Camping

When I go backpacking, I carry a small stuff sack with my tent stakes and extra cordage. I typically carry betwen 6 and 11 tent stakes with me, extra paracord and Kelty triptease. This is one of the more general purpose elements of my gear list, but it’s worked well …

Over the past 4 years, I've progressively migrated from tents, to tarp tents, and finally to tarps as my preferred camping shelter. Over time and many backpacking trips, I came to appreciate the flexibility of of tarps over tents or tarp tents in a variety of different weather conditions and …

I’m writing this post at the request of one of our regular readers. He had a bad experience camping at an Appalachian Trail Shelter over the Columbus Day weekend with his children. Some other campers showed up and were drinking heavily. They got loaded and and rowdy and trashed the …

  I’ve bought a few commercial bear bags in my time and found them lacking in various ways. So I assembled the following bear bag system that I’ve been using very successfully over the past 2 years. It has 5 components: a ultralight stuff sack capable of holding 4-5 days …

When I was hiking a section of the AT recently near Crawford Notch in New Hampshire, I came across this bear bag hanging on a tree at the Ethan Pond Shelter. I was stunned when I saw it because it’s one of the worst examples of how to hang a …

The guys at RVOps in the UK publish a lot of really great gear reviews and how-to videos on YouTube. Here’s one that caught my eye last week about how to use LineLocks, an ultralight guy line tensioner. I’ve owned these for a few years and never could figure out …

The problem with using very lightweight titanium stakes for pitching a tent or tarp is that they are so darn easy to lose. But, why pay more for high visibility tent stakes when you can easily make your own? All you need is some blaze orange fingernail polish and some …

People often ask me what kind of shelter is best for stealth camping. The answer varies depending on the type of stealth camping you want to do. If you’re out backpacking and decide to stay at a site where camping is uncommon due to heavy day use (be sure to …

I got some more practice today setting up a tarp and I’m finally feeling confident enough that I could actually use it as a shelter on a section hike if required. This time around, I practiced with an 8 x 8 ft square silnylon tarp that I own for hammock …

On Sunday,  I spent a few hours in the woods by my house setting up tarps in a variety of configurations and it's fair to say that I need a lot more practice. I'd read about setting up tarps before trying it today, but it seems like I had to …

When hiking on a long trail, it is important to bring along a fall back shelter system in case a shelter or hut is already full or if you run out of gas between between shelters. I address this by bringing a tarp, which lets me shave some additional weight …

If you are serious about lowering your backpacking base weight, you need to weigh and examine each item on your gear list and ask yourself if you can substitute it with a lighter weight alternative. For example, if you have a tent made by one of the larger commercial manufacturers, …

Have you ever spent a cold night in your sleeping bag  wondering why you are cold when you’re sleeping in a bag that is properly rated for the temperature outside? A lot of backpackers and campers have this problem and blame their sleeping bag for it, when it could be …

I like camping far away from established campsites. If I’m hiking solo on a managed trail, I usually avoid shelters and lean-tos unless I want company. If I’m bushwacking there is usually no other option. When I get tired or the light is fading, I make sure my water supply …