Health & Hygiene

HikeGoo Blister Prevention Cream

HikeGoo Logo

HikeGoo has proven to be highly effective in preventing blisters and calluses for hikers using a wax-based lubricant that prevents blisters and protects your feet from moisture. Rick and Carl, the founders of Foot Kinetics, developed HikeGoo after trying almost every other …

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Good Samaritans on Mt Washington

Tuckerman Ravine, Mt Washington

I took part in a rescue effort last week on Mt Washington, trying to revive a man who collapsed on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, we believe from a heart attack. There were about a dozen of us altogether, performing CPR and assisted …

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Camping Towels

camping-towel

The main reason I bring a camping towel on a backpacking trips is to wipe down the outside of a wet tent or shelter before packing it away for the day.  It’s a neat little trick to cut down on extra water …

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Ibuprofen: Vitamin I

Vitamin I

  Ibuprofen (trademarked at Advil or Motrin) is so popular amongst hikers and climbers that it is often called Vitamin I. Ibuprofen is an over the counter pain reliever and anti-inflammatory that can speed recovery during training or the main event. Muscle …

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Best Backpacking Toilet Paper

paper-towels-as-tp

The best toilet paper for backpacking is a paper towel. Regular toilet paper just doesn’t stand up to the humidity. I like using Brawny paper towels: they’re scored down the middle of each sheet, so it’s easy to tear off a half …

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Ticks, Lyme, and Permethrin

Wearing a Head Net on The Long Trail

Given the number of non-hikers that ask me about ticks and Lyme disease, it appears that either the awareness of tick-borne illness or it’s territorial spread are increasing, or both. According to the CDC, cases of Lyme disease are concentrated in the …

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