Culture
- GEAR • Gear Reviews
- GEAR • Gear Guides
- GEAR • Gear Checklists
- GEAR • Make Your Own Gear
- GEAR • Gear Testing & Research
- SKILLS • Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
- SKILLS • Wilderness Skills
- SKILLS • Training
- SKILLS • Trip Planning
- SKILLS • Food Preparation
- PLACES • Trips
- PLACES • Routes
- CULTURE • Essays
- CULTURE • Stories
- CULTURE • Issues
- CULTURE • People
- CULTURE • News
- CULTURE • Media Reviews
- ARCHIVES (Before 30.Nov.2015)
- SEARCH LIBRARY
- TRAILHEADS
Latest
Unpacked: Reservations Required
From first-come, first-served to limited lotteries and everywhere in between, permits are increasingly becoming a fact of life for backcountry adventures
Learning Curve: I Finally Had to Plan a Backpacking Trip With No Help
I'm a big planner at home, but not so much with backpacking. On my last OCT solo section, I actually had to do all of the planning myself.
Standards Watch: Mike Cecot-Scherer Talks Potty Trowels and More
Rex Sanders talks to Mike Cecot-Scherer about his innovative trowel design and more.
Springtime Solitude in Southern Utah
BPL author Mark Wetherington rambles through Capitol Reef National Park.
The Overlook: Good Gear Lets You Be Present
What's the perfect pack? One that stays off your mind.
The Backpacker’s Journey
Rex Sanders examines the arcs and stages that backpackers take as years and mileage start to add up.
Learning Curve: Risk Assessment
It takes a close call for Maggie Slepian to dial in her risk assessment skills.
Standards Watch: Dan Durston Talks Design and Business
Dan Durston is a gear designer, wilderness guide, and biologist. In this interview with Rex Sanders, he talks about the process and philosophy of shelter design.
Unpacked: Rewards of Repetition
Greek philosophy says you can't step in the same river twice, but what about backpacking the same trail?
Take This Poem on Your Next Trip
The words you carry with you are just as important as your gear.
Learning Curve: What I Learned From Taking a Beginner into the Backcountry
I thought I knew how to take first-time backpackers out, but I'd never actually taken a bare beginner into the backcountry.
Standards Watch: Dan Durston Chats About Standards and Testing
Rex Sanders interviews gear designer Dan Durston.
The Overlook: Giving Back to Bear’s Ears
Ben Kilbourne reflects on his first journey in the Bear's Ears National Monument, and wonders how to give back to such special places.
You Know You’ve Been Backpacking a Long Time When…
Rex Sanders takes a walk down memory lane (er, trail).
Learning Curve: Learning to Turn Around
For some people, turning back is the hardest skill to learn.
How To Ask Someone to Pull Your Car Out of the Snow
Sometimes the best skill is humbly asking for help. Here's a story about my experience getting unstuck when driving snowy backcountry roads.
The Anthropology of a Trail
When we trek, we are taking the paintbrush or pencil that is the foot to the page that is the earth.
LiteAF, Printing on DCF, and Screaming Cat Packs
Maggie takes a look at the new DCF printing technology being used by LiteAF.
Unpacked: “Billionaire Wilderness” Book Review
When money and conservation collide.
Interview with Gear Creator Michael Glavin
Rex Sanders interviews Michael Glavin, the founder and general manager of Zenbivy.
