Gear Review: Platypus Softbottle
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Can a simple piece of one ounce gear invoke actual love? Yes. I admit it. I love my Platypus SoftBottle!
More >Backpacking Gear
Gear Review: NeoAir All Season sleeping pad
Ginger wanted a pad that was slightly thicker, (more comfy), wider and warmer than our Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus sleeping pads. We found our NeoAir All Season pad online at a very reasonable price.
More >Gear Review: GoLite Ultralite 800 Fill 1+ season quilt
I bought my GoLite Ultralite 800 Fill 1+ season quilt in March 2011 for shoulder season and summer backpacking and camping. I’ve used it since then for backpacking, hammock camping, car camping, and various other odd nights out away from home.
More >Selecting a sleeping bag (and what else will I need?)
We began car camping with cheap Walmart sleeping bags. When we started backpacking we needed lighter more compressible sleeping bags. Our first choice of bag was a failure, three years later, we have two sleeping bags each for year round camping and backpacking. Here are our tips on buying a sleeping bag, and what else you’ll need to get for a comfortable nights sleep in the wild.
More >Hiking Huaraches – My hiking ‘boots’
If one thing is likely to start a passionate gear discussion, it’s hiking and backpacking footwear. I’m in a minority on this subject and I know it. Why? If you look closely at any of our backpacking or hiking pictures, you’ll see I’m almost always apparently barefoot…
More >Gear Review: Coleman Exponent Dual Fuel Lantern 229-725
We bought this super little lantern for backpacking, car camping, kayak camping and home emergency lighting. I was skeptical of being able to fit it in my backpack – but it fits in an outside side pocket just fine, it is that small.
More >Do you need hiking poles?
When we first started hiking the question soon arose, “Do we need hiking poles?” (also known as trekking poles). We thought that they were pretentious accessories only used by the sort of people who like to buy every latest gadget and bit of gear to look the part. I just could not see the need for them.
More >Our Gear: MSR Dromedary and MSR Sweetwater
I am a microbiologist by training and therefore have a healthy respect for getting horrendously sick from the water. We hike in the Ozarks and that means pretty much everywhere you go there are houses on septic tanks upstream from where you are. We have livestock that drink from streams. As we do not live […]
More >Gear Review: Montbell Super Spiral Sleeping Bags
We’ve bought our Mont·Bell Super Spiral Sleeping Bags back in 2010. They were expensive, but it’s a purchase we’ve never regretted, and we’d buy them again. We wanted bags that would keep us warm three season camping and backpacking and that were warm enough for the occasional trip out in winter. These bags have exceeded […]
More >Gear Review: Coleman Exponent Multi Fuel Stove
We’ve owned our Coleman Exponent multifuel stove since 2010, and it’s our go-to stove for car camping. In this review we explain why we purchased it – not all the reasons were logical, how it’s worked out for us, and we give some hints for using it while camping and backpacking.
More >Gear Review: MSR Mutha Hubba tent (2010)
We spent a long time researching and looking at tents. Each time we thought we’d found the one we wanted we saw another we liked even more. A three season tent was essential for spring and fall camping, some useable vestibule space that would double as a wind break for cooking was also high on […]
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