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Thread: tech on trail

  1. #21
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post

    Friends call me retrogrouch.
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  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post
    While downsizing after my first thru-hike, I decided to go through old photos. I threw away about 80 pounds of photos. They all looked the same, just me and some friends on various peaks or trails, various seasons. I decided to stop carrying a camera right then.

    And one of my greatest pleasures in going for a hike is getting away from the phone.

    Nothing wrong with tech in my mind, but I prefer to leave it at home.

    Someone recently gave me an old smartphone that works on the house Wifi with various useful apps. (I no longer need to go to the bank to deposit checks.) The thing weighs 8 oz w/charger. I won't carry it with me.

    Friends call me retrogrouch.
    OP was asking, I think, more about smartphones and such. I'm thinking cameras aren't "tech" gear in that context. I personally try to always have a camera when I hike. That was true 40+ years ago when I first got the hiking bug.

    We rely on tech in any case... I'm sure most of our gear is CAD designed nowadays - tents, packs, shoes, etc. We wouldn't be having this discussion without it.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    A select and prestigious club.
    Welcome!
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    I will strive to be worthy, oh master.
    Quote Originally Posted by blw2 View Post
    ...I read something a couple years ago, where someone either did a study, or just theorized about how much folks miss when they are photographing an event...Much better to live it then to shoot it....
    I've theorized about this. It's interesting to hear someone else has. In my experience, the dynamic changes when you take out a camera. The camera changes you from a traveler to a tourist.

    Of course, there are exceptions. At least one photographer I know can use the camera as a tool to effectively document a social situation. I just don't have that skill.

  4. #24
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post
    I will strive to be worthy, oh master.


    I've theorized about this. It's interesting to hear someone else has. In my experience, the dynamic changes when you take out a camera. The camera changes you from a traveler to a tourist.

    Of course, there are exceptions. At least one photographer I know can use the camera as a tool to effectively document a social situation. I just don't have that skill.
    ''Tis I who is not worthy.
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  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    I can easily belive that there are almost no hiking maps of these countries, maybe except some very limited areas around famouse summits and national parks.
    Remember, these countries had a strict communist government for many decades, then had a raging war for many years and are now just recovering from all this.
    If there were any detailed maps at all, they would not be available to the public, but for military only.
    Street maps is the only stuff I've ever seen, the best one I have is an Austrian make, scale 1:200.000. Good for riding a bike, no good for hiking.

    Looking forward to hear some more, fiddlehead!
    Yes, Leo knows.
    I shouldn't have said "no maps" . Some of the National parks had some maps, although they didn't have our trail marked as such... how would we know which one was ours??? (possible with tons of preplanning I guess)
    But that was only 10% of the hike (national parks)

    We did meet some hikers who printed out maps from the viadinarica website.
    They were very lost and followed us for the remainder of their hike.
    The maps were too low of a scale for the detail needed for the sections without marked trail (or no trail even, sometimes)

    The GPS was our most used item. 30% of the time, we would hold it in our hand while walking.
    The phone app had the exact same track on there, but the batteries were much better in the GPS. (Lithiums lasted 11 days, Duracells about 2 1/2)

    It was a learning exerience for both of us, even though we have both completed the Triple Crown.
    (it was great)
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  6. #26
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    I hiked the LT long before cell phones or digital cameras were invented, I wore blue jeans and cotton socks the entire time, and of course an external frame pack, and I managed to survive.

    A smart phone is certainly handy for calling, texting, as a very good camera, map app, etc. - sometimes I bring it with me.

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    Interesting what your'e saying about battery life.
    During our desert trip this spring, I had my smartphone running in tracking mode, which lasted about 2 to 2.5 days.
    If I had it only for looking at the route by the GPS app, it would last for about a week or more (did this once for 5 days and it drained the battery down to 50%).

    Those Southeastern European countries completely lack the ambition to produce high quality maps for the public. There seems to be no company or organization to take care about, and if there is any, they take any info they can easily get and put it on paper in quite a sloppy way, focusing on the most important points only (which might be roads, alpine huts and prominent summits only).
    Very different to what we have here in Central Europe, where we have maps so accurate that you could walk blindfolded. Elevations accurate to a single meter.
    Something we've learned from the old Brits, I guess.

    To Topic:
    During my trips in the Middle East deserts, I have the smartphone handy all the time, its the main source for all route finding.
    Basically these trips were the reason why I bought the smartphone in the first hand, to save me from carrying kilos of Google Earth printouts and paper copies from my worthy ancient maps.
    Being able to say hello to my family back home every now and then is a bonus nice to have, as is an occassional phone call to organize a taxi.
    I'm using my smartphone for hiking since 4 years now, and am extremely happy with it.

  8. #28
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    I hate phone calls and always don't want to be interrupted. But I do have an Android smartphone because it has all the other useful tools, such as GPS, compass, trail maps and guides, music, books, camera for both still and video, etc. I don't have those monthly smartphone plans. I don't do any social networking stuff at all and don't want to be interrupted by them. I use Tmobile pay as you go thingy, which costs me 10 cents a minute, and a text. The annual phone service usually costs me $30 or less. In normal life, I usually use Google Hangouts to call and text which costs nothing. I do find smartphone is very useful on trail.

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by rafe View Post
    OP was asking, I think, more about smartphones and such. I'm thinking cameras aren't "tech" gear in that context. I personally try to always have a camera when I hike. That was true 40+ years ago when I first got the hiking bug.

    We rely on tech in any case... I'm sure most of our gear is CAD designed nowadays - tents, packs, shoes, etc. We wouldn't be having this discussion without it.
    yeah, i was talking smart phones and ipads and connectivity stuff. not that there's anything wrong with it. not that there's anything right with it. just wondering about % and changes to dynamics of thru-hiking!

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by cliffordbarnabus View Post
    i've thru'ed the AT twice. and almost thrice but only 80%. also thru'ed the PCT. blah blah.

    i don't carry, nor do i own a cell phone. or any of those gidgets or gadgets. so i don't know what trump's doing, what the weather "should" be. and the only facebook in my face is a book by kerouac or salinger.

    question : what % do you think of thru'ers these days carry a phone/ipad/thingamabob?
    Comrade! I ditched the phone and camera, too -- I don't feel a pressing need to "check in" with whomever to reassure them that I'm not dead yet; I ditched the camera because my memory is still good enough to remember most of what I want; I don't carry "smart" tech because I don't find it to be that smart; no radio because I like hearing sounds in the woods that I can't while at my house.

    But I think we're in the extreme minority now. And the younger the hiker, it seems the more likely they carry tech gear, such that they can't seem to do much without bowing their heads in an iPrayer at every stop.

  11. #31
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    Hmmm....in general....could these negative opinions be age related?

  12. #32

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    I was a month or so into my hike before I remembered that the baseball season had started. I was a flip phone user pre-hike. I got a crappy old Iphone 4 to start the hike with, mostly to check the weather, but the camera was trash, and it barely held a charge.

    I upgraded my phone to a decent one about a month into the hike. I absolutely loved the ability to take quality pictures, and send them off to family via text. Likewise, Guthook's app was like an easy button for planning the day's hike. I didn't download any videos, and rarely checked the news (other than to check on my beloved Red Sox.)

    I admit to getting a smart phone initially, because I wasn't an experienced distance hiker. Now that I'm a somewhat experienced distance hiker, I know I could manage the AT without a smart phone, but I also know that leaving the phone behind wouldn't improve my hiking experience. It's a convenience, that's all.

    My memory is trash, I'm really happy I have the pictures I have, and wish I had them for the first month of the hike.

  13. #33
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    I bring my smartphone.

    Normally it's in airplane mode, so it isn't going to ring with a call or chime with an incoming message.

    It serves me as a store of field notes, a few reference books, an atlas, a secondary navigation system, maybe the novel I'm reading, a camera, .... just about everything but a telephone and text messenger.

    If I brought a notebook, or a field guide to birds of flowers, or a deck of maps, or a paperback novel, or a conventional camera, most hikers wouldn't say a word. Those are traditional and accepted things to have in a pack.

    But there are always a few who say my device ruins their wilderness experience, once they learn it's there. And ordinarily they won't, because unless I'm actually looking something up or taking pictures or making notes, it stays put away. Reading on it is by myself, in my tent, so the light from the panel won't bother anyone. (Just as I'd do with a paperback novel and flashlight, back in a bygone time.) I don't see much of a difference, but I recognize that others do, and try not to whip out the phone in front of people who might mind.

    In any case, you're not going to put the genie back in the bottle.
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by John B View Post
    Comrade! I ditched the phone and camera, too -- I don't feel a pressing need to "check in" with whomever to reassure them that I'm not dead yet; I ditched the camera because my memory is still good enough to remember most of what I want; I don't carry "smart" tech because I don't find it to be that smart; no radio because I like hearing sounds in the woods that I can't while at my house.

    But I think we're in the extreme minority now. And the younger the hiker, it seems the more likely they carry tech gear, such that they can't seem to do much without bowing their heads in an iPrayer at every stop.
    hell yeah! love it!

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by KDogg View Post
    Hmmm....in general....could these negative opinions be age related?
    sure. i'm 32. does that make me a dinosaur?

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Puddlefish View Post
    I was a month or so into my hike before I remembered that the baseball season had started. I was a flip phone user pre-hike. I got a crappy old Iphone 4 to start the hike with, mostly to check the weather, but the camera was trash, and it barely held a charge.

    I upgraded my phone to a decent one about a month into the hike. I absolutely loved the ability to take quality pictures, and send them off to family via text. Likewise, Guthook's app was like an easy button for planning the day's hike. I didn't download any videos, and rarely checked the news (other than to check on my beloved Red Sox.)

    I admit to getting a smart phone initially, because I wasn't an experienced distance hiker. Now that I'm a somewhat experienced distance hiker, I know I could manage the AT without a smart phone, but I also know that leaving the phone behind wouldn't improve my hiking experience. It's a convenience, that's all.

    My memory is trash, I'm really happy I have the pictures I have, and wish I had them for the first month of the hike.
    i love sports too. go cubs!

  17. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Another Kevin View Post
    I bring my smartphone.

    Normally it's in airplane mode, so it isn't going to ring with a call or chime with an incoming message.

    It serves me as a store of field notes, a few reference books, an atlas, a secondary navigation system, maybe the novel I'm reading, a camera, .... just about everything but a telephone and text messenger.

    If I brought a notebook, or a field guide to birds of flowers, or a deck of maps, or a paperback novel, or a conventional camera, most hikers wouldn't say a word. Those are traditional and accepted things to have in a pack.

    But there are always a few who say my device ruins their wilderness experience, once they learn it's there. And ordinarily they won't, because unless I'm actually looking something up or taking pictures or making notes, it stays put away. Reading on it is by myself, in my tent, so the light from the panel won't bother anyone. (Just as I'd do with a paperback novel and flashlight, back in a bygone time.) I don't see much of a difference, but I recognize that others do, and try not to whip out the phone in front of people who might mind.

    In any case, you're not going to put the genie back in the bottle.

    no genies. no bottles. no wrongs. no rights. i? i like pen and ink. anyone else? he/she likes what he/she likes. the fact that we're out there doing it to it. ~that's~ the point!

    move and groove! with gadgets? YES! without gadgets? YES!

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by cliffordbarnabus View Post
    no genies. no bottles. no wrongs. no rights. i? i like pen and ink. anyone else? he/she likes what he/she likes. the fact that we're out there doing it to it. ~that's~ the point!

    move and groove! with gadgets? YES! without gadgets? YES!
    Agreed!

    Personally, I like books that don't need to be recharged. And my old eyes and fumbling fingers struggle with small touchscreens. But I certainly can recognize what a versatile multi-use device a smartphone can be. It can take the place of a lot of other things, reducing weight and bulk. As with so many things, HYOH.

    In a group hiking setting, it is disappointing to see so many with their eyes aimed down at their phone rather than out at the view or at their fellow hikers in conversation. They are designed to get our attention and not yield it. I mean this literally ... they really are designed to produce the results we see in terms of "bowing heads in iPrayer". IMO it's wise to be mindful of how these devices affect you and whether that's the person you want to be on the trail. If so, fine - HYOH. But if not, well, reconsider what you bring and when you pull it out.

  19. #39
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    One of the strongest advocates of phone-free trails I ever met was in his early 30s.

  20. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by cliffordbarnabus View Post
    i love sports too. go cubs!
    Stupid Red Sox couldn't get past the Indians that year. As a fellow member of the "long suffering fan" club I was rooting for your Cubs.

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