Not long ago it was common for a backpacker to carry a 65 liter pack loaded with 50, 60, even 70 pounds of gear. When Chris Lundy, the owner of Sawtooth Mountain Guides in Stanley, Idaho, jokes that what a lot of people think about as “suffering” in hiking and…
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Cuben fiber fabric, now called Dyneema Composite Fabrics, was originally used for sails on the winner of the 1992 America’s Cup held May 9-16 in San Diego, California. Skippered by billionaire Bill Koch, the winning yacht was America3 or America “cubed.” hence the name “Cuben.” The fabric is now officially known…
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If you’re headed out on a backpacking adventure, you have two basic choices about how you’re going to cook your food other than the traditional campfire. You can cook on a canister stove like the JetBoil or the MSR Reactor. Both are excellent stoves. Those two backpacking stoves and other…
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If you’ve ever searched for ideas about making your own DIY backpacking stove, you may have discovered that are a ton of options – from alcohol stoves, rocket stoves, wood burning stoves the list goes on. We’ve quite a few examples over recent years, and below are some of the better…
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So you’re planning a backpacking trip and need some new gear for water purification. Only one question remains – what’s the best backpacking water filter? There’s quite a few lightweight, effective water filters on the market these days. Below are some different examples to to choose what best fits your needs: Sawyer Mini Water…
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My first backpacking trip was in 1991 when I was 18 years old. At that time, one of the hot 2-person ultralight backpacking tents was the North Face Starlight NHP, which I still have and use to this day. I was then amazed at how light it was compared to…
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Simply put, this isn’t your daddy’s Thermarest! I had a chance to try one of these Neolite Xlite pads out, and compared to what I normally use, this pad was amazing. Extremely comfortable, the Neolite Xlite is about 2.5 inches thick when inflated but you’d think it’s alot more. When…
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