Author: DaveC
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Always take the gimme
If you spend a lot of time in the woods, over a lot of years, it is a law of kharmic comportment that you always take the gimme. Fun is without question my least favorite word in english, at this moment. In usual conversation it means almost nothing, and like angry or frustrated is a…
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Southwest wild game cassoulet
Hunting has changed my eating habits. When decades of eating industrial beef and chicken is your frame of reference, wild game can do nothing but challenge that. The flavors and textures are just different, especially when you get away from the more straightforward cuts of venison. Of course, hunting also gives you access to the…
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The Cobra buckle
Backpack hipbelt buckles, not something most think about, until one breaks. Which is exactly the point: across the past two decades I’ve broken backpacks in only one of two ways, wearing holes via abrasion, and breaking the prongs on buckles. Usually the later happens when someone steps on it, and while a busted compression strap…
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Snow and scat
Yesterday I did one of my favorite hikin’ and packraftin’ loops in Glacier National Park. In spite of thus-far unfulfilled intentions to ski it, I’ve never been in there this early. I had snowshoes on my pack as well as the usual rafting gear, which made for good training weight, but the ‘shoes went unused.…
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Just ramblin’
The last two times I’ve driven west out of Augusta, the sky has looked like this. Saturday was supposed to be fairly warm, but instead it rained, snowed a tiny bit, and howled east at 30 mph all day long. The ground looked well into spring, with no snow and the first hints of green…
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The ‘mid I’ve been looking for
Disclaimer: Seek Outside gave me the shelter discussed below for free in exchange for feedback. [12/2016 update: the BT2 is now the Silvertip, with modest but significant revisions which make it more friendly to taller folks, and more likely to pitch with one long trekking pole.] It’s illustrative to think back to the first “cottage”…
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Two good gloves
I dislike gloves, and having warm hands I’m often able to get away without them, but that’s not always the case. Skiing, cycling, and hunting are all examples of activities where cold exposure is increased and the demands for dexterity heightened. The following are two examples of gloves which provide maximum weather protection with minimal…
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Almost nothing
For the first half of this past week I drank no coffee. Wednesday last we went on a hospital tour, and saw the very posh maternity ward where Little Bear will come into the world this summer. Four hours later I was at home in the thralls of norovirus, vomiting hard enough I was worried…
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Skurka’s Core 13
Most gear is something to which I pay little attention. Packs are a fascination and thus an object of consistent experimentation, even if for example I currently have five very solid 3000+ cubic inch ones in the closet right now. Most other things, such as stoves and shelters, are boxes to be checked once before moving on. …
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Snotel for backcountry planning
Discussion about the Bob Open is heating up over at BPL, as is appropriate for this time of year. It’s just about late enough in the winter to use what resources are available to make meaningful extrapolations concerning what things will be like out there in two months. With that in mind, I want to…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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