Hillsound makes three different types of winter hiking traction aids, which unlike traditional mountaineering crampons, are primarily designed for use with flexible-soled winter boots and shoes. Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultra Hillsound Trail Crampon Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro Unfortunately, Hillsound chose to name …
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Winter Water Bottle Insulation and Hydration: A Simple Approach
There’s an art to winter water hydration and creating an insulation system that keeps your water from freezing, but still maintains it at a drinkable temperature. Like any art form, there are many different systems and gear combinations that you could use …
Read More »Crescent Moon EVA All-Foam Snowshoes Review
Crescent Moon’s EVA All Foam Snowshoes are high flotation snowshoes that are made of foam without any metal crampons or heel lifts. Highly rockered, (curved like a banana), they’re good for walking and running on well-packed trails and groomed cross-country tracks. They …
Read More »Winter Hiking in a Thin Baselayer
The biggest mistake that new winter hikers make is overdressing by wearing heavy or medium-weight baselayers that are hard to remove if you start to sweat. You’ll be much better off wearing a very thin crew or quarter-zip shirt and adding additional …
Read More »MSR Snowshoes Heel Strap Hack – Tape it Closed
Most MSR Snowshoes have a rear binding that closes with a stretchy ski-style strap. It’s designed that way so that the snowshoes lay flat when lashed to a backpack, making them easier than snowshoes with bulky ratchet-style bindings. They’re also compatible with …
Read More »Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultra Review
The Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultra is a winter traction device that has 18 half-inch stainless spikes connected to an elastomer harness compatible with all hiking boots, shoes, and trail runners. They’re essentially tire chains for your feet, designed to give you better traction for …
Read More »Insulated Skirts for Winter Hiking
An insulated skirt? Could that possibly be an idea that has any merit at all? A few years back, I started to ask myself this question and I thought the answer would be “no”. I’d seen a couple of women on the …
Read More »What are Rock Spikes?
Rock Spikes are Kahtoola Microspikes, Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultras, and any other lightweight (chain-based) winter traction aids with dull spikes that have been worn down from heavy use. Rather than throw them away, hikers and peakbaggers use them during the early winter …
Read More »Can You Use a 3-Season Tent in Winter?
Many three-season tents can be used for winter camping or backpacking if you set them up below treeline, they have strong aluminum or carbon fiber tent poles, and you bring sufficient sleeping insulation and warm clothing to remain comfortable in cold weather. …
Read More »How to Melt Snow…Without Burning a Hole in Your Cooking Pot
Winter backpacking requires the development of many new skills, particularly in the area of hydration and stove use. Chief amongst these is melting snow for drinking water since most of the streams you encounter will be frozen over and you can’t ingest …
Read More »Winter Hiking in Trail Runners
If you use trail runners for hiking and backpacking in three-season weather, it is possible to keep using them in winter instead of insulated winter hiking boots or mountaineering boots. There are some advantages to doing this. Trail runners are substantially lighter …
Read More »KEEN Targhee High Lace Winter Hiking Boots Review
KEEN’s Targhee High Lace Winter Hiking Boots are full-height (not mids) waterproof/breathable insulated boots rated to -25F/-32C. They are amazingly comfortable for a winter boot, with soft leather uppers that require virtually no break-in period to wear. Specs at a Glance Temperature …
Read More »Tubbs Flex VRT Snowshoe Review
The Tubbs Flex VRT is a plastic decked snowshoe with an aggressive crampon setup that’s ideal for snowshoeing in steep and mountainous terrain. It has an easy-to-use Boa binding system that clamps down around your boots and won’t slip in use, along …
Read More »The North Face Chilkat 400 II Winter Hiking Boots Review
The North Face Chilkat 400 II is an insulated waterproof/breathable winter hiking boot rated to -40F/-40C. Available for both men and women, these boots come up to mid-calf for maximum heat retention and feature metal lacing hardware for durability, a gaiter ring …
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