Posts by Lost
When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not...
Original Poofiness (or OP as they call it in the 'wood) will always be illusive. No matter how you care for your bag, it is on a steady decline toward compression from the moment you buy it. To at...
No, it is not safe to use denatured alcohol for two good reasons: Denatured alcohol refers to a class of ethanol produced for industrial uses that has been "denatured," which essentially means "m...
MSR WhisperLite backpacking stoves are ubiquitous, but they lack a key function: the ability to simmer easily. How can you set a WhisperLite to simmer without having to constantly watch the stove a...
Telemark -- where the toe is attached, and the heel is free to rise up and down -- allow skiers to skin up back-country slopes with a more natural and efficient stride. However, AT (or randonee) ri...
Skiing is a full-body, high endurance, activity. Being in good cardio-vascular shape is important, and can be achieved through running, swimming, rowing, etc... This can not be over-emphasized. Get...
Depending on your activity level, access to water, etc, the types of food you carry should change accordingly. Some points to consider: Dehydrated foods are great in that they are light-weight si...
Given that it will be your first time, no amount of preparing on a fake hill, will turn you into a snow-shredding powder dog. Your first days on a mountain WILL be difficult, painful, and short. Bu...
Commercial slackline solutions seem bulky, heavy, overpriced, and a little too industrial for my liking. I have 6 carabiners and 50m of tubular webbing. What knots do you recommend for building, an...
I never understood the appeal of trekking poles until I started carrying 80+ lbs packs down into the bottom of the Grand Canyon for a living. Now, I wish I had started using them sooner. Perhaps my...
Yes you can. And more to the point, you should (save weight, and leave no trace). I have not found a backpacking cooking mess that could not be cleaned with a combination of (in this order): Ton...
Despite the convention, "cotton kills," in the desert those same properties (slow drying, water retention) are useful for keeping you cool by slowing down the near instant evaporation experienced a...
Your mileage will vary by manufacturer, tent technology might not change, but designs do quite a lot (just to keep you wanting the next thing...) Check out REI - they have a 100% full return or re...
I understand, and practice, bear-safe rules like hanging (or canister-ing) during summer months, but what about in the winter when bears are (theoretically) hibernating, and the shorter / colder da...
There are a lot of unspecified variables involved here... type of socks, fit of the shoe/boot, type of shoe, conditions you are hiking in, etc. But in general, double-socking may offer the follow...
From personal experience, these are the relative advantages / disadvantages I have discovered personally or witnessed first hand: Ole' Blue: - The lovable, closed-cell foam pad. Virtually indest...
Wilderness medicine protocols taught by the major Wilderness First Aid / First Responder training companies (and subsequently adopted by most outdoor organizations) are fairly standard and quite cl...
Say you have a cooler of frozen food and ice to last for several days or weeks of river-trip / car camping. To keep things as a cold as possible for as long as possible, is it better to leave the c...
I have heard many people say that eating snow actually can increase dehydration since the energy required for the body to heat up and melt the snow is greater than the benefits received from the mo...
To add to some of the answers already posted: External: The biggest advantage is how forgiving an external frame pack is. Since the load is hanging on a frame, you can get away with more casual di...
I led extended backpacking trips in Grand Canyon country for several years, and we required everyone carry at MINIMUM a gallon (almost 4 litre) per person per day -- which adds up. (Though rarely d...
Pack stoves come in a variety of flavors, consuming white gas, denatured alcohol, propane, wood, gels, unleaded, kerosene... etc. Given the assumption that I will be carrying all the fuel I need (...
When trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, what does one need to consider? I am assuming I can't just grab any two sticks and start rubbing... Should they be dead or green? Har...
I've heard various rumors that dogs might help keep bears away, or might be a bear attractant. Is there anything more concrete than anecdotal evidence to go on? From the companionship end, they ar...
Our dog loves winter sports - but after a few miles on the trails in soft snow, he often develops snowballs between his paw pads - usually one big one right in the middle. Are there ways to minimi...
