Search results

Over spring break, I took my oldest daughter (13) on her first true backpacking trip, in that she carried all of her personal gear and a portion of our shared gear and food in an overnight pack for a fairly long distance. Our destination was Henry W. Coe State Park, a wonderful, hidden gem of a...

I was at REI today looking to replenish and expand my first aid kit in anticipation of a long trip this summer. I ran across a roll of Cohere tape, which seemed like it might be useful, though I'm not exactly clear on all of its possible uses. Red Cross first aid training that I'm required to...

My mother has been a full time RV'r for almost 20 years (she's in her late 70's now). She's pretty much given up on working in recent years but for many years worked as a "workamper", usually doing things like being a Campground Host but she's also worked for Park Service concessionaires. She...

I think there's a tendency by the public and the media to conflate rescue services with medical services. Certainly, there is a lot of gray area that will always be difficult to reconcile. In most jurisdictions, rescues are not generally expected to be reimbursed except in cases of...

Recently, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a hiker must pay his rescue bill, upholding the State's assertion that his actions resulting in the rescue were negligent. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/new-hampshire-hiker-rescue_n_7181022.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green I have...

The Nature Conservancy owns their portion of Santa Cruz Island outright but whatever the terms of the purchase were seem to have been kept under wraps. The island had been the subject of litigation for decades amongst various parties and their heirs; my personal take is that the purchase...

I know many people, myself included, would like to see the NPS take over the entirety of Santa Cruz island in Channel Islands National Park. Currently, the Nature Conservancy owns something like 85% of the island, and public access to their holding is limited to a single trail under controlled...

I have the Primus Easy Light, have had no issues with it and find it works well for me in the right situation. I also have a Coleman Dual Fuel lantern that I run off white gas, pretty much the same Coleman Lantern that has been around for decades. The Easy Light is nowhere near as blazing...

In the past I've removed socks and insoles from my boots and tramped across. The boots would dry out quickly enough on the trail and my feet would be mostly dry in their dry socks (fairly thick wool blend) and insoles. That was with an all-leather, non-goretex lined boot. My current leather...

How about sort of keeping with the theme, throw in a Mora knife $10-16, a Swedish Fire Steel, $13 and perhaps a FOX 40 emergency whistle, $6-9. That Bahco Laplander saw looks interesting.

I guess I must one of the few oddballs in the Big Pack club, currently favoring an 80L pack. I have 65L pack but it just won't work with a full sized bear can for me. The 80L pack has a better suspension and carries heavier loads over 35 lbs much better. Packing is a breeze- I can literally...

Thoughts? Well, Mojave NP is great for camping out of a Jeep. I've been there a couple of times, camping out of a mostly stock Jeep Wrangler (TJ). The roads there generally aren't too demanding, though I did get turned around once by a washout that maybe a really built up rig could have...

Joshua Tree is better for hiking and rock climbing. Mojave National Preserve has lots of backcountry that you can take the Jeep into.

Backpackers, how do you carry a larger camera, say at the least the size of a typical Super Zoom that is too bulky to pocket? My current camera (Canon Powershot SX-160) is a tad bulky compared to most basic zoom P&S cameras, so it rides in a belt case that came bundled with it, on my pack...

Never heard of the Pando before. That is really interesting, thanks Parma. I may try to wiggle a visit to it into my summer vacation itinerary.

I like my Shakespeare Ugly Stick UL pack rod a lot. The small Bass Pro UL reel I use with it gets the job done, though I'd prefer something with a better anti-reverse. I don't fish often enough to put much thought into until I'm actually using the reel. But its the rod that does most of the work.

I play a little guitar, kind of fake my around bass and lately have been playing around with sequencing a couple of analog synthesizers and an analog drum machine. I have a small home recording setup in my home office. Used to have of a garage band way back. I get more points for concept than I...

I used Tear Aid type A on my Moonstone bag, seems to be holding up well so far, a little over a year.

Wow! You don't mess around. What an awesome first backpacking trip.

After my experience with Xanterra at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, I don't see myself eating at or lodging in any of their establishments any time soon. Stovepipe wells is now managed by a smaller concessionaire. I think its pretty much hit or miss anywhere you go regardless if the...