As an avid hiker, climber, and backpacker, I have quite a collection of outdoor gear. My closet is filled with ropes, backpacks, cookware, hiking poles…basically everything one would need for an outdoor adventure. Some things I don’t get much use out of–for example, I’ve got an ice ax in there …

Parents you know the deal. The kids go through new shoes faster than going through toilet paper. Or at least that’s how it seems. And now that you’re thinking about potty training let’s come back to the topic of shoes. Yup, if they haven’t worn holes in them then they’ve …

Ray Mears. He knows what he’s talking about. And he put some of what he knows is in a book. That’s Raymond Mears’ “The Outdoor Survival Handbook.” Based out of the UK and a common feature on the BBC, he’s known for his many TV survival series and experience with traditional …

Looking for something to sit on on your backpacking trips, but short on space? I was. A Chilean company called Doite, which makes a wide variety of backpacking and outdoors gear has come out with their adventure chair, a highly portable seat that comes in its own case. It’s called …

A little while ago I posted a 2 part write up on the father daughter backpacking trip I did with my 5 year old. I put together 2 videos for the blog and I wanted to share those with you all. To save you time, I’ve included both parts below. …

For the next little while I’m down in South America and I didn’t bring a sleeping bag. I don’t want to buy a new one down here if I don’t have to, so in typical DIY fashion I decided to work with what I have: A closed cell foam sleeping …

Every… ok, most knives have their time and place. There are crowds that prefer fixed blades and those that swear by folding knives. I have had my share of knives… I still do in fact. I still play around with making my own fixed bladed knives. But, as a father who …

Well, I did a bunch of fishing this summer ranging from bass to trout to steelhead and even a bit of the salmon run. Most of it was of limited success, so when my father in law talked about the pink salmon run I had to give it a try. …

How young is too young to take a kid backpacking? I’ve been on the forums long enough to see many a question like this and many an answer. There are probably two big fears for parents, the first one is safety and the second is making sure they enjoy it. …

My son grazing on wild raspberries As a kid, I remember my dad taking us around the property and through the woods and on our journeys he would show us new wild berries to enjoy. I never forgot the ground berries, the salmon berries, the huckleberries or the blackberries (to …

Ask what you should do on a backpacking forum for potable drinking water and you’ll come up with a lot of answers. Some swear by chemical tablets, others are devoted to filters and or simple boiling. Most people are aware of the dangers of giardia and cryptosporidium and so it isn’t a …

I guess the nights wouldn’t have been so cold if I wasn’t using my son’s sleeping bag. Don’t get me wrong, it was rated for 40 degrees F, but it wasn’t rated for someone that is 5′ 10″. My head and shoulders stuck out and I ended up assuming the …