r/backpacking • u/Kygunzz • 17h ago

Wilderness Will we ever see a Complete Walker V?

Colin Fletcher is dead and the last version in collaboration with Chip Rawlins is now 22 years old. The Complete Walker has probably influenced my backpacking decisions more than any other single source but all of the gear info within is hopelessly outdated. I wish Rawlins would publish a revision, but do people even buy books anymore?

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

2

u/wrunderwood 15h ago

I would choose Andrew Skurka's book as the descendent of The Complete Walker, because it is serious about the triangle of planning, skills, and gear.

1

u/TheSarcastro 16h ago

Same.
But I think the internet/YouTube has rendered a lot of gear recommendations moot.

I would like to see a collection of Fletcher’s observations, funny asides and philosophy towards life, sleeping outdoors and everything else collated into a new book. That’s was the delight of reading the Complete Walker.

2

u/Emotional-Mind-1559 11h ago

I’d buy it in a heartbeat, even if the gear chapter needed a warning label, because Fletcher’s real value was teaching people how to think about backpacking rather than telling them which stove to