View Full Version : Looking for a good waterproof mp3 player for my AT trip
Does anyone know of any good mp3 players that are waterproof and lightweight? I want to get one for my AT trip and want one that can store a lot of music, has a fm/am radio, and can also take discs so i can store extra music on them. Any suggestions?
Moose2001
11-07-2003, 07:57
My hiking partner this year used a Rio Sport. It also has a AM-FM tuner built in. She was able to swap cards to carry additional music. It uses a single AAA battery which seemed to last just as long as the batteries in my radio. She really loved this MP3 player. Lightweight and she always had music. As opposed to the radio that would fade in and out and sometimes you couldn't find anything you really wanted to listen to.
Blue Jay
11-07-2003, 08:53
Yes I know one that is really cheap, weighs nothing and takes up no room. It's called listening to beautiful bird songs, they change as you go north. The wind in the trees changes all the time and is a relaxation drug. Crickets actually signal weather changes if you listen. Compose songs in your head, you won't have to listen to the same song over and over. If you walk softly you will hear animals and then get to see them. All of your other senses will wake up, smell, taste, sight, why allow your hearing to be stuck in the money world. Just a suggestion.
I use the iRiver 256MB MP3 player with FM receiver. It stores about 70 songs and is only 3 ounces.
I am not sure if any electronic device is "waterproof" on the AT. You have to keep it in a zip lock freezer bag and use common sense.
Thanks for the insight Blue Jay.....what ever happened to hike your own hike?
Originally posted by Blue Jay
Yes I know one that is really cheap, weighs nothing and takes up no room. It's called listening to beautiful bird songs, they change as you go north. The wind in the trees changes all the time and is a relaxation drug. Crickets actually signal weather changes if you listen. Compose songs in your head, you won't have to listen to the same song over and over. If you walk softly you will hear animals and then get to see them. All of your other senses will wake up, smell, taste, sight, why allow your hearing to be stuck in the money world. Just a suggestion.
But thats boring!!:D
gravityman
11-07-2003, 11:33
Aquapak makes a bag for carrying mp3's that is waterproof and gets the headphone cords out : http://www.waterproofcases.net/wireoutlet.html
It costs $45 though. They point to http://www.waterproofmusic.com/ but there it costs $70!
However, I have no idea how much it weights. We use sandwich bags and a twist tie to seal around the top of the headphone jack. Seems to work well enough, but we haven't been out on trial in wet weather for weeks on end yet...
Rio Sport also has only an FM tuner. The Lyra has an advantage in that it will play MP3pro. Half the file size at the same quality. It also uses SD cards for extra memory which you can swap in and out. About the size of a postage stamp and almost the same weight. I've heard bad things about the MMC cards used by the rio for durability.
Gravity Man
icemanat95
11-17-2003, 13:01
I'm with Blue Jay on this one (can that be possible?)
Don't insulate yourself from the natural world as you hike by dragging along music from the world. Listen to the sound of wind in the leaves and whistling over the rocks. Listen to turkeys flying by in the woods, voles rustling through the leaves and squirrels chattering at you for invading their territory.
If you must have music from outside, sing.
Blue Jay even hints at an important safety factor in not carrying and using a radio/MP3/tape/disc player. Situational Awareness. By having your senses open to the world around you, you are more aware and better attuned to it. With headphones on and music blasting, you will miss that rattlesnake rattle, or fail to hear the stream burbling along 20 meters off the trail.
Leave those music playback devices home and listen to the music of the world.
I don't think that I could have finished the AT without listening to music! Each to his own baby.
Here is my take..... MP3 device suck. 256mb mp3 player 70 songs max. Mini disc player 5hr plus of music per midi disc. Weight per mini disk a couple of grams. Thus for 2-3 ounces you can take 30-40 hours of music. The battery (one AA) lasts at least 20 hours.
I had a non-waterproof midi-disk that I just put in the top flap of my pack. When it rained I had the pack cover on anyway so no problems. Honestly the mini-disk is the best format.
An I-pod could also do what you want but I doubt the are rugged enough to last the journey.
Sony has a waterproof model
http://bizrate.lycos.com/,mss__cat_id--11640000,prod_id--6557312,rf--wgg,title--Mzs1.html
It is netMD which you want and has all the features. It is heavier than the one I useed but you would have to be a complete legend to break it!!!!
Send me an email if you want to know more!
:cool:
Mongo
gravityman
11-18-2003, 12:42
I get about 120 songs on my Lyra's 256MB external memory card. Not sure how many hours that is, but its a lot. I'm using MP3pro encoding.
The battery life is impressive. That's pretty sweet. My lyra's is only about 7 hours on 2 AAA.
Any minidiscs with FM tuners? If there is, then that might be the way to go...
Gravity Man
I don't think that I could have finished the AT without listening to music! Each to his own baby.
Here is my take..... MP3 device suck. 256mb mp3 player 70 songs max. Mini disc player 5hr plus of music per midi disc. Weight per mini disk a couple of grams. Thus for 2-3 ounces you can take 30-40 hours of music. The battery (one AA) lasts at least 20 hours.
I had a non-waterproof midi-disk that I just put in the top flap of my pack. When it rained I had the pack cover on anyway so no problems. Honestly the mini-disk is the best format.
An I-pod could also do what you want but I doubt the are rugged enough to last the journey.
Sony has a waterproof model
http://bizrate.lycos.com/,mss__cat_id--11640000,prod_id--6557312,rf--wgg,title--Mzs1.html
It is netMD which you want and has all the features. It is heavier than the one I useed but you would have to be a complete legend to break it!!!!
Send me an email if you want to know more!
:cool:
Mongo
SunnyWalker
11-05-2009, 15:03
I'm torn between my Ipod Classic and an mp3 Sansa player. I pretty much know the Ipod is out-heavy and not waterproof.
The Sansa is great: small, very lightweight, radio and mp3, 8 gb memory, up to 15 hours of playtime, has a belt clip (although I usually clip it to a sleeve or shirtpocket, and intefaces with Windows Media player so I can drop and drag.
Gray Blazer
11-05-2009, 15:16
It's hard to get a walker's attention when they are listening to their headphones and they always jump 3 feet in the air when they do notice you. One of these guys is going to have a heart attack on the trail one day. Just saying.
Wise Old Owl
11-05-2009, 17:24
Overstock.com
http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Swim-Waterproof-2GB-MP3-Player/3504699/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11573172
http://www.nextag.com/waterproof-mp3-player/compare-html
Chance09
11-05-2009, 17:43
i'd recommend an RCA pearl 2 GB. It holds Mini SD cards so you can store extra music on them, has a voice recorder, and FM radio. It's not waterproof but it does only cost $45 so it's not the end of the world if it breaks. It only weighs about an ounce and a half and takes 1 AAA battery. With a lithium battery i'd get over 35 hours of playtime.
I have an older Sansa that takes 2gb cards and an AAA batt. The new versions use Micro SD ( Mongo :256 mb ????, more like 8gb...) but internal rechargeable batt.
Wanting a waterproof model will limit your choice but I would think that a ZipLock bag or something like that should be enough to protect from rain (?)
Have a look at this site
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/compare/ (http://www.anythingbutipod.com/compare/)
it allows you to select the features you want and compare the results.
Franco
BTW, I never use it walking but it is nice before I go to sleep...
That RCA that Chance09 mentioned or the Sansa M250 (I thought they were discontinued...) would be the sort of players I would look at now.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-m250-Player-Black/dp/B000BP8AY2 (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-m250-Player-Black/dp/B000BP8AY2)
Powder River
01-20-2010, 15:50
Anyone notice we've resurrected a 7 year old thread about mp3 players? This was my clue:
Here is my take..... MP3 device suck. 256mb mp3 player 70 songs max. Mini disc player 5hr plus of music per midi disc. Weight per mini disk a couple of grams. Thus for 2-3 ounces you can take 30-40 hours of music. The battery (one AA) lasts at least 20 hours.
I had a non-waterproof midi-disk that I just put in the top flap of my pack. When it rained I had the pack cover on anyway so no problems. Honestly the mini-disk is the best format.
An I-pod could also do what you want but I doubt the are rugged enough to last the journey.
Sony has a waterproof model
http://bizrate.lycos.com/,mss__cat_id--11640000,prod_id--6557312,rf--wgg,title--Mzs1.html
It is netMD which you want and has all the features. It is heavier than the one I useed but you would have to be a complete legend to break it!!!!
Send me an email if you want to know more!
:cool:
Mongo
Now it would be nice to find a thread about cassette walkmans!
sherrill
01-20-2010, 16:26
Ha! Love it when old threads are resurrected.
I actually still see cassette walkmans in Target sometimes.
srestrepo
01-20-2010, 17:43
ok i scored on an rca pearl 2 gb at walmart. some girl had marked it as a flash drive so a bunch of them were priced at 17 bucks!!!
so i spent the extra 25 bucks nad bought a 4 gb card to go with it.
i put a lithium aaa battery in it and it lasts pretty much for 30 hours...
no fm tuner and my mine with headphones weighs just under 3 oz.
but 6gb of music and its tiny... i would have spent the 45 bucks anyway. thats my recommendation and i'm sticking to it!
Spatchka
01-30-2010, 14:49
ok i scored on an rca pearl 2 gb at walmart. some girl had marked it as a flash drive so a bunch of them were priced at 17 bucks!!!
so i spent the extra 25 bucks nad bought a 4 gb card to go with it.
i put a lithium aaa battery in it and it lasts pretty much for 30 hours...
no fm tuner and my mine with headphones weighs just under 3 oz.
but 6gb of music and its tiny... i would have spent the 45 bucks anyway. thats my recommendation and i'm sticking to it!
Realize the trail may not be the best place to be distracted by a mp3, but they sure can help when you have some down time.
Enjoy listening to audio books mostly, so I carry the RCA 2 GB Pearl also. Hard to find now, but they are still out there.
Works great with 'OverDrive' from my library and 'Audible.com'.
You got a great deal on this player. Found one supplier so far:
http://www.ikitchen.com/rca42pese2gb.html