There are two things Les Stroud of Survivorman never left behind when he went out into the wilderness -- his trusty harmonica and a handy multi-tool.

Almost everyone here will agree, a good multi-tool is a must not only for every camping trip, but for even a day hike or picnic. But for those who are on a budget, the $50-$100 models sold by Leatherman and Gerber might be a tad out of reach.

Personally, I had an incident involving a raging river ... well, let's just say...

I went trail running yesterday on Mt. Tam in the Bay Area of northern California. It was fun, and a darn good workout. The trail I used was downhill on the way in, and uphill on the way out. So I really had to push myself at the end. I couldn't just "ease" to the finish line. There were a few times when I had to slow down to a walk, for safety. The terrain was to uneven, rocky or rough. Staying at a run over those areas would have simply been irresponsible. But the hard work it took to...

On my recent camping trip, I used my Light My Fire Firesteel Scout to light everything for the weekend.

For lighting fires, I used it once with magnesium shavings and once without. With the shavings, the fire went up in two strikes. But the shavings took about 15 minutes to make, and it sure is a way to dull a knife quickly. The second night, I worked more on my tinder bundle. Making sure it was soft and packed correctly took away the need for the magnesium. The second fire took about...

I'd have to say I highly recommend this pack. After using it for a two-location camping/kayak trip, it carried everything I needed it to.

I packed it the night before, and I was surprised at how little room the "essentials" took up. I started to load in some extra things that I usually pack in a separate bag. In all, I loaded it down with about 45 pounds of gear. When I put it on, it felt like all the weight was on my hips, which was great for moving around. It felt amazingly...

I am so excited because I'm about to go spend 3 months in Australia this summer, but I am so nervous! I love to travel around and have done some fun hikes and backpacking thru Europe, but never thru Australia, does anyone know if you can do a lot of hiking and even spelunking down under?!
I hope so because 3 months is a long time to miss out on all of that!