Posts by manoftheson
I've been an avid lover of the outdoors for all of my life, camping in quite varied terrain, but so far in all these locations I've been able to use the usual LNT cat-hole methods to take care of h...
So this is one of those things that I've grown so accustomed to that I've not really put any effort or thought into looking for a solution. I've just "dealt with it" to the point of ignoring it for...
I'm getting ready to make a pretty big move west and I'll basically be driving across the whole US. One state I'll pass through is New Mexico, and I'm looking at heading through the mountains there...
Red River Gorge is one of my favorite places I've climbed and I've only been in the summer months. Yes it is more humid, but it's not unbearable, though I'm from the Southeast so I'm a bit used to ...
There a few possible remedies to your cold sleeping woes. You already have most of the appropriate equipment so these are some of my suggestions: For general coolness, first I'd recommend some typ...
Find a spot at least 200 ft away from water sources, camp, and trails. (Per LNT guidelines) Place soiled items in a gallon zip-loc bag with water and small amount of concentrated, biodegradable ca...
It's been a dream of mine to thru-hike the AT ever since I first discovered it. I'm hoping to plan a trip one of these days, but honestly don't even know where to start as far cost. I imagine it co...
The three knots you listed are all quite suitable for tying in to a sit harness for rock climbing. The figure eight is the most widely used and most readily and easily inspected, and is not a bad ...
The United States is a very developed place. Sometimes this can prove to be challenging when trying to find a place to get away from everything, especially east of the Mississippi where I reside. I...
This is why I would not do what that group was doing. It would be safer to just lead this route and/or do a top-belay if possible. Let's look at this simply from a safety standpoint, and more spec...
This applies to most sport situations, but there will by some exceptions. This assumes you have draws or other proper gear at the anchors that are not part of the fixed anchors. Just led the route...
There are numerous compact and travel guitars that exist, some of which are designed specifically for outdoor pursuits like backpacking. This is one I've been considering. Being a musician, music...
So of course the common standard for proper burying of solid human waste is burial in a cat-hole, and generally this means one hole per instance per person. This is what I practice and teach on per...
For a very long time now, I've believed and taught that burning Rhododendron or Mountain Laurel in a campfire will make you sick because of the toxins in these plants becoming airborne then inhaled...
For years I've seen high-tech cuben fiber gear and drooled over how incredibly lightweight it is, and longed to buy or make some of my own equipment with it. (Then upon seeing the price tag, well, ...
I've done plenty of camping in my life, especially since it's part of my job, but one area where I've been particularly challenged is camping where sand is involved. It just gets everywhere and int...
Slippery versions of knots/hitches are very useful in many applications, but have limited use in climbing. But there is one application for which I often use a slippery overhand knot. In Sport cli...
Without having to carry any extra items and thus extra weight, this is what you can do to dry your boots, Gore-tex or otherwise, in the field, in above-freezing temperatures: Prevention: Make eve...
Quite simply, find someone else who is doing this and has been doing it for a quite a while and is willing to teach you. This sport is quite technical, and you can't do it (safely) alone anyway. O...
First do a proper assessment and determine that it's actually a dislocation and not another problem or that there isn't also another injury in addition to the dislocation. This requires the proper ...
On trips I lead, we always split up into smaller cook groups, yet I did have one occasion a long time ago where we cooked as one large cook group. Long enough that I don't remember if it worked wel...
This is not a shopping question just to preface that issue. I'm not looking for a specific brand or model of trekking pole. Also to add some background information, I have borrowed trekking poles o...
As seen in the photos of the repair kits below, the wick is the fabric-like material which is made of fiberglass. It doesn't burn but does eventually degrade when exposed to the high heat of a stov...
This question honestly could be too localized on these specific products. However, considering the ubiquity of these stoves I find it is probably quite useful information to know if they could have...
This began as a comment but quickly began to grow, so I suppose now it's my supplementary answer to studiohack's great answer. Personal Experience - If you haven't been to any caves at all, explo...
