A cottage brand out of Japan, Locus Gear, has made a free standing, ultralight, dome tent with four-season toughness by producing a fabric combination of Dyneema and eVent. It's called the Djedi. After using it for a year on camping trips, backpacking trips, and alpine climbing trips, in the full video, I provide a complete review.

Finding purified water is easy on winter and alpine climbs and hikes when you are boiling snow melt, but larger particles like pine nettles can still infest your water despite boiling. Your kitchen cabinets already hold an affordable solution.

A climbing partner from Denali (seven years ago) put together a trip for the Skillet Glacier route on Mount Moran (12,605') in Grand Teton National Park. In the full film, she and I embraced hiking the long approach, bushwhack off trail, and 6000 feet of elevation gain to get our fill of summer snow climbing on a direct and impressive line.

My family gets outdoors a lot for climbing, backpacking, and hiking and we use hydration pack systems when the weather is right. The convenience of having water accessible helps us drink more. But hydration packs are hard to keep from molding. That's where the Bōn Dry hydration pack dryer comes in to play. I've never had to replace any of my families' hydration systems since I started using it.

I use trekking poles to help reduce the impact on my surgically repaired knee from my hiking, backpacking, climbing, and camping... anything that requires a pack and an approach. But I now only use the style of trekking poles that fold up just like tent poles. For me, it's a safety issue. The full video describes the safety problem as well as discusses some of the trade-offs I must accept by using this style of pole.

Being outdoors with my kids for climbing, backpacking, and hiking is a blast, but getting them to do some of "the small things" on a consistent basis can be a challenge. Staying hydrated is one of those things. Having water always accessible with a water bladder system can help, but I need to make sure I have the right water bladder for their little bodies and little equipment.

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.

When we head outdoors for climbing, hiking, or backpacking, we always try to dress for conditions. But one part of our kit that maybe we haven't thought about is any rings we might usually have on. A metal ring can be a hazard when there are opportunities to either catch it on something or if the environment is cold. It's a lesson I've had to relate to many the adult climbing student.

Spring time in the Rocky Mountains means snow couloir season for climbers, and this year, we figured out how to get technical crampons to work on the boys' small feet. In the full film, the boys and I took a short camping trip that culminated in their first real alpine snow climb, including a few small snow fields before a 500 vertical foot gully. They learned the mental and physical persistence that direct snow lines can demand, and I was admittedly in awe at their incredible capabilities while being so young.

Many climbers, mountaineers, hikers, and backpackers wear a watch. Often times, it doubles as their GPS. But once we add the necessary gloves and jackets for cold days in the alpine, that watch can be in our way. Here's how it keep my watch from getting caught in my clothing while also keeping it available as I need it.

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. The full video shows how I converted an adult ankle gaiter into a kid-sized one

The double fisherman's knot is the standard for joining two ends of cord, most frequently to make a cordellete or prussik loop. But beyond climbing applications, there is a whole bunch of uses for this handy knot for camping a backpacking, as well. Here's how to tie one.

When we head into the outdoors, things don't always go to plan. We could be on a camping trip and forgotten a key piece of gear. We could be mountaineering and have weather move in. We could be climbing injure a finger. We could be backpacking, and twist a knee. Of course, things could even get more severe and serious. Part of what helps groups and teams deal with unpleasant eventualities in the backcountry is making sure that all participants have a voice in decision making. That doesn't mean all participants have to agree, but they do have a voice. The full video is about shared decision making: what it is and how it can help when things go wrong.

On some routes, I know I am going to need to be able to access a radio or a GPS device or satellite communicator more frequently. Maybe winds or terrain will make it hard to talk with my climbing partner. Maybe it's a new area and I'm unfamiliar with the landscape. Maybe it's a big expedition, and I need to be able to stay in regular contact with a team that is spread out all over the mountain. If I need to keep the device available, I want it out of the way, high on my shoulder, when not in use; but I also need to be sure it's secure and still attached when I am using it. Here is how I rig a device to my backpack when facing these types of situations.

Outdoor adventures like climbing, mountaineering, and backpacking come with risk. We all work to mitigate those risks. To be effective at managing risk, we need situational awareness: and understanding of our internal and external hazards. The full video provides three questions I am constantly asking myself, my adventuring family, and my climbing partners to help ensure we remain situationally aware.

Avalanche accident studies have shown that the number one subjective hazard (hazards inside or our heads) that contribute to accidents is the desire to not "take a zero" on the day. Have gotten up too early, driven too far, etc. to bail on marginal conditions. Well, having a backup plan gets you out of that conundrum. You don't have to choose between all of the fun and none of the fun. Some of the fun can do in a pinch.

Certain things in the outdoors rely upon habit. If you are climbing, every knot has to be tied correctly. If you are mountaineering, you need to be able to perform self-arrest on instinct. If you are backpacking, you need to build up your miles to ensure you can meet your objective's demands. Forming habits can be easier or harder depending on the complexity of the behavior or action you want to habituate. The full video shares some of what can science tell us about how to form habits that support our outdoor adventures.

We are continuing Mental Health Awareness Month with videos about the mental aspects of outdoor adventuring. In this video we talk about recasting bail days as successful days when we are out climbing, mountaineering, or hiking.

Knowing which gear works best for your climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, hiking, and camping trips is harder than it seems. The full video applies lessons learned from the scientific method and the discipline of product development to help ensure that you are improving your gear systems each time you head out.

We know that stretching helps with muscle restoration and that flexibility is necessary for hiking, climbing, and mountaineering performance, but did you know stretching also releases hormones that are fundamental to maintaining good mental health?