Health & Hygiene

DEET and Picaridin-based insect repellent sprays and lotions (bug dope) are available from a wide range of brands and in a variety of forms factors. How effective are they are repelling mosquitos and ticks? What are the best concentrations to get? Which …

Sprained ankle injuries can take four to eight weeks to heal but it’s important to strengthen your ankle during recovery to prevent a recurrence of the injury. That means engaging in targeted physical therapy exercises that work the ankle from multiple directions …

The best knee brace I’ve found for hiking and backpacking is the Cho-Pat Knee Brace. I’ve used one when my knee bothers me from carrying too much weight and I have a few hiking buddies who swear by theirs. They wear two …

Toenail fungus, also known as onychomycosis, is surprisingly common and an estimated 10% of the US population suffers from this condition (source: Johns Hopkins Health Information Library.) If your toenails are yellow, brittle, or unusually thick, you may have a case of …

Some people think I’m cracked when it comes to the preventive measures I take to avoid tick bites and getting Lyme Disease. But I still haven’t contracted Lyme Disease after 5000 miles of hiking, backpacking, and off-trail hiking through prime tick habit on the …

Badass hikers aren’t born, you have to train to become one. In addition to learning advanced hiking and backpacking skills, you need to train your butt and legs. Here are 10 functional exercises that work the big muscles and smaller stabilizers in …

Like many others, my backpacking plans are dictated more by available time than by the weather outside! Getting on the trail means carefully orchestrating time away from all my “big kid” responsibilities. Once I request time off from work, get someone to …

I bought this Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight/Watertight Medical Kit .7 to bring on the Appalachian Mountain Club hiking and backpacking trips I lead as a volunteer. I bought a commercial kit instead of just rolling my own because I wanted something that …

Last summer, I struggled with Plantar Fasciitis, an overuse injury of the foot that associated with heel pain and severe foot cramping.  The pain is caused by the inflammation of the ligament that connects your heel bone to the ball of your …

Knee Pain is a common symptom in hikers, runners, skiers, and cyclists. One of the most common types is pain around or behind the kneecaps, which is often diagnosed as Chondromalacia, Patellofemoral Stress Syndrome, or more commonly “runner’s knee.” The symptoms of …

After many years of hiking and hiking with other people, I’ve concluded that the shoe industry is fundamentally broken and the cause of untold suffering in the hiking world. There are huge individual differences between people’s feet: people have hammer toes, bunions, …

Lyme Disease is reaching epidemic proportions on the Appalachian Trail yet hikers still insist on hiking in short sleeve shirts and short pants. The easiest way to protect yourself from Lyme Disease is to wear long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and hat …

A lot of us wish we could go hiking everyday, but we have other responsibilities that require us to stick around like family and work. I’m lucky that I get to go on 3-4 day hikes a month and a half dozen …

Whenever, I go backpacking I always bring along earplugs. If I’m sleeping near someone in a tent or a shelter, who snores, it helps cut down or eliminate the noise level. They also let me block out the sounds of the forest …