Know before you go.

Weather

Reading the clouds: forecast the weather by the sky

The sky is the most current forecast you have. Read cloud types and sky signs to see rain, storms, and lightning coming hours ahead — and…

9 MIN READ

Water Safety

Canoe and kayak safety: capsize, cold water, and getting home

A canoe or a kayak is the most efficient way there is to move a load through wild country, and it is also the boat most…

28 MIN READ

First Aid

Hypothermia: how to recognize it and warm someone up in the field

Hypothermia can strike on any wet, windy day, not just in deep cold. How to recognize it at every stage and safely rewarm someone in the…

18 MIN READ

Survival Skills

How to find water in the wilderness (in any climate)

Almost every landscape hides water if you know how to read it. How to find water in forest, mountain, desert, coast, tropics, and snow country —…

20 MIN READ

First Aid

Heat illness: preventing and treating heat exhaustion and heat stroke

Heat illness is a ladder you can step off early. Recognizing and treating heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, plus hyponatremia, which looks identical and…

14 MIN READ

Weather

Flash floods: slot canyons, washes and the storm you cannot see

How flash floods form from rain you never see, where and when they strike, how to read NWS watches and warnings and the canyon itself, where…

19 MIN READ

Water Safety

Surviving cold-water immersion and falling through ice

Cold water kills faster than you think. The 1-10-1 timeline, how to self-rescue back onto ice, and how to treat someone pulled from cold water —…

11 MIN READ

First Aid

Wound care in the backcountry: cleaning, closing, and stopping infection

In the backcountry the danger isn't usually the wound; it's the infection that follows. How to clean, close, and dress a wound in the field, spot…

10 MIN READ

Weather

Reading backcountry weather and staying ahead of storms

How mountains make their own weather, how to read a forecast that actually applies to your route, and how to turn it into decisions while you…

20 MIN READ

Survival Skills

How to start a fire in any conditions

Build a fire when conditions fight you — no lighter, high wind, soaking wood, or deep snow. Every ignition method from a pocket kit to nothing…

14 MIN READ

Wildlife

Avoiding and handling wildlife encounters

Bears, moose, bison, and mountain lions each need a different response, and some are opposites. How to avoid the encounter, read the animal, and act correctly…

21 MIN READ

First Aid

Frostbite, frostnip, and trench foot: treating cold injury in the field

Cold injury explained: how to tell frostnip, frostbite, and trench foot apart, how to rewarm each safely in the field, and the refreezing mistake that costs…

12 MIN READ

Hiking

Winter hiking: travelling safely on snow and ice

Winter hiking is a separate skill, not summer hiking in a warmer jacket. How to read the snow surface, choose between traction and flotation, break trail…

36 MIN READ

Survival Skills

Lost in the wild: stay calm, stay put, stay alive

The most important survival skill isn't fire or shelter; it's the ability to stop, calm down, and think. What to do the moment you realize you're…

12 MIN READ

Weather

Lightning safety in the backcountry

Lightning is one of the most avoidable backcountry killers. How to plan storms out of your day, use the 30/30 rule, choose terrain when you are…

12 MIN READ

Water Safety

Caught in whitewater: how to survive being swept downstream

You cannot out-swim a river. How to read moving water, hold the right body position, use eddies to get out, escape a hole or a strainer,…

27 MIN READ

Navigation

Map and compass navigation (and what to do when GPS fails)

A complete guide to map and compass navigation: reading contours and scale, setting declination, orienting the map, taking and following a bearing, fixing your position by…

25 MIN READ

Camping

Choosing and setting up a safe backcountry campsite

Where you pitch decides how warm you sleep and whether you wake up in a puddle. Hazard scanning, cold-air pooling, pitching for wind and rain, and…

20 MIN READ

Weather

Haboobs, chinooks and derechos: regional weather hazards by name

Ten regional weather hazards and what each does to a trip: haboobs, chinooks, Santa Ana and Diablo winds, derechos, dry thunderstorms, katabatic and gap winds, lake-effect…

27 MIN READ

Navigation

How to find direction without a compass

Lost your compass or drained your phone? Find north with a stick and the sun, an analog watch, or the stars — and turn a rough…

11 MIN READ

First Aid

Backcountry first aid: what to do in the first ten minutes

Help can be hours away, so the first minutes are yours. The order that saves lives: scene, bleeding, airway, breathing, warmth, then the evacuation decision.

27 MIN READ

Hiking

Hike all day: pacing, footing, and the Ten Essentials

Pacing, the rest step, blisters, fuelling, and the water mistake that mimics heat exhaustion. How to make a long hiking day feel good instead of grim.

23 MIN READ

Safety & Planning

Know before you go: a pre-trip safety plan

Most backcountry emergencies are decided before anyone leaves the trailhead. The full pre-trip safety plan: leaving word with someone, researching the route, permits and closures, weather…

18 MIN READ

Wildlife

Snakes, spiders, and stinging insects: avoiding bites and stings

The small creatures hurt the most people. How to avoid snakes, spiders, scorpions, ticks, and stinging insects — and treat a bite or sting calmly, including…

9 MIN READ

Survival Skills

How to build an emergency shelter with no tent

When you have no tent, shelter is your first survival priority. How to pick a safe site and build a debris hut, lean-to, or tarp shelter…

12 MIN READ

Water Safety

How to cross a river or stream safely

Force rises with the square of speed, which is why crossings fool people. How to judge one, time it, cross it, and recognise the one to…

20 MIN READ

Wildlife

How to protect your food and camp from animals

Most dangerous wildlife encounters are invited by the smell of food in camp. How to store food and manage odors with canisters, bear hangs, and clean-camp…

9 MIN READ

Safety & Planning

How to build a survival kit you will actually carry

The best survival kit is the one you have on you. How to build a light, need-based kit — fire, water, first aid, signaling, navigation —…

10 MIN READ

Survival Skills

How to purify water in the backcountry

Boiling, filtering, chemicals and UV: what each one actually kills, which to use on which water, and the cryptosporidium gap that catches out hikers who carry…

29 MIN READ

First Aid

How to splint a sprain, fracture, or dislocation

A limb injury far from the trailhead can strand you. How to assess the injury, improvise a splint and sling, protect circulation, and decide when to…

11 MIN READ

Camping

How to stay warm through a cold night

A cold night can be dangerous, not just miserable. Insulate from the ground, dial in your sleep system, and use the field tricks that keep you…

11 MIN READ

Navigation

Low-visibility navigation: fog, whiteout, and darkness

When you can't see, you navigate by instrument, not by eye. How to travel safely in fog, whiteout, and darkness using compass bearings, pace counting, and…

10 MIN READ

Hiking

Avalanche safety: how to recognize avalanche terrain and stay out of it

How to recognize avalanche terrain and stay out of it: how slab avalanches work, the nine avalanche problems forecasters name, slope angle as the master variable,…

41 MIN READ