It’s the tenth day of your backpacking trip, and you start to notice that some of your gear is holding up better than others. The cheap new rain pants you bought already have a gash in the thin nylon from venturing off-trail through thick patches of thorny blackberry bushes; yet the old, patched family tent you’ve been using for years is as sturdy and functional as ever. What’s going on here?

Topics: gear, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability

Whether you're shopping for your favorite sustainability nerd or a backcountry fashionista, here are some gift ideas for anyone on your list.

Topics: gear, Expedition Prep, gift

Just because you’re in the backcountry doesn’t mean you need to stop being fabulous. You may think that your wardrobe is going to consist of khaki, black, and gray, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Topics: gear, Expedition Prep, Backpacking, adventure, expedition

If you’re new to backpacking and are getting ready for your first trip, to find the right gear you have a couple of options.

Topics: gear, Expedition Prep, adventure, instructor, backcountry

So you love to work hard and play hard? Is your best day when you go the extra mile and sweat it out, no matter the weather? We do too, so we know that you have smelly shoes, gear, and clothing—just like us.

Topics: gear, Expedition Prep, Outdoors, expedition

The Outdoor Retailer Show is all about checking out new gear, networking with new people, and strengthening our relationship with NOLS partners. It takes about 30 minutes to walk from one end of the conference floor to the other.

Topics: gear, NOLS, Behind the Scenes, #orshow, outdoor retailer show, stackpole, gearcaster, deuter, mountainsmith, trailspace, feedthehabit, wendmag, or summer, nuun

NOLS Instructor Brian Fabel brought his camera along to document the climbing section of a Spring Semester in the Rockies (SSR-4) course. Most footage is from Unaweep Canyon and there is also some from Independence Monument outside of Grand Junction, CO.

Topics: mock lead, gear, canyon, Expedition Prep, climbing, section, learn, top rope, ssr-4, spring semester in the rockies, climb, unaweep, trad, student, lead, multipitch

As a companion piece to our latest episode of the NOLS podcast, Jamie O'Donnell and Lara McLuskey have agreed to answer questions we didn't have time to ask during our discussion on the NOLS layering system. Most of the following questions are from followers of the NOLS Facebook page. Join the conversation!

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and YouTube.

Topics: gear, outdoor clothes, jacket, layers, shirts, wool, pants, layering system, synthetic, Educators Notebook, hard shell, cotton, winter, soft shell