What water treatment should I use? This question is asked time and time again on hiking boards. Here's my quick and dirty take on various water treatment methods.

Sick of being a pack mule? Think you need 30 pounds of stuff for a weekend backpacking trip? Traditional  backpacker who wants to lighten up? Then this doc is for you! Lightening up does not have to be expensive or painful!  

Scary and/or amusing! My "Old Yeller" stove system  with many trail miles on it. It was 'retired' after the CDT with perhaps 6000+ trail miles on it!  

This essay is my rant about gear and the outdoors. Or rather people who care more about spend time outdoors to use gear rather than the other way around.   

My gear list as of May 2009. Have been getting progressively lighter in my base pack weight with each year. For three season hiking, the base pack weight is now a little less than nine pounds. I'm lazy, so I want to carry as little as gear as possible!