I learned how to layer a sleeping system for extreme cold the hard way - waking at 3 a.m. on a frozen snowfield in the Wind Rivers with a hot torso and ice-cold feet, even though my bag was rated to zero. The bag was fine. The problem sat underneath me: a summer sleeping pad […]

If you have ever lost a lure to a wind knot, fought a bird's nest five casts into a fresh spool, or watched a trophy bass snap your line at the rod tip and swim off with a $20 plug, you already know what line twist costs. I've been fishing long enough to have done […]

Here's the stat that changed how I camp in winter: the average person exhales about one liter of water overnight. That's a full soda bottle of moisture pumped into your tent while you sleep, and when it hits a cold tent wall, it freezes into the frost that shakes down your neck at 2 a.m. […]

To prevent reel corrosion in saltwater, rinse the reel with fresh water within an hour of leaving the water, dry it completely with compressed air and a microfiber cloth, apply a marine-grade corrosion inhibitor such as CorrosionX or Boeshield T-9, then store it in a dry, covered place. A consistent five-minute post-trip routine stops chloride-ion […]

There's a sinking feeling every angler and duck hunter knows: that cold-water seeping into your bootie mid-crossing, the slow cold creep up your shin, the moment you realize your waders are leaking again. I have lived through it on a Montana freestone in October, on a Texas marsh in January, and on more Pennsylvania trout […]

If you've ever pushed off from shore and felt that wobble under your seat, you're not alone. I've spent the last decade coaching new paddlers, and I can tell you this: most kayak tips are not caused by the boat. They're caused by the body inside it. Learning how to prevent a kayak from tipping […]

I learned the hard way how to protect a camera while kayaking. Three years ago I took a surf-zone tumble in my sea kayak with a full-frame mirrorless body and a 70-200mm lens tucked in a regular zippered camera bag. That bag was supposed to be water-resistant. The Pacific Ocean disagreed. Eight hundred dollars of […]

How to purify water while backpacking is the question that keeps first-time backpackers up at night, and for good reason. I've been treating backcountry water on trips from the Sierras to the Wind River Range for over a decade, and I've seen a well-prepared friend still spend three days hugging his water bottle after skipping […]

Learning how to purify water in the wild is one of the most important outdoor skills you can carry with you. You can survive weeks without food, but only about three days without water — and the wrong sip from a cloudy backcountry stream can put you on your back for a week. Our team […]

Putting on a wetsuit without ripping it comes down to three things: remove anything sharp, use a plastic bag or changing sock on your feet and hands, and ease the neoprene up slowly instead of yanking it. Most rips happen because dry skin grabs the rubber and forces you to pull harder than the seams […]