The Hero Hiker travel guitar could be the most inventive way to take a six-string on a trek through the mountains

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Hero Hiker has come to the aid of intrepid explorers who want to trek mountains but still have a guitar in tow with two ultra-light takes on travel guitar designs.

The simply named Ultralight Travel Guitar packs 19 frets across a 24″ scale length and weighs just under one pound. The Trekking Pole Guitar, meanwhile, weighs less than half a pound and is designed to partner with hiker trekking poles for a very unusual way to bust out campfire chords while on your travels.

Travel guitars have come a long way in recent years, with easily transportable and foldable designs now way past the point of being mere gimmicks. Hero Hiker is separating itself from the pack by taking lightness and compactness to new extremes.

Made from industrial strength carbon fiber and nylon, they are said to be built to handle the high demands of travel and the outdoors. The Ultralight Travel Guitar features a detachable bottom for backpackers who want to slide the guitar into the side pouch of their packs while hiking.

It is, in essence, a neck and headstock with a tiny soundhole for a body, and it has nylon strings. The inclusion of a storage space for guitar picks is smart, too.

The Trekking Pole takes a different approach. It has a tiny, four-fret fingerboard for cowboy chords exclusively, and it relies on hikers using their trekking poles as a big part of its architecture. It’s quite a nifty space-saving idea: the guitar collapses into a tiny drawstring bag when not in use. But it does mean restringing before each playing session.

Here, because the soundhole is just a hole with no chamber in which to resonate, there are straps in place to nestle in a 3.5″ to 5″ cooking pot to amplify the guitar’s sound. Afterwards, simply collapse the poles, unwind the strings, and store it away.

It is worth noting that while the Trekking Pole guitar kit is designed to work with any brand of poles that have clasps, foldable or twist-lock poles are not compatible.

Still, when traveling requires a lot of backpack real estate, these two guitars offer solutions so players needn’t be away from their electric and acoustic guitarswithout taking up the space of a dreadnought or grand auditorium.

The Ultralight Travel Guitar is available for a pre-order price of $199 before rising to $249. The Trekking Pole guitar costs $99.

See Hero Hiker for more.