Lightweight Reading in Backcountry

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Hi All,

For anyone that rips a book in half to carry less weight for any big downtimes, night, weather in the backcountry, I've really had good luck with simply using kindle. As much as I love the feel of an ol' fashioned paper book, I've got my phone and small spare battery anyways, so I get to read very easily at no extra weight.

Just download it before you go so can still read on airplane mode. On solo trips if I have any spare time at night it's nice.

Cheers,

S

 

[Jake T]

Agreed. I packed 4 books on my phone last year for my mountain goat hunt. Came in handy several times laying in the tent.

 

[Wyobohunter]

I prefer downloading audiobooks to my phone. Then I get to hear another human voice and can be doing other stuff (glassing, cooking, eating, drifting off to sleep). There are free apps like Overdrive and Libby where you can borrow/download audiobooks and regular electronic books for free from your local library.

 

[Te Hopo]

I bought a phone with a larger screen just for backcountry reading and rainy day movies.
I'm a massive fan of my kindle but decided that since I'm carrying my phone for photos I may as well leave the kindle behind.

A Goal Zero panel and battery pack keep it charged up.

 

[schmalzy]

This thread pushed me over the edge to leave kindle and just read books on the phone. Tried it over vacation and read two books on phone and it worked great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

This thread pushed me over the edge to leave kindle and just read books on the phone. Tried it over vacation and read two books on phone and it worked great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was hesitant as I love paper books or something larger, but the practicality of using my phone has won me over for the backcountry, airplane, etc...

 

[Raj patel]

Might be a silly question but how are you guys keeping your phones charged in the back country?

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Might be a silly question but how are you guys keeping your phones charged in the back country?

I always put on airplane mode to save a lot of battery, then just turn it on if I want to try to connect at some high point.

For me it's worth replacing the phone battery so it lasts a good time.

Other than that, I carry a small charger that can charge my phone, headlamp, steripen, inreach mini. If it's just an overnight I likely won't need to charge. If I were to go for a few days I might bring a larger spare battery charger. They're pretty reasonable.

 

[Wyobohunter]

I always put on airplane mode to save a lot of battery, then just turn it on if I want to try to connect at some high point.

For me it's worth replacing the phone battery so it lasts a good time.

Other than that, I carry a small charger that can charge my phone, headlamp, steripen, inreach mini. If it's just an overnight I likely won't need to charge. If I were to go for a few days I might bring a larger spare battery charger. They're pretty reasonable.

I can get about 1 1/2 to 2 days out of one iPhone 7 charge if I put it in airplane mode and use it somewhat sparingly. I probably look at OnX about every hour then put it back to sleep. I listen to about 1 hour of audiobook every night. I make sure to keep it close to my body so it stays pretty warm and never power it off.

 

[Te Hopo]

As above, Samsung S20 here and on airplane mode, using Bluetooth for a bit of music an dimmed screen reading it can do a couple days easy.

On longer trips I carry a Goal Zero Nomad panel and found in good sun it charges up pretty fast.
It came with the Guide 10 AA battery pack but now I'm looking at the lighter lithium power banks to go with it.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Might be a silly question but how are you guys keeping your phones charged in the back country?

Also, I don’t fuss with solar chargers. I have four different battery banks.

3,350 mAh and weighs 2.5 ounces (3.5 ounces with two short cables). Comes to 1,340 mAh/ounce.

4,000 mAh and weighs 4.0 ounces (built in cables) Comes to 1,000 mAh/ounce.

6,000 mAh and weighs 6.0 ounces (built in cables) Comes to 1,000 mAh/ounce

10,000 mAh and weighs 8.0 ounces (9.0 ounces with two short cables) Comes to 1,111 mAh/ounce

Between these four I can keep my phone charged and still have some juice to charge my small backup headlamp or add some charge to my Inreach mini 2. I don’t expect to have to plug the Inreach in because the mini 2 supposedly has good battery life and I don’t feel the need to track my route in great detail. This takes care of trips varying from 3-14 days. So far I’ve found anything that provides 1,000 mAh per ounce to be pretty good.

 

[gosailthesea]

If I'm feeling indulgent I'll bring along my iPad mini, but usually I roll with my OG iPhone SE (weighs nearly nothing) and a 13,000 mAh battery charger. Wish I could ditch the charger but my phone's a wimp and loves to die as soon as it gets below 50 out.

 

[j33]

Also, I don’t fuss with solar chargers. I have four different battery banks.

3,350 mAh and weighs 2.5 ounces (3.5 ounces with two short cables). Comes to 1,340 mAh/ounce.

4,000 mAh and weighs 4.0 ounces (built in cables) Comes to 1,000 mAh/ounce.

6,000 mAh and weighs 6.0 ounces (built in cables) Comes to 1,000 mAh/ounce

10,000 mAh and weighs 8.0 ounces (9.0 ounces with two short cables) Comes to 1,111 mAh/ounce

Between these four I can keep my phone charged and still have some juice to charge my small backup headlamp or add some charge to my Inreach mini 2. I don’t expect to have to plug the Inreach in because the mini 2 supposedly has good battery life and I don’t feel the need to track my route in great detail. This takes care of trips varying from 3-14 days. So far I’ve found anything that provides 1,000 mAh per ounce to be pretty good.

Just a heads up, the Anker 10000 power core is 6.4oz, 1,562 mAh/oz

 

[Wyobohunter]

Just a heads up, the Anker 10000 power core is 6.4oz, 1,562 mAh/oz

That’s a lot. I’ll stick with what I have for now but will definitely look into that one if my 10,000 battery kicks the bucket.

 

[Clovis]

Not sure how the net weight advantage works out between bringing extra juice for the phone and the 7 oz for the additional device, but I prefer to use a dedicated Kindle Paperwhite---long battery life and a better reading experience for me.

 

[Dryfirepete]

Love my old Kindle Paperwhite. Extremely long battery life even if it's freezing cold, not too heavy and you can read in the dark.

 

[Ksp04031]

Audiobooks on my iPhone lately for me. Reading or listening is no difference to me, I’m asleep after 3 sentences.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Audiobooks on my iPhone lately for me. Reading or listening is no difference to me, I’m asleep after 3 sentences.

I set a timer so I don’t completely lose my place or waste a bunch of battery. It’s also nice to listen during a long glassing session or while eating (low volume).

 

[Alpine James]

Download to phone before hand and bring a 10,000 AH bank

 

[nnmarcher]

To throw out another brand e-reader if you are trying to avoid Amazon is Rakuten Kobo. I have the Libra 2 which is waterproof and listed at 7.6 ounces. The battery life is pretty incredible and I can usually get weeks of reading 2-3 hours per day on a single charge. I have been able to connect to Libby/Overdrive as well.

That being said, it is a luxury item, and bringing a phone is much lighter and I will do that for more weight conscious trips.