How to rip pages out of a guidebook?

I open paperback books in their opposite direction a few times to limber up the spine then I gently score down the outside of the spine with a utility or exact-o knife. This lets me remove the sections I want and most of the time the glue and cover keep the little sections intact so I don't need a special binder. In the olden days we learned how to deconstruct a book along with how to bind a book in a special library school class.

Yes, I open all the way to break the back right before the area you want to remove and right after. Then with the RS guide books you can start easing the section out going from the top and bottom to the center. I don't use a knife or exacto, just pull the sections out intact from the cover. If it is a big section you will have to do it in pieces. Start with one of the smaller sections you want to remove to see how easy it is. Also remember to remove the index!

can't you scan the pages on your computer download them into a file and load that onto your smart phone if you have one.
Sorry no way could I ever cut up a guide book.

Rick has a helpful video on how to cleanly and easly break up the book into manageable pieces.

Here's the video where he illustrates how to break a book apart for travel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-NdOMLmaFM

P.S. consider installing the kindle app on your phone and downloading a digital copy instead. I love the digital version personally because it has a search function. If I want to find something I read previously, I can just do a search, rather than flipping through pages and pages of materials.

Unclegus, the pages are very thin paper and there are no color prints like in some of the other guide books. Really, they are made to come apart. If I am going back to an area I will get a new guidebook anyway so I have updated information.

I cringe whenever I see posts about tearing the pages out of guidebooks, as I have an inherent dislike when it comes to damaging books. However, I also realize there are times when that's necessary and have done the same thing on a few occasions. If you open the book as wide as possible in the middle and flex the spine, the pages should be easily removable.

I use brute force, like Pam, and that leaves the rest of the book still stuck to the spine or cover. Of course, the knife makes a cleaner cut. (In the olden days, I used to pay to mail my used books home to myself, but I wouldn't do that now, even if I didn't get new RS books for an excellent "price.")

If you do use a utility or exact-o knife, be very careful. Both make a horrible and deep cut to the fingers if you slip a quarter of an inch. When you lay them down, the exactos tend to roll off the tabletop and fall--point down always. Very painful if you are wearing sandals.

My advice is to tear out the pages one by one! If you crack the spine back, most pages pull away from their binding easily.

Also, you can take a guidebook to Kinkos or another printing shop, and they can cut the binding off cleanly. Then select the pages you want and have them put into a spiral-bound notebook. Or put them into the Rick Steves binder.

Does anyone remember an offer by Rick to provide free or low cost replacements for travel guides that were ripped apart for better trip management? Then again, perhaps, I'm just dreaming ...
BTW - I've ripped many a RS travel guide apart, stuffing the necessary pages into a cargo shorts pocket.

A guidebook is a tool for travel. Like a suitcase. If you need/want to make markings on your suitcase to make it more identifiable, go for it. Similarly, once you buy a guidebook, use it as you see fit. Bend, staple, fold, mutilate, highlight, paper clip, that's what it's for.

If you need a copy for your shelf of memories, buy another copy when you get home. And remember, they are replaced every year or 2 so it's really a perishable commodity. But an extremely useful one.

Yeah, Craig. But that was way back in the "olden days"! I am pretty sure they don't make that offer any more, or if they do, I haven't seen it.

Professional book page thieves use razor blades, although you'd have to be careful.

I think Rick's low-cost book replacement offer particularly applied to his Mona Winks book of museum and walking tours, which content has now all been absorbed by the regular city guides. Andi is correct that the offer has expired.

Thanks for all the responses! I'll begin breaking spines this weekend :) I am taking a smartphone, but I like using the paper product better than the electronic version. It's more a question of not holding the phone in my hand while walking, afraid I'll drop it. Plus, there will be times I leave my phone in the hotel safe.

I have used the services of a professional for this task - such as a Kinkos, FedEx, or a similar business/copy store. I believe they charged me $1 to slice off the binding with their professional slicer machine (much faster and precise). Then I pick the pages I want to keep, hand back those pages and the front/back cover, and for about $5 they punch the sides and install a comb binding. Since you have the page binders you can just have the slicing done.

It's hard for me to turn pages with those comb binders. If the pages are loose, you could just staple them together, in small quantities.

I don't usually tear up books but I buy new RS (and other) guides for every trip - old versions get outdated quickly and aren't valuable to me.

I typically cut out chapters/sections at a time. I use a sharp kitchen knife and cutting board. I cut through the spine from the inside before the first page I want and after the last page. With luck the spine still holds things together, but I add some staples parallel with the spine to make sure. I put the sections in separate zip lock bags until I need them. That keeps them from getting wet or torn up. I discard the sections when I'm done with them to help lighten the load as I go. I keep the bags for other purposes (I always seem to find uses for them).

The wire spiral binding makes pages easier to turn. About$5 at staples

Here's a great video that Rick did showing how he cuts apart his books.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-NdOMLmaFM

Enjoy.

As a retired university librarian I have been reading this post with mild interest. Studying the building of books and the destruction of books is something I know something about. The sharp knife method is good if you want to remove more than one page. I have seen the sharpened fingernail method and the wet string method as well as just easing a page from the old glue.

My method of destroying travel guides is to use a utility knife to remove the cover, separate the sections you want, trim the cover so it fits and reglue it to your removed sections. You have to be sure to include the preliminary pages and the index if you need them, and who doesn't need the index.

I have my husband run it through a band saw. Does a great job!

Ah, the Tim Allen approach

I have my husband run it through a band saw. Does a great job!

On the BOE21 trip, I used the kindle edition on an iPad mini. The only thing I wished I had done is take a photocopy of the city maps. Our guide would highlight various sites before we arrived in each city.

That Best of Europe book is heavy! Those who cut their copy up before the trip were the smart ones, IMHO. Now that we are home, I'll probably never look at it again so I might as well have cut it up!

I wish RS would provide a copy of the digital book as an option for those taking their tours.