If you’re gearing up for winter hiking and backpacking, it’s worth asking yourself if you want a backpack that’s designed for winter use, or whether you can get by using the backpack you use the rest of the year. Personally, I prefer …
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Smurf (Showa 282) Winter Hiking Gloves Review
Showa 282 Temres Gloves (also called Smurf Gloves or Japanese Fishing Gloves) are low-cost, single-layer, waterproof/breathable gloves lined with synthetic insulation that make excellent winter hiking and snowshoeing gloves. Priced at $20-$26/pair (depending on size) on Amazon Prime, they’re not the most …
Read More »Winter Water Bottle Insulation Hack: Neoprene Camera Lens Holder
Insulated winter water bottle holders capable of holding 32 oz wide mouth bottles are in very short supply this year. The best-insulated carriers from Forty Below, Mountainsmith, and Outdoor Research are either sold out or back-ordered due to supply chain delays. Here’s …
Read More »Recipes for Adventure: The Backpacking Chef’s Dehydrated Food Bible
The Backpacking Chef’s backpacking and camping cookbook called Recipes for Adventure is chock full of healthy, hearty, and homemade backpacking recipes. I know this first-hand because I’ve made many of them, like this Ratatouille. But while the meals and snack recipes in …
Read More »How to Layer for Winter Hiking
Layering is one of the most important skills that winter hikers must learn. It’s the key to staying comfortable in cold weather and preventing perspiration from chilling you. Perspiration reduces your clothing’s ability to trap the warm air heated by your body heat. …
Read More »Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro Review
While the small spikes on Kahtoola Microspikes and Hillsound Trail Crampons can provide extra winter traction on icy trails, there are times where you want a more aggressive crampon for winter hiking and light scrambling. While you can use heavy-duty mountaineering or …
Read More »Hillsounds or Microspikes? How to Choose
Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultras and Kahtoola Microspikes are the most popular winter traction aids for hiking on packed snow, ice, and mixed ice and rock. They’re like tire chains for your feet, with tiny metal spikes and chains that are attached to …
Read More »Sealskinz Waterproof Extreme Cold Weather Gauntlet Gloves Review
Sealskinz’s Waterproof Extreme Cold Weather Gauntlet Gloves have a high degree of dexterity and warmth. I use them when I need to use an ice axe above treeline in winter and need a warm glove that is flexible enough to wrap around …
Read More »Why are Topographic Maps Important for Hiking and Backpacking?
Topographic maps are used by hikers and backpackers to plan routes, estimate travel times, find water, good campsites, and track their progress on hikes. They’re designed to depict the three dimensional shape of the world (mountains, valleys, plains, etc.) in two dimensions …
Read More »How to Sharpen Crampons
? With winter just around the bend, this is a good time to start thinking about checking your winter hiking gear and sharpening your crampons. Crampons work best when they’re sharp enough to assertively bite into ice. The problem is that they …
Read More »How to Navigate with GeoPDF Maps
Most US Government Land Management Agencies, including the United States Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management publish FREE maps using a format called GeoPDF. Like Adobe PDF documents, these maps …
Read More »Tenacious Tape for Hiking Gear Repair
Tenacious Tape is the bee’s knees for patching rips and burns in hard shells and insulated jackets, inflatable sleeping pads, tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. I’ve used it many times since to repair the gear and clothing I like and want to …
Read More »Winter Hiking Glove Systems
Most winter hikers carry several pairs of gloves and switch between as their needs for breathability, dexterity, wind resistance, waterproofing, or warmth change during the day. No one pair of gloves can satisfy all of these needs, so it’s best to carry …
Read More »Time Control Plan for a Presidential Traverse
How long does it take to hike a Presidential Traverse? That depends on a lot of factors, but there is a way to figure it out using a navigational aid called a Time Control Plan. Time control plans (TCP) are used to estimate …
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