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How to Properly Pack a Cooler
Coolers are only as good as the users who pack them. If you don’t organize right, you’ll squander all that fancy insulation you paid through the teeth to get. For tips on how to maximize those cooling...
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Water Bottle Throwdown: Plastic Versus Insulated
Metal or plastic? The short answer: it depends on what you’re using it for. To help you decide which bottle to buy as you gear up for summer, I put each to a rigorous test. Here are the results. The...
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The Gear You Need to Stay Clean(ish) in the Backcountry
Sure, everyone lets their normal hygiene ritual slip a bit in the backcountry. That’s part of the fun and freedom of it, right? But there’s still a cleanliness bar to clear if you’re going to stay...
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How Long Can You Really Wear a Wool Shirt Before It Stinks?
I’ve written a version of this sentence hundreds of times for Outside: “The layer is made from wool, so of course it doesn’t stink.” There’s some truth to that, for sure. According to Keith Anderson,...
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Do You Really Need $25 Merino Hiking Socks?
I truly believe in high-quality merino socks. They make my feet less smelly and do a stellar job of managing temperature. For a more detailed explanation about why this piece of gear is so important, I...
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Camp Towel V. Cotton Throwdown
Camp towels: they're lightweight, dry fast, and take up very little room in a pack. But they're also often not very effective—drying yourself with one can feel like you're trying to suck up water with...
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How to Sell Your Used Outdoor Gear
Spring is here, which means it’s time to clean out your gear shed and sell off your old kit. For tips on how to cash out, I called Josh Sims, who owns Gear Fix, a consignment store in Bend, Oregon,...
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Our Six Favorite Adventure Blankets
I’d say that in the pantheon of useful summer gear, an adventure blanket stacks up right behind flip-flops and shorts. They’re great for picnics on the beach, stargazing in the mountains, and cuddling...
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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sunscreen
Now that it’s warmer and you’re shedding clothes, it’s time to remember some best practices for sun protection. To find out what type of sunscreen and clothing you should be using, I called up two...
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How to Avoid and Deal With a Poison Oak Rash
When asked, Is there anything you’d change about yourself? I have an easy answer: I’d be immune to poison oak. The stuff has attacked me at least a hundred times. Often it’s just an annoying rash, but...
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What Are the Best Car Camping Sleeping Bags?
Here are my two pieces of buying advice. First: if you’re using a car to haul your camping gear, worry about comfort instead of weight and size. Second: don’t spend too much money. There are plenty of...
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What Are the Best Car-Camping Tents?
There are two kinds of car-camping tents. The first is affordable and made for quick weekend jaunts with the family or drunken festivals in the woods. The second is more expensive, better constructed,...
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Six Hot Weather Mistakes to Avoid
If you’re just headed out for a short hike or run near your house this summer, bring water and wear sunscreen. If you’re planning a longer epic, you’ll need to be more careful. For advice on...
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The Best Waterproof Bags and Boxes for Your Gear
I’ve been Outside’s Gear Guy for four years now, but for a decade before that, I was a river guide in California and Oregon. Living on the water meant I had an obsessive relationship with all kinds of...
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The Best Camping Pad Ever Made
If you’ve never slept on a Paco pad while car camping, you’re doing it wrong. They’re the plushest, most durable sleeping pads around and have a longtime cult following among river guides—including me....
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We're in the Middle of an Underwear Revolution
Full disclosure and TMI: I wore the same pair of underwear for 72 hours. In the name of science. I put them on at my home in Ashland, Oregon, and wore them for a day of computer and yard work. Then I...
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An Ode to the Leatherman Juice CS4
The best multitools should be like your favorite adventure buddy: available, grounded in trying situations, and versatile. Oh, and they should also like to party. For me, no multitool nails all those...
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Which Sunscreen Should You Buy?
There are a lot of sunscreen brands, but only two main types: chemical-based and mineral-based. Mineral sunscreens (referred to as inorganic sunscreens since they don’t contain carbon) use zinc oxide...
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Why the Hydro Flask True Pint Is the Best Cup Ever Made
The highest compliment I can pay the Hydro Flask True Pint is to say that I’ve pretty much forgotten about it. Not in the “it’s sitting in my garage unused” way, but more in the “I use it so much that...
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We Ran Over This Coffee Maker with a Truck and It Didn't Break
I love when companies claim their products are “tough.” To me, that’s a wide-open invitation to beat the piss out of them. That’s exactly what I did with the Oxx CoffeeBoxx, which carries the tagline...
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