I’m a big guy that loves light gear and often times those two things don’t go together. At 6’1”, 225 lbs (and being a side sleeper who actively rolls from side to side at night), I can easily become the…
William O. Douglas recalled fondly of his friend Roy Schaffer in his book “Of Men and Mountains,” “He slept in a bed with white, clean sheets and commented, ‘Never slept inside but what I caught a cold. Wish I had brought…
In recent years, I have been on several expeditions to the Alps, Rocky Mountains, Cordillera Blanca of South America, and Himalaya. Access to drinking water has been a concern on every trip, especially when in developing countries where clean drinking…
Water is often scarce in the desert (if you haven’t heard). I’ve been in some pretty sketchy circumstances on 100+ degree summer days 15 miles into the backcountry only to realize that the promised spring at my destination had run…
“One jacket to rule them all.” That’s the perfect description for the Orotovox Swisswool Zebru Jacket. Over the last couple of months, I have kayaked across the ocean, climbed in the high sierras, and rafted down the Grand Canyon. Fortunately…
What’s at the top of your mind when you’re ten hours and 30-something miles into an attempt to run the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier? Mostly food. Maybe the weather if, as in our case, we heard rolling thunder not-far-enough…
This fall I had the pleasure of reviewing the MSR Access 2 tent. My first product test was in Moab, Utah with a client who had never camped before. Next, I took the tent into the rugged Gore Range in…
After the summer sun has faded away and the fall foliage has shed its coat for winter, most people put their backpacking gear away – not me! Snow camping is one of my favorite things to do in the winter;…
Native Eyewear’s El Jefe Sunglasses are the stylish pair of shades that perform in any light condition the outdoors will throw at you. In order to test the Native Eyewear El Jefe sunglasses, they became my every day and every-adventure…
I sleep in my car. A lot. Summer, winter, rain, hail – it doesn’t matter. There’s something about being snug in a tight space, nothing but the open sky right out your door and birds singing you a good morning…