Ryan Wichelns

Good Gear: PrimaLoft Creates a New Way to Make Insulation More Sustainable

Ryan Wichelns|July 22, 2020

For more than 30 years, the process of creating synthetic insulation at PrimaLoft’s Vietnamese manufacturing facility was mostly unchanged. Webs of synthetic in...

The Best Backpacking Tents of 2020 Tested

Ryan Wichelns|June 22, 2020

A version of this story appeared in the summer 2020 issue of Uncommon Path. Take the long way home with the year’s best backpacking tents. These eight depen...

Material Science: Everything You Need to Know About Sleep Systems

Ryan Wichelns|June 7, 2020

A version of this story appeared in the summer 2020 issue of Uncommon Path. The Sleeping Bag Many bags you’ll find at REI come with two temperature ratings...

The Best Camping Tents of 2020 Tested

Ryan Wichelns|May 18, 2020

A version of this story appeared in the summer 2020 issue of Uncommon Path. Whether you’re a family car camper, an overlander or somewhere in between, settl...

Gear I Hold Dear: The Teva Ember Moc

Ryan Wichelns|April 29, 2020

Your days probably look quite a bit different right now. Mine certainly do. I’m showering on my lunch break, writing stories from the backyard, baking bread bet...

Tested: The Best Gloves and Mittens of 2020

Ryan Wichelns|February 25, 2020

Your hands are everything in the winter: your anchors to the ice pitch, balance points while slashing powder, tools while setting up camp and utensils to help y...

First Look: The 6 Coolest Winter Camping Products We Saw at Outdoor Retailer

Ryan Wichelns|February 13, 2020

We’ll be the first to admit: Winter camping is a little bit masochistic. But these new pieces of gear are designed to make it a little more bearable, if not dow...

Best Adventures Near Burlington, Vermont

Ryan Wichelns

Vermont isn’t exactly known for its city life. The tiny state is much more famous for its year-round adventures: Ski hills dot the mountains, peaks beg to be ba...

Head to Head: Rack ‘Em Up

Ryan Wichelns|January 9, 2020

A version of this story appeared in the winter 2020 issue of Uncommon Path. Skis and snowboards are big. The decision about which car-top carrier is right f...

10 Things to do in the Adirondacks

Ryan Wichelns

Adirondack Park is more difficult to define than most state—or even national—parks. For starters, it’s massive: The greenspace, codified in the state constituti...

6 Adventures in Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains

Ryan Wichelns|November 8, 2019

The last thing you might expect to see driving across the flat plains of Oklahoma are the bouldery, 1000-foot-tall Wichita Mountains. They bubble out of the pra...

Your Shorts Could Help You Get Rescued

Ryan Wichelns|November 7, 2019

The biggest piece of lifesaving gear you carry into the backcountry might not be something you even know you have. It doesn’t need batteries or a subscription. ...

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