How to Prevent and Treat Blisters While Hiking

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How to Prevent and Treat Blisters While Hiking

One of the most common problems hikers and backpackers experience are blisters. They may be small, but they can easily be painful enough to end your trip. We put together this guide to help teach you how to prevent blisters entirely, to learn how to treat them, and to provide general foot care tips to keep your tootsies happy and healthy on the trail.

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How to Wash a Down Jacket

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How to Wash a Down Jacket

A lightweight down coat should be at the center of any good backpacking list. You’ll wear it just about every night on the trail. It’ll keep you toasty warm, even after spending hours jammed into the bottom of your pack. So, considering how essential your down coat is and how often you use it, let me ask you this; when was the last time you washed it?

Yeah… that’s what I thought.

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5 Reasons To Ditch Your Hiking Boots

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5 Reasons To Ditch Your Hiking Boots

For many of us, it’s been drilled into our heads since day one that backpackers wear boots. That’s just what you do. You need the toughness and the ankle support and the water protection, right? That’s why it blew my mind a few years back when I learned that thru-hikers cover thousands of trail miles every year in running shoes. Now, after many years and many miles, I feel very confident saying: Ditch the boots and don't look back. 

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Backpacking & Hiking Clothing 101: Tips for Creating the Perfect Ultralight Clothing System

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Backpacking & Hiking Clothing 101: Tips for Creating the Perfect Ultralight Clothing System

As hikers, we expect a lot from our clothing. It has to insulate us from the cold, breathe well, dry quickly, and protect us from rain, snow, wind, and intense sun. We need to be able to deal with all types of changing conditions under variable temperature ranges that fluctuate with aerobic activity.

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