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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

Damn balzaccom, under the chin, Ouch!!! Real lucky it was not the neck though. The funny thing about my story wasn't until we got to the towns doctor... He had recently recovered from a stroke and was unable to cut the hook with the wire cutters and my uncle had to do it. Watching my Great Uncle cutting the hook mumbling that my mother was going to kill him only made me laugh, and as i shook frm laughing it only made it harder for him to cut the hook lol.

I have not - but maybe @George Graybill has (he was the author of the article). Amazing place from what I've seen and heard though!

Nice! I once hooked myself under the chin in very windy conditions up in the Sierra at about 8,000 feet. We were miles and miles from a doctor, but the local fire station had a medic who pulled out the hook.

np if you have specific questions that is even better as then i can focus on those in particular and for anyone else reading this post plz by all means ask away any questions that you may have about camping gear etc etc i am always here to answer questions

Thank you so much for this! Like I said, definitely a beginner here but eager to have some adventures! I will make note of ALL of this - thanks.

Hey Aaron, have you ever had the chance to go hiking in Yosemite, It was one of the most amazing hiking/ camping trips of my life. I even remember the fawn that came up to me and ate out of my hand ( for the record i had been vaccinated for Lyme disease)

They sell now 3 minute pasta and they also sell now pasta ready to eat in a bag. Just bring one of those liquid cheese pouches or dry mix and you are good to go. I have got it nailed to the point i add the exact amount of water needed to instant pasta so no draining and only 3 -5 mins of cook time (once it begins to boil) depending on your fuel/stove/altitude .

Hi Kayla , Actually I think you already have a great way to make coffee and tea. I think that you would be better off getting one of those 360 ° toothbrushes w/soft bristles and use that to clean your coffee filter After you make your coffee , flip that coffee filter upside down and tap it to get the bulk of the coffee grinds out, then dip it in water and shake real fast for 3 seconds then flip over again and tap then once more. Now place filter in water on its' side and use the toothbrush while filter is on its side and move the brush all around the filter... It is much easier an

Wow I still remember the time I went fly fishing and caught a 160 pounder. I was fly fishing in upstate New York with my Great Uncle during a family reunion gathering. He and I were on some large rocks in the middle of the river and i was pulling in the line so i could do another cast and right when I thought i had at least another 10 feet of line to reel in I jerked the rod once really hard and OMG What Luck!!! That fish hook did its job and pierced through its target. I quickly turned to my great uncle and called to him to get his attention " I just hooked a 160 pounder"