I have a tendency to write my blogs several in a row and weeks in
advance, releasing them on set dates to spread them out. Regrettably, the time I once had to devote to
this blog on a daily and weekly basis has been snatched out from under me by
the demands of a very challenging professional position and the welcomed
personal position of being a father to two wonderful sons. With that said, this week my review for Andrew Skurka’s “The
Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide” book was supposed to release ($13.29 from
Amazon). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised
that there are so many reviews about his book as it just came out to the masses
even though I got an advanced copy a few weeks ago. Guess I should have timed my release better.
Most of the lightweight backpacking community is aware of Skurka who
really came on the scene only recently.
In a very short time he’s logged more than 30,000 miles principally on
long-distance hikes of the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental
Divide Trail and several other trips which are lesser known or that he
essentially named himself like the Alaska-Yukon Expedition.
Skurka’s book rehashes many of the same sentiments that other
lightweight backpacking books already covered quite thoroughly. I think the difference is that Skurka seems
to be a little more genuine and transparent.
For example, most of Ray Jardine’s books make it sound like he never got
sweaty, never got wet, never had bad weather, never had a poor campsite, never
had failures or injuries, etc. and that he had everything figured out long
before his journey started. I also found that Skurka's book focused more on the type of gear he used to be successful and he didn't unnecessarily throw out too many gear specifics because he knew full well that anything specific mentioned today would likely be nearly irrelevant tomorrow (the Achilles's heal for many backpacking gear books) . Skurka’s
book is written in the same spirit of experience, but his words carry less of
an attitude, less of a “my-way-or-the-highway” mentality, and instead he seems
to simply be telling readers what he’s learned.
I’ve personally never met Skurka, although I’ve read a lot about him
and watched many virtually unknown videos of him. I find him very likable, passionate, trustworthy and creditable. My personal impression is that writing this
book was likely a bit out of character for him, although a means to continue to thrive as a professional backpacker and guide.
From my observations he’s a fairly quiet guy, someone who keeps to
himself to a certain degree. He seems to prefer hiking alone which although solitude is helpful in many aspects, for him I suspect it as much out of convenience and schedule as it is out of the real fact that few people would be able to keep up with his super-human-backpacking-Olympian-pace. His
professional speaking engagements are cheerful, but reserved, and I’m guessing
they weren’t his first choice to fill his schedule as I've never felt like he needed to seek attention to find solace in his choices. He speaks reservedly, but with a clear Duke
education and a matter-of-fact tone that is neither snobbish nor
judgmental. Simply, he speaks to what he
knows and his book isn’t much different.
Few things jumped out at me from his book principally because many of the techniques had already been mentioned elsewhere to a certain degree. But to his credit, I didn’t get the sense
that he was trying to force-feed the “light is right” mentality. For him, it was a matter of practicality. He wanted to move fast (and was quite successful
at that), so he simply carried the gear he thought he needed and was the most
reasonably affordable option with decent performance. It was clear as his experience grew, he
wholeheartedly admitted that knowledge and skill was far more important than
anything in his pack. As someone without a conventional job, it was
clear he was mindful of gear choices as it relates to his income. He purchased what he could and attempted to
get gear provided by sponsors for everything else which is distinctly different from being a biased and compensated spokesman. He
didn’t bathe himself in cuben fiber, nor was he concerned about saving ounces
here and there by making things less functional than they could be if he felt
he needed them.
Skurka started off his book by trying to define two types of
hikers: those who seek to cover a lot of
ground to experience as much as they can and those who infuse the hiking
experience with other desired activities such as camping, bird watching or
backcountry cooking. He easily admitted
to being far less concerned with camping, sitting around, and doing much of
anything other than getting up early, hiking as far and as fast as he could
comfortably, and bedding down only at the last minute.
I appreciated how he unconventionally embraced fleece in certain
situations because it remained somewhat warm when wet (a very likely occurrence
for sweating backpackers) and that it was significantly less expensive and more
widely available. I liked how he
championed the fact that there was really no ideal rain garment on the market
as backpackers exert too much effort and will eventually soak themselves from
sweat even if they are able to mitigate outside elements. I always get a chuckle when I see debates
about eVENT, Gore-Tex, Hyvent and others as it all seems so senseless to me
because none of it really matters. I’ve
spent entirely too much money coming to this reality. Skurka talked about some details that others
rarely do, such as the importance of swapping out shoes and even CCF pads
because they do retain their crushed position after a period of time and don’t
perform as well. Like others, Skurka
supported the use of tarps in most conditions as they offered the most function
and breathability, not to mention they were lightweight. For those who haven’t seen Skurka’s video on
making a cat food can alcohol
stove, it is well worth the watch and of no surprise it was his stove of
choice more often than not. I personally
usually use Esbits which is more costly but lighter and smaller for someone
like me who isn’t looking to trek 3,000 miles.
Sure enough, when I do use alcohol I use a cat food can I made myself
based off of Skurka’s video. Skurka was
unashamed to admit that chocolate had become one of his principal food fuels
and I got a kick out of his honesty when he said he wanted his spoon to
resemble more of a shovel considering his need for food (fuel) and the fact
that he made camp so late that eating was a last minute priority which required
a very little amount a devoted time. He
too was a supporter of liquid water purification, but used tablets in winter because
they wouldn’t freeze even though they were more expensive.
I view books like this as a bit of a novelty because the lightweight
backpacking movement is still fairly new.
I intentionally financially support backpackers like Skurka and others
who make videos as it both helps me mentally travel to places I’ve never been
and I enjoy having some minor influence of fueling the passion of those willing
to push away from a desk and do something other than waste their lives away. Hopefully you will have a similar experience.
Happy reading.
