Frequently Asked Questions

When should you switch from trail runners back to waterproof or insulated hiking boots when the temperatures drop in autumn? I get asked this question frequently and it’s something I wrestle with myself when the weather turns. The easy answer is when …

I’ve always had problems with trekking poles that have an internal locking mechanism because I could never figure out how to fix them when they started to slip. It got so bad, that I gave up on them for many years and …

Bear bags are intended to protect your food on backpacking trips and to prevent bears from becoming accustomed to eating human food. “A fed bear is a dead bear”, as the saying goes, and no one wants to see a bear killed …

Have you ever wondered why people say, Cotton Kills? Do you understand exactly why? Here’s an in-depth explanation as well as a list of other fabrics that you should avoid when shopping for hiking clothes. Insulation Clothing keeps you warm by trapping …

Many people bring too many extra clothes on backpacking trips, including more shirts, pants, pairs of underwear, socks, and even shoes that they don’t need. Extra clothes add a lot of unnecessary weight to a backpack and take up a significant amount of extra …

Rain pants. Now there’s a topic that I am sure many of us have different opinions about! I almost always wear my rain pants over my hiking pants, except when I am doing laundry in a trail town and rain pants are …

What types of tents have bathtub floors? Most double-wall camping tents, so-called because they have an inner tent with bug netting and an outer rainfly, have a bathtub floor in the inner tent. In these tents, the waterproof fabric on the floor …

Day hiking is a great way to get some fresh air, exercise every muscle in your body, and spend quality time with friends or family. Wearing the right clothing for a hike will help keep you comfortable and safe, so you can …

I have torn holes in the side pockets of many backpacks, enough that I now ding manufacturers in product reviews that include them on backpacks because they’re not durable enough. External mesh pockets are nice to have, but the only “safe” place to …

Many ultralight backpackers bring extra clothing on trips that they never wear and end up carrying for no purpose. Doing this has a ripple effect, because it means you need a larger backpack to carry the extra clothing, which is probably going …

Wearing rain pants when you’re hiking or backpacking can be a mixed bag because you’re going to get wet whether you put them on or not, when it starts to rain. Huh? Isn’t rain gear supposed to keep you dry? Good luck …

Have you bought a backpack, only to discover that the shoulder straps made your shoulders sore or rub you the wrong way? I’ve certainly owned a few backpacks that needed some extra padding on the shoulder straps. While you can stuff socks …

Backpack frame stays are aluminum rods that many ultralight or speciality backpack manufacturers use in their backpacks instead of full frames. They usually slot into pockets that run down the inside of the backpack along your back and slot into the hip …

Why Use a Hatchet It is an unavoidable fact that hatchets and axes are heavy tools. An average hatchet will have a 1.25lb head, which tends to make the whole hatchet close to 2lb. That type of weight must be justified by …