Do you really need the AT maps or can you get buy with trail data book? When we thru hiked PCT, just use the guide book, no separate maps, but it had some reduced copies of the maps in it. Is there such a small book for AT? There are so many maps and they are heavy. Just trying to determine my alternatives.
Black Cat
…being a map geek I had to have the complete set of the AT before my 05’thru…sent some off in maildrops along the first third, but you just don’t need them…there is always advice as to what’s coming up…and someone will usually have a Wingfoot’s or companion as far as reaching towns…I wished Wingfoot had an icon for Boar’s Head Delis in N.J./N.Y…think we hit one about every day…maps are good for pre-planning and reminiscing, and for when you “gotta get off the map once in awhile” Wait a minute…
fishngame
I make a copy of the profiles and carry those with me so I have an idea of what kind of misery I might be in :eek:
DT
Black Cat, Yes I thru-hiked in '02 and have since returned to do about 700 miles of sections. I haven’t carried a map since the thru and never missed a turn.
Matt
If you want to do a lot of blueblazing, maps are key. If you are sticking to the AT you should be okay without them. I carry maps for terrain I am not familiar with, like Maine and New Hampshire, and areas where I want to do a lot of exploring on blue blaze trails (those two things usually coincide). Good Luck!
Nature
Black cat, Just follow the white blazes… You can’t go wrong… yeah, those boar head delis were sweet… Turkey sandwich, cheatos, zinger and a big 'ol can of Bud! 
Bubbleboy
If you don’t care about what’s coming up in the way of elevation gain or loss, then you really don’t need them. It is blazed the entire way. A lot of people just cut out the elevation profiles. (but that would mean you buy every map, only to cut them up…pretty expensive) I bought all the maps and carried them on my hike a couple at a time, just because I liked to see where everything was, what might be coming that the thru-hikers companion didn’t tell me about, and to look ahead to the next few days when I was in my sleeping bag at night. I preferred the thru-hikers companion over the wingfoot book, but it looks like the new appalachianpages.com guide also has profiles and maps in it. That might be your best bet.
lakewood
I like the combo of the Wingfoot book with the mapadannas . There are a set of 4 bandannas with all sorts of info on them. I carried the Wingfoot last year on my thru hike, and would take it again, but I would ditch the maps if i did it again, and just take the mapadannas.
Uncle Tom