Posts by furtive
Most tarps have a coating applied to them. DWR should be avoided, it's only water resistant and will eventually drip. Silicone impregnated (aka silnylon or sil-nylon) is lighter than polyurethane...
I've been using Petzl Spiky Plus for four seasons. I like that they are mostly soft rubber and can easily be put in a small backpack pocket. They only have six microspikes per foot but they grip r...
My criteria for winter shoes/boots are pretty simple: 3/4 or higher cuff to reduce the chance of snow getting in Goretex to keep water out A Vibram sole to keep traction on ice A thicker sole th...
The American Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Canada each have local sections that offer regular skills courses in ropes, weather, orienteering (map, compass, GPS), climbing, mountaineering, aval...
Rainfall in Banff/Lake Louise is pretty low in September. Thunderstorms are much rarer in the Canadian Rockies than in the rest of Canada. I've lived in Banff for six years and there have only been...
At the federal level your best bet is either Parks Canada or the Canadian Forest Service, which is part of Natural Resources Canada, which also has tons of other relevant areas such as maps and ma...
I can't speak for Jasper National Park, although you'll want to check out this page on warnings and closures regularly, but for Banff National Park the two areas that are commonly restricted to gro...
I live in Banff National Park and go backcountry camping on a regular basis. Peak season for Banff, Kootenay, Jasper, Glacier, Yoho, and Revelstoke (and really, pretty much any Canadian National P...
For wounds with heavy bleeding or that are deep, the standard practice is to: Apply direct pressure to the wound. Elevate the injury to decrease blood flow. In short, if the flow of blood is hi...
If you have no choice but to cross a snow/ice bridge then normal practice is to be roped in with two other people and to use a snow probe. If a 3m probe passes through without resistance then it's...
General tips to help you out: If your boots have felt liners, then remove the felt liners and keep them in your sleeping bag. It goes a long way to making things bearable in the morning, but I'd ...
I've got experience with this. The first trick is prevention: we would encourage our kid at any rest break to walk around bare-bottom and try to get them to go pee (there's tons of techniques, ...
There aren't any x-country specific adjustable poles because there are no real benefits. The skis will always be longer than the poles. Unlike hiking or splitboarding, scenarios where you need ...
I've gone 3 days with eggs in the backcountry but I live in the Rockies where it stays cool in the shade and night. I've been told if you keep a few eggs in a tin of flour that they'll keep for a w...
After a month my beard got long enough that it started catching liquid in it the same way a rag might, so as much as I thought I'd escape the mundane task of grooming, I still have to trim my upper...
I enjoy being alone, but I'll bring a book and some music for when I'm in my tent. You'll definitely get the "gee I wish someone was here to see this with me" moments, but you also get to avoid wa...
A stove that handles multiple forms of fuel is well suited for this sort of travel. I think the go-to one is the MSR Dragonfly which works with white gas (aka naphtha), kerosene, unleaded auto fue...
Lard/fat can last a long time without going bad if stored in a cool dry place, but it can still go rancid. The smell test is usually the easiest way of knowing if things have gone bad.
Acclimatization is the most common technique. Altitude sickness occurs at 2,400 m, so you go to a base camp (for example Cuzco if you're doing the Incan trail, or the South/North Base camps for Ev...
From Hikingwebsite.com: Base Pack Weight - Weight of pack and gear carried in the pack, but no consumables Total Base Weight - Base pack weight plus weight of clothes worn and gear not...
The rule of thumb in Banff National Park is to keep three bus lengths away from elk. Having said that it's easy to accidentally be within a few feet an an elk. Don't panic if it happens, it's very...
Try a menstrual cup. The advantage being that you only need one (maybe having two is a good idea) and that it can be washed.
Others will tell you exactly what to bring, maybe even recommend brands. I'm going to cover things at a much higher level, with a few specific tips. The basic requirements of camping match the ba...
Yes, you can get away with just grip wax on flatter sections, assuming the weight of the pull is not too much. I regularly pull an infant in a similar configuration using just grip wax, even climb...
10 inches of snow will give you 1 inch of water. Lets say you need to fill your container half way full to get a cup of water, well that means you're going to have to fill it full 5 times to get t...
