Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007...10:25 pm
Apple iPhone: The Ultimate Lightweight Backpacking Tool
The Golden Rule of ultra light backpacking is that every piece of equipment has multiple uses. For example, a bandana is a sweat band, wash cloth, water or coffee filter, a napkin, a tourniquet and sling.
The new iPhone is the ultimate backpacking tool. It weigh just six ounces and includes a phone, digital camera, music player, DVD player, Palm pilot, photo library with a web browser, email program and Google maps. How long before it adds GPS? You can buy a 1/2 ounce, 1.5 inches square iPod shuffle if you just want music. But during storms when your confined to your tent for a dozen hours or more, it’s a great companion.
Originally priced at $600, it is now only $400. For all you get, it’s a deal. I love mine.
Be light. Be safe. Be one with the pack.
2 Comments
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
[…] may as well be a brick Bruce Lewis at LightBackpacking.com suggests that an iPhone makes a great backpacking accessory. The new iPhone is the ultimate backpacking […]
January 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
How long before it adds GPS? — take a look at MotionX-GPS which is available in the Apple App store for $2.99.
With MotionX-GPS, users can track outdoor activities such as hiking, running and biking using the GPS sensor built-into the iPhone 3G. The application is a natural fit for geocaching enthusiasts and outdoor adventurists. It has five components easily accessed through menus:
• Stopwatch – tracks time, distance, speed and pace during outdoor activities such as hiking, biking or running.
• Navigation – provides heading and bearing to waypoints. Users can view their current speed and estimated time to arrival and visualize bearings with a virtual compass. This is also an ideal tool for geocaching enthusiasts.
• Tracks – Records up to 1001 tracks and allows you to visualize in real time the path you travel on a grid with latitude and longitude coordinates, which can be emailed to share via Google Maps or Google Earth. A heading indicator shows the direction of travel and you can zoom in and out to visualize your waypoints. When navigating to a waypoint, a dashed line indicates the most direct route, and an auto-scale feature allows you to quickly find your location with respect to your destination.
• Waypoints – displays lists of up to 303 saved personal waypoints such as biking and hiking trails, favorite places, and public points of interest. Allows for 303 of these waypoints to be saved and emailed and users can view coordinates in UTM,DMS, DM or D format.
• GPS Status – provides a quick view of current position, GPS signal strength, and last valid satellite fix in an easy to read format.
Links:
MotionX-GPS Overview Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c4NlBYuCbo
MotionX-GPS on iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=299949744&mt=8
Leave a Reply