View Full Version : Handbook or Companion?
Hikelbum
02-24-2006, 16:35
I have a 2005 Thru-Hikers Handbook by Wingfoot and the ALDHA 2006 Thru Hikers Companion. They are similar but different. The Handbook seems to have more trail and water info and the Compaion has more town maps and info and weighs 2oz. more than the Handbook. It is very difficult to choose while sitting in the ez chair at home and never having been on the AT! Which would be more useful to carry on a thru hike and why? :-?
Homecoming Queen
02-24-2006, 16:44
I have both books as well. I'll definitely be taking Wingfoot's book (or parts of it) on my hike next year. That extra information is sure to come in handy.
Pedaling Fool
02-24-2006, 20:50
I have the opposite: 2006 Handbook and 2005 Companion. After reviewing both I feel no need to purchase a 2006 Companion, nor take it with me on my 2006 GA>ME hike. For me it will just be WF Handbook and AT Map set.
I'd recommend the "AT on-line companion" and the Map Sets. If you want, you can jot down the water sources on the maps, as outlined in the books. I would still buy the books for reference, especially the New Hampshire and Maine Books.
TJ aka Teej
02-24-2006, 21:37
I have a 2005 Thru-Hikers Handbook by Wingfoot and the ALDHA 2006 Thru Hikers Companion.
Use them for planning, and leave them home.
I like the handbook. Knowing where water is can get important out there. Wish I'd had it when I started up Sassafrass.
dje97001
02-25-2006, 00:41
I haven't seen the handbook--so it is possible that the description of the water locations is first rate--but the companion includes references to water. In two places. First, the 2006 companion incorporates the same tabular data that the data book has... each shelter/campsite/road crossing lists whether there is water or not. Second, in the description of the shelters/campsites/road crossings, most water sources (possibly all of them... I just don't want to say that categorically) are included.
Also, the official maps (which you may or may not be taking) reference water sources and also show the smaller streams you'll pass by.
Anyway, I just thought I would stand up for the companion, despite the fact that I can't comment on the contents of the handbook. The 2006 companion is AWESOME!!!
Easy choice. One supports a nonprofit trail organization and the other supports an individual. No brainer.:-?
Easy choice. One supports a nonprofit trail organization and the other supports an individual. No brainer.:-?
Keep in mind, however, that the individual has spent much of two decades working to keep the trail as a haven of wildness along an increasingly civilized mountain range. (I almost said "world," but then I remembered Iraq.)
Weary
Keep in mind, however, that the individual has spent much of two decades working to keep the trail as a haven of wildness along an increasingly civilized mountain range. (I almost said "world," but then I remembered Iraq.)
Weary
I'm all for supporting a non-profit. Yet again, I'm also all for supporting the individual, so it's six of one, half a dozen of the other for me. I have both books, and the handbook shows more water sources AND campsites than the Companion and maps put together. With that knowledge, the choice is a no-brainer for me. I take Wingfoot's book.
Hikelbum
02-25-2006, 18:25
Thanks for the replys! Wasn't trying to start a WF bashing or support thread. I already have both books and was trying to get feedback from hikers as to which they found most useful. As I get closer to my departure date of 4 April I am obsessing over everything.
:eek:
Thanks for the replys! Wasn't trying to start a WF bashing or support thread. I already have both books and was trying to get feedback from hikers as to which they found most useful. As I get closer to my departure date of 4 April I am obsessing over everything.
:eek:
It's a magnificent obsession. Enjoy and good luck on your hike.
Pedaling Fool
02-25-2006, 19:11
I just looked at the 2006 "AT Online Companion", that Ridge mentioned, and I will have to reconsider the usefulness of the Companion.
Although, I see they still have too much information on the shelters; I think they can save a lot of paper without that information, but I'll still purchase one, if for nothing else, to support ALDHA and as another reference on the AT. Despite the fact they can't get along, we need both the ALDHA and WF, for all they do to support AT in their own special way.
However, I still don't think I would take the Companion on a thru-hike.
The Desperado
02-25-2006, 21:28
Handbook for sure. Enjoy your hike & happy Trails to ya !
hopefulhiker
02-26-2006, 09:41
Although many thru hikers last year cursed Wingfoot, the same hikers depended on the data.. I had data sheets from Wing foot's book mail dropped to me along the way.. I found it almost indispensible. His book is by far superior to the Companion... It is more thorough and generally helpful.I would have taken the companion if they could do as good a job as Wingfoot..
sparky2000
02-26-2006, 09:54
No paperwork! Please.
Having carried the handbook through our hike of 2003, and spending 161 nights on the trail, I can surely vouch for the Handbook. Everytime we stopped, people asked to borrow it to find information that wasn't available anywhere else. I carried it in a pouch on my chest, fastened between my shoulder straps on my backpack, so it was easily seen by others. It was worn to a frazzle by the end. I didn't tear it apart as I was constantly referring forwards for a month or backwards for a couple of months.
I might be slow as it took me a week to figure out just how to use it but once I was onto it, it was priceless. I even bought a new one for 2003 when I returned home so as I would have a good reference book.
Gimp of the Grayhounds AT '03
thru hiker handbook works for me:cool: neo
norfamericana
08-07-2006, 17:55
how do you get this said handbook?
SGT Rock
08-07-2006, 17:58
http://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=514&compid=1
Trailplace.com is the home of Wingfoot and his "Handbook" is the generally agreed "Bible" of the AT. If you search Trailplace he will give an address for ordering said book. I actually planned 99% of my trip with the 2002 book and then bought the 2003 book before setting out. It was worth its weight in gold. Every night or even time that we stopped, it was the first thing we took out and the last thing that we put away. I even carried it in a small pouch hung between my shoulder straps on my chest for easier reference