It was a couple years ago, probably eightish miles up the Stuart Peak trail near my home in Missoula, Montana, when I first started thinking about it. A small tree had fallen perpendicular across the trail, no more than four inches in diameter. I had to slow my already-not-that-fast uphill trot to almost a complete stop to step over the tree.

I thought for a half-second, like I always do, that my day would be a tiny bit more pleasant if that tree had not fallen there—or if someone had removed it before I started my trail run that day.

But I carried on, to the top of the peak, stepping over a couple other pieces of deadfall, a minor nuisance on the way up the trail, but a brief low hurdle on my way back down.

I remembered some mountain bikers I’d run into on this same trail a while back, in the early season. They’d carried a chainsaw to cut the trees that had fallen over the winter, but of course they stopped at the wilderness boundary, where bicycles weren’t permitted (let alone chainsaws).

I finished my run, and repeated it several times, always encountering some deadfall. Same with some of the other trails around Missoula—every year brings a few more trees down.

Every time I stepped over one, I made a mental note:

And then I’d go home and never do it. Once or twice I googled electric chainsaws, but never clicked “buy.”

A ripped through our town in late July with winds in excess of 100 mph, and I spent two consecutive days cutting fallen branches, and hauling 15 pickup loads to the city brush pile (it’s a small pickup).

The first day, when everyone’s power was out, I had the longest conversation I’d ever had with my neighbor Nathan, standing on the sidewalk in front of his house. I mentioned how I wished I had actually bought a chainsaw instead of just thinking about it, because I’d have it for this, but I’d also be able to cut deadfall on trails.

“What you need,” Nathan said authoritatively, “is a Silky Katanaboy folding saw. They’re amazing. My buddy talked me into getting one and I love it.”

I googled the Silky Katanaboy. It was $245, and huge. Ideal Version of Me could wait some more, I guess.

Then my friend Kevin and I did an adventurous run/hike up Pyramid Buttes this September, and there was so much goddamn deadfall. I cursed myself, but, shrug, what are you gonna do, cut through 30 trees in the middle of your 17-mile day?

A couple weeks later, on the way up Sky Pilot, same thing. Lots of gymnastics to get up and around all the deadfall. If I were a pompous asshole, I would have huffed and said, “somebody should do something about this!” But come on, I have some idea of how the world works, and you don’t just call the Forest Service and report a downed tree on a lesser-used trail, like you’re calling down to the front desk to request more towels.

I googled the Silky Katanaboy again. It was too big (20 inches long, 2 pounds), and too expensive. If I bought it, I’d have to mentally record where the downed trees were, then go back, hike in with an actual backpack, and cut the trees. How about something smaller?

The Silky Gomboy Curve 240. $65. Folds down to 9.5 inches. I measured my running vest. A 9.5-inch saw would just fit. Sure, it’s bulky and heavy compared to, you know, not carrying a fucking saw when you go running, but I’m already carrying bear spray in there, and I’m also a 45-year-old middle-of-the-pack dadthlete who loves to eat baked goods. Other people aren’t exactly taking a microscope to my Strava times, but they might appreciate a tree not blocking the trail.

I looked online for reviews, finally finding , by Casey, a mountain biker from Montana. The review was good, but what really sold me was when he said this:

“With work and kids and stuff, I don’t get to go to a lot of trail work days, so this is one of the ways I try to give back and do my part because I use these trails a lot, so I gotta support them somehow.”

All told, he said, getting off his bike, pulling out the saw, cutting the tree, and moving it off the trail took 10 or 15 minutes.

I bought that saw, the Silky Gomboy Curve 240.

It fits in my running vest. I cut a piece of deadfall off a trail this week. It’s not much, but it’s something.

The post The Ultimate, Compact Tool for Clearing Deadfall on Your Local Trails appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

At a Glance

If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

Coba’s Coffee- and Tea-Infused Chocolate Bars

These little bars pack a perk-up punch when you need it. Pitched as a trail-ready alternative to brewed coffee or tea, I find the espresso and chai flavors particularly enjoyable in lieu of an afternoon coffee-al-desko. Each ½ ounce bar of infused white chocolate contains about the same caffeine as a cup of coffee, and the mind-sharpening boost kicks in without the jitters.

TipTop Proper Cocktails’ Whiskey Box and Gin Box

Hosting a motley crew this Christmas, where half the party is Cali sober and the other half is more, ahem, old fashioned? Look no further than TipTop’s boxes of cocktails, organized by base spirit and delivered in giftable 18-packs, plenty to host a happy hour or keep a home bar stocked with options. We give bonus points for their pocket-sized cans, perfect for chairlift nips.

Spicewalla 18-Pack Kitchen Essentials

Founded by James Beard Award-winning Asheville chef Meherwan Irani, Spicewalla’s collection of foundational seasonings include great-quality kitchen workhorses like dried and ground chiles, crushed herbs, and baking spices. The variety of flavors are sealed inside small stay-fresh tins that stack neatly in a cabinet or bounce merrily in a backpack without spilling.

Yeti 6-oz. Stackable Mugs

The cutest tea party I’ve ever attended involved two toddlers, a chilly afternoon outside, and these mini Yeti mugs perfect for little hands. They’ve become my go-to gift for the under-5 crowd. And while the tea at that particular party was lukewarm, the mugs—like all of Yeti’s–are just as effective at keeping small pours of grown-up beverages ripping hot (like espresso) or bracingly cold (like martinis). Just don’t forget to “Cheers!”

Meater Pro Duo

Our favorite meat thermometer is now twice as nice with the introduction of MEATER’s Pro Duo. The rechargeable WiFi-enabled base connects two super accurate probes to an app that keeps you informed about everything that’s cooking. Simultaneously use one on the grill and the other in the oven for a seamless and perfectly executed holiday meal.

New West Knifeworks 7” Teton Edge Santoku

New West is possibly the best knife manufacturer in America, and their 7” santoku knife serves as my go-to for making dinner every night. Its Goldilocks size and chef-knife-oomph makes it the perfect tool for almost every job. The handles come in nine color options to match your kitchen (or personality), and the Teton range etched into the blade provides both form and function. Razor sharp out of the box, New West’s knives come with free personalization and lifetime free sharpening. This is the knife I’ve told a dozen friends to register for their wedding or give as a milestone gift, and now I’m telling you, too.

The post Love to Cook? Add These Gifts to Your Holiday Wish List. appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

We tested hundreds of products earlier this year to round up the best outdoorsy gifts currently on the market—all explicitly curated for your outdoorsy loved ones. From travel gear to tech gifts to fitness products, from $20 to $1,600, we have something for everyone. Be sure to check out the rest of our favorite picks in our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide.

At A Glance

If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

Exped Mega Pump

The worst part of setting up camp is blowing up inflatable sleeping pads until you’re blue in the face. It can take forever, and the process always leaves you winded. That’s why we love Exped’s new rechargeable battery-powered pump, which does 95 percent of the work for you. The lightweight, hand-held pump can fill up a large or even queen-size pad in a minute or two. All you have to do afterward is top the pad off with a few puffs, and you’re ready to relax.

James Brand The Palmer

Weight: 2.5 oz

Designed to fit snugly in the change pocket of your pants or shorts, The Palmer is an ultra-versatile utility knife you’ll use for everyday tasks, from cutting paracord to prepping kindling. When your blade dulls, you can swap in a new one in less than a minute in the field. This year, James released a host of transparent, tinted-color options, which offer a playful peek into the knife’s mechanics.

Black Diamond Traverse Pro Ski Poles

Go ahead, chuck these poles in the truck bed or use them to whack snow off your boots: Thanks to a pure aluminum shaft, they’re practically indestructible. They weigh more than carbon options, but only slightly. The Traverse Pros also come with stronger locking mechanisms and extended grips, which provide better purchase and stability when sidehilling on the skin track.

Crazy Creek AirCliner

Weight: 1 lb, 13 oz

All the hours you spend glassing for elk or chatting around a campfire just got a lot more comfortable. Made from high-denier, ripstop nylon, the AirCliner inflatable chair can brush against rocks and sticks without springing a leak, and it’s easy to blow up in just a few breaths. You’ll notice the 1.8 pounds when backpacking with it, but for shorter trips, the weight is worth the comfort.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT BY AMAZFIT
Amazfit T-Rex 3 ($279.99)

When it comes to rugged GPS smartwatches, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 is ready for any adventure. With more than 3 weeks of battery life, the T-Rex 3 can withstand temperatures from 158°F to -22°F and is waterproof to 328 feet. The large display makes it easy to check GPS maps and activity data—even in bright sunlight. Plus, stay focused on your objective by fully controlling your watch with your voice and sending speech-to-text messages. With best-in-class data privacy, the T-Rex 3 also gives you the option of GPS disablement for total privacy.

Nocs Provisions Field Tube 8×32 Monocular

If you’re like us, you always choose to leave the heavy binocs in the car—and always kick yourself as soon as an eagle flies overhead or a moose saunters through a nearby field. That’s why we love this lightweight monocular. We keep one in our glove box at all times, and since it only weighs a scant eight ounces, throwing it in the pack is a no-brainer.  A large knob on top makes one-handed focusing easy, and the glass is sharp and clear.

Freaks of Nature Daily Defender SPF30 100-Percent Mineral Sunscreen

Legendary surfer Kelly Slater founded his sunscreen company Freaks of Nature this year, and the zinc oxide formula is one of the best we’ve tested. Not only does it leave very little residue, but it also moisturizes your skin thanks to the brand’s biosynthesized squalane. Bonus: it’s reef-safe, and the container is made from 100 percent recycled plastic.

Salomon Stance 96 ski

Sizing: 168, 176, 182, 188 cm

While other skis outperform the Stance 96 in one category or another, it proved to be the most well-rounded ski of our 2024/2025 Ski Test. It’s a supremely versatile ski that we think will get along with anyone—from intermediates still working on their skills to seasoned experts adventuring beyond the groomers. An energetic carver and a nimble bump ski, our testers were impressed no matter where they pointed the Stance 96.

Pret Fury X helmet

Sizing: S-L

The Pret Fury X and its women’s version, the Vision X, are crowd-pleasers. The liner’s EPS foam has an antimicrobial treatment to help keep it from getting funky, and vents in the front and across the top of the head are all controlled easily with a single switch, making the helmet highly breathable. Cozy wooly ear flaps can be removed on warm days, and the magnetic chin strap is easy to attach and can even be done using one hand.

Anon M5 goggles

The oversized Anon M5 had the beefiest and most secure magnetic lens system of any we’ve tested, making this an excellent outdoorsy gift for the skier on your list who likes changing their lenses. A flat toric lens provided full-range visibility, even in those hard-to-spot corners, and the durable hard plastic frame felt sturdier than goggles with softer, more pliable frames. Plus, you can add a neck warmer, which attaches to the bottom of the goggles via magnet, for an extra $32.

How We Tested Our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide

• Number of Testers: 6
• Number of Products Tested: 125
• Number of States Tested in: 7
• Tester Age Range: 30-75
• Highest Elevation Reached While Testing: 14,006 ft.

The best holiday gifts often fit in two main categories. The first category is: “A gift that makes my everyday routine that much better. “ The second goes something like: “This is a gift I’d never splurge on, so it’s amazing that I received it from someone else.” With those parameters in mind, we reached out far and wide to find gifts both big and small, expensive and affordable, and obvious and unexpected. A team of six testers put well over 100 products through their paces, and after weeks of testing and comparing, we came up with the final list.

For example, one of the products that made the cut under the “everyday routine” holiday gifts category was the Suunto Race S watch in our fitness category. Running tester Meg Healy loved how it was the perfect training watch that kept her motivated and updated all week long, no matter the length of her workout. Lead tester Jakob Schiller flew all over the country (Alaska, California, Seattle) with the Mystery Ranch Mission Rover 45 pack and was always impressed with how it was perfectly sized for a three-day trip, easily fit in an overhead compartment, and was comfortable to wear while schlepping through airports.

Presents that fell into the “I’d never buy this myself category” included things like Sonos Ace headphones and Howl propane campfire in the tech category. The headphones, which are as much as a car payment, seem excessive, but you understand the appeal once you hear how they truly enrich every piece of music, from John Coltrane to Taylor Swift to Cypress Hill. A $1,300 gas campfire seems absolutely ridiculous until you stand next to one on a chilly fall night and realize that this new piece of technology is actually as warm as a campfire (if not warmer) and does a great job setting the vibe after dark.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Jakob Schiller

Over the past decade as an şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř editor and then columnist, Jakob Schiller has gotten to know many UPS drivers by name thanks to the frequent stops at his house for gear drop-offs. He’s opened so many cardboard boxes he could start his own recycling facility, and his garage, as you might suspect, is a mess. But thanks to all that gear, Jakob and his family of six (plus two dogs) have been able to adventure around the world and visit many of the globe’s most beautiful spots. When he and his family are not on the road, they call Albuquerque, New Mexico home.

The post Great Gifts for Your şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř-Obsessed Loved One appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Josh Drinkard always wanted to build his own cabin. Growing up in suburban New Jersey, he’d wander to a small strip of woods near his childhood home and spend hours constructing forts and treehouses. When he moved to New Mexico as an adult, Drinkard, the IT Operations Manager at şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Inc., bought 2.5 acres of land in the mountain village of Truchas, about 30 miles north of Santa Fe. There, he took on his first effort at building a very simple cabin with the help of a friend who was an unlicensed contractor and taught Drinkard framing and building basics.

In 2021, Drinkard and his wife, Saraswati Khalsa, started looking at New England as a place to move once their three children were grown. After scouting around, they settled on 25 terraced, hardwood-filled acres near Halifax, Vermont, not far from the Massachusetts border.

Over the past three years, Drinkard has spent vacations building a cabin near Halifax, with the help of his wife, teenage son, and one of his daughters. After a cumulative seven weeks of effort, they can now stay there for long periods, although it still lacks internet service, a shower, and a toilet.

Learning the ins and outs of building a small log cabin in the woods is no small feat. We asked Drinkard to talk about what the project entailed and what skills are required to turn a cabin-building dream into a reality. This is what he learned.

How Big Is the Cabin?

It’s still a work in progress, but right now it’s a one-room cabin with a loft. Two people can sleep up there comfortably. The interior is just 12 feet squared. We use the lower room as the living room and kitchen. Another two people could sleep there with a foldable futon.

Why Did You Choose Vermont?

We bought this property without any services or electricity, so the price was below the national average per acre (which was about $3,000 at the time, according to Drinkard). I love the location and especially the lush green forests. We also love skiing and whitewater rafting and can do both near here; the closest mountain is Mount Snow, 18 miles north, and the closest flowing river is the Deerfield, to the west.

We liked that it’s not far from a town with big-box stores—Greenfield, Massachusetts—and that you can catch a train from Brattleboro, Vermont, to New York City. We thought that if the kids are in college, or after, if they wanted to take a train up, that would be convenient.

And I like Vermont in general. Everything has a small-town feel. There are no billboards. And it’s similar to northern New Mexico in that it’s rural and very liberal.

How Did You Get Started With the Build?

We found a spot that was flat and open. There was a little meadow on the property just big enough for a cabin, so we didn’t have to clear it. We knew we’d use the hemlock trees from the surrounding forest. I was told hemlock resists rot pretty well.

I knew I’d have to find a cheap 4×4 vehicle to leave out there, and we only had a few thousand dollars to work with. In Vermont, good pickups in that price range were all rotted out, so I settled on an old Lincoln Navigator in New Mexico that had been stolen and recovered; its interior was beat to shit. I welded a receiver hitch in front, to use as a winch and a pushbar, and I also fabricated a roof rack big enough to haul 16-foot-long lumber and plywood sheets. Then I drove it out to Vermont.

We decided to use a to build the cabin after a lot of time looking at YouTube videos. Butt-and-pass cabins go up quickly, but the drawback is you need a ton of expensive lags to connect the walls to each other and each log to the ones below.

We used logs for the whole first level of the cabin. The first year, the family came out for four days and we felled trees and placed and leveled the bottom four logs. After they left, I stayed another six days on my own and threw up the first 12 rows of logs—they weren’t that heavy—plus the floor and a temporary roof to keep the snow out.

The next year, we got the structure height to about eight feet. At this point, we started using two-by-fours for the loft level. I traded an old laptop of mine for a bunch of small windows and a door.

After the entire structure dried, we hung shingles on the front. I installed a water-catchment system and solar panels—both are sustainable. We built the loft platform inside and scraped and sealed all of the logs. And I built a small shed with scrap materials and installed more windows on the first floor.

What Was the Hardest Part?

Felling trees for the logs and dragging them around 100 yards to the build site was exhausting. And I’m not in awful shape.

Using a , we took down 30 to 40 relatively straight, light trees on the first trip out, but they kept getting hung up in the tight forest canopy. Then we cut these to 12 and 16 feet and dragged them to the site. It took a few days. The next time we were there, the following July, we cut another 30 or 40 trees.

Does the Cabin Have Plumbing and Electricity?

One of the last things I did when I was there was put in a . The rainwater goes from the roof to a gutter and through a small-screen filter to a 300-gallon IBC (intermediate builk container) tank. The tank was repurposed—it used to hold soy sauce—and someone sold it to me. I’m gonna have to plumb from that tank to a sink and an outside shower. There’s no toilet—we probably will get an outhouse but right now we’re using a bucket with a toilet seat on top.

For electricity, I have a small solar setup: two 100-watt panels and a solar battery that’s good enough to charge things and for basic lighting. The great thing about these is they’re upgradable; I just need to get more batteries and panels to turn it into something more robust that could handle, like, a fridge.

What About Heat?

I brought out a woodstove from New Mexico but decided it’s too big and that it would heat us out—that’s a mistake I made with the cabin in Truchas, too—so I’ll probably buy a small one.

Did You Have to Troubleshoot Any Unforeseen Issues?

It rained a lot one trip, in July, and the road, which is unmaintained, was turning into a rutted off-camber mess. I was having to winch up in several places, and I blew out the Navigator’s 4×4 low. So we found a local heavy-equipment operator and hired him to take down some trees and smooth out the road. But this is an investment for us. Having a small functional cabin with a roughed-in road will increase the property value by more than what we’ve spent.

Also, except for the initial time I drove the navigator out, we’ve flown. And every time, we fly with the power tools. I check the chainsaw, the circular saw. You can’t check the batteries, so I have to carry those on.

How Did You Cut Costs?

One of our challenges was thinking up a good chinking method that wouldn’t take an entire month. There are maybe 80 trees in the structure—because they were smaller in diameter, we needed more, which also meant 80 gaps to fill. Concrete mortar was out, because we didn’t want to haul water up from the stream and mix cement. was out, because it’s too expensive. So we used a product called . This is a spray foam with a component that tastes sour, so bugs and rats don’t want to chew through it.

Pestblock worked better than I imagined, but it’s gonna yellow real bad and I’ll likely have to paint it. I tried putting floor polish over it, to keep the gray color, but it didn’t work.

Also, we didn’t strip the bark off the logs. It looks cool, but bark holds moisture and the logs can rot. After we completed the first floor, they sat for a year, and I thought that if we wire-brushed the logs after a year or so, we could then use floor polish to seal them. So far that’s been working great, but only time will tell if we have any rot. I might know in a few years.

We also stayed in a nearby campground much of the time when we were working on the cabin.

Did Your Family Like Being Involved?

We just gave my son, Mason, a nice RAV4, so we forced him to come out and be our indentured servant. After the second trip, he told me I’d worked him pretty hard but that he had a great time. He can do most jobs independently after a little training. One of our daughters also did a lot of work the first visit, carrying logs.

Saraswati, my wife, is really good at certain things like angles or eyeballing whether something is level. My eyes are awful. Also, I can have a short fuse. At the beginning, I’m fine, but after a week, it grows shorter. And Saraswati will really push to get things done when I’m ready to quit, so we get a lot more done when she’s around.

On the flip side, I have to bring her back down to earth on structural realities. She’s always form over function, and I’m the opposite. For example, we had a full-size door, but I realized that fitting it would cut too many logs on one side and compromise the structure. So we had a bit of a fight about that, because I wanted to cut the door and make it shorter. That’s what we ended up doing.

What Are You Proudest Of About the Cabin?

We did this on the cheap and haven’t splurged on anything so far—though having internet out there will be a splurge. The cabin’s a pretty basic structure, but I’m OK with that. And except for needing help fixing the road, we were able to do everything on our own. There’s no cell-phone access out there, so if you run into a jam, you just have to figure it out.

Estimated Costs for the Cabin

Land and Annual Taxes: $78,000

Building Supplies: $8,000

Driveway: $7,000

Eventual Internet Setup: $700

Flights, food, fees to stay in the nearby campground before the cabin was ready: $5,000

Total: $98,700

Tasha Zemke is °żłÜłŮ˛őľ±»ĺ±đ’s managing editor and a member of şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online’s travel team. She appreciates beautiful, and especially ancient, architecture but can’t imagine building a structure of any kind, given her loathing of giant home-improvement stores.

The post How I Built a Log Cabin in 7 Weeks for Under $100K appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

The post The 2024 Summer Gear Guide appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Dear Gear, I’ve been a confident skier, mountain biker, and climber for over three decades. I’m also a woman. For some reason, most of the guys in my life seem to think it’s OK to mansplain how to use my gear to me, and it makes me want to scream. What’s the best way to handle this situation so I don’t blow a gasket? —Frustrated Feminist

Dear Frustrated,

First of all, do you know what blowing a gasket actually means? I’d be happy to explain it to you—I’m kidding! All of us gals have been in your shoes at one time or another. And while the outdoors are far less biased than they used to be, there’s work to be done when it comes to educating menfolk on how not to “educate” women. Unfortunately, as I’ve discovered, an explosive, curse-filled rant isn’t the most effective route to enlightenment (although it’s plenty cathartic). Usually, the dude just ends up getting defensive. For me, two strategies have brought the most success.

Option one: Play dumb. Now, your first reaction might be, “Isn’t that exactly what the mansplainer wants me to do?” But I’m talking so dumb that you cause utter confusion, until the mansplainer finally sees how ridiculous he’s being. For example, if a man were to tell me, a ski-gear editor, that the skis I’m on are known for being playful, I’d ask, “What does that mean?” And when he says something like “There’s a lot of rocker in them, so it’s easier to ski switch and jib around the mountain,” I’d respond with “What’s switch?” And so on. It’s super fun; you get to pretend you’re a two-year-old for a few minutes! But fear not: with practice, your reward will be an extremely docile lift partner with a better understanding of the value of unsolicited advice.

Option two: Call him out, Rebecca Solnit style. Before the term mansplaining was even born, the writer-activist’s famous 2014 essay, offered several examples of “Mr. Important” men narrating her area of expertise back to her (in one case even referencing a book he didn’t realize she’d written). “Dude, if you’re reading this, you’re a carbuncle on the face of humanity and an obstacle to civilization. Feel the shame,” she wrote about another man. Next time you’re getting mansplained to on the chairlift or at the crag, tell him he’s being a carbuncle, and let me know how it goes.

No matter which route you choose, the key is to address their arrogance posthaste. Because once you let a few patronizing micro-mansplains slide, that’s when the fury builds. And once the vitriol comes to a boil, that explosive, curse-filled rant is likely to follow. Although, if you truly can’t hold it in any longer, it might be exactly what the mansplainer needs, goddammit!

Have a question of your own? Send it to us at deargear@outsideinc.com.

The post What’s the Best Way to Deal with Gear Mansplaining? appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

We Don’t Need Another Spork

By Miyo McGinn, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř assistant editor

Lobster-claw gloves are the spork of cold-weather apparel: hybrid gear that accomplishes none of its tasks as capably as the standalone equivalent. A spork is a leaky spoon with tines too short to spear anything; the lobster claw is—take your pick—a chilly mitten or a glove with lousy dexterity. Where skiing is concerned, I want a full-finger design when I know I’ll be doing stuff (ripping skins, swapping layers), and mittens when warmth is paramount. What I don’t want is a mashup that nods at both without delivering on either.

I also see no need for a single glove or mitten to cover both scenarios, since I always tour with two pairs of gloves anyway—one for the uphill and one for the down, when the first is too sweaty to keep my hands warm. If I’m already carrying multiple pairs of gloves, it makes sense for each to suit its intended use.

I prefer lighter gloves while skinning (my go-tos are ). The energy I’m burning means I don’t require a lot of insulation to be comfortable, and they offer better dexterity when transitioning. At the top, I switch to hefty mittens—preferably something waterproof and generously insulated. Bulk isn’t an issue, since the only task my hands have on the way down is holding on to my poles.

If you want warm hands, wear mittens; if you need nimble fingers, go with gloves. Sporks are better in theory than in practice.

These Gloves Are the Perfect Combination of Dexterity and Warmth

By Jake Stern, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř digital editor

I’ve spent most of my career arguing against compromise when it comes to gear. If something’s labeled hybrid, almost always it’ll disappoint you twice. Take hybrid skis—neither light enough for going up nor stable enough on the way down. So I like my backcountry skis to weigh about two pounds, and if I had my way, my alpine skis would weigh fifty. Compromise is fine when you’re a student, when you have young kids, or in other instances when good enough will see you through. But it’s never better than the real deal.

It may come as a surprise then that I’m climbing up on my soapbox to tell you about my lord and savior come wintertime: the “Aren’t lobster claws a hybrid?” you ask. No, they’re a paragon of sensible design, warmth and dexterity made manifest in a tidy leather package. Whether you’re riding chairlifts, booting couloirs, or (God forbid) snowshoeing, you’ll inevitably need to reach into your pack or futz with a buckle or maybe even open a beverage. Lobster claws won’t hinder your motor skills, thanks to the free index finger, and will keep you warm while you wait for your partner to catch up.

Lobster claws are the preferred accessory of ski patrollers and mountain-warfare divisions. Why? Because they work better than five-finger gloves or full-blown mitts. My hands stay just as warm in a lobster claw as in a standard mitt, and I can just as easily buckle my boots or strap into my crampons as I can while wearing gloves. The claw’s trigger-finger design is unfazed by zippers or clips, and by keeping the majority of your fingers together, they trap more heat. What’s that? Your index finger is cold? If Tommy Caldwell doesn’t need one, neither do you.

The post Are Lobster-Claw Gloves the Hybrid Handwear We’ve All Been Waiting For? appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Like any beloved seasonal activity, holiday shopping kicks off with a big opening weekend: Black Friday, on November 24, followed by Small-Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. An avalanche of ads are headed your way, and with them the opportunity to score a great flight deal—for those who know how to navigate the ins and outs of the discounts.

And there’s another day to keep on your radar for flight deals, too: entered the lineup six years ago. Backed by the travel industry, November 28 is also expected to woo consumers with discounts on flights, hotels, and vacation packages.

Although it now has a formal name, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving has for years “consistently offered the highest volume of deals in the post-holiday sales week,” says Lindsay Schwimer, senior communications manager of , the accredited travel agency whose app is famous for predicting when airfares will drop. Hopper collects between 25 and 30 billion flight and hotel price quotes every day and has built a huge historical archive of trillions of prices from over the past ten years that analyze such data, she says.

This year, I’m going to follow rock-bottom prices somewhere—anywhere—fabulous. My husband and I have yet to take our COVID-delayed honeymoon, and three years on, I’m happy to let the pricing algorithm decide.

To guarantee that you get the best deal, start your research now and leverage these crucial tips from travel experts below.

Step 1: Be on the Lookout for Flight Deals Now

Get ahead of the game by looking out for discounts now. American Airlines has already launched domestic , while . And Costco members can capitalize on a that can be redeemed for $500 worth of flights.

Travelers who prefer to fly with a particular carrier should sign up for that airline’s newsletter. Some carriers will give subscribers early access to their holiday offers, improving your chances of snapping up cheap seats.

Step 2: Know What Fares Have Been Going for Before You Buy

Pre-sales preparation will optimize your search, especially if you have a specific destination in mind. All of the travel experts I spoke with recommend setting up flight alerts ahead of time. This will give you context about the going rates.

If you’re only now realizing you should have started investigating fares last month, don’t worry. You can still get a good sense of the going rate for your dream routes if you check your data with , says Clint Henderson, managing editor of , a well-regarded website that has long focused on travel deals. Its price-history tool displays a range of rates for your flight—including high and low prices—and as well as what it calls the “best departing flight,” based on cost and convenience. The site can also show you what it would cost to book the same length trip on different days.

Step 3: Be Flexible About Your Travel Dates

“The more open and flexible you are, the bigger winner you are in these Cyber, Black Friday, Travel Deal Tuesday games,” says Gabe Saglie, ​a senior communications manager for , a site that publicizes travel deals and alerts its members about unbeatable rates for specific trips.

Airlines are unlikely to discount the most convenient flight times or the most popular routes—those tickets tend to sell without the holiday razzle-dazzle. Instead, the best deals will usually be for the off-season or an atypical weekday departure. Keep this in mind to maximize savings.

Flexibility also extends to which airline you choose to fly with. Loyalty to a specific carrier limits the number of deals you have to choose from (although frequent-flier members can usually access additional sales—more on that in a minute). Surveying the full field will increase the likelihood of finding that rock-bottom fare.

Even if you’re committed to a particular airline, you can still benefit from taking a flexible approach. A flight that leaves at 5:30 A.M. in February is likely to be discounted more heavily than an otherwise identical flight that leaves at noon during peak spring-break season, for example, letting you score savings even within a single airline’s service.

Step 4: Search for Rewards-Specific Deals

While airline loyalists have fewer sales to pick from, there are still perks to this approach. In addition to discounting the cash price of a ticket, many airlines offer their members mileage discounts this time of year—a great way for points-obsessed travelers to squeeze the juice out of every last mile.

“Delta sometimes will have discounted mileage awards to Europe for as low as 22,000 Delta SkyMiles. Those are the kinds of deals I would look for on Black Friday,” says The Points Guy’s Henderson.

Step 5: Wake Up Early the Day You Plan to Look for Deals

Set an alarm to make the most of all that preseason conditioning.

“Make sure you’re acting as early as possible,” advises Henderson. Airlines frequently announce deals in the morning, and they are often only for a limited time or set number of seats. “It’s all about acting fast on those days.

The day of, check any newsletters you’ve subscribed to, surf airlines’ websites, and watch airlines’ social media accounts for live deal announcements. According to Hopper, quite a few airlines have already committed to offering Travel Deal Tuesday prices, including Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, Explore Azores Islands, Fiji Airways, French Bee, Porter Airlines, SATA/Azores Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.

And anyone interested in visiting a national park and hoping to fly into a gateway city should check out United Airlines’ , which are expected to reflect any relevant deals over the holiday weekend.

To see deals from multiple airlines, watch the emails and posts from round-up services like The Points Guy, whose staff will be working to share the best deals its team can find. The travel section of its site lists flash sales, deals on both major and low-cost carriers, and limited offers, so it pays to check back regularly.

Step 6: Do All the Math Before You Book

Let’s assume you do it all right: You research fares before Black Friday, get up before sunrise to scan various sites, and find a good price for just the place you want to go during a time you can travel. Great! But don’t hit Purchase quite yet.

Look into the ticket’s fine print. The last thing you want is a surprise fee that turns your cheap getaway into an average-price (or costly) trip. A $29 ticket on a budget ticket may not include baggage fees, for example, especially if you’re bringing sport gear.

“This is part of being prepared,” says Travelzoo’s Saglie. If “I’m looking for a deal to destinations for a big family ski trip, and I want to bring my equipment along, then I want to know what specific airlines might charge, as it does vary.”

The same goes for surfboards. “Some airlines won’t charge you for a surfboard, because they consider it checked luggage, whereas other airlines will charge $100, $150, or $200,” Saglie says.

Step 7: Keep Monitoring Airfare Prices

If you book on Cyber Monday and then find a better price on Travel Deal Tuesday, don’t let buyer’s remorse overwhelm you. You can keep shopping for a better deal—within limits.

If you book directly with an airline and that price drops within 24 hours of when you booked it, you can cancel and your credit card will be fully reimbursed, says Katy Nastro, a spokesperson for  (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). Not just a trip credit, she emphasized: “You get a full refund.”

Some airlines offer similar deals for mileage shoppers. “The beauty of buying airfare with miles is that if you’ve already got a ticket in hand, you can cancel it without any penalty. They will put those miles back into your account,” says Saglie. “If I’m looking at that same flight, that’s now 30 percent fewer miles required [than yesterday], I can go back in, cancel, and rebook just because I’m saving myself 20,000 miles a ticket.”

first experienced the magic of cheap flights when she scored a round-trip ticket from Chicago to Vietnam for under $600. She’s stretched every travel dollar since while working as freelance journalist and digital editor of Scuba Diving magazine.

The post 7 Steps to Find the Best Black Friday Flight Deals appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

In February 2010, I was pedaling a touring bicycle somewhere near Hatch, New Mexico, in a tenacious crosswind, when I realized the flag on my B.O.B. trailer had disappeared. It had been there in the morning when we left, and now it wasn’t. It could have blown off at any point in the past four or five hours, and I had no idea where. I didn’t like the feeling of creating trash, but there was no way we were going back for it.

I’m pretty careful in the outdoors, making sure to never leave bags of dog poop, wrappers from gels or energy blocks, or even coffee grounds. But sometimes, you just lose some stuff.

A pair of sunglasses slipped off my head into Lake Powell in 2015. I set a watch down on a rock while mountain biking in Buffalo Creek in Colorado in like 2008 and somehow just got up and rode off without it. I definitely failed to remove at least a couple pieces of rock climbing protection placed by my partners between 2008 and 2016, and I once accidentally dropped a camera about 300 feet off a rock climb and never found it.

I had a hunch that a few other people might have similar experiences, so I put out a request on Instagram last week asking if anyone wanted to share their stories. And wow, did I underestimate the response. I got well over 1,000 messages from people, most of whom have accidentally lost sunglasses, phones, camera lenses, whole cameras, hats, wedding rings, multi-tools, pocket knives, spoons, sporks, and other small items.

But the best stories, I thought, were the ones where the lost item came back to the person, through their own persistence, luck, or a Good Samaritan. So I collected those, and am sharing them here, with their permission (and sometimes even with their full name). I hope they give you a chuckle, and/or some faith in humanity, or the universe.

My wedding ring slipped off my finger playing inner-tube pond football. The pond was just deep enough that I couldn’t swim to the bottom, so I had to leave it behind. I’ve always been sentimental so that was a tough decision. A couple months later, I realized there was a scuba rental shop 30 minutes away, so we chose a weekend, drove 4 1/2 hours back to the pond, and I suited up and dove in with a cheap underwater metal detector from Amazon, full of confidence. Immediately my confidence evaporated as the visibility was so poor I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, and the water was cold enough to turn my lips blue. But I persevered. After 1 1/2 hours with about 10 minutes of air left in the tank, my metal detector vibrated and lo and behold, my flashlight revealed a sparkle of gold in my palm. Not my most glamorous adventure, but one of my proudest. I also realized I am most definitely not an expert scuba diver. —Steven Vogel

In 2014 I did my first 14er, Bear Creek Spire in the Eastern Sierra. My boyfriend at the time (now husband) told me I would need to train for it, but being the stubborn person I am, I didn’t train. The climbing isn’t challenging but the terrain made it very challenging for an off-the-couch climb. We made it to the summit and I hadn’t drank anything or eaten anything. I was very dehydrated and hungry. I rappelled down first and found a banana fruit leather at the base. Like it was just waiting for me. I inspected it and it was unopened. As my boyfriend was rapping he saw me opening it and yelled “DO NOT EAT THAT!” But I had already eaten it like a too-fast toddler.

The winter of 2015, I was working on Mammoth Mountain ski patrol and a fellow patroller by the name of Ben Traxler was telling everyone a story about how he had led a group of climbers up Bear Creek Spire and was so bummed when he got back to the car because he had lost his banana fruit leather and he was always so careful about not dropping things. I let him know that I found his fruit leather and ate it. I had wonderfully underprepared for that adventure and he basically saved me from myself by dropping that fruit leather. We cross referenced the dates that he guided the trip and I verified the brand of fruit leather. To this day it’s one of my weirdest and coolest backcountry finds. —Trinity Wickenhauser

I hiked with girlfriends and we had a naked photo shoot at a glacial lake. That evening after returning home I realized I didn’t have my DSLR camera. The next day I repeated the 15-mile hike (this time as a run) to retrieve it but it was nowhere to be found. A few days later I thought to call the police and sure enough it had been turned in. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had scrolled through photos trying to identify the owner but instead just got an extensive photo shoot of four naked American twenty-somethings standing on glacial icebergs. —Rebecca Sharar

My younger brother and I were hiking Mt. Timpanogos in Utah (11,700-foot summit). This was the late ’90s so our mom insisted we take her fancy giant cell phone in case something happened. We summited uneventfully and when we stopped for a break on the way down at a shelter that sits on a glacial lake we realized we lost her phone somewhere along the way. Horrified, we finished the hike and reluctantly told her that the phone was gone. Two weeks later she gets a call from the sheriff’s office that they have her phone. Turns out the day we were hiking someone injured themselves badly glissading down a snow field off the summit. The injured person’s friends found a cell phone and used it to call search and rescue to help evacuate their injured friend. Our mom got her phone back and someone was able to be rescued after suffering a bad injury! —Seth Gunderson

I hike with a group of friends and we have a retired military member named Jim, who is very old-school, and he uses a GPS with a stylus. He loves the stylus, and he lost it on the hike of the black forest trail in the Pennsylvania Wilds two or three years ago. We were section hiking the trail and returned the following week to do the next section, and met some hikers who were camping for the night. Sitting at the campsite was the stylus. They had found it on the trail. He still has the stylus. â€Äâľ±ł¦łó±đ±ô±đ

I lost the zip off part of my pants once. Well, just one of them. So the next day I hiked in half-short, half-pant things. Someone had found the other leg and carried it until they saw me and handed it over. Not sure what was more embarrassing, that I owned zip-off pants or how I looked with only one leg. I lost them at Vogelsang up in Tuolumne Meadows. They were graciously returned on the hike to Merced Lake. —Bryce Funk

I used the bed of my truck to prop up my (very nice) camera to snap some photos moments after getting engaged in the Uinta Mountains. In my post-engagement bliss, we drove off with it still on the bed of my truck. Arrived home 40 minutes later and the camera was nowhere to be found. Drive back, search in the dark, no luck. Drive back the next morning, search again, found it 20 feet from where I had last seen it, set in the perfect “won’t see it unless you’re searching for a lost camera” spot by some Good Samaritan. ‼·±đ±ą´Ç˛Ô

A friend lost his Light My Fire striker on one of our trips. We couldn’t remember when or where it was lost. The first night into a repeat traverse of the Bailey Range, we set about making camp. He went to get water and I began setting up the stove to boil water. On the ground right next to me was his striker. Same spot we left it two years prior. Now we have two strikers. —Justin McGregor

In 2001 I left my GoLite “Ray Way” pants somewhere along the PCT. In Bishop, an eccentric woman on rollerblades (tight painful ones, apparently) chatted me up and learned about my loss. She owned the local secondhand store and had recently gifted a friend the perfect pair of replacement pants. She drove me to her friend’s home, asked for the pants back and gave them to me free of charge. It made me feel very uncomfortable, but it was kind and thoughtful. A week later another hiker caught up to me and returned my old pants. Then I lost my hat. —I±ą˛ą˛Ô

A few of us were climbing Cat in the Hat at Red Rocks. My buddy has our camera in his pocket, lanyard girth hitched around his gear loop. At this point, we’re waiting at the p5 anchors.  Another party pulls their ropes and the knot snags on the lanyard, breaking the lanyard and pulling the camera out of his pocket. We see the camera fall hundreds of feet. It’s gone though. No way we can possibly find it. We’re devastated because this camera has all our pictures from the last two weeks of this road trip.

About a year later, a friend gets a Facebook message saying they found an SD card. Apparently they recognized the ASU outing club sticker on a helmet, and messaged people there who recognized someone climbing with us. Eventually they sent us the SD card and a cute little map showing where they found it. Apparently it was about 5 canyons over from where we were, on Tunnel Vision. No idea how they found it. —Brian Fane

I left a camera next to a cave in Washington state. I drove away and only realized it was left behind the next day. I was 500 miles away and it was raining at the cave and so I figured it was toast. A month later, I received a call from the local police. They had found my camera. I had no identifying information on the camera nor a picture of anything useful that would identify me. But, it must have been a slow day at the office, and their considerable detective prowess was put to work. They found a picture of a puppy on my camera. It was a friend’s puppy, living hours away from the cave. The name tag was visible, as was the phone number. The detective called the puppy’s owner, described what my other pictures looked like, and she identified me as the likely owner of the camera! —Chelsea Heveran

I left my retainer in Rocktown  (Georgia) while eating lunch at Hueco Simulator. Three years later, I came back to that same spot and found it again, buried in a pile of leaves. â€Äâ´Ç±ô±ô˛â

My wife and I both used to be Traveling Trainers for Leave No Trace—which maybe makes this worse? Or just means that none of us are perfect when it comes to LNT. We were hiking a peak outside Seattle and had just gotten back to the car when we realized we left our entire snack bag on the ridge. It was getting dark so we said we would come back next weekend to get it. But then it snowed, and kept snowing, and kept snowing, so we never had a chance that season to go back for it.

Next summer, once everything melted out, we went back to see if we could find the snack bag. After a few minutes of searching around we actually found it! Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, wildlife had gotten to most of it. But! The only thing completely unscathed was a mint chocolate Clif protein bar, which is apparently gross even to winter starved chipmunks. —A˛ą°ů´Ç˛Ô

I lost my favorite hat about 100 miles into my thru hike of the Colorado Trail. Someone I met picked it up, tried to find me but couldn’t, so gave it to another hiker to carry through the trail and back to Denver. My hat completed a thru hike without me and now it’s my prized possession! —K˛ął¦˛â

My brother set his pocket knife down on a rock by a remote lake in the Wind River Range and forgot it. Years later, he sat down on that same rock and found his knife again. —Emily Sim

My dad and I went on an epic fishing trip in 2013 while he was driving me to Colorado for college. We spent seven days fly fishing throughout New Mexico and Colorado and on one particular day, he hooked into a huge rainbow and fought it for 15 minutes and it snapped off right at the net. We were super bummed to leave the flies in its mouth. The next day I hooked into a massive rainbow and lo and behold as we netted it we realized it had his flies in its mouth from the day before. It was great to free the flies from the fish’s mouth! —London Krapff

My wife and I and our two kids borrowed my in-laws trimaran once and sailed to the island Cao Costa, a state park  in Florida, which is about a 20-mile sail. It was pretty windy sailing there and we were barely in control. On the way there, my favorite hat blew off and was lost in the water. It was a loss but wasn’t worth trying to turn the boat around and look for it. We stayed at the island a few days, and had really bad weather the last day. On the way home, the wind died at one point and we were sitting still in the water. My daughter, who was five at the time, turned to me and said, “Dad there’s your hat.” Sure enough there was my hat floating right next to the boat. Picked it up out of the water and a few minutes later the wind picked back up and we sailed away. It was kinda weird, through all the tough weather we went through on the trip that everything stopped for that one moment for me to get my hat back from the ocean where it had been lost days before. —Brian G. Nicholson

One fall day my friends and I were in the Desolation Wilderness in California. We hiked out as the first snow of the season started. When we got home to San Francisco I realized I left my camera behind. So, we took off work on Monday and went back. It had been dumping all night. But we dogged with little avy shovels in the parking lot. Nothing. I figured we tried, and that was that. Fast-forward to the next spring and my friend is back there and there’s a handmade sign that says, “Do you know these guys? We have their camera.” It was a picture from the day we hiked out. We met up and I got the camera back. It was a fun one. Camera was a Canon G10. Workhorse. —Jonny Burhop

My friend Jeremy had an Apple watch that fell off in Queen’s Bath on the north shore of Kauai. It was probably 40 feet under. We could see it and Find My iPhone was still working, but it was too deep and the ocean was too rough to get it. A few weeks later, he got a call from a local who found it. They scuba in tourist areas and look for stuff. They return things they can identify, list the rest on various sites for owners to find, and eventually they sell or keep stuff that can’t be returned. They mailed it back to him and it still worked. After at least a month underwater. —Eric Russell

Fall 2000, Backcountry of Fort Campbell, Kentucky: We were on an exercise for like three weeks. My driver and I were pretty independent due to the nature of my job. Had my Humvee decked out as a relatively comfortable living space. Well one morning I was getting out and noticed that my wedding ring was gone. Just gone. Looked inside, in my gear, nothing. Oh well. We left and went to a different location for the day but came back to our cozy little spot with a view that evening. My driver got out of the truck, bent over and picked up my ring off the fall leaves scattered around. It was a miracle. Until a few weeks later and it seems my asshole cat brushed it off of the desk into a trash can. Never found it. —Mike Curtis

My husband lost one of his go-to pieces of gear, a North Face fleece, on a local trail during a ride. Unbeknownst to us, our friend JT picked it up and it became one of his go-to pieces of gear. No one knew till I snapped a selfie with JT at a winter race and my husband recognized the tell-tale orange zipper. In any case, this fleece has some serious mileage on it. —Katie Benzel

Back in the 2000s I was a fly fishing guide working in Idaho and Montana in the summer and fall and in Arizona in the winter and spring. In Arizona I was working out of Lees Ferry on the Colorado. Every morning before my trip I’d get up early and take my dogs out on a 2.5 to 3-mile hike out to the edge of the Grand Canyon. In 2008, I had just gotten a brand-new pocket knife before heading to AZ for the winter. On my very first hike of the year, I lost said pocket knife. I looked everywhere for it with no luck. Over the next two years I went on that same hike probably 80 times and never found the knife. Fast-forward to 2010 and I’m on one of the last hikes of the season. As I was getting back to my truck I happened to look down and see the partially covered knife sitting in the dirt not 6 inches from my truck tire. I have no idea how many times I’d done that hike (or how many others had as well) in the two years since I lost the knife but I always thought the odds of finding it like that were extraordinarily low. I still have that pocket knife and still carry it today. —A˛Ô´Ç˛Ô˛âłľ´ÇłÜ˛ő

My dad lost a small Tupperware of salt and spices in the Jasper National Park backcountry in the late ’80s or early ’90s. Unfortunately, my mum is one of those people who always knows where their Tupperwares are, who they’ve been loaned out to, and makes sure to get them back. Growing up, there was only one small Tupperware of the set in the house because “your dad lost the other one.” In 2011-ish, my dad and I went on a backcountry trip through Jasper for a month, doing remote fisheries work (we’re both fisheries biologists). Two weeks in, we go into the cupboards of the backcountry warden cabin where we were staying and THERE IS MUM’S TUPPERWARE. It had been there for 20+ years (spices had gone stale), but it was in good shape and we brought it home. Mum was pleased to see the Tupperware (and hopefully us after a month in the backcountry) but mostly scolded Dad for having misplaced it for 20-odd years. —Sierra Sullivan

I once found a guy’s driver’s license within the first couple miles of a 20-mile backpacking trip in New Hampshire and sometime towards the end of the day we were climbing up a steep trail and I looked up and two guys were hiking down and I recognized one of them from the license picture! I was winded so I was just like, “Frank!” He was so confused until I could explain further. —Erin Donovan

I accidentally lost my car key while trail running. Getting back to the trailhead parking lot, some Good Samaritans drove me AND my pup back home (one hour back to the city). When my friend drove me back to the trailhead with my spare key, I find a note on my car from someone who found my car key on the trail. They put it on top of my passenger side back wheel. This person realized the key matched my car and could have even driven away with it but they were kind enough to keep it discreetly hidden for me to find again. Two sets of Good Samaritans on the same day and my friend who graciously drove me to the trail. I’m very grateful. —Vivian Tang

I found a worn baseball cap with a patch of a trout sewn on the front in Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite NP) near the south end of Matthes Crest in 1979. I wore that hat a LOT because I love found objects. I lost it two summers later—it flew off my head while sitting in the bed of a pickup truck on Hwy 395. Two years LATER, I’m in Mammoth. I see a guy wearing it in a grocery store, explain to him how I lost it, and he simply hands it to me.

PS: I lost it again the next year but I’m still on the lookout. If anyone who reads this has my trout hat—no questions asked. —Even Handy

I was tubing on the Poudre River in Fort Collins in 2014. Shooting with a waterproof point and shoot camera, I flipped off the tube and slammed into a fallen tree in the river. In my attempts to get free, the camera departed my hands and was lost in the river currents, I assumed forever.

In summer 2022, I received two Facebook messages from people who saw an ad on Facebook marketplace by a person who, while hanging with their kids by the Poudre River, found a camera! The FB ad had pictures they recovered from the memory card and one of them was a goofy selfie of me! So my friends pointed me to the ad, I reach out to the family (who lives in Utah) and they emailed me the memory card. All photos intact. In eight years, the camera migrated five miles down a river, and was found by some kids. —Colin Gould

I was climbing the First Flatiron with my buddy and we were simul-climbing as far as we could. I was running out of gear, so I placed one of my approach shoes and slung it as protection. My buddy got to it, cleaned it, and then we later discovered he accidentally left it and didn’t clip it to his harness. So I did the descent in one approach shoe and one TC Pro. Months later he was out simuling in the flatirons and he ran into someone who had seen the shoe! She said she could show him where it was. Believe it or not, we were reunited months after losing it. —Scott Guinn

When I worked wilderness therapy, my pee rag fell off my backpack. I texted a friend who was operating in the same area that week, asking if she had seen it. Turns out, she was guiding a boys’ group who had found it and were flying it like a flag. She sent me a photo of the flag—then, she told the boys what it was.—Louise Halaburt

Not proud of this, but I once left my waders on an environmental study trip in high school. We were specifically told not to wear waders to the marsh, and to wear wading boots instead. I wore waders and got stuck trying to jump from one bank to the next. I had to be cut out of the waders. Leaving me only in my boxers (another mistake) for the three-mile walk home with my high school classmates. We tried to pull what remained of my waders out of the marsh so as to not litter and effectively create an environmental issue out of an environmental studies trip—but the pieces kept ripping off, as they were cheap rubber waders, but we were able to get most of them out of the mud. We were supposed to be studying the crab population, but spent the entire time dealing with me and my waders. Not my proudest moment. My wife now teaches at this school and almost 20 years later, she says it is used as an example every year. —Sebastian

I once left my glasses resting on a balsam fir branch as I changed into dry gear near the summit of Camel’s Hump. I then popped on my sunglasses and forgot my glasses on the fir branch. Life got busy and I wasn’t able to return in a timely manner. Figured it was a loss. Winter came. Winter went. I returned seven months later to find my glasses waiting patiently for my return on the same fir branch I’d first set them on. —Quinn Keating

In my earliest days recreating in and appreciating wilderness areas, I set my camouflage day pack down on the ground and walked up the ridge to a lookout vista. Came back to retrieve my pack and couldn’t find it, as it did what camouflage is made to do. Spent 35 or 40 minutes searching as it had my phone, wallet, keys, other necessities. Finally found it in an embarrassingly small area between a ridgeline and lake. —J±đ´Ú´Ú

In winter 2012, I lost a GoPro while snowshoeing up in Nome, Alaska. Went back up in near darkness to look for it but couldn’t find it in the snow, so I cut my losses and eventually got a new one. The following summer, I was back in Nome for work, and saw a message on the local listserv about a GoPro that a family found on the tundra while they were out berry picking. I got in touch with them, and they brought it over so we could see if the SD card still worked. Sure enough, it was my old GoPro with all my winter footage on it. Since I had already upgraded, I gave the GoPro to their kid (who was STOKED!). It turned out his mom was a local artist, and a few days later she brought me a gorgeous painting she made of the spot where they found the GoPro. —A˛Ô»ĺ°ů±đ˛ą

The post Wild Stories from the Backcountry Traveler’s Lost and Found appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

UCO ECO 4-piece Mess Kit ($20)

You don’t have to spend a fortune to give a gift that says “I know you” this season. This fully recycled mess kit is reusable and all-in-one, so your environmentally-conscious friends and family don’t have to think about waste on the trail. Plus, it’s waterproof when it seals shut, so they can save their leftovers for later and don’t have to worry about them getting soggy.

Read the Full Review.

GSI Outdoors 2-Can Cooler Stack ($30)

This luxury item is for the person who daydreams about cracking open an ice-cold can of beer or wine midway through a hike deep into the backcountry. A tester took this can on an overnight trip, and two 12-ounce cans of sparkling rosé stayed cool after 12 hours. “A little unnecessary, but definitely fun,” they said. “Laugh if you will, but you’ll be eating your words after you crack open a can of chilled rosé at camp.”

Read the Full Review.

Miir Stainless Steel Cold Brew Filter ($15)

If you have a coffee-addicted loved one in your life (who doesn’t?), this filter is guaranteed to put a huge smile on their face. We found it’s one of the easiest ways to have cold brew in the backcountry—all you have to do is pour grounds into the filter, fill the bottle with water, and let it steep overnight. They’ll be more than stoked to have a fresh cup ready for them in the morning before they even lift a finger.

Read the Full Review.

Stowaway Gourmet ($13-20)

We awarded Stowaway Gourmet with our coveted Editor’s Choice award this past summer—the first time we’ve ever given one to an entire food brand. It’s a tiny Oregon-based brand, but its offerings never cease to amaze us. Though a dehydrated meal might seem like an odd gift, it definitely won’t seem strange to your loved when when they’re cracking open a delicious packet of Sage-flecked scrambled egg curds on a hungry backcountry morning.

Read the Full Review.

Waatr HydroCap ($99)

The Waatr HydroCap is an ideal UV water filter for your favorite traveler who also loves to day hike. It’s compatible with a wide range of 2.28-inch wide-mouthed bottles that they probably already own (including bottles from Hydro Flask, Klean Kanteen, and ThermoFlask). An international traveler will especially appreciate the safeguard against viruses.

Read the Full Review.

Klean Kanteen Rise Tumbler ($30)

It feels good to give a gift that’s easy on the planet, and this insulated tumbler from Klean Kanteen is definitely that. It’s made with 90 percent post-consumer recycled stainless steel, and we found that it held up very well to drops during testing. Plus, it fits in cup holders and the lid is easy to open, even while driving.

Read the Full Review.

Messermeister Overland Chef’s Knife ($250)

Is your camping-obsessed friend also a whizz in the kitchen? If so, they’ll appreciate how sharp and durable this eight-inch knife is with its tough, Nitro-B steel and grippy micarta canvas handle. There’s no need to compromise in your backcountry kitchen.

Read the Full Review.

Magma Crossover Single Burner Firebox ($399)

Compatible with three cooking attachments (a pizza oven, grill, and plancha) and an insane amount of mounting options, the Magma Crossover Single Burner Firebox is for the wilderness chef who isn’t messing around. “The best thing about it is how endless your culinary options are,” said one tester who actually cooked chicken wings with it for his group of friends in the Colorado backcountry.

Read the Full Review.

The post Nine Culinary Gifts for Your Camping-Obsessed Loved Ones appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.