Category: Hiking with ropes
-
The Grand Eight: Prologue
A big, technical trip in the Grand Canyon has been in the back of my mind for quite a few years, and back in early January I decided to make it happen now. Simply put: when I ran the numbers I couldn’t think of a reason not too. The time could be made free, the…
-
5 photos from the Grand Canyon
A simple, challenging idea: take five and only five photos, out of over 500, which best represent a week long trip in a very big place. This trip was a spectacular success. That I’m home again, after so many tough miles with no issues, and a 1000 mile drive yesterday, hardly seems real. More to…
-
The planning pile
After you’ve picked a good route, picked a good partner, done all the relevant research, and built the best list you can, the only thing left is to make sure you don’t forget anything. On longer trips this is rather important, and can be surprisingly difficult. If all you leave behind is your spoon, little…
-
RIT die for synthetic garments
I have issues with hats. This is mostly a performance thing. While the scientific robustness of the old claim that you loose an outsize amount of heat through your head is coming into question, the fact that temperature regulation via hats is fast and easy remains unassailable. As readers will know, I have a brain…
-
The Black Diamond Alpine Start Hoody
Surely, the windshirt quest will never stop. Finding an ideal active layer for days which are neither warm nor arctic, neither calm nor storming fiercely, involves delicate balancing of contradictory attributes. The shirt must be significantly wind resistant, but quite breathable. It must be light, but tough, especially given that a windshirt will be used…
-
Functional remoteness
Most analyses of remoteness in the lower 48 are misleading. They ignore on the ground factors, though for the understandable reason of accessible numbers to crunch. There is the famous claim that the place furthest from any road in the lower 48 is a bit east of the Thorofare valley in Yellowstone. However, 19/20s of…
-
Anorak conversions for blown main zippers
It is to be expected that a heavily used jacket with a #3 main zip, like the 2.1 year old Rab Xenon pictured here, will have zipper failure within the useful life of the garment. While manufacturers continue to use these zips on weekly-use pieces, for reasons of weight, cost, and pliability, repairs will be…
-
Review the review: OGL on Headlamps
I may have given them some shit recently, but a few weeks ago Outdoor Gear Lab atoned for any past sins and then some, with an outstanding headlamp review. I can’t think of anything they left unexamined. Breadth (37 lamps) and depth (beam patterns, real world run times) are present. Basic theory (why have a…
-
Pack materials rundown
I gave in to a somewhat unreasonable obsession with building packs a few years ago, embracing the learning process it provides and admitting that nothing will be perfect and that eventually, anything will go back under the knife to be rebuilt or just scrapped for parts. This lack of attachment helps, I like to think,…
-
Seek Outside Big Sibling stove review
I am not going to discuss the theory and applicability of a backpackable wood stove here. For that, go elsewhere. If you are interested in the lightest and most compact such stove currently available, read on. The Big Sibling is the lightest wood stove on the market because it dispenses with a lot of what…
Bedrock & Paradox 
You must be logged in to post a comment.