When I'm done with a winter trip, maybe a little wet and a little cold, I want to get out of the wet gear and into some dry things. That's where this very cheap piece of equipment comes in, making it easy to store my wet things. It's big enough and tough enough to handle climbing equipment, axes and crampons, snowshoes, and boots for the whole family.

Cold weather brings condensation inside your tent, and condensation brings frozen water to your sleeping bag. The more days you are out, the more of a problem this becomes. Airing your bag out in the sun can evaporate the moisture and keep your bag lofted and insulating well.

Having done a full video on attempting to avoid getting cold hands in the first place, what can you do if you end up with cold hands, regardless? Here are four ways to get your hands warm, and you can actually do all four together, if need be. My family and I use these techniques regularly on our hikes, climbs, and backpacking trips in the wilderness.

Too much snow can damage a tent be overweighting the tent poles. But getting snow off your tent can damage it, too, if you aren't careful. See why I put duct tape on my snow shovel so that I can better clear snow off my tent when winter camping.

As I teach my kids how to enjoy winter in the backcountry, I have to remind them that stepping out into the cold is supposed to feel cold. And it is a good tip for anyone new to winter adventures: When you are pursuing activities like summit hikes, long backpacking trips, and mountaineering routes, you are going to generate some heat. Your layers need to make sense for what you will feel when working hard, not when standing at the trailhead.

There are legitimate reasons to prefer not bringing a GPS device with you in the backcountry. Costs may be prohibitive. You may prefer map and compass. You may only take short trips out. But if you do anything that is multi-day, GPS devices make the most weight-efficient electronic option. It's more than just gross weight that should be considered, but weight per hour of use. Once you start getting other devices up to the same battery life by bringing battery banks with you, that supposed weight disadvantage starts to disappear.

Often times rock climbers wrap their runners and cords very tightly to keep them out of their way when racking them on their harness. But if you get into alpine climbing or mountaineering in the cold environments, that kind of thing can be difficult to tie and untie with gloves. Here's how I find the balance between racking in a glove friendly way but which could be too loose and a trip hazard versus racking very tightly but in a way that is difficult to manage while gloves are on.

Sleeping bags can be expensive, and we should take care of that investment. The simplest thing you can do to help keep your sleeping bag lofting and in excellent shape is to not store it in a compression sack when you aren't using it out in the field. Hanging in it our using its non-compression storage bag are better options, if you have the space.

If you are hiking, backpacking, or climbing in winter, those ultralight storm pants that weigh a few grams are missing one key feature: a full side zip up the outside of the legs. If you have big boots and sharp traction devices on those boots, a full zip becomes indispensable. That way you can avoid shredding those pants or else having to remove your spikes every time the storm shell comes on.

The cold makes it harder to bring in oxygen and have that oxygen circulate around your body. Whether you hike, climb, backpack, exercise, or just camp, this can put unnecessary strain on your heart and lungs. Scientists have found that a heat exchange mask can help avoid these issues. I've been using one on my mountaineering and climbing expeditions for years. It's helped me keep cold-induced asthma under control as well as helped my non-asthmatic friends perform at their best when we are in extreme conditions.

You are hiking, backpacking, or climbing in the cold and your multiday trip would be easier with the convenience of a canister stove - if only they didn't fail in cold weather! Well, they don't have to fail. Mountaineers have been using canister stoves in high, extremely cold places for years. And this simple, no-cost solution can be applied to anyone who wants to camp cook with canister fuel.

The key to keeping the snow out of your boots is already on your pants. You can use the grommets on the hem to cinch your pants down when facing deep powder or post-holing when out on a climb or hike in the winter. Here's how.

When the temperatures drop, losing an outer glove or mitt could lead to serious damage to your fingers and hand. Yet, sometimes you need to be able to take off that outer glove for improved dexterity or to better feel the terrain. If you gloves don't come with a factory installed leash, you can create a do-it-yourself option.

I love hiking, backpacking, climbing, and camping in the "shoulder seasons" of fall and spring. There are usually amazing colors and smaller (or no) crowds. But the variable conditions can make layering a challenge. It's cool one moment, warm the next. That's why I like to wear a neck gaiter when I'm out during those times. It's a simple piece of gear that is versatile enough to work in the ever-changing conditions that I will be facing.

Snow and ice climbing season is here! Time to get that gear ready and we need to make sure it stays in top shape all season. This quick tip shows you how to file your crampons to get quality edges and points. Plus, a quick reminder on how not to sharpen them.

For climbers, and particularly those who are alpine climbing or mountaineering, it has become much more common practice to "extend your rappel device" by leashing it to your harness and allowing it to extend up towards your head. In this video, we quickly cover some of the benefits of rappelling with an extended device, benefits which can add up to improve your safety margin while on rappel.

For alpine climbing in winter and snow conditions, you can improve the safety and efficiency of your team by "improving your steps." That is, making sure that each climber on your team is using the same steps in the boot track in order to consolidate the snow and improve the stability of each foot placement.

When hiking down hills or mountain sides, it's easy to slip and fall. And our natural reaction to those slips - to lean back and to shorten our steps - actually makes it even more likely that we slip more! Here's a body position and movement technique to make your footing more secure when moving downhill, whether mountaineering, climbing 14ers returning from a technical climb, going for a thru hike, backpacking, or trekking.

With cold weather it's easy to forget the need for sun protection, and it's even easier to forget the need to protect yourself from not just the sun overhead but also the UV reflections from the snow, that strike you from below. Just a reminder to protect yourself given this dynamic.

Store-bought ice axe leashes can be expensive. And their lack of fall-rated materials mean you can't safely use the leashes as part of an anchor set-up or as part of a rescue system, like for a crevasse fall. Here is a quick and easy alternative that costs you no more than the price of a triple-length runner and no more time than the time it takes to tie three knots.