View Full Version : Thru-Hiker's Companion vs. Thru-hiker's Handbook
Boat Drinks
10-22-2006, 11:13
I was wondering if there is any reason to own both of these books. In the little time I spent over on Trailplace.com, (before I found WB), I tried to ask the same question. As I reviewed my post I noticed that everywhere the word Companion was typed, it was missing. I did not know why. Then I started researching a bit and found out that folks can't post anything regarding the Companion, else it would be edited and/or removed. My post was not only auto-edited but heavily edited other wise by the moderator, (Bruce), and it left my post non-sensical. I read the forum rules and learned a little bit about Mr. Bruce and that I didn't want to be a member of his forum anymore. Not to take away from his mass accomplishments, I just don't agree with his forum rules or his politics. Thank goodness I stumbled upon WB.
But the question remains, any reason to buy both books? The Companion and the Handbook? Or do they have much the same info?
Johnny Swank
10-22-2006, 11:42
Both will get you up/down the trail - I wouldn't sweat it too much. I'd get the Companion online and make a contribution to ALDHA just because the money will be more likely to reach the AT in some fashion.
Boat Drinks
10-22-2006, 11:59
I'd get the Companion online and make a contribution to ALDHA just because the money will be more likely to reach the AT in some fashion.
I bought the print copy from them for just that reason!
Johnny Swank
10-22-2006, 12:08
I like the online version just because I can cut/paste/resize and print out a few pages instead of tearing the things like I usually do. I've got the half-dead carcasses of a half-dozen Handbooks and Companions around here somewhere.
Yes, I know that they make copy machines - I'm just lazy!
In the past few years great strides have been made to keep the ALDHA Companion up-to-date, especially the town maps and info. Of course, things can change from now until when you start your hike next spring, but overall, I believe the Companion has the latest info vs the Handbook.
SGT Rock
10-22-2006, 12:20
I have tried both. I once preferred the Thru-Hiker's Handbook, but now the Companion is much more to my liking. I also pay for one and then edit the on-line version to fit my own needs.
Boat Drinks
10-22-2006, 12:21
In the past few years great strides have been made to keep the ALDHA Companion up-to-date, especially the town maps and info. Of course, things can change from now until when you start your hike next spring, but overall, I believe the Companion has the latest info vs the Handbook.
I see that the ALDHA has online updates to its Companion.
No one needs both the Handbook and the ALDHA Companion. Without praising one or the other, go to an outfitter and look at the current edition, and see which one you prefer.
Pokey2006
10-22-2006, 17:01
I prefer the Companion because it has less, uh, editorialization. I don't want a guidebook which insults me. Just want a guidebook that tells me where I can buy groceries and find water.
neither are perfect, the compainion and data book combined this year, it also has a little history in it. its also updated by the maintainers. the handbook has some very humorous readings- check out the back cover, some parts of the intro and the damacus page. the handbook is updated when someone tells wingfoot about it.
and as far as having you post edited read this http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-7993.html
TJ aka Teej
10-22-2006, 19:13
The two main differences are 1.) how the information is collected. ALDHA volunteers (like me) usually visit all the service providers they write about, while Wingfoot usually just telephones. Some people also give Wingfoot firsthand reports. and 2.) who profits from the sales. ALDHA volunteers write the Companion for the ATC. Wingfoot writes his guide for "The Center for A.T. Studies" which is really only just him. No one is making much money from either book. I suggest using the Companion to plan, and take parts of the DataBook on your hike.
oops here is a better link http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7993
Boat Drinks
10-23-2006, 13:00
neither are perfect, the compainion and data book combined this year, it also has a little history in it. its also updated by the maintainers. the handbook has some very humorous readings- check out the back cover, some parts of the intro and the damacus page. the handbook is updated when someone tells wingfoot about it.
and as far as having you post edited read this http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-7993.html
That was friggin hillarious! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that after only a few days of reading his posts over there.....
max patch
10-23-2006, 13:34
the handbook is updated when someone tells wingfoot about it.
Nothing wrong with a debate about which book is best -- but I think you lose the argument once you have to resort to telling lies.
Boat Drinks
10-23-2006, 13:44
Nothing wrong with a debate about which book is best -- but I think you lose the argument once you have to resort to telling lies.
what, he does NOT update it when someone tells him about it or someone doesn't tell him about it for him to update it?:confused:
Nothing wrong with a debate about which book is best -- but I think you lose the argument once you have to resort to telling lies.
i'm confused, so how does he update it?
neither are perfect, the compainion and data book combined this year, it also has a little history in it. its also updated by the maintainers. the handbook has some very humorous readings- check out the back cover, some parts of the intro and the damacus page. the handbook is updated when someone tells wingfoot about it.
and as far as having you post edited read this http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-7993.html
Nothing wrong with a debate about which book is best -- but I think you lose the argument once you have to resort to telling lies.
i'm confused, so how does he update it?
My understanding from talking to Dan (in the past) is that he contacts all service providers and discusses services/rates/etc every year. Anyone who has ever spoken to Dan, either in person or on the phone, knows that he can talk the ears off of a brass monkey. I think he really enjoys checking in with the service providers every year.
Footslogger
10-23-2006, 14:20
[quote=MOWGLI16;259865]
" ... he can talk the ears off of a brass monkey"
=========================================
Where does that expression come from Mowgli ?? Like it.
'Slogger
Jack Tarlin
10-23-2006, 14:21
Checking in with service providers via telephone or E-Mail is fine, but I think most folks feel that the Companion is more up to date and accurate. Many of its field editors have hiked the Trail quite recently, and almost all of them live in, and frequent, the areas they are writing about. The fact remains that a great many of the places that Bruce knew personally when he was hiking no longer exist or have changed dramatically; likewise, a great many of the places that hikers visit and patronize now did not even exist when he was out there hiking....when it comes to first-hand personal experience with places, businesses, facilities; the editors and contributors of the Companion are relying on much more up-to-date knowledge, and provide much more information based on firsthand, personal experience, rather than relying on reports from other hikers or annual telephone check-ins with Trail service providers.
Where does that expression come from Mowgli ?? Like it.
'Slogger
I donno. It's not a Mowgli original. But if you've ever talked to Dan "Wingfoot" Bruce, you'd probably agree with the description. Right Lone Wolf?
SGT Rock
10-23-2006, 14:27
neither are perfect, the compainion and data book combined this year, it also has a little history in it. its also updated by the maintainers. the handbook has some very humorous readings- check out the back cover, some parts of the intro and the damacus page. the handbook is updated when someone tells wingfoot about it.
and as far as having you post edited read this http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-7993.html
Nothing wrong with a debate about which book is best -- but I think you lose the argument once you have to resort to telling lies.
My understanding from talking to Dan (in the past) is that he contacts all service providers and discusses services/rates/etc every year. Anyone who has ever spoken to Dan, either in person or on the phone, knows that he can talk the ears off of a brass monkey. I think he really enjoys checking in with the service providers every year.
Never talked to him by voice, but by IM. Seemed like a good guy and we agreed on many points. We had a good chat when I got back from OIF1.
But since he doesn't get around much any more (his own words) - how does he find out about new services unless someone tells him? Seems like Redhair is at least partially right?
But since he doesn't get around much any more (his own words) - how does he find out about new services unless someone tells him? Seems like Redhair is at least partially right?
Yes, I think you're right. Dan does his work by phone and email.
When I heard that Dan was thinking about thru-hiking again, I wondered if he could make it. He is a chain smoker, and has been for many years. I suppose Baltimore Jack proves that you can be a smoker and still thru-hike. But Dan has been on the shelf for a long time now. And he's no spring chicken.
Personally, I hope he gets out there again.
SGT Rock
10-23-2006, 14:41
Yes, I think you're right. Dan does his work by phone and email.
When I heard that Dan was thinking about thru-hiking again, I wondered if he could make it. He is a chain smoker, and has been for many years. I suppose Baltimore Jack proves that you can be a smoker and still thru-hike. But Dan has been on the shelf for a long time now. And he's no spring chicken.
Personally, I hope he gets out there again.
Amen to that. Wish that a guy that got famous as a hiker could actually get out and enjoy it more.
Add me too into the people that need to get out and hike.
Jack Tarlin
10-23-2006, 14:54
Geez, Mowg, thanks for "supposing" about my hikes and what they may or may not prove.
I'll save you the supposing.
Yeah, one can smoke and thru-hike.
More than once, even.
I'm not suggesting or advocating it, but the way, but it can certainly be done.
Whether smoking or not, I also look forward to seeing Dan Bruce back on the Trail someday.
Geez, Mowg, thanks for "supposing" about my hikes and what they may or may not prove.
I wasn't picking on you Jack. Just expressing my thoughts.
Cigarettes last longer at 13,000 feet! ;)
Johnny Swank
10-23-2006, 20:09
Dan catches alot of grief, some of which he sort of brings on himself, sometimes. The guy cares about the trail and has provided plenty of good info on the AT for many years. I've only met him a couple of times and don't agree with everything that comes out on his website, but he was fine to shoot the breeze with. Hope he can get back out the trail sometime.
yeah he does seem to bring alot of it on himself
-he did sue the atc
-he doesn't allow for opinions other than his own on his site
-the whole center for at studies, all checks payable to him.
-the way he brags about himself (back cover 'His 1987 thru-hike served as the centerpiece of the A.T's fiftieth anniversary celebration' was his hike really the centerpiece?)
And another question, did he really 'originate' trail days? Anyone around for that or talked to any of the 'local organizers' who organized trail days?
"Trail days-- an annual hiker festival, originated in 1987 by your author (who suggested the event itself, parade, talent show, and name 'trail days' to local organizers)" - Thru-hiker's handbook 2006 edition
Jack Tarlin
10-24-2006, 15:38
TRH--
Actually, he WAS instrumental in getting Trail Days off the ground, and the only checks he receives at the Center for AT Studies are either payments/postage for his Handbook, or they are from people who wish to voluntarily contribute to the Center or to his website.
So far as all the checks at the Center being payable to him, well who do you think they should be made out to?
Honestly, people are entitled to have differences with Dan over many things, but sometimes the criticism is a little much. Geez, folks, if you don't want his book, don't buy it. If you don't like his website, don't visit or support it.
But to criticize the author of a noted Trail Guide for receiving payment for it seems a bit over the top....writers don't live on air, and books don't get written and published for free.
max patch
10-24-2006, 16:00
yeah he does seem to bring alot of it on himself
-he did sue the atc
I don't see how that bit of info helps you make your point.
He sued the ATC for damages, the ATC cut him a check, so apparently the lawsuit must have been valid.
I prefer the Companion because it has less, uh, editorialization. I don't want a guidebook which insults me. Just want a guidebook that tells me where I can buy groceries and find water.
Hmmm. I don't have the most recent edition of the Thru Hikers Guide. But I have several dating back to 1991, None contain anything that strike me as insulting to anyone.
Don't confuse Wingfoot's somewhat quirky web site with his very professional hiker's guide. Over the years most thru hikers seem to have preferred the Wingfoot Guide.
However, competition being what it is, the Companion is catching up. The primary difference between the two guides involves how the information is gathered. Wingfoot calls trail businesses annually to update his business listings.
The Companion relies on multiple volunteers, which like volunteers everywhere vary in their diligence. TJ does a supurb job in Maine, but not everyone has the time to be so dedicated.
Both books contain errors and outdated information Both will ease your way between Springer and Katahdin. And no both are not needed.
Weary
i prefer the thru hiker hand book:cool: neo
I have tried both. I once preferred the Thru-Hiker's Handbook, but now the Companion is much more to my liking. I also pay for one and then edit the on-line version to fit my own needs.Ditto. Two great minds... :D
...-he did sue the atc .......
I've heard this claim a thousand times. I have yet to find anyone who could document it's truth. If Dan sued the ATC there are court documents somewhere.
The fact that no one has found them makes me think it's another bit of nonsense that gets repeated again and again.
Dan and ATC certainly had a dispute about who owned what words and maybe about who had "intellectual property rights."
But until one of the central figures tells me a suit was filed, or someone produces some court documents, I'll continue to belirve it's all just crap.
Weary
My understanding from talking to Dan (in the past) is that he contacts all service providers and discusses services/rates/etc every year. Anyone who has ever spoken to Dan, either in person or on the phone, knows that he can talk the ears off of a brass monkey. I think he really enjoys checking in with the service providers every year.
He not only calls businesses, he calls ordinary hikers he respects who have first-hand knowledge of trail/shelter/water/hostel/outfitter/town services in their region. And yes, he can talk your head off. But he always calls on his dime and it's kinda fun.
I buy the Handbook, Companion, and Data Book each year. Not to carry while hiking, but to photocopy and carry the relevant info for where I'm hiking. Each will have something in it the others don't.
The Companion has made great strides in recent years, and has quite a network of volunteers. I really can't say one guide is better than the others.
He not only calls businesses, he calls ordinary hikers he respects who have first-hand knowledge of trail/shelter/water/hostel/outfitter/town services in their region. And yes, he can talk your head off. But he always calls on his dime and it's kinda fun.
In 2000 his book reported that an Osprey (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Osprey_dtl.html)had been dive bombing hikers near Island Pond in Harriman State Park. I called him and informed him that Ospreys; (a) don't breed or hang out in interior forest habitat and (b) that behavior is not characteristic of an Osprey and (c) that behavior is characteristic of a Northern Goshawk (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Goshawk_dtl.html).
He changed the guidebook the next year.
hopefulhiker
10-25-2006, 08:40
I liked WingFoots book over the Companion. There were only a couple of mistakes that I saw in 2005. With the whole trail to consider I think he did a remarkable job. It seemed the fashionable thing to do to criticize WingNut but I think that people were expecting too much.. Some people hiked without data at all! I just took a few data sheets at a time. Another way was to have the data emailed on pocket mail. I think that in the future more people will electronically store the data.. There might even be "guided tours of the AT" via MP3 players or something like that...
There's no real reason to own both, unless you just want them. The data book is smaller, and is what most use on the trail. I do have a couple of copies of the Companion and reference the online version. I like ALDHA and what they do and why they do it.
Actually, you can get all the info about towns, resupply, restaurants and such right here on WB and other websites. Also, the trail grapevine will tell you what's hot and what's not as you go along the trail. Put notes in your Data Book and travel on.
Not many carry either the guidebook or the companion for very long, too heavy.
max patch
10-25-2006, 10:00
Not many carry either the guidebook or the companion for very long, too heavy.
Not being an ounce weenie I gladly carried -- and used -- the Philosophers Guide, Data Book, and the State Guidebooks. Oh yeah, and a couple of paperback books for nighttime reading.
SGT Rock
10-25-2006, 10:02
Not being an ounce weenie I gladly carried -- and used -- the Philosophers Guide, Data Book, and the State Guidebooks. Oh yeah, and a couple of paperback books for nighttime reading.
Come on Max, get with the future. We are gram weenies now. :p
Hmmm. I don't have the most recent edition of the Thru Hikers Guide. But I have several dating back to 1991, None contain anything that strike me as insulting to anyone.
I don't know if I would call it 'insulting' per se, but reading through the glossary in the back of the 2006 edition was always good for a laugh. I especially enjoyed the line in the definition of 'Slackpacking' that said that most Thru-Hikers don't do it. I have no idea what color the sky is on Wingy's planet, but here on Earth I don't think I met a single Thru-Hiker this year who didn't Slack it from time to time. I don't know about previous editions, but the 2006 one definitely had a lot of things like that in it, where he gives you info on how he thinks things SHOULD be, rather than how things actually ARE.
That being said, his book was pretty good. I carried both the Companion and the Handbook. They complimented each other very well, I thought. There were all kinds of things that one missed that the other would have. I'm a crazy person who never bothered to weigh his pack (after the initial Amicalola weigh-in, of course) and I see no reason that people who actually care about pack weight would need both books. Just choose one or the other, I never found either book to be superior to its rival.
lets see...
Our choices are, in alphabetical order:
Companion
Data Book
Handbook
Would someone summarize the three, advantages, disadvantages. I am only familiar with the 2003 databook which is small, lightweight and darned handy for my section hike in 2004
Jack Tarlin
11-04-2006, 15:53
The Data Book used to be indispensable for thru-hikers; now, few folks carry it because the information it contains is esssentially duplicated in the two other books.
The Handbook and the Companion are very similar and it probably doesn't make much difference which one you carry. The Handbook contains better maps, but there are many folks who think the Companion has more current, and more up-to-date information, as it is written and edited by folks who have either hiked the Trail very recently, or actually live in the areas they are writing about.
At the end of the day, tho, it probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference which one you take.
(And lastly, tho you didn't mention them, I personally believe that in addition to carrying one of these Guides, you'd also do well to carry the Trail Maps with you as well, but that again is a personal decision).
The Weasel
11-04-2006, 19:31
"Carrying" (no, I'm not referring to "packing", as in large caliber weapons) one of these opens a different approach.
I tore out the pages for the stretches between mail drops, and only carried those. I also had CD maps of the AT which I printed out just for those stretches, as well. Lastly, I carried the torn-out pages of the Data Book. I'd leave the Guide/Companion pages and future days' maps in my pack to review at night for the coming day. Current day maps and the current stretch of the data book I carried in my pocket to review en route. Data book, Guide/Companion pages and past-days maps were left at Shelters for SOBOs. As a result, I didn't carry a lot of paper, but got the value of all 3 books as well as maps that were useful, unlike the folding ones that aren't, very.
I found that each book had its uses, and was glad I had the pages for all 3 as I walked.
The Weasel
Just my $.02 worth on Wingfoot....
I did start out on Trailplace and got alot of information from the site before finding Whiteblaze. I still go back there and read the forums. I don't agree with his politics or the fact that he censors everything so strictly. Also, other's political views violate the sites strict AT only policy but his do not....huh?
I don't know all the facts but here are a few things that I noticed about Wingfoot.
**He moved from his home right off the trail to Atlanta to care for his elderly parents. I admire him for this because that is a huge life change.
**He loves the AT, you can't argue that.
**He may talk the 'ears off a brass monkey' but he is very accessable to anyone that wants to talk to him and seems to sincerely want hikers to succeed.
**He seems to have religious convictions to go along with his liberal veiws. That's quite rare.
**He has always treated me with respect and courtesy.
So there, like it or not, that's what I think.
Amazonwoman