He spends a lot of time on the design of current gear, so those specific details are quickly outdated. However, by reading through descriptions of 10 or 15 tents, you soon gain insight into the subtle little details that make all the difference. For example, you learn that there is a difference in the way you live in a tent whose door is in the long side, versus one with the door in the end; that the vestibule design can either ensure the inside of the tent stays dry when you enter in the rain, or ensure that you'll end up with a little stream of water dripping in. Same with stoves, packs, and other gear That helps when you go shopping - and are faced with a sea of tents, a wall of stoves, another wall of packs, etc.

What I tend to refresh on is the first 50 or so pages: the "feel-how" of backpacking. I've never read anything that captures the essence of why any better.

There's lots of information on technique, too: a sample day on the trail, a sample day in the rain, etc.

And of course, since he still talks about the Svea stove, there's the chance to reminisce.

And best of all, his writing is coherent and logical, filled with complete ideas - a very far cry from the info-bytes that get pasted onto the same page to pass for an "article" in Backpacker Magazine.