I’ve been immersing myself in the study of backcountry electronics this year, including technologies for lighting, navigation, and photo/video. This article highlights some gear that I’m using this summer, and how I’m calculating, and managing rechargeable battery needs.
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Topo Athletic Terraventure Review (Trail Running Shoes)
This Topo Athletic Terraventure review features shoes that have narrow heels, a wide toebox, and minimal drop.
Big Agnes Insulated Double Z Sleeping Pad Review
The Big Agnes Insulated Double Z sleeping pad is a wide and comfy pad that adds luxury to sleeping in the backcountry.
MYOG: Seam Construction and Taping of New Dimension-Polyant Fabrics
This article presents the results of some cursory material construction tests using the newer Dimension-Polyant (DP) fabrics from the LS, VX, and WX families, as well as seam-taping using DP-supplied seam tapes. The context here is MYOG/DIY backpack construction.
Garmin inReach Mini Review
The Garmin inReach Mini is the smallest, lightest, and most powerful satellite messaging device on the market.
High Sierra Trail (Film) Review
The High Sierra Trail Film by Chris Smead explores the history and wonder of the John Muir Trail’s little brother in this festival circuit documentary.
Atom Packs Prospector Review (First Looks)
The Prospector is the flagship pack from Atom Packs, a British Company. Each pack is hand-built to order by owner Tom Gale, and the packs are made either as a standard configuration or fully customizable. This Atom Packs Prospector Review takes a first look at this rucksack.
Case Studies: Using Google Earth to Plan Wilderness Trips
This article presents some case studies of using Google Earth for wilderness trip planning, with a presentation of my process and lessons learned.
Podcast 003 | Backpacking Food and Nutrition
In this episode we tackle the science, myths, and dogma surrounding backpacking food and nutrition. Featuring guest Brian Rigby, certified sports nutritionist and author. We tackle food and nutrition issues as they relate to thru-hiking, ketogenic diets, plant-based diets (veganism and vegetarianism), gluten-free issues, and macronutrient-micronutrient nutrition. Some questions we ask: what are the caloric and nutritional needs of backpackers? Why do we need to address dogma and pseudo-science in this field? We also take a look at some new cooking and water treatment gear and discuss what’s going on in the world of Backpacking Light right now.
Dehydrated and Freeze-Dried Backpacking Dinners (Gear Guide)
This gear guide features several dozen options for freeze-dried and dehydrated backpacking dinners from many different brands and provides nutritional information on each one for comparison purposes.