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Stay Warm and Dry This Winter With These Gear Tips
Whatever your winter activity, staying warm requires finding the right combination of layers. The specific layers depend on your body, the temperature, wind speeds and how much you sweat. BASIC TIPS...
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How to Use Rope Tackle to Move a Log
Rope tackle allows you to move a large load with a small amount of force. It works on the same principle as using ropes and pulleys for lifting or hauling loads. Here’s how to set up rope tackle to...
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How to Buy Rock Climbing Gear
Whether you want to scale the walls at your local climbing gym, go bouldering or rope up outside, you’ll want to know the basic and best gear you’ll need. Talk with a qualified instructor who can help...
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Be Prepared for These 5 Common Weather Hazards
No matter where you are or where you’re going, the weather is always a factor, and the weather can always change. This is especially true in spring, when Earth tilts closer to the sun (in the Northern...
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Tasty Treat or Fatal Fruit? Here Are 5 Dangerous Wild Berries To Avoid
You find some dark-colored fruit while hiking in the woods. Are they delicious blueberries or poisonous pokeweed berries that could make you sick? Never eat wild plants unless you know for sure what...
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How To Make a ‘Pack-out Kit’ for Carrying Human Waste
Human waste doesn’t always decompose easily in some environments, like deserts, caves and glaciers. To reduce your impact on these places, pack out everything instead of digging catholes to bury your...
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How to Choose a Backcountry Communication Device
Whether you want to chat with friends on the ski slopes or you need to send a message during an emergency, having a communication device sure comes in handy. TWO-WAY RADIOS The classic portable...
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How to Buy a Good Camping Air Mat or Sleeping Pad
Click here for the Gear Guy’s sleeping bag buying guide Find expert tips to help you get a good night’s sleep You might not think your sleeping pad or air mattress is important until you spend a...
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Watch Out for These 5 Stinging Caterpillars
IO (2 to 3 inches long, green with pink and white stripes down either side): The biggest of the caterpillar bad boys, this one has tufts of hair sticking up all over it. Small, slow, cute and fuzzy...
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How to Buy a Safe and Comfortable Helmet
Wearing a bicycle helmet cuts the chance of seriously hurting your head if you’re in a bike accident. But that same helmet might not provide good protection if you wear it while rock climbing or...
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How to Buy the Best Sleeping Bag
Find expert tips to help you get a good night’s sleep Picking the right sleeping pad, bag liner, pillow or cot How to minimize smelly sleeping bag odor A good sleeping bag can make the difference...
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Savor These 4 Scout-Approved Sweet Treats
It’s important to eat balanced meals, but sometimes it’s nice to satisfy your sweet tooth. Here are four tasty recipes to try. Have a favorite dessert recipe? Send it to us! OWASIPPE SOUP Last summer...
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How to Choose a Safe and Comfortable Campsite
Picking a place to pitch a tent isn’t always simple. You could find a flat spot, but the site might be in a low-lying area and prone to flooding if it rains a lot. To find a place you can safely and...
View ArticleHow to Tie the 7 Basic Scout Knots
There are dozens of useful knots. By mastering these seven basic Scouting knots, you’ll be ready for just about any situation that calls for tying ropes together, forming loops, and securing ropes to...
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Take a Look at These 7 Wacky Flashlights
Check out our photos of weird and unusual headlamps and flashlights. Each one is both a fun and effective way to light up your Scout outing. Transformers: This cute flashlight transforms into a lantern...
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How to Buy a Great Headlamp or Flashlight
Whether you’re spelunking, digging through your pack at night or walking around camp after sundown, you need a good light. It’s one of the Scout Basic Essentials for outdoor adventures. A flashlight...
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What Are the Signs of Hypothermia and How Do You Treat It?
Twelve-year-old Erick Cole was sick at heart, and scared. Erick and his little brother, Andy, 4, had been sledding together out in the Nebraska snow. When it came time to go home, Erick decided to...
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Conversion Chart for Dutch Oven Cooking Times and Temperatures
You can prepare meals at camp a few different ways: by camp stove, open fire, charcoal grill, solar oven or Dutch oven. Dutch ovens are heavy cast-iron pots that make baking outdoors easy. You can...
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How to Tie an Overhand Knot
The overhand knot is usually one of the first knots that Cub Scouts learn how to tie. It’s a simple knot that can be used for different purposes, like stopping a rope from slipping through a pulley or...
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Be Courteous About Allergies in the Camp Kitchen
You plan to bake banana nut bread in a Dutch oven during an upcoming campout. Sounds delicious — but not everyone in your patrol might think so. Millions of people are allergic or intolerant to...
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How to Use Lashings to Build a Comfortable Camp Chair
Relax around camp by building a comfortable camping chair. It’s easy if you have the pioneering skills. WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE A CAMP CHAIR Three spars about 4 inches in diameter, two 8 feet long and...
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How To Pick the Best Camp Chair for Any Outdoor Activity
Whether you’re taking a break mid-hike, kicking back around the campfire or sitting down to eat a meal, a camp chair keeps you comfy and off the ground. Which chair is best depends on how you’ll use...
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How To Stay Safe From Bears
Bears can catch a scent miles away. The inside of a bear’s nose is 100 times bigger than ours, and it’s full of sensory cells. That’s why you need to properly store your smellables when you’re camping...
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3 Different Ways To Lay the Firewood for a Campfire
Not all campfires are built equally. You can arrange your firewood to get different results, depending on the weather and how you want to manage the fire. Before you begin, consider the conditions: It...
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Get Your Bicycle Ready and Grab This Gear to Go Bikepacking
Bikepacking is a camping trip you take on your bike. It’s a fun way to see the sights from a saddle, cruising roads and trails. Here’s what you need to get started. PREPARATION FOR BIKEPACKING CHOOSE...
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Reach, Throw, Row, Go! Learn the 4 Water Rescue Techniques
To help prevent water accidents and drownings, it’s important to know how to rescue someone in the water. If you see someone in trouble, stay calm and take a moment to figure out what’s happening. Are...
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How to Safely Use a Life Jacket
Life Jackets are designed to keep you safe. These personal flotation devices (also called life vests or PFDs) are essential equipment whenever you’re on the water. It’s important that properly fitted...
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How to Buy Good Sunglasses
If you bought your last pair of sunglasses in a convenience store or got them free somewhere, they’re probably fun to wear, but they might not be protecting your eyes. Glare reflecting off snow, sand,...
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Tent or Tarp? How to Pick the Right Camping Shelter
Whether you pick a tent or tarp, these shelters will guard you from the elements. Tents and tarps both have advantages. How you want to sleep, the environment and how you want to use it can all factor...
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How to Use a Compass to Orient a Map and Find Your Way
If you were to pull out a smartphone and open a maps app, it would show where you were and which direction you were facing. Can you get the same useful information without a digital aid? Absolutely....
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How to Buy a Good Pocketknife or Multitool
Opinel’s No.07 My First Opinel Folding Knife ($17, opinel-usa.com) is sharp but without a point. The 3.5-inch blade is made from Sandvik stainless steel, and it holds an edge. The outdoors version...
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How to Gear Up for Winter
DECATHLON’S FORCLAZ MT500 AIR BACKPACK Winter camping is a great way to have fun outside. It’ll also help you learn to stay warm and dry when you’re out in the elements. “Everyone hates being cold,”...
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Use a Dutch Oven to Make Philmont Ranger Cobbler
Dutch ovens make baking at camp easy and expand your menu options. You can make biscuits, cornbread, pizza, lasagna, stew and a whole lot of desserts. A Scout favorite is peach cobbler. Here’s how to...
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5 Tips to Avoid Mosquito Bites
Mosquitoes are annoying, and they can be dangerous, too. They are responsible for transmitting blood-borne illnesses and serious diseases. Here are a few tips to keep mosquitoes away: • Wear insect...
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How to Prevent Fire Damage When Building a Campfire
Campfire building is an important camping skill, but do not be careless with a campfires. Overuse of campfires and an increasing demand for firewood has degraded the natural appearance of many areas....
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Protect Your Head With These Functional, Fashionable Hats
Hats are among the most underappreciated pieces of gear. They can let people know if you’re a fan of a certain sports team, what brands you like or that you’re a Scout. More practically, they can...
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How to Treat Your Water to Stay Healthy in the Backcountry
Sickness-causing microorganisms in the water, called “pathogens,” are top reasons hikers bail on a big trip, says Chris Casserly with Outdoor Gear Exchange, an outdoor sports store in Burlington,...
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How To Buy Snorkeling Gear for an Underwater Adventure
The underwater world is magical. With snorkel or scuba gear, you can observe fish, coral and other aquatic life in this wondrous environment. Snorkeling offers the most affordable and accessible way...
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How to Communicate Underwater When Scuba Diving
When you’re scuba diving, you obviously can’t talk to others underwater. That’s why it’s important to know hand signals so you can communicate. They’re helpful both above and below the surface. Here...
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Pick the Best Backpack With These Expert Buying Tips
Your backpack and boots are the two pieces of gear you’ll use the most on the trail. “A pack that fits poorly can make or break your trip,” says Ryan Wichelns, editor-in-chief of Trails Magazine, a...
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How to Safely Use a Camping Stove
Cooking with a camping stove offers many advantages: They’re reliable, convenient and allow you to be more self-sufficient. Camping stoves use different types of fuel. Propane is the most popular, but...
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10 Funny Campfire Skits
Need knee-slapping funny campfire skits? Skip the invisible bench, and try some of these entertaining ideas. Whether you’re at summer camp, a pack meeting or a weekend camporee, these funny campfire...
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How to Use an Ice Ax to Self-Arrest on a Snowy Slope
When you trek uphill, a hiking stick or trekking pole helps you keep your footing. If you’re trekking up a snowy mountain, you’ll want to carry an ice ax. Not only can an ice ax help you as you climb,...
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How to Cook a Tasty Foil Dinner In the Campfire
You can create a tasty meal with just heavy-duty aluminum foil and hot coals from a campfire. Food wrapped airtight in foil cooks like it’s in a miniature pressure cooker. PREPARING THE INGREDIENTS...
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Clever Curious Corvids: Learn About This Family of Brainy Birds
Blue jay Crows, ravens, magpies, nutcrackers and jays — these songbirds are all corvids, a family with many of the world’s smartest and most social birds. Their intelligence exceeds that of all other...
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How to Set Up a Dining Fly
A dining fly is a useful part of any campsite. It provides shelter for your equipment and the people in your unit in case it rains, and it can serve as a meeting place and hub to set up your camp...
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Dive Into These 5 Tips Before Your Next Aquatic Adventure
Spring has almost sprung, and depending on where you live, you’ll sooner or later be ready for aquatic adventures. Here are a few tips to keep in mind: 1. Pick your activity. You can choose from many...
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How To Use a Shakedown Hike To Prepare for Your Next Trek
You don’t want to be several miles into a trek and realize you forgot a handy piece of gear. You also don’t want to realize you’re physically unable to complete your journey. Shakedown hikes are...
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Don’t Bug Me! How to Be Prepared for Biting and Stinging Insects
Are you ready to deal with biting and stinging “bugs” you might encounter on a hike, at camp or just when you’re outside? Here’s info about some of them, including how to avoid them. Ticks and...
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Bug Off! Send Irritating Insects Packing With This Gear
Bug bites are no fun. They can itch or hurt, and some can make you sick. Bug spray can help, but you have to reapply it often, especially if you’re sweating or doing an activity where it might wash...
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