Wilderness Skills
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Completing a Thru-Hike
What sets successful thru-hikers apart from the rest of the pack? Superfitnessawesomesauce? A trust fund? The best gear? The answer may surprise you.
Smartphone Navigation
Use the ubiquitous smartphone to get where you're going, with details on four apps that support maps for more places (not just the States). All you need do is supply the adventure.
Enjoying Backpacking with Kids: Part 2
The kid-sized kit: Gear should not become an end in itself. The point is to get out and enjoy the woods with kids. Ultralight gear is exciting because it enables kids to do things they could not otherwise do!
Enjoying Backpacking with Kids: Part 1
Everything boils down to a few simple rules that can encompass a surprising range of scenarios!
Fast and Light Winter Travel
Insights from the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Ski Classic.
Food Planning Using Pounds Per Person Per Day
Calculating how much food to take on a trip? My goal is to be perfectly satisfied during my time in the backcountry, but to walk out of the mountains with absolutely ZERO food. It is so gratifying to eat that last raisin on the last mile of the last day. If I can do that, the math worked out perfectly.
Backpacking Light 101: The Art of Ultralight
A Lightweight Primer to Backcountry Travel for the Uninitiated.
Reader Tips: Best Way to Pitch a Tarp with Fewest Stakes or Guylines
We asked, you answered! Responses to our solicitation for the best tarp pitch using the fewest poles, stakes, or guylines.
The Beautiful Cup: Backcountry Coffee for the Ultralight Backpacker
Techniques and gear for the lightweight backcountry coffee connoisseur, because under no circumstances should you let a non-coffee drinker brew your bliss.
Hand Sanitizers: My Journey Towards Discovering Best Practices for Wilderness Hygiene
Facilitating the transportation of fecal hitchhikers from your exhaust pipe orifice to your fuel filler neck orifice is one of the biggest backcountry threats. Stop these illegal immigrants en route, because we all know you can't close the border!
The 45-Year-Old Boy Scout
We asked, you answered: Lightweight Testimony Contest Runner Up!
Everything Weighs Something
We asked, you answered: Lightweight Testimony Contest Runner Up!
Into the Unknown, with Sturdy Footwear
We asked, you answered: Lightweight Testimony Contest Runner Up!
Every Ounce Counts
We asked, you answered: Lightweight Testimony Contest Winner!
Lighten Your Heaviest Gear: You!
As lightweight backpackers, we obsess over the weight of every piece of gear we carry, but many of us give little thought to the weight of the heaviest piece of gear of all: ourselves. How do we begin to treat our own weight with the same care that we treat the weight of our gear? By doing what we already do well: going light.
Sno-Seal Original Beeswax Waterproofing for Leather
Treat your leather nicely, THEN abuse the ever-loving daylights out of it.
One Night At A Time
Quit making it so hard: jeepers, just cram a few things in your pack and let's go!
Get Out Now!
Six steps to streamline your planning from dreaming up a trip to walking out the door.
All the Gear a Guy Could Want
I like gear. I collect gear with an almost rabid enthusiasm, and I almost always have a place to put it.
Wilderness Cred for the Packrafting Noobs
I was perfectly content to let others do all the lightweight lifting, but at the first chance of a packrafting class (learning to play without buying the gear!), I jumped... and pulled my husband, Rob, with me.
