Gear
For each of the next four days I will be raffling off an item featured in my holiday gift guide, which we broadcast last week via Facebook Live. Return back each day to enter to win. Yesterday’s winner Jonathan Jay R. is the winner of a LuminAID PackLite 16 Light. Congrats! Today’s giveaway The weight, simplicity,…
For each of the next five days I will be raffling off an item featured in my holiday gift guide, which we broadcast via Facebook Live on Wednesday. Return back each day to enter to win. Yesterday’s winner Bill O., who was lucky #7, won a Coast HL27 Headlamp. Good luck today! Today’s giveaway First, I…
For each of the next six days I will be raffling off an item featured in my holiday gift guide, which we broadcast via Facebook Live on Wednesday. Today’s giveaway The Coast HL27 is my go-to headlamp for trail running, hiking off-trail, and bike-commuting in the dark. It is very bright, with a max output…
For over a decade I wore daily an altimeter watch like the Suunto Core, also known as an ABC watch because most models feature a barometer and compass, too. My favorite was the now-discontinued Highgear Summit, which had the three basic functions, plus a stopwatch with 100-lap memory, easily navigable screens, oversized type, and quick-glance…
Among segments of trail runners, ultra runners, and backpackers, the Lone Peak shoe from Altra Footwear has gained an almost cult-like following for its unique feature set: a voluminous toe box combined with generous midsole cushioning and zero drop from heel to toe. Does the most recent iteration — the Altra Lone Peak 3.0 —…
It’s rare that I depart empty-handed from the house for a run. Often I have a cell phone, water bottle(s), calories, headlamp, toilet paper, and spare clothing like a windshirt, headband, and liner gloves. For longer runs I like tight shorts like the UA HeatGear Sonic Compression Shorts, since they cause me less chafing than lined…
If I only occasionally needed to “find north” to roughly orient a map or to follow a short bearing, a basic magnetic compass like the Silva Starter would be sufficient. But I rely more heavily on my compass than that, since I often backpack in low-use areas where signage is unreliable and trails can be intermittent, as…
I will finish this series on backpacking shelter systems with a discussion of stakes and guylines, which have a critical role but which are normally treated as an afterthought. To maximize the usability and performance of your tent, tarp, or hammock, give them some attention. Stakes If stakes are included with the purchase of a shelter,…
The backpacking shelters that I presented in this series — a modular tent, tarp & bivy, and hammock — are middle-of-the-road systems. They are not ultralight or excessively heavy, not cheap or prohibitively expensive, and not benchmark-setting or under-performers. This was intentional on my part. While they reflect what I personally use (in most cases,…
With extensive use, trekking pole tips must eventually be replaced. This post includes a shopping guide for replacement tips and DIY instructions to do it easily. In my experience, hiking pole tip longevity is correlated with distance and ground surface. The more hiking you do and the rockier the ground, the more quickly they wear…