My son, Cam, had a pretty short list of what he wanted out of our trip to Alaska. “I just want to see one bear,” he said. “If nothing else happens and I see a bear, I’ll be happy.” Running a jet boat back down the Naknek River toward camp ...
Adventure
Army Chinooks, USAF PJs, Park Rangers Rescue Hikers on Mount Rainier
He was trapped in an ice crevasse knifed into the side of Mount Rainier, his arm and leg busted, his buddy nearly eight stories above him getting whipped by winds blasting the snowy ridge at 50 knots. But he had excellent cell phone service. And ...
Climbing Documentary Chronicles Family, Mountains, Death, and Reconciliation
The climbing documentary genre has steadily grown into a larger-than-life, reality-defying experience for those of us who keep our feet on terra firma's lesser elevations. Alex Honold’s Free Solo, Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk, and Conrad Anker’s ...
Raise Them Right: Emergency Preparedness for Kids
The word pedagogy is used in the realm of education to distinguish various teaching styles and theories of learning. As the primary educator of my children in our chosen realm of home education, I make it a practice to continually study the ways in ...
Sinking an F-150 in the Arctic, and Other Stupid Shit Rich Dudes Do
Every once in a while, a bunch of rich dudes get what they think is a helluva damn good idea over a few country club bourbons. One hundred percent of the time it's an idea better left on the bar with the tip. But when one of the guys gets a bit ...
Top Burners: How to Choose the Best Firewood
Understanding how different wood burns is essential to getting the most out of your fire, whether building one in a hearth or in a fire ring for grilling, smoking, or drying. Master these simple tips to choose the best firewood and get the most out ...
Disaster Prep: The Importance of Everyday Readiness
Unless you’ve been half asleep, you probably have noticed that 2020 was remarkable. COVID-19, double — correction — quintuplet hurricanes, murder hornets, threats to public health, and civil unrest. We couldn’t get a break. The fabric of our ...
Faint Screaming, Mounted Agents: Border Patrol Rescue of a Lost Hiker
Sixteen hours into a search inside Big Bend National Park’s remote backcountry for a lost hiker, US Border Patrol agents on horseback heard what they called “faint screaming.” About 20 miles north of the Rio Grande River on Tuesday afternoon, ...
Is Your Bug-Out Vehicle Go-Ready for When Shit Hits the Fan?
I spent most of my years in the military operating in the Recon genre of Special Operations — a job that had me go-ready, living out of a rucksack for days, if not weeks, at a time. I learned very quickly in combat what optimization and efficiency ...
Desert Nomad: Overlanding Lessons From Afghanistan
Wilfred Thesiger, a British Military Officer, writer, and explorer, once said, “No man can live this life and emerge unchanged. He will carry the imprint of the desert, the nomad, and he will have a yearning to return for this cruel land can cast a ...
A Green Beret’s ‘No-Fail Event’ — Summiting Everest Without Oxygen
Music drowned out the sound of Jason Howell’s fingertip exploding. It was the Saturday after he’d started the Special Forces Qualification Course — informally known as the Q Course — and he was alternating between dumbbell chest presses and flyes ...
2 Rescues in 2 Days: AZ Clusterf*ck Serves as Hiking Safety Reminder
At 12,633 feet, Humphreys Peak is the tallest in Arizona. The trail to its summit is 5 miles up and 5 miles down, with an elevation gain of more than 3,000 feet. It’s a challenging trek even in great weather with a clear trail — it’s utterly ...
Shackleton’s Sunken Ship ‘Endurance’ Found After 107 Years
After sinking off the coast of Antarctica 107 years ago, Ernest Shackleton’s three-masted ship, Endurance, has been located at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. According to a release from Endurance22, the international expedition that ...
Off-road Tire Pressure: How to Get the Best Ride From Your Rig
If you want to kick ass off the beaten path, your rig needs to have the correct off-road tire pressure for optimal traction, handling, and wear. Determining the proper tire pressure depends on the terrain you’re driving on and the weight of your rig. ...
Tactical Canyoneering: Rappelling Down Waterfalls on the Hana Highway
Rappelling down a waterfall in Maui is a bucket list adventure. If you’ve been to Hawaii, specifically Maui, chances are you’ve heard about the Hana Highway, also known as the “Road to Hana.” It’s an infamous 64-mile-long stretch of serious curves, ...
How To Survive on Wild Edible Plants and Not Get Dead
Terence McKenna, famous American philosopher, ethnobotanist (one who studies a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of local culture and people), and author once stated, "Nature loves courage. You make the ...
Bushcraft 101 with Kevin Estela
“Bushcraft” is a term used interchangeably with “survival,” but they are not true synonyms. Bushcraft is the art of doing more with less and using nature’s resources whenever called upon. Survival is the art of getting by at any cost and is generally ...
Nature Therapy: High on the Outdoors since WWI
Canadian doctors are now sending their patients into the wilds of the country’s national parks as a treatment for what ails them — they’re literally able to issue passes to the parks as prescriptions. Whether their patients’ troubles are mental or ...
5 Ways to Ensure Medical Preparedness
As a woman, I always take my role as protector of my children and any children in my company very seriously. As a registered nurse by education, the tendencies to gravitate toward being a healer come naturally to me, but as medical ...
Struggles of a Modern Hermit: Chewing the Fat With ‘River Dave’
David "River Dave" Lidstone has become something of a folk hero for New Hampshire residents who recreate on the Merrimack River and only dream about living a Thoreau-style, off-the-grid lifestyle. For the past 27 years, Lidstone has carved ...
Recognizing and Preventing Altitude Sickness
I remember the first western hunt I went on. I was black bear hunting at about 7,000 ft. in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho. Not exactly a high-altitude hunt. But I’m a flatlander from Minnesota who hadn’t been to the mountains in years. Having ...
Rikki’s 72 Hour Survival Challenge
Fieldcraft Survival Director of Training, Kevin Estela, recently got challenged by the company’s CEO, Mike Glover to complete a 72-hour bug out in the high desert of Utah with nothing but the clothes on his back and whatever he could fit in a ...
How to Avoid Getting Lost in The Woods
Keeping yourself from getting lost, or sometimes called, “Lost Proofing” is the art of knowing where you are (generally) at any given moment. Here are some actions you can take to make sure you know how to avoid getting lost in the woods. Know ...
Safety and Security While on the Road
I’ve always enjoyed a good road trip. Ever since I received my driver’s license, I’ve enjoyed packing up my vehicle with provisions, looking at a map, and going from point A to point B. It has been said, “it is not the destination but the journey ...
Zara Rutherford, 19, Breaks Record for Solo Flight Around The World
After 115 days spent flying her tiny Shark UL plane around the world, 19-year-old Zara Rutherford finally landed in Belgium on Jan. 20 and claimed the distinction of being the youngest woman to complete a solo flight around the world. Her ...
Vehicle Situational Awareness – Staying Safe on the Road
Windows down, radio up on the highway with the soothing hum of the vehicle with some beefy AT tires on the asphalt on the way to a weekend adventure. We can not always get there overnight, or to some wooded quiet campground as much as we like. On ...
Backup Power as Part of Your Survival Plan
In today’s world, most of our creature comforts, survival equipment, and communication tools require electricity. When disaster strikes, grid power is one of the first utilities to fail and one of the last to be restored. Systematic preparation and ...
Going Solo: Preparing to Face the Backcountry on Your Own
Perhaps the greatest part of going hunting is sharing the outdoor world with your friends. The backcountry is a place to be shared and attacked as a unit. The weeks before the season opener where you and your compadres gather around maps and decide ...
Screaming Barfies: Necessary Intel for Your First Ice Climbing Adventure
“Screaming barfies” was the first term I learned on my inaugural ice climbing adventure. Amid all the dangers accompanying this venture, that highly un-technical term got my attention. Imagine feeling your hands go completely numb and then for ...
Winterizing Your Survival Kit
Growing up in New England, I learned to appreciate the frequency of the seasons changing. When the seasons changed, so did the way we had to live with the corresponding weather and environmental conditions. Spring teaches you to deal with rain, ...
