Gear & Skills

Field notes and gear reviews for some items and the associated skills that were key during my summer 2022 trip in the Norwegian mountains

One-trip review for the Anker PowerPort Solar Lite 2 portable solar panel with the background of solar power in the context of long-distance backpacking.

Guidebook review: Tour du Mont Blanc guidebook and map from Vertebrate Publishing.

Convertible trousers may be the best option for thru-hiking.

This is the little story behind a dramatic shift in my navigation standards: for the first time ever, I'd be going on a long distance route with just a smartphone in my pocket.

Smartphones may be great navigators but they're not built for the backcountry. Instead of reusing your urban device, it might be interesting to have a dedicated, backcountry specific one. I've tried one.

This is one of those small things that matter from a packing efficiency perspective. It is actually a very silly, common sense little topic but where market trends may easily lead us to the dark side.

Packing for a ski trip is not the same as packing for hiking on dirt and the differences are well beyond the obvious. It's a packing style of its own.

First it was GSM. Then it was GPS. Then I got PLB. Everytime defines a milestone from which hiking will never be the same again.

One of the problems with rain jackets is what happens at their lower edge: water drips down over a sensitive area. It may make sense to move the drip line further down.

I had this revelation moment once during the early days of my hiking career. It was a very silly thing but it was symbolic. It opened a big door.

I’ve put the HMG 3400 Southwest to a serious test now: a non-supported, 8 day trek where my max load (with 8 days worth of food) was above 34 lbs.

A weekend out in mild, post-summer conditions for an initial trial of my new toy.

I got this pack as my new thru-hiking pack. I researched the market for a pack that would meet my requirements and the Southwest won.

Travel in the winter mountains when the goal is the trip, not the summit.

A pyramid may be the most versatile shelter geometry and the best compromise for the long distance hiker. This is an analysis of the reasons why.

Layering is intuitive, most people do it regularly without thinking about it but the best performance requires some deeper analysis. This is it.

Understanding why hands get cold and what we can do to avoid it is very important for a general well-being in the outdoors. It's about comfort and it's also about safety.