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When hitting the store for a backpacking water bottle we may be inclined to at first reach for our favorite color bottle or the bottle featuring the most appealing printed design on the side. While there’s nothing wrong with that when it comes to having a water bottle around the house or at work, when it comes to choosing a hiking or backpacking water bottle other performance factors should be considered. With weight being paramount in the backcountry, the prototypical standard, Tritan Nalgene bottle may not necessarily weigh you down, but there’s a better option in the same company’s lineup.

Update. On April 24th, 2018, Wayne was having immense pain in his legs and could barely walk. Reluctantly, after having hiked almost 450 miles of the AT, he came off the trail. His doctors found that the pain in his legs was being caused by spinal compression. They began therapy and recommended that he not attempt to return to the trail for 90 days. Fifty-one days later on June 5, 2018, after having made good progress with his therapy, Wayne returned to the exact spot where he had come off the trail and continued his northbound thru-hike. On June 30, after having hiked more than 700 miles but

I enjoyed the Ventana Wilderness article. I'm local and help work on the trails. It's been such a mess lately with all the overgrown trails and access points that are not accessible. The best parts of the Ventana I've seen lately were when I was on a trail crew and got to drive to areas closed to the public. The few places were there are decent trails easy to get to have been overrun with noobs who don't know what to do with their trash and toilet paper, and think they have the inalienable right to build campfires when they are not allowed and are a horrible idea. But there is plenty of b

I yakked the Congaree River in SC to the NP, tied up, did a 24 mile hiking loop, and yakked on. For my NC Mountains to Sea Tr thru I paddled some 117 miles on the Neuse River instead of road walking(mainly. I rented a sea yak for a surf n turf Channel Island NP trip. If you're not experiencing CI NP on and under the water you're missing out BIG time. Same with a surf n turf Isle Royale NP trip. On a Osark Highlands thru I rented a yak and added a two night paddle on the Mulberry River. On a Colorado Tr thru I rented a yak in Salida at an outfitters and added a 3 nigh

I've gotten more than ever into eating my coffee on trail. http://www.wildophelia.com/coldbrew https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Chocolate-Covered-Espresso/dp/B009RS7VIK When I do want a hot caffeine laden on trail I reach for Matcha Green Tea w/ full fat coconut milk powder by Pukka or Nirvana

I also like developing better balance wearing a pack wading up to waist deep in light Gulf of Mexico surf with a hard bottom, no sudden drop offs, etc. I also strengthened legs, ankles, etc and developed balance pre AT NOBO thru jumping on a backyard trampoline.

I would not immediately head to a trail. I'd head to the lower impact pool workouts(submerged stationary bike for example), beach sand/dunes workouts, elliptical, etc

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While the physical standardization of backpacking fuel canisters may lead one to believe they’re all the same, the actual contents of each canister vary greatly, and results in a multitude of liquefied fuel mixtures on the market. And if you’ve ever been in the situation – like I have – where you’re trying to boil water by the light of a headlamp on a chilly fall night only to watch the output of your stove steadily drop towards a heat level barely above off, you know it pays to know your stove fuels. For backpacking usage and upright (or inverted canister) usage, backpacking fuels will be ava

Very helpful article for our first trip to Sedona coming up in a couple of weeks. Your photos and commentary make my heart race to take that trip! Thanks for all you do to encourage and pave the way for adventurers and hikers alike, Susan!

No experience with this particular stove, but all igniters will eventually fail. That said the convenience is high and I won’t buy a stove without one - just carry a backup lighter. The fuel canister brands for these type of stoves are cross compatible but some have better mixtures of fuel than others.

Hi all. I'm wondering about buying the Jetboil mightymo for a camping trip with my family. i've heard that the igniter goes out, is that true? I'de like a stove that doesn't need to be hand ignited. Also, do you have to use name brand fuel? Any help is welcome

My childhood best friend moved to Akron, Ohio right after she graduated high school to attend the University of Akron. Being from Virginia and having lived there all my life, I had never really heard of the city aside from its connection to Lebron James (but even about this my knowledge was severely limited due to my lack of interest in basketball). That was seven years ago, and I realized recently that I still had yet to visit despite her open invitation. Feeling guilty and quite aware of how long 7 years is, I reached out and we worked it out so I would stay with her over Labor Day weekend.

(For private land that I owned only) I would use small cairns. I would then use the trails so that as balzaccom mentioned, the trails developed to where no markings would be necessary and then disassemble the cairns if desired. Although it looks like biodegradable flagging tape is made bright flagging tape is an eyesore to me, but perhaps white cotton string or twill ribbon could be substituted for a more natural look and would naturally degrade.

The current thinking is colored tape: easy to see, long lasting (better than cairns) and zero damage to the environment. Of course, if it's your own property you can do what you want...including creating a trail tread that it obvious enough to not require any other marker...

We recently purchased a home that comes with a large forested area. Our goal is to put in some hiking trails through it. What is the best kind of trail blaze (that is, the easiest to see, longest lasting, and least disruptive to the wilderness)? Colored trail tape, paint, or something else?

ok so it doesn't matter whether it is bedding or sleeping bags when it comes to down. It is more dependent on the manufacturer. Meaning the type of down (goose or duck) and the amount of fill power could be the exact same in bedding or sleeping bag and the price usually reflects that. Re: your DIY sleeping bag.... Fact is, the culprit is your materials used for the outer shell and the fact that you are sleeping in a down anything in humid conditions. In humid areas the moisture will cause the down to get wet, lose loft, and will end up having a foul smell. It is why most people in those

Yea sorry balzaccom, I was actually not commenting on your post but the original post by Raoul, that never indicated whether smoked or not. But after reading yours just now, the other part of my post would apply to your significant other using those battery powered gloves. Unless the gloves can generate heat any other type of glove would be ineffective, and heat reflective gloves probably wont work either.

You must not have read the previous posts. She has never smoked, doesn't drink much either.

Raynaud's is a possibility but smoking can have the same effect turning your fingers and toes white. If she smokes then I strongly suggest not to smoke during hikes. Also if it is indeed from smoking, then it may not be her hands getting cold that triggers this effect but her whole body getting colder. The body will react and will reduce blood flow to the lower extremities. Anyway, regardless of the cause, the only thing that will help your wife is wearing a glove that emits heat. Any other glove will do little to nothing to help your wife since your wife's fingers are getting col

The skin under your neck is very stretchy...took a while to get my hook out. Happy both the emt and I had a sense of humor about it

Another thing you can do is place a Mylar solar blanket over your sleeping pad. The solar blanket will reflect up to 90 % of your heat back to you. You can also put it under the pad making it less as effective but far less noisy.

Considering the length of time since Keith posted his question I will be answering this for future readers instead. 1st let me add that we are not aware of what Keith was wearing besides his down puff jacket. Typically one would wear a wicking base layer, then the down puff jacket followed by a windproof, waterproof outer shell. The outer shell should have ventilation zippers ( these are usually under the arm pits although i have also seen a few that had zippers on the back or front for added ventilation) . As soon as you start warming up, prior to getting to the point of sweating

Ok clarification on last paragraph from above.. the rule of thumb is assuming one weighs less then 197 lbs. and multiplying 10 % times your weight of those that weigh less then 197 lbs is what your backpack's base weight should be . So if one weighs less then 197 lbs. multiply your actual weight ( in your B-day suit) by 10 % ,for those that weigh more then 197 lbs. do not use your actual weight, instead use the average weight of men so multiply 197 lbs. times 10 % = 19.7 lbs.

Hi Gaff919 , Ok so to answer your question objectively, you are carrying 8.5 lbs. more then you should be with your current setup. The golden rule of how much your backpack should be , base weight ( w/o food, water, & fuel ) is 10% of your total body weight in the buff ie w/o clothing. You weigh 235 lbs. so 10% of that is 23.5 lbs. yet your current setup is 32 lbs. Now if you are including a water bladder or reservoir and mistakenly adding this too , then you need to take that out of the equation to find out what your base weight is. I will also suggest if you know