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 enlarge | Author: Ryel Kestenbaum
Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $5.76
You Save: $10.19 (64%)
New (25) Used (21) from $4.16
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 459951
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 139
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.3
ISBN: 0071368280
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.51
UPC: 639785801627
EAN: 9780071368285
ASIN: 0071368280
Publication Date: June 26, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: GREAT Bargain Book Deal - like new, some may have small remainder mark - Ships out by NEXT Business Day - Over ONE MILLION Amazon orders filled - 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Other books are much better November 20, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book has some useful information and guidance so I decided to give it two stars. It isn't the worst book I've seen on backpacking but it isn't very good. I understand why others don't like the "preaching". The book is loaded with it.
The author recommends that you cut tags, cut straps, cut off toothbrush handles, etc. According to the author, this gets you into the state of mind for ultralight. It isn't what lightweight backpacking is about. It is about knowing the weight of everything you put in your pack. In the clothing section, the author only mentions fleece for the insulation layer. This is very out of date. There are far better insulation layer alternatives that are much lighter. In the shelter section, he doesn't cover tarps sufficiently, the only option for someone going ultralight. In the section that covers water, he recommends iodine tablets, a very poor choice with Aquamira and other chlorine dioxide products on the market.
After reading lots of books on backpacking, reading the internet, and practicing it for two years, I came back and read this book again. Some books I get something of value when I read them the second time. This book was a complete zero for me the second time around. If you're interested in lightening your backpack and want to read a short book like Kastenbaum's Ultralight backpacker, I strongly recommend Don Ladigin's Lighten Up! book. It is far better.
Not enough specific information... June 26, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book would be better called, "Lightweight Backpacking". With the exception of cutting off extra material and drilling holes in your toothbrush, most of the info is covered better elsewhere (see Chris Townsend's "The Backpacker's Handbook") and doesn't really fall exclusively into ultralight backpacking.
 Finaly a book that covered all the basics from a few angles... March 20, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been gathering information about backpacking for some time now and this is one of the better books I've come across because ti covers how to prep, suggestions on what to buy, even how to stay in shape with some basic stretching. If you want a book that is fairly complete from end-to-end along with a set of good ideas for backpacking.. pick it up as it worked well for me... hopefully it will work well for you!
GREAT BUY February 8, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a informative book for ultralight gear and has taught me how reduce several pounds in my pack along with giving great suggestions for ultralight gear.
 From the Author January 22, 2006
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
Almost five years have passed since this book was published, and every now then, maybe three or four times a year, I'll check back and see what people are saying about their experiences reading it and applying its content. For those of you who don't have the initial pleasure of getting a book deal and the subsequent hair-pulling that goes on once your delusions have been punctured, think twice before you dedicate at least two years of your life toward an objective that may provide you with several inches of thicker skin as well as the undoubtedly fulfilling joy of accomplishing something special. Ultralight backpacking was unquestionably a profound passion of mine at the time, and having just graduated from a Master's program in creative writing, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity of forging these two interests in a manner that I felt uniquely contributed to the existing pool of instructional literature.
But much like buying a puppy based on spontaneous appeal, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn't realize that an instructional book published by large corporate organization was as much - if not more - a product of the publishing house and its profusion of editors, copyrighters and marketing gurus as it was of the author. I naively thought that my recently polished skills as a writer would shine all the way through to the ultimate version of the manuscript - with perhaps a slight touch-up here and there by the editors - but what you end up reading in the published version of The Ultralight Backpacker is miles and miles, a Pacific Crest Trail away from what I'd originally submitted. I'd thought my skin had been sufficiently hardened by two years of incessant critique in grad school, but by the time the editing process was complete, I'd been rubbed raw.
While I was and remain utterly thrilled to have written a book worthy of publication, one that I continue to be immensely proud of, one that I will always feel provides an outlet for those wishing to pursue an easier life on the trail, I felt considerable frustration at the degree to which the publishers were allowing my literary standard to be compromised for the sake of sparse marketability. My original manuscript shrunk by 33%. Eloquence became prosaic, evocation became anesthetized. My pride was stung again and again. My protests were to no avail, and there was more than one occasion on which I threatened to pull the plug on the whole thing
Yet despite my deepening realization that the world of nonfiction treats first-time authors much as the film industry regards first-time screenwriters, I believe that the essence of the message I tried to disseminate through this book can be read and felt. The art of ultralight backpacking is an art of expression, a language one speaks to affirm one's connection with the natural, unfettered, indifferent world; while human progress mounts greater complexities on our already encumbered minds, ultralight backpacking is a regression to a state of timelessness and purity. For me, there is no question that ultralight backpacking is a philosophy, far more than a specific technique or a material reckoning, and for those with whom I've had the privilege of sharing the trail, I believe that I am not alone in thinking this way. While the rest of my manuscript was being picked apart, reduced and fiddled with, I insisted that the chapter on the Ultralight State of Mind remain intact. I wanted people to understand that what makes ultralight backpacking so special and distinguished is more than just shaving off a few ounces or eschewing the use of traditional backpacking gear; for those of us that have dedicated ourselves to its pursuit, it is indeed a way of life, one that trickles into our daily living, affecting us on an irreducible level. While my life has turned to other pursuits and I find myself with little time left over for backpacking, I still approach all the matters of my existence with the benefit of living and experiencing the ultralight state of mind. If, through reading this book, you can capture a sense of that essence and power, then despite its flaws - the existence of which I freely admit - the book will have achieved its purpose. Certainly I could have written more chapters on ambiguously related material, providing the prospective reader with more bang for the buck, but to me, ultralight backapacking is about reduction, about stripping away the reliance we have on things outside of ourselves, and to believe in our deepest ability to function on a primitive, intrinsic level. I give you the essentials, bare though they may be, and send you on your way to write the rest of the book yourself, for the style and manner of ultralight backpacking is uniquely personal, providing a framework to find what is most appropriate for your own needs and instincts.
I don't want to, and indeed don't have a right to, defend my book against any of the opinions offered by readers. I have my own attacks on the finished version. But I believe that the responsibility of how the content of a book is used and applied lies with the reader. If it doesn't resonate, if you're not feeling it, it may not necessarily be because the book has failed in its purpose. Ultralight backpacking has provided me with some of the most profound and life-enhancing experiences I've ever had, and this book's mission, as it came from my heart, was to share the manner in which I came to know these experiences. Even if only one in ten, or one in a hundred, readers are touched by similar experiences, my regrets and frustrations in getting this book to print are as substantive as the air I breathe.
I welcome your comments, critiques, and thoughts on any topic relating to this book or to ultralight backpacking, and wish you success and enlightenment in your journey to a lighter state of mind. You can reach me at ryelk@pinkmammoth.org.
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