When we think about which wild animal encounters to avoid in the backcountry, bears, snakes, and mice are on the top of most backpackers’ lists, not the homely porcupine. Perhaps porcupines should be taken a bit more seriously.

You see, porcupines love salt, and they will go out of their way to gnaw on anything that […]

Popularity: 8% [?]

continue reading.....

The Ursalite bear back system is only available at the BackPackingLight.com store. It weighs just under 3 oz and I tried it out on an Autumn hike last fall in the Pharoh Lakes section of the Adirondacks.
The Ursalite system (shown above) is unrelated the kevlar Ursack I reviewed a few weeks ago. It includes a […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

continue reading.....

Ursack is a company that specializes in the manufacture of bear bags made out of bullet proof fabric that are far lighter than rigid bear cannisters. Weighing only 7.5 oz, the TKO (since renamed the V27) sounded like it was worth trying out and I took it on a few trips last year where I […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

continue reading.....