Backpacking Made Easy

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the 70-minute runtime at first. How much *real* advice could you cram into an hour? Turns out, a lot—if you’re Lachlan Hotchkiss. *Backpacking Made Easy* is the audiobook I wish I’d had before my first disastrous overnight, where I hauled a 50-pound pack because some blog told me I ‘might’ need a camp chair. Hotchkiss’s approach is refreshingly anti-aspirational: he’s not here to sell you a fantasy of rugged self-sufficiency, just to keep you from making dumb (and expensive) mistakes. The standout chapter on footwear alone—where he explains why ‘breaking in’ boots is a myth and how to spot a sole that’ll delaminate after 50 miles—justified the entire listen. Nathan Ashcroft’s narration is the perfect match for the material: warm but unsentimental, with a pacing that mirrors the book’s efficiency. He doesn’t overperform the ‘outdoorsy’ vibe (no gravelly *Bear Grylls* impressions here), which keeps the focus on the content. My only gripe? The production occasionally suffers from uneven audio levels—some sections feel slightly muffled, as if recorded in a less-than-ideal space. And while Hotchkiss’s budget focus is brilliant, I wished for a deeper dive into *how* to test gear before buying (e.g., specific stress tests for tents). Still, for the price of a fancy energy bar, this audiobook delivers more usable intel than most 10-hour tomes. If you’ve ever stood in a gear shop feeling like you’re being upsold a lifestyle, start here.