Looking at electronics for the trail. I want to keep my trail journal up to date, take pics and movies, use it as a cell phone, and read PDF maps and AT companion.
Any suggestions? What about power? I currently have a Samsung and am considering updating to a Galaxy.
Pat Bredlau
There are a lot of spots where you can’t use a cell phone - no signal. It’s worth trying at summits…
I took a Samsung Galaxy S 3 on an attempted through hike, togther with two extra storage units to recharge it. I spent a lot of time in airplane mode and always had a charge. Forget GPS, it’s a battery hog. I was happy with the photos, didn’t like video.
Biggest issue is service - I have Verizon which had fewer dead zones than AT&T.
Tom Armistead
Thanks. I plan to keep the phone in airplane mode, if not off when I don’t plan to use it. I want to use it to read PDFs, trail maps, and update my journal. Where you able to successfully use the Galaxy S 3 to update your trail journal?
Pat Bredlau
Only when I had WiFi, at motels, hostels, libraries, Starbucks, etc.
Some were able to journalize by sending text messages to someone off trail who had good internet access, who could copy and paste them into trailjournals. Apparently text messages will get through even when you can’t actually talk on the phone.
As far as getting the pictures into the journals that would have to wait until you had WiFi.
The problem is that if you go too long between journal entries you have a lot of catch up to do and when you’re in town you have laundry, resupply, meals and socializing to do, not good to sit there pecking away at a small keyboard.
Another thought is to have some sort of word processor where you could write the journals daily and then paste them when you get internet access.
Tom Armistead
I’ve inserted a smart phone, extra battery and a solar panel into my gear. I’m not going to go on a long tirade about the functionality of having a smart phone along for the hike but I will say this… you have to use it a few times and work out the kinks, the same that any other piece of hiking gear requires. Afterwards it’s super cool to have one.
hellkat
I used my iPhone (in airplane mode)almost daily on my attempted thru-hike this year. I typed my journal into the “notes” function then email them to my Son who cut and pasted to my TJ account. I DID have a few blank spots because I had AT&T service but would usually be able to send them when I reached a mountain top. emails and texts are much easier to send because they don’t need as much signal, and, yes, many places where I could not get a signal, such as Hot Springs, had WiFi, so electronics on the trail is much easier than in past years.
I also had a very small rechargeable battery pack that I bought at Radio Shack and recharged my iPhone from that when I was more than a few days between town. I did not have to use it consistently because I was sparing with my phone and almost never used voice or internet when in the woods.
Sparky (Charlie Dunn)
I got the Joos orange solar charger. I used it on the Colorado trail this year and it worked like a champ. Oh, its heavy, but that weight was worth it. You can get it for about a buck fifty if you shop in the right places and it weighs about 24oz.
Birdog
Suntactics s-Charger 5. Seven ounces and can verifiably charge a dead iPhone battery in full overhead sun in about 2 hours. Longer with light overcast conditions and in fall-early spring, but still about the best current option in solar charging for the l-d backpacker. Currently $140 not including 10% discount code they’re running.
hoch
How do you carry all of the information about campsites, ater sites, towns near the trail, etc.?
I assume that nobody is carrying a 2lb guidebook, but I don’t know?
I would assume that apps are the way to go (at least as long as the battery doesn’t die).
Any reiews on any apps? I looked in the app store, but didn’t find good reviews on any of the apps. Thanks.
Spencer
The Companion sold by the ATC and updated by ALDHA has everything you need, doesn’t weigh anything near 2 pounds, and last time i checked didn’t need a battery.
the truth!!!
It does need a battery now. Previously it did run on self-righteous sarcasm, but you really had to coax it along.
the dolt!!!
Thanks. I just bought the book off of Amazon. And they had a special where you could pay an extra $25 to get a battery with the book, so I got that as well.
Spencer
For my hike all I carried was the Trail Campanion. It has everything you need in it. It weighs 10.8 ounces. I also carried a phone card. This helped to lessen my pack weight, which is important on a thru-hike. I cut up the Campanion and sent it with parts of my journal in the mail at different trail towns. When I got home, I put together my journal. To see more of my thru-hike, go to trailjournals/DreamWalker Ga.>Me. 2011
DreamWalker
For my hike all I carried was the Trail Campanion. It has everything you need in it. It weighs 10.8 ounces. I also carried a phone card. This helped to lessen my pack weight, which is important on a thru-hike. I cut up the Campanion and sent it with parts of my journal in the mail at different trail towns. When I got home, I put together my journal. To see more of my thru-hike, go to trailjournals/DreamWalker Ga.>Me. 2011 :cheers Happy Trails!
DreamWalker
On my attempt last year I had very few problems with Verizon. Kept a journal with pics on TJ.Its very important to have Verizon. Keep it in airplane mode except when in use.Its also great for the weather rader, kept me dry many a day.Empty Plum rose ham packet worked great for keeping it dry.It has a nice double zip lock.My friends phone got damp, she put it in a bag of rice over nite. It was good to go the next morning. Carried a extra battery for a while, never needed it, finally I lost it at about 100 mi.Happy for you. It’s a lifetime experience you’ll cherish. Just don’t make the mistake I did. Start out SLOOOOW.Like 10-12 mi day’s first couple of weeks.NO KIDDING. Messed knees up bad.I now need both replaced. Good luck & God bless. It’s not the miles, but the smiles that count. Bubblegum:lol
Bubblegum
On my attempt last year I had very few problems with Verizon. Kept a journal with pics on TJ.Its very important to have Verizon. Keep it in airplane mode except when in use.Its also great for the weather rader, kept me dry many a day.Empty Plum rose ham packet worked great for keeping it dry.It has a nice double zip lock.My friends phone got damp, she put it in a bag of rice over nite. It was good to go the next morning. Carried a extra battery for a while, never needed it, finally I lost it at about 100 mi.Happy for you. It’s a lifetime experience you’ll cherish. Just don’t make the mistake I did. Start out SLOOOOW.Like 10-12 mi day’s first couple of weeks.NO KIDDING. Messed knees up bad.I now need both replaced. Good luck & God bless. It’s not the miles, but the smiles that count. Samsung Galaxy S4 will do you good . Your friend. …
Bubblegum:lol
Bubblegum
The subject of cell phones on the trail seems to always take on an almost religious fervour on the internet, with rather entrenched positions on both sides of the issue. Personally, I’ve done long hikes with no phone, with a dumb phone, and with a smart phone and there are clear advantages and disadvantages to carrying one.
The weight and the reliability of phones are probably the biggest disadvantage. Personally, I would never trust one to fulfill a mission-critical role, such as navigation, on the trail. I love having the built-in GPS capability and the zoomable maps on a micro-SD chip, but there’s no way that I’d go out on a dubiously marked trail without paper maps and a proper compass. Similarly, while it’s nice to have a copy of a databook or guide on your micro-SD card I would never rely solely on a phone to store that key information as you could end up being unaware of where your next water sources are simply because your phone died.
Setting aside the mission-critical function of navigation, I have found that a smartphone can be very convenient in town, but less useful on the actual trail. Telephone service in town is the biggest attraction because it’s getting really difficult to find pay-phones in the United States, and I’ve found that many cheap motels no longer have land-lines in their rooms (understandably, this is no longer much of a revenue generator). On the trail, I’ve found that phone service is so spotty that it is hardly worth the effort to turn it on. However, it is nice to be able to send a quick text from a location where you are able to get one-bar reception. Other than that, the internet browsing function is a really nice feature to have when you’re in town. Most motels and many restaurants/bars seem to have free wifi, so it’s really handy to keep up with your e-mail and read the news from back home every week.
Overall, I’m a convert. I find that my four-ounce Android phone, its one-once spare battery, and the three-ounce wall charger provide excellent value for their weight. On my next thru-hike, I’ll probably also carry my Kobo Mini to save the weight of a paper book. It uses the same mini-USB charger as my phone, so it’ll be about 3 or 4 ounces but it’ll save me the 12 or 14 ounces that a novel weighs (but again, a novel is not mission-critical).
Loup