Trail Life is a really great book. It is a memoir-like introduction to a way of thinking structured as a how-to manual, and the format works very well.

Like every other backpacking book, Trail Life insists backpacking is about making yourself comfortable in nature safely, and that a successful backpacker is one who constantly reassesses their gear and approach to suit them individually. There's plenty of excellent information here, and a refreshing mindset shift. I gather he is one of the people at the root of the lightweight backpacking movement. It's clear why: his writing is excellent, the arguments are convincing, and the methods are mostly followable.

Also like every other backpacking book, it becomes its own weird kind of orthodoxy in the end--Ray Jardine has found a way of doing things and it's the better way, goddammit. You can wear corporate logos and hiking boots and framed packs if you want to, but you'll only suffer for it. His way of backpacking--no water filter, munching on raw potatoes without a tent or sleeping bag--is the way; the Ray-Way, the best way to hike if you're not a corporate sucker who hates yourself and wants to ruin your body and fun. The tone is sort of hard to take seriously sometimes is what I'm saying.

I did in fact purchase one of his backpack kits, so I suppose I am a convert. Would recommend.