PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
51 Year old male
6' 0'' (183 cm) in height
178 lbs (81 kg) in weight
Email address: rick (at) BackpackGearTest (dot) org
Personal Hiking Page: http://www.imrisk.com
Trail name: Risk
I live in Dayton, Ohio

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last several years, I have become an ultralight camper with a three-season base pack weight of about 15 lb (7 kg) and skin out weight of 23 lb (10 1/2 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in all four seasons, with a total mileage of about 770 miles (1240 km). I am a gearhead, a hammock camper, and builder of much of my own equipment.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: AntiGravityGear
Year Manufactured: 2004
Manufacturer's Link: http://www.antigravitygear.com/
MSRP: US$12.95
Listed Weight: 1.6 oz (45.4 g)
Measured Weight: 1.5 oz (42.5 g)

FIELD CONDITIONS
For the last month, I have covered about 170 miles (275 km) of the trail covered by Mapdana #2. I started north of Damascus, Virginia.  The specific starting point was the Partnership Shelter at the Mt. Rogers Headquarters.  From there I walked north toward Roanoke, VA. I have used the Mapdana in cold, wet, hot, and dry conditions. Altitudes have ranged from river valleys to mountain tops. The Mapdana was used daily for nearly two weeks as I traversed the great state of Virginia.

REVIEW
For a detailed description of the Mapdana, please see my Initial Report.

Before beginning to hike the area covered by AT#2 Mapdana, I checked my Data Book. I found no discrepancies between the Data Book and the Mapdana.  This was reassuring, as the AT#1 Mapdana (the first of the series) had a number of discrepancies that needed to be resolved.

Then I set off on a week and a half of hiking in Early April.

During the trip, I used the Mapdana as my only data source.  It was certainly up to the task, and gave me no difficulty in finding services, trail mileage, and shelters. I discovered no errors during the trip that need to be corrected.  The amount of information on the Mapdana is the minimum I am comfortable with while hiking the trail for long distances.  And, it is the RIGHT information.  I want to know where water can be found, where the shelters are, and the phone numbers of hostels and other services near the trail.  This is precisely what I find when I use the Mapdana.  It is obvious that the Antigravity Gear folks are hikers and have given considerable thought to exactly what should be on the Mapdana.  

The only exception to this general usefulness is the actual map on the Mapdana.  Try as I might, I really never found much use for the overview map while I was on the trail.  It  was of use when planning where to begin and end the hike, but day-in and day-out on the trail, I never consulted the map. I believe it would be much more useful to use the graphic space taken up by the map with a detailed set of elevation profiles.  These elevation profiles (contained on some of the AT trail maps) are useful in planning a day's hiking.

The Mapdana has also been my only towel and bandana. I have used it many times a day and it continues to prove itself durable in the ultralight hiking domain. The colors have not faded, the print is still easily legible, and  it has been as easy to use wet as dry.

I wash or rinse the Mapdana every few days in a stream.  In sunlight, this cotton bandana dries within a couple hours when hung on the outside of my pack.  

A number of thru-hikers took a close look at the Mapdana during my time on the trail.  It met with considerable interest by most of the hikers.  They especially liked the lack of worry about water soaking the data source.  Several of their books and data sources had been soaked several times by rain.  

What I like:
- Light, useful, and almost indestructible data source
- Has the right information for hiking the AT
- Useful as a towel and bandana

What I would like:
-Elevation profiles

LONG TERM TEST PLAN
I plan to walk several more weeks on the trail covered by AT-2.  I will continue to use the Mapdana as a data source, towel, bandana, wash cloth, and water filter. I will be very interested to see how the printing holds up during the anticipated total of 4-5 weeks I will be using it on the trail.  When I have walked all the miles contained on the Mapdana, I will put it back in my drawer to use for my next hike in Virginia.