to Tioga Rd and hopped on a bus for his car and went home.

Bears are smart. They figure things out. This is especially true when they get to learn in stages. Poorly hung bags will be easy success and they will continue to persevere with the difficult ones until they figure it out. Kind of like squirrels and bird feeders. It is just a matter of time. But my point is really about canisters. They aren't bearproof either. It is a matter of time before they get figured out too. A certain bear(20 year old sow) in the adirondacks has gained some notoriety for figuring out the bear-vault canister. She then figured out the new lid design quicker than it took them to develop it. She was just killed by a hunter the other day, so for now it is not an issue. Latest reports suggest that she had not yet taught her cubs her trick. But if she could figure it out, others will too, eventually. It is also not inconceivable that other canisters will also be figured out eventually. Bears are smart.

Along similar lines, a little talked about article written about Cliff Jacobson (of boundary water canoeing fame) is interesting regarding how he keeps food away from bears.

I have to agree with Ron Moak of Six Moon Designs (in a recent panel discussion at the ALDHA-West meeting)--he'd far rather read a book about Andrew's adventures rather than yet another gear book which will be outdated in a year or less!

Yet Andrew continues to insist on his blog that he's not interested in writing about his Alaska-Yukon trip.

I bet he will be married soon, and he'll have more free time to start writing more books (and making $$$).