His book The Backpacker 's Handbook won the Outdoor Writer 's Guild Award for Excellence in 1993 .
Townsend has been a long - term contributor to The Great Outdoors magazine , for whom he is currently the Gear Editor .
Townsend 's book The Backpacker 's Handbook won the Outdoor Writer 's Guild Award for Excellence in 1993 .
Townsend has been a long - term contributor to The Great Outdoors magazine , for whom he is currently the Gear Editor .