Hiking with a guitar

[RobinD]

My apologies, I see how this broke the forum rules.

Thanks for fixing it.

[CarolD]

How about a Lava 2? I think they're around 3.5 pounds. I'd just tie a string around the headstock and the endpin and throw it over your back. It's made of some kind of thermo plastic stuff.

[Teherie]

If you are a through hiker going long distances, consider a baritone or tenor uke.

Now that I am older and a bit wiser, I backpack from a base camp and take an Alvarez dread (I paid $200) or my Larrivee Parlor ($400) for when I return to camp at night. I also own a Little Martin and Backpacker strung to Nashville Tuning and my son owns a Baby Taylor. I also have a dulcimer which got its start in the mountains. Do any of them sound like my D35 or 000 Custom Martin? No, but they do the job. Plus, I am no longer sleeping on the ground on a crash pad, I am sleeping in a tent on a comfortable cot listening to the rain.

[sinistral]

Have you looked at the Klōs carbon fiber travel guitar? You could order one with the optional soundport to save a little weight. I think they are under 3 lbs. To save weight, ditch the gig bag and use a simple rain cover, and strap the guitar to your backpack.

[Rudy4]

I sold a fretless 5 string backpack-friendly short scale banjo to someone who is an avid national park backpacker. It's been to several parks and he loves it. He wraps it in a lightweight pillow case and straps it over his frame pack.

You should be able to do something similar with a short scale acoustic guitar like the Yamaha GL-1 or Ibanez PN1.

[Dru Edwards]

Hey Robin, I've done a lot of hiking but never with a guitar. If I was doing 10-20 miles a day I would skip the guitar. That's extra weight in a game that is measured in ounces. However, I'm sure you've given this consideration and opted for one.

Another option is something like a Seagull M4, which comes in mahogany or spruce top. 4 strings. It's based on a dulcimer.

https://seagullguitars.com/product/m4-spruce-eq/

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Not sure how available Canadian made used Simon & Patrick / Art & Lutherie / Seagull / Norman parlor guitars are in France? I'd look at one of them.

That's a good choice, Dru. I'd also add the Yamaha parlor. It's a solid-topped guitar (I think!) and sounds good - I tried one in GC a few years back and was impressed with the sound.

But I would go with a wooden guitar. I've owned an Amicus, which was quite nice but not the same experience as playing a normal 6-string, and also an Emerald X7, whose proportions were similar to a parlor. It was pretty enough and certainly durable, but it didn't have the ring of a wooden guitar.

[dadio917]

I've done long distance hiking for weeks at a time with a pack. start walking 1st thing in the morning and stop when the sun went down. Worked very hard to keep pack weight down, thinking ounces not pounds, and glad I did. Pretty much walked and slept. Adding weight for a guitar was not in the cards, nor would i have played much if at all. Just too anxious to get to sleep. On the rare day that i rested a day at a beautiful alpine lake might have used it. Otherwise just dead weight.

Different equation if you're on one of those organized hikes with a vehicle porting your heavy stuff it and you're just carrying a light pack.

On shorter backpack trips I take my CF Rainsong 12 fret parlor in a gig bag strapped on the back of the pack resting on the sleeping bag at the bottom. Just have to be mindful of low branches. Also take that it on long range sailing trips as its small and easy to tuck away. Fits in a plane overhead. Great little instrument infinitely better than a martin backpacker. In fact, it sounds and plays so well I use it at home as i cycle through the herd.

[waterboy]

Nice looking Pono guitalele in the classifieds. Baritone uke sized. May be worth checking out. Could be fragile for hiking though.
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/....php?p=7012582
No affiliation.

[Rudy4]

Not a guitar, but my "walking stick" 5 string banjo is pretty nice to hike with.

[Robin, Wales]

I trekked in Nepal with a baby Taylor copy. But if I went again I would buy a cheap parlor guitar like the Vintage V800 or similar. There are plenty around. A gig bag and rucksack rain cover to fit works OK. I just used a couple of climbing slings and krabs to attach the guitar high enough on the pack not to notice it was there when walking.