Not too long ago, I was asked about how I might be able to add load lifting straps to The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Unbound Ultralight backpack. Here's a walkthrough of how I did that.

Our twin boys run, climb, scramble, hike, backpack, swim... you name it. We try to find items that can be used - and used well - across many different disciplines. We've been using the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Jr shoes for life on the trail as well as scrambling on the rocks. How well have they performed as trail runners, hikers, and approach shoes? Take a look at the full review.

I had been on an approach hike into a climb when one of my toes started hurting. I hadn't knocked my toe against anything. I hadn't been heading downhill and impacted my toe against the front of my boot. What could have been causing it? Surprisingly, it was my socks. Here's how, and what I now do to prevent it.

Our boys, now age 8, have been using the Deuter Climber 22 Liter Kid's backpack for over three years. It's been the pack they take on just about every hiking, backpacking, camping, and climbing adventure. So, with that much wear and trust put into the backpack, we thought it would be worth a review. Here's what we dislike, like, and love about this pack.

Whether you are a climber on the approach to the climb or a hiker who is putting in miles on the trail, we want to be conscious about conserving energy and avoiding stumbles and falls. This is where a basic understanding of a few rock climbing footwork fundamentals can help keep us efficient and safe, which will matter a great deal after 10 thousand, 100 thousand, or even 1 million steps.

I don't feel like my family and I should be pushing our limits with hard climbing all of the time. We had previously done a video about learning to find satisfaction with some of the less demanding forms of adventure so that our risk profiles aren't always high. Well, exposing the boys to backpacking was one of those experiences we wanted them to try and see if they enjoy. We made a short film about it.

My twin (now) 8-year-olds beat up their gear when they are camping, hiking, and attempting summits, but we've managed to keep them in an Outdoor Research Kids' Helios sun hat for about two years. The hats are still going strong, but like any piece of gear, they aren't perfect. Here's a long term review of these handy, comfortable, and durable adventure hats.

Transferring canister fuel from one canister to another may save you money, weight, or both as you prepare for your next climbing, backpacking, or camping trip. But, it's not without its risks. In the video, we review the FlipFuel transfer device and demonstrate how to use it.

When we go climbing in the winter, take on alpine climbs in the shoulder seasons, or go to high altitude, we are likely to face camping in the snow. If we are going to keep a camp at a single location for a longer period of time, or if we are facing whipping winds, we may want to build snow walls to better shelter our tent. Here's how to build them.

Climbing big mountains in anything more than a day, may demand that you cold-weather camp as well as you climb. It's the key to your recovery at the end of each day. My twin eight-year-old wanted to try winter camping in truly cold weather. It got down to -6 F (-21C). Here's what I was thinking about and focused on teaching them during these 48 hours out.

For the past two winters, I have been experimenting with battery-heated gloves as I've gone out camping, hiking, and climbing. Like all niche gear, they are good at some things and not so good at others. Here is a full review of the Lenz Heat Glove 6.0 Finger Cap.

When we go climbing, camping, or hiking in the backcountry during the winter, we tend to stay out longer and experience more extreme conditions. As advances in technology have improved battery-heated gloves, are they now able to perform well enough and long enough to make them worth having in your gear closet?

Ice climbing usually demands a lot of different gloves. Different portions of ice climbing need more dexterity and therefore less insulation. Some portions are the opposite. Some portions expose your hands to a lot of water. Here's how the approach ice climbers use to pick gloves to bring can help us think through how different gloves, in combination, can help us ensure our kids have warm hands on their climbing, hiking, and camping adventures in winter.

Inov8 is a company with a tradition in fell running: moving over the wet mountains of the LaKe District in the UK. I've been wearing the Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes for several years, and have put them to the test on fastmoving hiking trips, fully laden backpacking trips, and even alpine climbs that demand rock scrambling. Here's my review of this versatile shoe.

La Sportiva created three versions of the Aequilibrium boot to help alpinists lose the weight of needing multiple shoes for trips that contained dry approaches with backpacking, snow filled mountaineering, and technical climbing. Can the boot accommodate all of those disparate needs? We provide a full review.

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, I'm providing a full review.

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. 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.

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. This video describes the safety problem as well as discusses some of the trade-offs I must accept by using this style of pole.

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.

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. So, 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.