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Latest
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.
Followed in Plain Sight
Shilletha Curtis recounts a harrowing encouter and invites the reader to see the world through her eyes.
Learning Curve: Backpacking is the Great Equalizer
Maggie Slepian considers what it means to be a perfectly average backpacker in a city (and industry) full of high-achievers.
The Overlook: Frozen Tracks – Monument Restoration and the Fate of the Upper Paria
Ben Kilbourne follows tracks in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as its fate once again hangs in the balance.
Standards Watch: Mike Cecot-Scherer on Tent Design
Rex Sanders interviews long-time gear designer Mike Cecot-Scherer about tent design. This is part two of a three-part series.
The Overlook: Backpacking in a Time of Uncertainty
Is backpacking suddenly...hard? Ben Kilbourne understands, and discusses how to deal with it during uncertain times.
Life in the Dog House: A Survey of the One-Person Tent, With History
Some observations on cheap one-person shelters, including on their design, proliferation, and history, and comparison between some shelters.
Learning Curve: Learning to Suffer
BPL columnist Maggie Slepian unpacks suffering in endurance sports.
