Best Portable Music Players?

imported
#1

I know, I know…you get out on the AT for the experience, and to leave all material possessions behind…etc, etc, etc.

That being said, there were some days on the trail that I needed a musical distraction. Whether it be so I don’t walk for weeks with a JLo song in my head, or to entertain myself while night hiking, or just because it was one of those days…there were times when music was a handy piece of equipment.

When in PA, I picked up a little portable radio, but the reception was horrible, even when close to NYC.

For those music lovers that had to have this piece of luxury on the trail, which portable radios seemed to work the best for you?

bearbait

#2

Music players? If I’m on the trail and I hear some baggypants thumping out retarded C-RAP from his trail boombox I may commit my first AT murder.:mad :mad :mad

But if you must have a radio, use headphones!

steve hiker

#3

Was that really necessary?

Obviously I’m going to use headphones.

Quit with the assumptions, and if you don’t have anything useful to add to a post, then maybe you should reconsider posting.

bearbait

#4

Hey Bearbait I hear ya. I had my transistor and it got to be a friend as the miles pushed on. I guess one thing worse than music on the trail are people who think there so intune with nature that they want to threaten others. I saw a lot of MP3s. They seemed pretty good

Virginian

#5

Panasonic has the SV-SD80. It’s LESS than an ounce, the battery (one AAA) lasts about 60 hours. Yes, sixty hours. It has a removable SD memory card, too.

Steve, you need to relax. HYOH and let others do the same.

Dog Tag

#6

Man… I love’d my tunes on the trail. And who really cares what you do as long as it bothers no one else? The first two years I used the cheapest walkman cassette player with radio I could find. I went thru at least three units the first year… I dropped them or whatever. In 2004 I am trying a Frontier Lab Nex ia MP3 player. It is small, compact (about the size of a lighter). It had great sound, a fm radio and a mic. I personally love to hike listening to some kick ass reggae or dead or NPR and would never think of hiking without it. I also carried external cheap ass speakers (six dollars) for use with friends at our stealth campsites. And to the anal nazis, respect, I ALWAYS asked if anyone minded listening to some tunes. During the twelve beer challenge (VT to NH) I played tunes for all my friends I was hiking with. The considerations become whether or not you can afford and/or want to spend the money on a mp3 player and the CF cards. Do you want to carry the weight of batteries and tapes? I would suggest the nex ia player. It takes two AA batteries and lasts a decent amount of time. Weight is an issue… Hery dude… must run peace peace and love

ASWAH the ignorant

ASWAH

#7

I have A Iriver MP3 player that also has A FM tuner.It is really small and can be worn around your neck .256 MB of space I can put around 175 songs from my favorite cd’s.U can also get the 512 MB for more space.uses only 1 aa and is about as long as the battery,I love mine,I listend to Bill Bryson A walk in the woods A couple weeks ago while trekking through the smokies.

Snowbird

#8

There were so many times I missed tunes that next hike it is critical. I’ll find some area to offset the added weight.

Yo-YO

#9

BB,
like you i needed my tunes on the trail. I woulda never made it thru some of the many rain filled miles. I used a small Sony minidisc player. Highly recommend it. Its only a few ounces and it runs on one double A battery, don’t have to worry about recharging it or any 60 hour life etc. I just maildropped myself a different disc every couple of hundred miles and sent home the ones I got tired of. Worked pretty well

A-Train

#10

You don’t need radios or CD players. Them EARWORMS will provide you with all the music you’d ever want.

http://www.trailforums.com/index2.cfm?action=detail&PostNum=1930&Thread=1&roomID=7&entryID=14993

steve hiker

#11

None of my earworms were very pleasant, steve.

The only saving grace on the hike was when I got my little headset and, when it actually picked up some stations, erased those horrible songs I had running through my head.

Don’t worry, I won’t make you listen to my music.

bearbait

#12

Not only do earworms lighten you pack weight, but they can slack your thirst on stretches of dusty trail in the afternoon when the nearest stream is miles downhill. Follow Me by REM is one example I’ve had. Let that earworm loose and you’ve got yourself a nice cold can of Orange Crush.:slight_smile: And you never reach the bottom of the can no matter how often you drink!:pimp

steve hiker

#13

I am just doing a bit of research on an MP3 player and the apple Ipod’s look prety good. They have 10 or 20 GB and weigh around 7 or 8 ounces I think. Anyone out there have one…what do you think? For those of you thinking about getting an MP3, check out Ebay, prices seem to be about 20-30% lower than the stores.

jackie b