Posts by Fred the Magic Wonder Dog
For an extended trip, one of your problems will be the accumulation of moisture in your insulation. I would definitely get some kind of vapor barrier layer for your sleeping bag and at least try s...
I have had the best results "waterproofing" gloves using Snow Seal which is a wax like product. Putting the gloves in the dryer for a few minutes before you apply the wax seems to help in getting g...
The reality is that if there is a trail, there will be human waste improperly deposited near that trail. Recent heavy rain will wash this waste into the stream. Also, stream beds are where gravity ...
My 2 Cents: Winter camping requires two pads, one inflatable and one foam. The reason for this is that not having any pad at all looses a lot of heat into the ground if you are camping on snow. E...
I think this is one of the biggest myths in outdoor gear. No insulation is "warm even when wet", the real difference is whether it's life threatening or just really unpleasant when wet. The usefu...
The minute you have any doubt about it. There really is no other way to answer this question. There are so many different devices with different levels of mechanical complexity and different use ...
These are just my personal rules of thumb for WB gear care. It goes in the drier after every trip. If there is dirt on it, it gets rinsed first, but not washed. If it looks dirty after it comes...
I've hiked all over the USA and the general rule is that on public land, you can hike anywhere you want, unless there are specific rules for a given sensitive area. Generally these rules are poste...
I would say it's not a question of too cold, tents don't add that much warmth. Tarps and a shovel can make some very nice shelters in the snow. The real limitation is blowing snow/rain and the wind...
There are actual standards for this. If you are going somewhere where snow blindness is a real possibility, you should have sunglasses that meet the standard. The most common standard used in outdo...
Back in the bad old days, people used chocks for protection. These chocks or aluminum wedges came in many different sizes and each size had a different diameter hole in it. You bought the cord and ...
There is this informal study that suggests there isn't much difference between wet gear of any fabric: Cotton vs. Wool Insulation But it misses the point entirely. It's not getting wet that kills...
The optimal skin track angle is a subject of much debate in the backcountry skiing world. There are generally two schools of thought on skin tracks. The steeper the better Slow and steady wins ...
TL;DR - It will help, but it's no magic bullet. Spray on DWR like nikwax or granger's will help the water bead up for a while when applied to knit fabrics. But the garment will still wet out with...
There are two considerations ( if you don't include cost ). Breaking Strength The rule of thumb for rigging is that the breaking strength of the rope should be roughly 15x the static load. That...
I spend a lot of time in the snowy wet Sierra's and the only way I know to have a dry pair of mittens at the end of the day is to have two pairs of mittens. Goretex et al can help, but only if the...
The American Alpine Club does provide some rescue insurance as part of its membership. It's the only group that I know of that does. As I recall it's fairly limited. In the United States, rescue ...
Shoelaces... At least according to James Bond. https://youtu.be/8FDX6_BSas8
Something I've done in the Sierras where it can get quite hot at lower elevations during the day is to use the "siesta" method. Get up early and hike until about noon. Wait out the hot hours of t...
The altitude sickness sounds like the most likely explanation to me. However, one other factor is that snow reflects light. On a sunny day in the right circumstances, a snow slope can act as a gi...
I have mostly commonly heard those two terms used together in skiing. Frontcountry is lift served skiing inside the resort boundaries verses backcountry skiing where you ski up the hill first befor...
There probably is a point where not having a toe-crunched fit would make a difference, but it's not V3. Climbing shoes do wear out relatively quickly. The difference in the sharpness of the rubbe...
Personally, I can easily see how this unintended loading can happen. Second gets to a tricky part, asks leader for beta, leader moves over to get a better view of second. This question is an ex...
These are generally known as glacier glasses. They are rated as Category 4 on the CE scale and you aren't supposed to drive while wearing them. Sunglasses in Category 4 only transmit 4-8% of avai...
Goretex does two things well. It's a very light completely windproof layer. Properly cared for it's waterproof. There are many places it's used where it's completely inappropriate and just ad...
