ePaper Hiking Phone
I am a bit paranoid about backups. That includes planning for a backup gear when going on a multi-day remote hikes. On one hand it is really prudent to take as little gear as possible to travel light and thus reduce the risk of orthopedic injuries. Unfortunately there is no way to take backup ankles and knees... Smartphones - even if out of network range - are great in combining multiple functions in one device - a camera, a map, a satellite locator, a notepad, a book reader, a chess board, a music player etc. But no matter how good they are protected, there is still the elevated risk of damaging the phone on a trek. A simple screen crack may render the touch function inoperable and the whole device suddenly becomes useless. There is one other aspect to phones - they run out of batteries and are not ideal to use in full daylight. Displays get better, but for true daylight use like reading books, we still use Kindles. But then Kindles are limited in function - no maps, no GPS, cannot be...