Setting up a winter camping tent means choosing a sheltered site on stable snow, packing the surface firm with snowshoes or boots, anchoring the shelter with snow-specific stakes or buried deadman anchors, and insulating the interior so body heat does not escape into sub-freezing air. I have spent 19 winter nights in snow camps across […]

Learning how to set up a tent in high wind changed the way I camp. After watching a 3-season dome fold like a lawn chair in a 40 mph gust on a Colorado ridge, I started treating every pitch as a wind pitch. Our team has logged hundreds of nights in exposed alpine, coastal, and […]

To set up a Livescope transducer, mount the LVS34 so the top sits even with or just below the waterline, install the GLS 10 black box in a dry, ventilated spot, run a dedicated 12V supply with an inline fuse, and connect the unit to a compatible Garmin chartplotter via the Garmin Marine Network port. […]

Most dogs can learn to kayak, but almost none learn it on their first ride. Training your dog to kayak takes about 2 to 6 weeks of short, positive sessions, starting on land with a stable kayak and ending in calm, shallow water. The result is a confident dog that boards calmly, settles in a […]

I learned how to train for a long distance hike the hard way. My first multi-day trip ended on day three with wrecked knees, blistered feet, and a pack I could not lift onto my back without sitting down first. I had walked a lot in my life, but I had never trained for walking […]

I learned how to treat a blister on the trail the hard way - 12 miles into a Three Sisters loop in Oregon, a heel hotspot I ignored at mile 4 turned into a fluid-filled pocket that hurt with every step. That day cost me the summit and a week of healing. Since then I […]

Tuning ski edges used to intimidate me. I bought a beat-up pair of all-mountain skis, took one too many runs on boilerplate ice, and watched my edges go from crisp to rounded in a single season. After a few false starts with cheap files and over-eager strokes, I finally learned how to tune ski edges […]

I still remember my first session on a rented 10'6" inflatable. I could paddle straight within ten minutes, but every turn took me twenty feet out of my way before the board finally swung around. I kept switching sides, paddling harder, and getting frustrated. After a year of coaching new paddlers and testing boards from […]

I've watched a hiking partner catch one hidden patch of black ice on a north-facing slope and go down hard, fast enough that I couldn't reach her before she slid ten feet. She was wearing microspikes in her pack. She hadn't put them on yet because the trail "looked fine." That was the day I […]

I still remember the first time I fired up side imaging on a rental boat in Florida. The screen looked like abstract art, the boat was drifting at the wrong speed, and I nearly gave up on the technology entirely. Two seasons later, after plenty of trial and error, side imaging has become the single […]