Electronics and Accessories on the Trail - Appalachian Trail Prep

Dreamer here,

In the past few days, Terri & I have been asked over and over again two questions about out Appalachian Trail (thru-hike attempt) backpacking adventure: What are you doing about food on the trail (can you really carry six months worth of food ;-) and are you taking your phone, camera, Kindle etc.  In this post, I will attempt the take on the question about electronics and accessories on the trail.  Terri & I together will work on the food question for our next entry.

First of all, here is a list of all the electronics and accessories I will be carrying:

·      Sony HDR-CX580 Video camera  (12.2)

·      Video Camera Case (7.4oz)

·      Sennheiser Boom Microphone MKE-400 (4.5oz)

·      Two Extra Batteries for Video Camera (3.1oz)

·      Video Camera Battery Charger (3.1oz)

·      Two extra SD Cards SDHC1 32 Gig (0.1oz)

·      Iphone (4.8oz)

·      Charging Cable for iphone (1.4oz)

·      Energizer (AA battery) charger for iphone (2.6oz w batteries)

·      Mophie External Battery for iphone (2.9oz)

·      Mophie External Battery Charging Cable (0.8oz)

·      Ear Phones (0.7oz)

·      Kindle “Paperwhite” with Case (7.2oz)

·      Kindle “Paperwhite” Charging Cable (1.1oz)

·      Sony Audio Recorder with AAA Battery (1.9oz)

·      Shuffle ipod (0.5oz)

·      Shuffle ipod Charging Cable (1.2oz)

·      Suunto “Observer” Watch (3.0oz)

·      Multi-Use AC Adapter (1.0oz)

Check out the You Tube Video on Electronics and Accessories on the Trail:   http://youtu.be/vSlVl9Aqe9w

The total load is a touch under 3.5 pounds.  I can hear it now, some of you will be thinking, “WOW, not too bad for all that stuff!”  While others will be writing to tell me what an idiot I am for taking all that crap!  More than likely, as our journey progresses, this list will change and we will downsize a bit.  Believe me, I have put a lot of time into researching this list of items, and every one of them have a purpose.

Here are my thoughts on the items specifically:

·      Terri & I hope to use the video camera to document our journey with as much quality video as possible for all the reasons stated many times in previous Blog posts.

·      The video camera case stores the camera in such a way (On the chest strap of my backpack.) that I can easily pull it out whenever I need to.  And it is a hard case in order to protect it when I am falling multiple times on the trail.

·      The Sennheiser microphone has the best audio possible.  I experimented with many other options and this I believe is the best overall.  I have used lapel microphones and the wires are either an issue or the weight and complexity of wireless microphones make them prohibitive.  I do know, it is just as important to have good audio as it is good video.  I have watched many You Tube videos as well as DVD movies, and when the audio is not right, it is simply not right.

·      I have extra SD Cards, because as a part of my strategy to back up my video, I plan on rotating these periodically through the mail with my son-in-law who will load them on an external drive at home for safekeeping.  (In the mean time, each time we meet up with our Bounce Box, I will load all my video on my computer as well as an external hard drive.)

·      I will rotate three video camera batteries. (NP FV-50)

·      My iphone is one key piece of gear.  Mentioning only a few of its anticipated functions: phone, text, photos, chess with a friend, internet, maps, GPS (For marking our position for our Blog occasionally.) updating our Blog, Twitter, Facebook, music, talking books, E-Mail, weather, radio, etc.  My phone is a few years old, so I recently had a new battery installed.

·      External “Mophie Juice Pack” Battery for my iphone.  The iphone smartly slides right into the external charger and acts like a phone cover/protector.  This adds 1500mAh, or about a full charge and a half to the internal battery in the phone.

·      Energizer Battery Charger for the iphone.  In an emergency this unit with two AA lithium batteries will charge the iphone 1 ½ times.

·      The Kindle speaks for itself.  For less than a half of a pound, I can have all the books I want!  And if I turn off the wireless feature, the internal battery will easily last between town visits.  Plus, because it is the “Paper White” version, I need no other light source in order to read in low light conditions.

·      The Sony Audio Recorder is one thing that is unused and untested on the trail for Terri & I.  We hope to journal of course and this may be a way to ensure we get as much as possible collected.  We’ll see…

·      The ipod shuffle…  This may be redundant.  We’ll see…  The iphone works just fine for music and talking books, so, this may be one thing we return rather quickly.

·      My Suunto “Observer” Watch.  I cannot imagine hiking with no timepiece.  Besides, this watch has the ability to provide me with: elevation, barometer, temperature, compass, timer and alarm clock.  I have had it for many years and it works nicely.

·      Lastly, the AC multi-use adapter is another ounce that may be sent home rather quickly.  All this is designed to do is allow us to charge three devices at once, from one outlet.  In other words, if we pull off the trail and stop into a gas station / convenience store and ask if we can charge our phones, we will actually be able to charge several things at the same time.

We welcome your comments and suggestions!  We have a lot to learn!!

~Dreamer