[at-l] Pocketmail experiences on long-distance hikes?

[david.jessop at gmail.com (David Jessop)]

Hi Josh,

I checked out the Treo. It looks cool and nifty but is quite expensive
and also uses rechargable batteries which don't last that long. The
Pocketmail devices take 2 AA which last 30+ hours and I've heard
reports of up to 70 hours of battery life. I am planning on taking an
Ipod and a digital camera and so having a third rechargable
battery/charger is just too much - it will be difficult enough yogiing
charges for two appliances :-). I don't think I'll be bringing a  cell
phone, email contact with people should generally be enough for me.

As for there being many people on the trail who are "anti-tech", well
that's fine. However, I will be hiking my own hike and not allowing
other people's notions of what makes a good hike to get in my vision
of what makes good hike. If I decide to send my iPod home, well then
that will be my decision. Furthermore, I'm hiking the Florida Trail
and I will just feel fortunate to meet another backpacker at all, tech
positive or negative :-). I may make it up to the AT through the
Alabama hookup if I am up for it when the time comes, but given that
this is my first thru-hike of any kind, my present goal is to do the
whole FT, which seems a worthwhile goal to have.

Best,
David


On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 23:16:06 -0500, Josh Wilkins <jtwilkins@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have used a palm your years. It just like a mini-computer. You would
> have a web browser and email client so you could keep in touch where
> ever you have cell reception. The big downside would be that many
> people are anti-tech and anti-cellphone on the trail.
> 
> With the Treo you would also be able to take down all your trail journals also.
> 
> I do not have any experience with a Treo on the trail, they are pretty
> pricey because they are also cell phones and I do not want to have to
> carry this PDA with me all time because I use my cell as a home phone.
> 
> There are a ton of programs for the Palm OS. If you do some searching
> on the web you will find a lot of information on cell phone company
> web sites, palm's web site, and a lot of 3rd party sites.
> 
> SimpleHiker
> JTW
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 22:37:00 -0500, David Jessop <david.jessop@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Josh,
> >
> > Thanks, I will look into this. Have you used the Treo yourself and
> > have an experience that you could share with me?
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 22:34:57 -0500, Josh Wilkins <jtwilkins@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > David,
> > > Have you looked into a Treo cell phone. It is a combo cell and Palm
> > > PDA. It seems if you were going to carry a pocket mail + a cell phone
> > > for emergencies or to send pocket mail you could save weight and get a
> > > lot more functionality from a Treo. With the treo you can also get
> > > wireless internet anywhere you can get cell coverage so if you need to
> > > look up a map or get into a town and need to use the yellowpages it's
> > > all at your fingertips.
> > >
> > > SimpleHiker
> > > JTW
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 12:14:05 -0500, David Jessop <david.jessop@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Would someone who has used a pocketmail device on a long-distance hike
> > > > share their experience please? Would you recommend it?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > David
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> >
>