Short clips
Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds
Make Overnight Camping Trips MORE Comfortable With This Pillow Setup
A video can introduce concepts and even provide tutorials, but it cannot cover all of the variable situations and context of outdoor environments. Learn about something here, but then seek qualified instruction to master it.
You Can STOP Having Cold Hands When Ice Climbing
One of the strong women in my climbing community, Jane, passed along this tip about using chemical hand warmers on our wrists to help avoid the cold hands that ice climbing can so easily cause.
Cost EFFECTIVE Pick Guards for Your Ice Axes and Ice Tools!
We have a lot of climbers in our family, and therefore a lot of ice axes and ice tools. We want to be able to keep our sharpened picks in good condition and also want to keep those picks from damaging other gear while in transit. So, we make our own pick guards. We find this solution to be more cost effective and provide better protection than the commercially available solutions.
High Altitude Climber's Gear to Protect Against EXTREME UV Exposure
When we get to higher altitudes, the thinner air means less diffusion of UV rays, and the bright snow below us means those UV rays bounce back at us from below. It is as if we are walking in a radiating dish. So, we need to be careful about sun protection and exposed skin. Here are a few pieces of equipment I use to help guard what my other clothing cannot: my face.
Managing Climbing Rope Slack for FAST Rappel Transitions
Speed is safety in the mountains. We want to maintain current security, but not at the price of future security. So, if we have opportunities to have our climbing team work and make progress simultaneously we will make that happen if the risks aren’t too high. Efficiently getting through a rappel transition is one example, and it can be the little things that make the difference - like giving slack to the following climber on rappel as soon as safely possible.
Tether or Rope? SECURING Ourselves to the Climbing Anchor
Climbers will sometimes use a tether, or a Personal Anchor System (PAS), to clip into an anchor and will sometimes use the rope. Let's briefly go through some pros and cons.
Racking My Climbing Lanyard
While a climbing lanyard is not my first choice for connecting to an anchor, there are times I use one. How I choose to rack the lanyard on my harness depends upon the type of lanyard I am using.
Anchor Knots Weaken Climbing Slings but We Can Mitigate That
@HowNOT2 makes outstanding gear testing videos and have opened a highly responsive and well stocked gear shop. You should check it out. One of their major video themes is testing soft goods when configured in anchor configurations. While knowing how a specific configuration will rate in strength is important, understanding why can help you make dynamic choices in the field.
The Banshee Belay Anchor for Vertically Staggered Hardware or Ice Screws
When we can anticipate the fixed hardware at the anchor stations of a climb, or if we have flexibility in placing good ice screws as we see fit, it is possible to pre-rig our anchor material and use it at the anchors as we move up the route. For vertically staggered anchors, the banshee belay is a good option. Here is how we can make and employ one.
Make Sure We Climbers Clip the Master Point When Using the Anchor Shelf
Using the shelf, that area of anchor leg strands above a master point knot, has benefits and tradeoffs. One of the risks we need to be aware of is that an unclipped master point can pull back through the knot if we do not clip something into that master point.
Clipping the Top Shelf of a Climbing Anchor is Done Differently for Different Anchor Types
Using the shelf, that area of anchor leg strands above a master point knot, has benefits and tradeoffs. But if we are going to use it, we want to make sure we are clipping it in the right way for the type of anchor we’ve made, or we could end up adding in risks that we could easily avoid.
These Rules of Thumb for Climbing Knot Tails Could Save Your Life!
More isn’t always better. When it comes to tail lengths for certain kinds of climbing knots, we know that too short of a tail can allow the knots to unravel. But too long of a tail can lead to problems, too. Here’s a brief overview.
Choose the Right Carabiner to Safely Belay with Your Petzl GriGri
The Petzl GriGri belay device is now seen almost everywhere climbing happens. But, like any piece of equipment, it has ways that it can be used more or less safely. One key to using the GriGri as safely as possible is to make sure we choose the right carabiner to use with it, as certain carabiners can create risks that can be easily avoided.
How and Why We Mark Our Climbing Gear
Over a climbing career, we will climb with multiple partners, and every time we go up, we are likely sharing gear and frequently changing hands with that gear. This is why we climbers mark our gears with a color combination of either tape or nail polish. Each method has its pros and cons.
Taking Care of Our Feet During a Winter Climb, Hike, or Camp
The idea of taking off our boots and dipping our feet in water during a winter climb, hike, or camp may feel unpleasant, but it might actually be more important that we take care of our feet in winter than any other time of year.
Why I Carry 3M Nexcare Skin Crack Care Glue in My Winter Climbing First Aid Kit
As a reminder, I do not have any product sponsors. If I talk about a product, it’s because I have spent my own money on it. Here’s a little item I now keep in my winter first aid kit because super glue in an open wound stings and this does not.
Protect Your Gear! Bundling Your Crampons for the Climbing Approach
Some of our winter climbs will have an approach hike in before we ever want to have our crampons on our feet. Here is a way to bundle our crampons together so that the spikes are less exposed and therefore less likely to damage our other gear.
Is the Water Bottle You Take Hiking, Backpacking, or Climbing Harming Your Health?
We are learning more about the potential health downsides stemming from the ubiquitous plastic water bottles that so many hikers, backpackers, and climbers use. New technology is allowing new, and more complete, measurements of how much plastic is degrading into the water we drink from them. The science is evolving and scientific studies are starting to triangulate around the potential health impacts. So, I’m watching this evolve and reconsidering my use of these normally standard pieces of adventure equipment.
For Big Days Climbing or Hiking, Why I Eat and Drink at Least Every Hour
If we only eat when we are hungry and drink when we are thirsty, we might not be taking in enough food or water to keep our energy up and to fend off dehydration. Here's why we try to eat and drink frequently and on a regular schedule.
A Better Clean for a Better Hike, Climb, or Backpack: Why I Like the CuloClean Bidet
I have no affiliation with the company, but I have been very happy with my purchase of the Culo Clean portable bidet. It’s a low cost, low weight item I have added to my adventures, and you can see the video to find out why. You can find the item, should you want it, here: https://sovrn.co/ph0rir7