Ever hear climbers talk about “insecure climbing” and the fear that brings to them? Well imagine feeling insecure at every step up a rock face. This is what a scramble, which should be a fun romp, can feel like in the wrong footwear. Scrambles are examples of where approach shoes can really make a difference in our enjoyment of the outdoors. Here’s how their specific features combine to make such a big difference.

When it comes to camping in the deep cold, staying warm is the ultimate goal. But did you know that organizing your gear in your tent can make a huge difference? Here are some tips on gear organization to maximize heat retention.

Just like understanding the tradeoffs between single- and double-walled tents, it is equally important to understand the basic differences in single- and double-boots when we head up for an alpine climb or mountaineering attempt. While the differences between specific boots will be varied, there are some general differences between boots with and without removable liners that I keep in mind when selecting a boot for a climbing adventure. Here is what I consider when deciding what to put on my feet.

For over a decade, I've been using the same split finger gloves (or split finger mittens) as a compromise between the warmth of a mitten and the dexterity of a glove. They aren't right for every trip but I can use them in a surprising amount of situations. Here's a video on some of the pros and cons and how I choose when to use them.

Our twin boys run, climb, scramble, hike, backpack, swim... you name it. We try to find items that can be used - and used well - across many different disciplines. We've been using the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Jr shoes for life on the trail as well as scrambling on the rocks. How well have they performed as trail runners, hikers, and approach shoes? Take a look at the full review.

I had been on an approach hike into a climb when one of my toes started hurting. I hadn't knocked my toe against anything. I hadn't been heading downhill and impacted my toe against the front of my boot. What could have been causing it? Surprisingly, it was my socks. Here's how, and what I now do to prevent it.

As my twin boys' rock climbing advanced, they were ready to make the jump from an entry-level shoe to a more performance-based shoe. Here's what we've learned about the Scarp Drago Kids' climbing shoes after a few seasons of use.

Climbing big mountains in anything more than a day, may demand that you cold-weather camp as well as you climb. It's the key to your recovery at the end of each day. My twin eight-year-old wanted to try winter camping in truly cold weather. It got down to -6 F (-21C). Here's what I was thinking about and focused on teaching them during these 48 hours out.

For the past two winters, I have been experimenting with battery-heated gloves as I've gone out camping, hiking, and climbing. Like all niche gear, they are good at some things and not so good at others. Here is a full review of the Lenz Heat Glove 6.0 Finger Cap.

When we go climbing, camping, or hiking in the backcountry during the winter, we tend to stay out longer and experience more extreme conditions. As advances in technology have improved battery-heated gloves, are they now able to perform well enough and long enough to make them worth having in your gear closet?

Ice climbing usually demands a lot of different gloves. Different portions of ice climbing need more dexterity and therefore less insulation. Some portions are the opposite. Some portions expose your hands to a lot of water. Here's how the approach ice climbers use to pick gloves to bring can help us think through how different gloves, in combination, can help us ensure our kids have warm hands on their climbing, hiking, and camping adventures in winter.

Ice climbing. Snow couloir climbing. Even mixed climbing. My kids want to do it all, but off-the-shelf crampons can't fit on their small feet. Here's how I took advantage of the new trend in modular crampon manufacturing to make some crampons that I'd be willing to wear but fit on my kids and work with their limited boot options.

Inov8 is a company with a tradition in fell running: moving over the wet mountains of the LaKe District in the UK. I've been wearing the Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes for several years, and have put them to the test on fastmoving hiking trips, fully laden backpacking trips, and even alpine climbs that demand rock scrambling. Here's my review of this versatile shoe.

La Sportiva created three versions of the Aequilibrium boot to help alpinists lose the weight of needing multiple shoes for trips that contained dry approaches with backpacking, snow filled mountaineering, and technical climbing. Can the boot accommodate all of those disparate needs? We provide a full review.

When the manufacturer of our favorite kids' sun hoody stopped making them, we needed to find a new option. Eventually, we lucked into the hoody made by PIQIDIG, and we are happy it happened. Here, we review the PIQIDIG Kids' Sun Hoody, after a year of use, so you can learn if it's a good option for your little ones.

Hiking, climbing, and backpacking conditions can risk you ankles or your feet. From gravel kicking up into your shoes to shards of loose rock, the consequences can very from annoying to damaging. One set of conditions that can start as annoying but become dangerous is spring snow. There is often too little to require snowshoes, but enough that sticking a leg into a collapsing hole of snow is likely. That snow getting into your shoes can cause cold feet. Cold feet untreated can become frostbite. Ankle gaiters can solve this problem by keeping snow out of our boots and shoes, but there aren't really any great options for kids. Here's how I converted an adult ankle gaiter into a kid-sized one.

Winter hiking, backpacking, camping, and alpine climbing can create challenging conditions for keeping your hands and feet warm. And for your feet, then you need to add in the need to also not get blisters. I've used the Lorpen T3+ Inferno Expedition and the T3+ Trekking Expedition socks for several winter seasons, now, and I offer my long term review of what is the best winter sock I have ever put on.

I enjoy camping, hiking, backpacking, and alpine climbing, and I enjoy doing all of these things in all seasons. It is always a challenge to find clothing layers that can handle the different activities and conditions I face. This is a review of the Outdoor Vitals Ventus Active Hoodie. Can it handle all of the variables I throw at it?

Sitting in the snow and adjusting your crampons to your boots is hard to do with winter gloves and is a good way to make yourself cold. That's why I pre-fit my crampons to my boots before I ever leave the house for every ice climbing, alpine climbing, or mountaineering trip. This opens up all of the options to move heel and toe bails and fine-tune the crampon fit to maximize the likelihood that the crampon will stay on as well as the performance of the crampon for my climb. Here's how I go about pre-fitting crampons for each of the three crampon types: full strap, step-in, and hybrid.

My twin seven-year-olds love mountaineering, climbing, hiking, and camping. But making sure we have all the right gear for winter trips comes with larger consequences for getting it wrong. Here is a load out video of what we take for a winter day-trip in snowy, cold conditions.