[pct-l] Music Player and Audio (Journal) Recorder

[Ryan Weidert]

Hello Class of 2013!
      I realize this may be a little late for some, but if you have
yet to figure out the best way to listen to music while on the trail
and save a good bit of weight, I've got a great solution. It's the
Olympus WS-710M combination voice recorder/mp3 player. I used this on
my speed record attempt last year and still use it as my primary MP3
player today. I've written about it on my blog about that speed hike
more in depth, but there are the highlights. The link below leads to
the actual blog post - the portion about the player is at the bottom.

http://www.pctspeed.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

This player runs on a AAA battery - no need for solar panels or other chargers.
It plays for 30 hours on one battery.
It has 8gb internal memory, expandable to 40gb with a 32gb micro SD card.
Including the battery it weights 51g.
It's small, compact and durable (it fell out of my pocket onto asphalt
at 40mph the other day while on my road bike and works fine)
You can record audio with it - you can ditch the weight of a paper
journal and simply walk and talk into it, saving weight and time.
(Every day of my blog journal entries has the actual recording from
that day, so you can hear the quality)
Requires no special software (or cord) to upload or transfer music -
simply drag and drop (keeping audio books in order is a slightly
different matter, but simple to do)
It has an FM radio.

There are a few quirks I've found that I outline in the more in depth
blog post. All told, including the SD card, it costs somewhere between
$150-200 depending on sales etc.
For saving weight, being reliable and allowing for nearly unlimited
music while hiking, this can't really be beat. I'd recommend putting a
screen protector on it and keeping it in a snack sized ziploc for
protection from sweat and trail grime.

I'd be happy to share more about it if you have questions etc.

Hope this helps and to possibly see you all at AZDPCTKO.
Cheers,

-Tuna Helper-