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This is a good thread. I spent a lot of time in the past two semesters of my masters program reading about females, stereotypes, and the outdoors. It is super interesting! I would venture to say that most of the women on this board do not feel that there is a huge issue of women hiking, as...

How is this proving anything about lightweight gear? By the time he gets down to 15 pounds it won't matter if it's 15 or 50, either will feel great! An extra sleeping bag to keep his food from freezing? If he does it, congrats, but it won't make me run out an buy golite stuff. I'll just be...

I'd just prefer to do away with batteries. I have found that regular batteries do much better than rechargeables, but I hate throwing them away. Solar charging is intriguing- plus you can use it to charge other stuff. A descent headlamp costs $30 anyway, so another twenty to never buy...

Backpacker Magazine gave this an editor's choice award. Anyone used one, seen one, know someone that has one... ? Thoughts? Solar rechargeable headlamp

I have an older Etrex with no mapping function. I usually carry it as a back-up to use in conjunction with my map. It works great for that.

lentil soup and blueberry bread on a recent winter trip Lentil soup- boil lentils with precut carrots and onions, beef bullion cubes and a couple strips of bacon. Add a can of diced tomatoes when the lentils are cooked. Add hot sauce liberally and drop in bits of mozzarella cheese. Blue...

I like to take the foam sleeping pads and make new insoles for my boots, warmer than any 'insulating' pads you can buy. They take up a little more room thought, so they may not work with all boots. I've also used the same foam and made covers that fit over my boots (columbia ice crushers) and...

I think situations like the one I described, and what Timmus said, are actually sort of good things to do- provided nothing actually goes wrong. They are humbling experiences- reminds you that it IS dangerous out there. My ski trip wasn't bad and I certainly could have followed my tracks back-...

When I read the presented scenario it scares the crap out of me. Cold, no overnight gear, five miles to go, getting dark, stream crossings... yikes. Niel's additional information makes me feel better about the situation, but still probably not one I'd like to be in. I'll agree with what...

I didn't use to like backcountry cooking. However, most of my recent longer trips have been with the Wilderness Education Association, sometimes otherwise known as the Wilderness Eating Association. Bulk dry rations and a NOLS cookbook. I hated it at first. Recently I've really come to enjoy...

I thought you were tired of giving your opinion on stoves and wanted to hear those of others? ;) Nobody has mentioned cursing while using their whisperlite... On the contrary, several have mentioned that they use and like theirs...

I used to be a whisperlite die hard, but recently purchased a dragonfly. I like the dragonfly a lot (especially in combo with the outback oven!). The whisperlite does have one thing in particular over the dragonfly- it sits lower so more of the pot is surrounded by the windscreen, which I have...

I took this photo of a pileated from my back yard a while back. Pileated woodpecker Not the best shot in the world, but as Forestgnome said, birds are hard to photograph!

I like the cardboard with tin foil idea. I've been using a piece of 1/2 inch plywood, it's a little heavy. I also make caps that go over and protect the pump. This also prevents it from accidentally getting opened in a pack and keeps gunk/snow off of it. Fuel bottle with cap and windscreen...

My guess is you got some water in there and it froze when you shut off the stove. I think that is the common culprit of mysterious winter malfunctions. On my most recent trip we had six brand new MSR stoves for a group and several of them failed at one point or another. I believe they were...

Frostnip has no lasting effects. If you didn't have feeling for a couple of days and then the skin fell off, it was probably a mild case of frostbite. Frostnip the skin turns white but feeling returns quickly and no permanent damage is done. Blebs or blisters indicate more severe frostbite...

Maybe your keychain thermometer was bunk. I've got an old Oregon Scientific camping-baro that I recently compared with an old keychain and they both read the same. Who knows.

I'd love to switch to all wool base layers. Price tags keep me from going that way. I have a boiled wool EMS sweater that I've had for several winters now. You couldn't get me to trade that for a fleece, ever. I've got wool military style pants, but they're just a tad big. Wool socks, hat...

Yes, and it would be better to bring a synthetic sleeping bag if there is any chance of it getting wet. Technology has made it very easy to get away with a lot. Instead of properly managing things we replace them with new (often more environmentally damaging) equipment and products that make...

I don't doubt that a metal (or lexan for that matter) bottle can or will burst when frozen solid. My main deal with all of this is that I thought it would be much more difficult to prevent the metal bottle from freezing given the higher heat conductivity of metal over plastic. I can't recall...