Furoshiki: Easy, Sustainable Gift Wrap for the Holidays and Beyond

It’s that time of year again—already. Just like clockwork, your local retail outlets are switching over from the Halloween decorations they put up right after Labor Day to the fancy glitz of Christmas, Kwanza, Hannukah, Solstice, and any number of other winter-themed holidays before the last Jack-o-Lantern has even gone out. While we’re in party mode, attending holiday gatherings, eating too much food and hopefully getting in those first few turns or pitches of ice climbing, a darker side to the holidays emerges, and it’s not just because the sun is setting at 3:30 pm. Gifts of Garbage That’s right, as much as you love them, you must admit that the holidays are a pretty wasteful time of year—it has been estimated that the average American’s waste stream goes up…

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How to Find a Compatible Backcountry Ski and Snowshoe Partner  

I thought I had clearly communicated which slope I wanted to avoid. It had dumped snow the night before, I was in an unfamiliar area, and I wanted to play it safe that day. So when my backcountry ski partner headed straight for the steeper line, I was furious. After he committed, I had to follow him or risk losing him in the forest. Sound familiar? Solid adventure buddies can make or break a trip in any season. During the summer, we might be crammed in a tent with them for hours, as we await a weather window or escape a swarm of mosquitoes. We have to solve problems, resolve conflicts, and make decisions together in remote settings. They share our highest highs and lowest lows, high fiving us on…

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Shelter from the Storm: Tips for Building Winter Shelters

In many parts of the world, finding solitude while camping in the backcountry is getting harder every year. But don’t fret; you just need to add two things to get what you’re after: cold and snow. While winter camping definitely adds some unique challenges, those extra few hurdles are precisely what filter the crowds, leaving vast swaths of the backcountry under-appreciated for months. Of those hurdles, one of the biggest is figuring out your winter camping strategy for shelter. Warmth, weight, and ease are the primary benchmarks to judge your choice, and there are two paths to travel: bring your own or use what’s there. Here’s a quick breakdown of four of the most common winter shelters and tips on how best to use and/or build them. Location, Location, Location…

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The MSR Stove Maintenance Guide

Have you ever been on a multi-day backcountry trip and dealt with a sputtering, inconsistent flame from your camp stove? Or maybe your stove stopped working altogether and you didn’t read up on how to make the normally easy fix required? These sorts of troubles can be no small emergency on a multi-day trip, especially if a large chunk of your calories need cooking or you’re melting snow for water. That’s why stove maintenance—particularly with liquid fuel stoves—is so critical. In fact, every MSR stove has been intentionally designed to be easily user-maintainable for a long, reliable life. Our Annual and Expedition Stove Maintenance Kits, along with intuitive, field-maintainable designs, keep this essential task easy to do, ensuring you never get stuck without the fire you need. With that in…

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