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I think most people are best served packing light, and using a carry-on size “travel pack” which is a cross between a backpack and soft-side luggage. Most travel packs are designed for urban use with an emphasis on ease of use, convenient access when at your lodging, fitting efficiently into carry on luggage compartments, and…
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Updated November 2024 Flashlights and headlamps let you continue your activities once it is too dark to see. The ability to expend the hours that we can do things is invaluable. Today, virtually all flashlights and headlamps use LEDs to produce light. I strongly encourage people to retired any lights which aren’t using LEDs. LEDs…
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Many activities benefits from having some sort of sharp object to cut things. Examples of this include food preparation, opening packaging, trimming material to cover a blister, preparing kindling, or hacking branches to build an emergency shelter. My Choice My every day carry (EDC) knife is a Victorinox Rambler Pocket Knife which is the smallest…
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Next to staying warm, the most important survival and comfort factor is drinking an adequate amount of safe water. Many, but not all cities around the world have safe drinking water. For the urban environments without safe water, and for most back country adventures you need to be prepared to produce safe water, and have…
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Hats seem to be one of the more personal pieces of gear. People seem to care about the style of their hat than many other clothing items. There are a huge number of options with a wide variety of styles, colors, materials, etc. Hats are highly effective at fine tuning thermal comfort because they are…
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Like hats, hardware seem to be one of the more “personal” pieces of gear. Unlike “hats”, fit and function rather than style seems to drive most people’s decision making. The fit of handwear is much more important than say, a jacket. Less than 1 cm of extra length in the fingers can be the difference…
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TL;DR As of April 2024 the best rain gear in terms of performance have their membranes on the outside. They don’t wet out, and dry amazingly quickly, and have ok to superior breathability. Other reasonable options Don’t try to use a wind jacket like the Patagonia Houdini as a rain jacket. A real rain storm…
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Often people will have a single layer of clothing for their legs. Generally legs need less protection from weather than the torso for several reasons. Moisture management is typically less challenging and in most activities, your legs generate more heat than your arms because you are using your legs to propel yourself. Legs also tend…
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The purpose of the insulation layer is to keep you warm. (I have brief notes about layering clothing). There are a number of factors which affect how much insulation a person will need to be comfortable for a given set of conditions. The most significant is the level of activity, or what researchers call Metabolic Equivalent (ResearchGate…
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Everyone has their own definition of “softshell” which makes the marketplace quite confusing. My definition of soft shell is any single layer garment which is designed be worn in a wide range of conditions putting an emphasis on breathability over absolute protection from external conditions. I consider unlined windshirts a part of a softshell system. Contrary…