Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great book for begginers and serious backpackers!!!
Comment: I bought this book looking for a guide of some kind to help me know what to exspect, equipment I needed, and how to plan a trip. I got all I was looking for and more, I live and have grown up what most would consider a typical countryboy and have been hunting, camping, and fishing since I was old enough to walk, but I had never been on a long backpacking trip and have really always wanted to try it and this book is a great way to do it, it tells you everything you can think to ask and some you hadn't.I am going to head out on my first trip with confidence and ready for things that are going to happen. I have to say this guy knows what he is talking about andI would recamend you to buy this if you are planning even a short day hike. also the book is made to carry along in your pack with its plastic covered covers and pages. I would like to thank the auther in closing for this book it may have saved me alot of problems and maybe alot of injures.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Comment: I'm new to backpacking. I bought a few backpacking books recently, and none of them are more interesting and clearly written than this book. Karen Berger has a great, down to earth writing style without being too "breathy" or wordy. She gets down to the point, shows specific examples,and breaks things down in a way that can be understood by anybody.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A solid introduction to backpacking
Comment: In 1996 I took my first backpacking trip ever. It was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Became lost, carried too much weight...but enjoyed myself anyway. Two years later was on Katahdin in Maine. A big smile on my face...had just completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.After that first fun, yet disaster prone trip, stumbled upon the first edition of this book. Read it cover to cover and quickly learned many aspsects of backpacking I was woefully ignorant about. All that summer put into practice what was in the book.
Over the years since I've read that book have done much backpacking. Two end to hikes on the Long Trail, a thru-hike on both the AT and the Pacific Crest Trail. From reading the book was able to get the confidence to tackle longer hikes...and be fired up for them as well.
Now that I head up beginner backpacking trips myself, I always reccomend the book to anyone starting out with this past timne that has become a lifestyle for me.
I rated this book 4 stars, but would actually give it 4 1/2. Why not five? Berger is still skeptical of lightweight hiking (despite her new book about the subject) and it shows in not only in book but hiking videos, articles, etc. But, for the beginner, the solid info about traditional backpacking will get them on to a great start! Worked for me!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and fun to read ...
Comment: I bought this book recently to expand on what I know about hiking and backpacking. I mainly do day hikes, and living in the desert of the southwest, I obviously end up doing a lot of desert hikes.This book is very comprehensive, but by no means an all-inclusive description of what you need to know about hiking and backpacking.
It puts great emphasize on backpacking and not so much on hiking, although both activities are very similar in their nature. The book puts its main focus on backpacking in the Northeast of the USA, and talks a lot about the Appalachian Trail, which the author has hiked from one end to another.
The book contains all types of useful and important details about equipment, behavior on the trail, personal safety etc. Personally, I would've liked for it to mention more about travelling by foot in the desert, but that said, you can still find the most important information about desert hiking scattered around the book.
Pros:
* Very comprehensive - Contains information about most things you need to know about hiking and backpacking
* Easy and fun to read - very nice format
* Contains checklists
* Author is very knowledgable on the subject and an accomplished hiker/backpacker
* Good value for money
Cons:
* Not enough information about desert hiking/backpacking
* Very heavy - not something you'd want to bring in your pack unless you had to. On the flip side, it makes it more durable than your average book.
* Not all that good as a reference - best read from beginning to end.
All in all, I would rate it a 4 since it's a quite well written and comprehensive book. It covers what most people would expect to find in this type of book. It falls short of a rating of 5 mainly for the reasons mentioned in CON above.
(This review is of the February 2003 edition)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource
Comment: This book is a terrific resource for those just starting out or those who would like to know more about hiking and backpacking. The author's topics cover everything from the complete basics like, why you should hike, straight through to the more complex, like how to adjust your compass for declination. She also makes extremely helpful suggestions on purchasing products such as tents, sleeping bags, water purifiers, stoves, and basically all types of gear. The author has a writing style that generates interest in the reading material. She also focuses on particular topics, like handling problems only women encounter in the outdoors, or what you should know before taking children hiking. This book is a must have.
