Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Camping and Bushcraft => Topic started by: LandyLiam on October 18, 2010
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So what would you bring to read in the tent?
Needs to be lightweight so Lord of the Rings is out (and probably too scary with all those goblins and trolls :o )
Book of the Bivvy is no use as you'll only regret not being in a bivvy, but it is about the right size.
I usually read the map of the mournes but i've exhausted that now, did bring a Focus Magazine up once (no not the car ! ) which was very good but i'm looking for something a bit more relevant to the outdoors or the Mournes (that's the only place i seem to go).
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Amazon Kindle? ;)
I like a bit of Henry David Thoreau for outdoors reading - the books are often dirt cheap, small, on light paper... and have a self-reliant, outdoorsy, observant theme which suits the situation. Walden is a normal novel size, but Walking, or Civil Disobediance are tiny.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is another transcendentalist but he's heavier going. I had a tiny slip of a book of his short essays and it took me about a day to read each page... ideal for the PCT!
The Heart of Darkness is class and tiny... heck, just peruse the Penguin Classics, and avoid anything large like Crime & Punishment.
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Trail Magizine for me or innate kindle on my iPhone.
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I'm the same something thin and light is best. I'm reading a book on Greek mythology at the minute. "The Universe, The Gods and mortals" its not very heavy going (or weighing!) buts it fascinating reading. Picked it up on amazon for a fiver.
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or as twenty clicks mentioned some sort of e-reader. My dad has one and he loves it. You can download thousands of books from the guttenberg press (sp) for free as they have relinquished their copy right or something along those lines. As well as that there are always people on ebay selling a CD of X hundreds of books for pennies! It pretty much pays for its self!
There is a pocket version of the sony e-reader out, at least you'll be able to satisfy your lightweight urges!
Or even lighter an Ipod shuffle and an audio book!
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yeah the old audio book is the way to go. I got through Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" while in work last week and will def download some more for the hill.
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Winterdance - for the cold winter camps.
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780156001458/Winterdance-the-Fine-Madness-of-Running-the-Iditarod (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780156001458/Winterdance-the-Fine-Madness-of-Running-the-Iditarod)
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If you have an iPhone some good free books for download I just finished mat"the condor"Hoffman autobiography it's a good read also another book about running created by god cursed by the devil . Think it's along the lines of what doing mmm feels like ;D
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Personally, I don't really "get" e-book readers. I'm as into my gadgets as the next bloke, but other than being able to carry a whole lotta books at once I can't see the appeal. One things for sure, if the batteries in my e-book reader died on a solo summit camp I'd be very upset. Give me a good paperback any day! ;D
For some mountain top, mountain related, reading then I'd have a look at the Cicerone range. Some times I bring something like the Cicerone "Navigation" (http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/490/title/navigation) book with me as its smaller than "The Book of the Bivvy" and has a waterproof sleeve. I will also occasionally bring a guide book from either Trailblazer or Cicerone, as they often contain much more interesting information than just a detailed description of the route. The Trailblazer guide to the West Highland Way for example has lots of historical information and a whole section on flora and fauna.
Another book I'm thoroughly enjoying at the moment is Hamish's Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamishs-Mountain-Non-Fiction-Hamish-Brown/dp/1905207336). Hamish Brown was the first person to complete a single, continuous circuit of the Munro's in 1974 and so far its proving to be a very informative by also very funny read. Unfortuntately its quite a large paper back, which is great for reading at home but not really rucksack friendly!
One book I'm really looking forward to is the re-print of "North to the Cape" (http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/285/title/north-to-the-cape) by Denis Brook and Phil Hinchliffe. It's listed under the "Guides Reprinting" section of the Cicerone website with a date of February 2011, so fingers crossed. Second hand copies seem to be fairly rare and sell for a fortune, but I'm hoping to do this walk in the next year or two and seeing its not way marked the book will be fairly invaluable.
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"Into thin Air" by John Krakauer is a good book about a 1996 Everest climb that turned to tragedy when 8 climbers lost their lives in one day. It's a small paperback. Of course I'd have to balance that with also giving Antoli Boukreev's "The Climb" a mention. Antoli was another climber also on Everest that day. The books differ somewhat about some of the events of the day. It's a good insight into morals and ethics vs ambition, quite literally at 'the top'!
Non-outdoor related. My choice of literature when travelling is a copy of Newsweek. Covers everything from politics, economics, the natural world and the arts.
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Non-outdoor related. My choice of literature when travelling is a copy of Newsweek. Covers everything from politics, economics, the natural world and the arts.
Ahh, how could I forget. When it comes to periodicals I find a copy of National Geographic goes a long way! Plenty to read and usually stunning photographs to look at as well.
Trail Magizine for me
Not a big fan of Trail magazine, as like most magazines from big publishers it just seems to recycle the same old content every few months. The titles on the cover of the magazine always sound great, but then when you go to read the articles there is nothing but a few photographs and what nearly amounts to an advertorial. TGO magazine is far better in my opinion... well written articles with plenty of substance and always very original content. Chris Townsend and Eddy Meechan's articles are real gems and usually the first I turn to each month. Its a bit like when I was a kid and used to skip to the "Bash Street Kids" in the Beano. If you haven't tried TGO Lenny, give it a go :)
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I like the idea of reading about these intrepid explorers and their exploits, then i suppose i won't feel so bad if the weather is a "bit windy" in the mournes when you are reading about someone trying to bivvy on a rock face. There's a bit in book o' the bivvy about the early attempts on the Eiger by the North face which has me eager to read more on that subject.
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Trail Magizine for me
Not a big fan of Trail magazine, as like most magazines from big publishers it just seems to recycle the same old content every few months. The titles on the cover of the magazine always sound great, but then when you go to read the articles there is nothing but a few photographs and what nearly amounts to an advertorial. TGO magazine is far better in my opinion... well written articles with plenty of substance and always very original content. Chris Townsend and Eddy Meechan's articles are real gems and usually the first I turn to each month. Its a bit like when I was a kid and used to skip to the "Bash Street Kids" in the Beano. If you haven't tried TGO Lenny, give it a go :)
I get TGO as well. was looking at the TGO Challange for 2012 as I hopefully have Kili next year if I can raise the funds. :(
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I generally stick to something on polar exploration or the like when I'm out camping solo, but unfortunately Scott's Journal's is a tad on the hefty side, specially for climbing mountains although not to bad in the relatively flat terrain around Stockholm. I find the Penguin Classics collection to be fairly good, as they're generally a reasonable size to be carrying around and have books on mythology and other such fascinating tales. Then of course there is the Hobbit, basically a lightweight Lord of the Rings.
I can't grasp the ebook concept at all, other than being able to carry hundreds of books around in compact form, but I don't trust myself with electronic devices in the outdoors.
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I can't grasp the ebook concept at all, other than being able to carry hundreds of books around in compact form, but I don't trust myself with electronic devices in the outdoors.
I'm with you there mate. Its hard to replace the feel of a paperback with an electronic device. Besides sometimes it seems that when in the outdoors some people are so obsessed with their fancy gadgets that they have almost lost touch with why they are there in the first place! For me personally its often about getting away from the everyday conveniences so that I get back to appreciation of things.