I've spent the last decade hiking trails across the Appalachians, Sierras, and Rockies, and I learned the hard way that a sub-par first aid kit can ruin a trip. On a rainy Pacific Crest Trail section, my cheap nylon pouch soaked through and ruined half my gauze, leaving me with wet, useless bandages for a […]

I learned the hard way that a regular first aid kit is not the same thing as a trauma kit. During a backcountry deer hunt in the Rockies in , my hunting partner took a misstep on loose scree and opened a gash on his shin that would not stop bleeding with a typical adhesive […]

I still remember the day a timber rattlesnake coiled up next to my boot on a humid Appalachian ridge trail. My heart hammered so hard I could feel it in my fingertips, and the only thing between me and a venomous bite was a cheap suction pump I had bought online a year earlier. That […]

When disaster hits, you might have less than 10 minutes to leave your home. That is exactly why finding the best bug out bags matters before you actually need one. I have spent the last several months testing survival backpacks, stuffing them with 72-hour kits, dragging them through woods, and checking whether the zippers and […]

When you are six miles from the nearest trailhead and someone in your group slices their hand open on a tin can, the best wilderness first aid kits stop a bad moment from becoming a crisis. I have spent the last several years testing backcountry medical kits on everything from solo ultralight trips in the […]