9 Tips for Staying Warm While Winter Camping
Use these pro tips and tricks to keep the cold at bay and enjoy the experience to the fullest.
MSR Employees’ Favorite Camp Recipes
Camp meals vary wildly from person to person. Some are ultralight backpackers who eat cold instant refried beans every night without complaint (not joking). Others, whether car camping or out in the backcountry, want the whole shebang, from a starter salad to a glass of wine and dessert. These five recipes from MSR employees lie mostly in the middle (though some definitely lean toward the backcountry feast side of the scale). We’re a pretty outdoorsy bunch here at MSR, and we’ve perfected our camp recipes over years of adventures. MSR also makes pretty spectacular backpacking and camp stoves, if we do say so ourselves, and each employee has a favorite for cooking up their camp recipes. Check out this deep dive into our stoves, from Polar explorer Eric Larsen. A…
Best Eco-Friendly Camp Stove? Choose a Liquid Fuel Stove.
Liquid fuel stoves create less of an impact than canister stoves. Here’s why.
Radiant Burner Stoves: The Ultimate in All-Weather Performance and Efficiency
Our Reactor and WindBurner stoves use a unique radiant burner for greater performance in real-world conditions. But what exactly is this burner design?
Why Rest Days Matter
The ache in my toes was subtle at first. I came off of a multi-pitch climb in California, unlaced my shoes and noticed a new tenderness in my joints. But I was rock climbing. Didn’t something always hurt while I was rock climbing? Cramming my feet into narrow blocks of rubber was just part of the process. Over the following weeks, I alternated between taking rest days and partaking in light activity to give my feet the chance to recover from their ailment. But it wasn’t long before I was back on the wall, exploring the limits of my body. Early on in my life, I learned that if you just put your head down and move forward through the pain, things usually get better. In my experience, doctor’s visits…
What Hikers Should Know About Toxic Algae Blooms
You may or may not have heard of toxic algae blooms. If you have, it may have been something related to local beaches, including warnings not to swim or harvest any shellfish. But these potentially deadly occurrences affect inland fresh water as well, including sources used by hikers for drinking. In 2022, Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers may have been sickened by toxic cyanobacterial blooms. So how can you tell if a water source has been rendered dangerous by algae? And if it has, what, if anything, can you do about it? What are Toxic Algae Blooms? Also called blue-green algae, cyanobacteria are found in salt, fresh and brackish water. These simple, plantlike organisms aren’t always toxic, but under certain conditions, including abnormally warm weather or pollution, they can grow out…
Behind the Scenes Video: MSR’s Water Research Lab
See the fascinating work our on-staff water scientists do.
Water 101: Clean Water Solutions to Prepare for Emergencies
Water is our most important resource, but you never know when a disaster could compromise your local water supply. While the novel coronavirus has not been detected in drinking water supplies, according to the World Health Organization, many of you have reached out about emergency water filter options as you build out your disaster kits. We’ve put together the information you need on some clean water solutions to help ensure you have access to water that’s safe to drink during all kinds of emergencies. Clean Water Threats When drinking water is contaminated in municipal or developed areas, the immediate threat to human health is the introduction of waterborne pathogens—microscopic disease-causing bugs. These include bacteria, protozoa and viruses, all of which are normally removed by the city treatment center long before…
Snake Safety Tips for Hikers on the Trail
Avid hikers have to deal with a lot of dangerous situations, from bad weather to rough terrain. When most hikers picture a dangerous animal encounter, they may think about coming face to face with a bear, and while this is definitely a situation a hiker needs to be prepared for, you are much more likely to come across a snake while hiking. Snakes are extremely common across the entire globe, and there is no doubt you will encounter one while hiking at some point in your life. However, these encounters don’t necessarily have to be dangerous or scary. I have spent most of my life outdoors, and as a herpetologist, snake encounters are something I look forward to. While I may be part of the minority that actively seeks out…