The AT Guide vs The Thru-Hiker's Companion

[Pages]

i just compared the two in a write-up with pictures if you would like to compare for yourself.


http://pagesfromthetrail.blogspot.co...companion.html


- Pages

[Rain Man]

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. I liked how you put them side-by-side in photographs and even highlighted what you were commenting about. Nicely done.

RainMan

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[Pages]

thanks rain man

[tds1195]

Great post Pages. I enjoyed the comparison.

[Sly]

Yeah, the maps would look similar because David made them both.

Honestly though, I know that hikers like the "bling" but how difficult is it to remember what a certain letter stand for? What would you think C, G, H etc stand for?

[Rain Man]

Honestly though, I know that hikers like the "bling" but how difficult is it to remember what a certain letter stand for?

Honestly? Very! Perhaps not for a thru-hiker on day 100, but that's an EXTREMELY select group.

For the rest of humanity, such as when I head out on a section hike and it's been six months since the last time I set foot on the AT? I couldn't possibly tell you what A or B or C stands for without guessing.

And since I take only the pages for the section I'm hiking, it does me no good if there's a symbol chart or table for this or that or the other unless it's on the very pages I'm taking.

Rain Man

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[Sly]

I couldn't possibly tell you what A or B or C stands for without guessing.

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I wouldn't know what A or B stand for either but with C, I'll give you a hint, camping. H = hostel, G = grocery, w = water. Pretty basic stuff.

You use about as much brain function to connect an icon with a certain designation.

Here's a good one, what's AT stand for?

[atmilkman]

I wouldn't know what A or B stand for either but with C, I'll give you a hint, camping. H = hostel, G = grocery, w = water. Pretty basic stuff.

You use about as much brain function to connect an icon with a certain designation.

To this day my favorite is still AYCE. To me it's a no-brainer.

[Lone Wolf]

all in all the AT Guide is the better book

[generoll]

I like the green book.

[Slo-go'en]

I still like the format of Wingfoot's thru-hiker handbook the best. Too bad it's no longer available and my copy is all cut up and I lost all of central Virginia. Plus whats left is 9 years out of date.

[Lyle]

I wouldn't know what A or B stand for either but with C, I'll give you a hint, camping. H = hostel, G = grocery, w = water. Pretty basic stuff.

You use about as much brain function to connect an icon with a certain designation.

Here's a good one, what's AT stand for?

But what about "S"? South, Shelter, Spring? Then there's "s", same dilema. Is "W" west or water? or was "w" water?

[BuckeyeBill]

Excellent comparison Pages. As you and some other said, I like The AT Guide better.

[Sly]

But what about "S"? South, Shelter, Spring? Then there's "s", same dilema. Is "W" west or water? or was "w" water?

Are you serious?

Here's a quick primer, all explained in the intro. E is east (right for nobos, or how the book is written ) W is west (left)there is no south (unless noted) that never changes, especially since maybe 1 in 20 on the AT (appalachian trail) actually carry a compass.

w, as I said before is water. It doesn't matter if it's a spring, creek or faucet, it's all water. S is for shelter.

Here's some others

C—campground, campsites O—outfi tter
cl—coin laundry P.O.—post offi ce
D—doctor, medical R—road access
f—fuel S—shelter
G—groceries, supplies sh—shower
H— hostels nw—no potable water
L— lodging V—veterinarian
m—miles w—water
M—meals; restaurants 

a/c—air conditioning
AYCE—all-you-can-eat
B/L/D—breakfast/lunch/dinner
eap—each additional person

There'll be a test later, with the winner appearing on Are you smarter than a 5th Grader.

[Lyle]

Being sarcastic and degrading folks doesn't really win people over. Might be better to realize that your notations aren't as good or obvious as they could be, at least to someone who doesn't use them every day. When I used to use the Companion I always had to make sure I brought a copy of the key along. This isn't necessary with the Guide.

[Lone Wolf]

Being sarcastic and degrading folks doesn't really win people over. Might be better to realize that your notations aren't as good or obvious as they could be, at least to someone who doesn't use them every day. When I used to use the Companion I always had to make sure I brought a copy of the key along. This isn't necessary with the Guide.

sly is the companion editor so he's a little sensitive to any criticism

[Drybones]

Give me about two weeks on the train and I can give an honest opinion. I used the Companion last year, but everybody else seemed to have the AWOL guide. I bought an AWOL to use this year for about 700 miles. My initial thought is I like the Companion better because of the way it shows services. Offhand the only thing I see in the AWOL version that I like better is the elevation graph and the fact that each page represents about 20 miles, which is what I'd like to do each day. I'm sure either one will get you down the trail.

[max patch]

[QUOTE=Drybones;1409719I'm sure either one will get you down the trail.[/QUOTE]

True; and isn't that what really matters?

Something that rarely comes up in this discussion is that profits from the Companion flow to ALDHA and the ATC. Profits from the AT Guide flow to an individual. I find it strange that this is never part of the decision making process.

[max patch]

especially since maybe 1 in 20 on the AT (appalachian trail) actually carry a compass.

Wow, is that true (or even close to being true)? Sad commentary if so.

[Trillium]

Something that rarely comes up in this discussion is that profits from the Companion flow to ALDHA and the ATC. Profits from the AT Guide flow to an individual. I find it strange that this is never part of the decision making process.

I was just about to say that and you beat me to it. This is a big part of the reason that I am joining ALDHA and ordering the Companion.