It seems like it’s been a long time since a truly novel idea in tents came along. There are endless amounts of great tents on the market, but not many that make you think, huh, that’s interesting. But now there’s the Helinox Tactical Cot Tent. Basically, it’s a small, one-person tent that uses a Helinox cot as a platform to stand on.  If you’re into it, act quick, these are in very limited edition quantities in the North American market. There are two versions, neither of which ship with a fly, and, wouldn’t you know it, the fly is already sold out, though they were just released ..read more

Vasque today isn't the same Vasque you might know and love if you're still hiking in a pair of full-grain leather Sundowners you bought in the '90s (Sundowners is still one of the all-time great boot names). Their boots are no longer made in Italy, they're a little cheaper (relatively) and are more mass market than hardcore hiker. I've tried quite a few models over the years and though I've enjoyed their lightweight boot, the Vasque Breeze, those are the only model I've kept and recommended.  Until now.  Earlier this month, Vasque released their updated St. Elias, a classic leather ..read more

  Hey, it’s sandal season! Let the weird tans begin. We’re repubbing one of our fave essays about the glory of sandals, Chacos in particular for this writer. Note, the bits about where she lives are no longer accurate. Pretty sure she still has her Chacos. -Ed. I was dating this guy and we’d just gotten a permit to float the Rogue River in Oregon with a few friends. I was from the East Coast and had a pair of Keens, which are acceptable footwear on the East Coast. But in the West, Keens scream “dad shoes” — or worse, “East Coast tourist” — so when I saw a pair of Chacos in my size for 50 ..read more

  Lighting a Coleman fuel-powered lantern is so much more satisfying than merely clicking the “On” switch of a modern, battery-powered lantern. If you’ve ever used a Coleman lantern, but like most of us, have since switched to rechargeable battery lanterns, you’ve probably forgotten that. I had forgotten that myself until a few months back when the boss man assigned a story about the history of the Coleman lantern for Adventure Journal’s forthcoming summer issue (subscribe right here so you don’t miss it). Feeling like it wasn’t possible to properly cover the lantern without using one ag ..read more

Couple weeks ago, I set out on a nice day hike up in Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco. Ever been? Gorgeous, magical place, clothed in redwoods in the flats and valleys, fog-shrouded in the highlands, majestic Tule Elk wandering in great herds. There are even a few backcountry campsites scattered about, some right on the coast, the Pacific gently—or sometimes very, very forcefully—crashing in the background. As I prepped for my hike, I chatted with a middle-aged man as he finished packing his backpack for a multi-day jaunt to a campsite about seven miles away. He care ..read more

If you’re shopping for all-terrain tires for your truck or SUV, you’re probably looking at the standard options: BF Goodrich K02, Falken Wildpeak, or Cooper Discoverer AT3. Maybe if you’re deep in the weeds, you’re researching Toyo Open Country, or General Grabbers. All good tires, all will get the job done. It’s hard to claw marketshare away from that group, especially the first three, but Nokian, a Finnish company best known for their winter tires, is giving it a solid effort.  This past fall I picked up a set of Nokian’s newest all-terrain tires, the Outpost nAT. I run LT 265/75/R16s ..read more

I'm prone to romanticism, nostalgia, and hyperbole, so maybe take that into consideration here, but possibly the best car I've ever owned, in terms of utility, ease, thoughtfulness, general capability, and overall fun was the 2012 Honda Fit Sport with a 5-speed manual transmission. My wife and I bought it brand new for something like $16,000 and 12 years ago that was more than it sounds like now, I assure you.  It was a phenomenal adventure car because it was a wedge-shaped hatchback that was small but magically roomy. It was the first car I'd ever seen where the backseats folded complet ..read more

As my amount of available time radically shrinks into a singularity with two kids under the age of 5 running around my house, my outdoor pursuits must also take on a quickened, compressed form. Take hiking, for instance. Once a favorite pastime of mine, the idea of a leisurely afternoon jaunt through the hills is laughable. Instead, I'm trail running more. Same trail experience, just faster and more painful. What's not to love? Okay, full disclosure, I used to trail run quite a bit in years past, but balky knees and an awareness that frankly I prefer hiking, and hiking in boots, meant I shelv ..read more

Stopped by your LBS lately? The other day I was perusing one of mine, a mountain bike-only establishment, and I couldn't help but notice the least expensive bike they had in the store was $4,700. Alloy frame too, not even carbon. The parts were nice, sure, but after tax that's $5k. This seems common now too. For a full suspension rig, $2k is decidedly entry-level. Plus, entry-level models can be hard to find. But what if you bucked the trend for ever more complicated, downhill capable, and shreddier bikes? What if you thought a little differently about what a bike can do and should be? What i ..read more

I've had a handful of pickup trucks in my life and every single one has ended up topped with a fiberglass camper shell. It's always the same process. I buy the truck with an open bed, fantasizing about all the cool truck stuff I can do back there. Then I drive around for a couple weeks marveling at the visibility without a shell, and enjoying the truckiness of the open bed. But then I go camping and, welp, first time I stop on the road for a bite to eat I realize here's all my nice camp gear just free for the taking. Or, my gear gets soaked in the rain or snow. So I buy a shell. Then I immedi ..read more