Some older publications by Bicycling Magazine offer good advice. I am currently reading their 1998 paperback "Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills." I have been cycling for eight years and am still learning from it even though it is a little dated. " There is a similar book Mountain Biking.  Try to find a group or two of cyclists in your area and with about the same or more skill and experience that organize trips. Ride with them. Watch them and learn. Talk to them and learn. Ride. Ride. Ride. ... View more

I have not, but I wish REI Stores with large enough parking areas would organize such a thing once or twice a year. ... View more

I second the Ohiopyle, PA area and the Shenandoah National Park. There are some NPS drive in campgrounds in the SNP that are next to or close to trails.  I warn you that the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in WV has become crowded and overrun since Covid hit. It is a LNT Host Spot this summer. Take a look at a few other sites in the Monongahela National Forest such as Laurel Fork Campground and Tea Creek Campground. Both sit on trailheads and are close to other trails. ... View more

I cannot remember ever encountering a backpacking campsite where I could not easily get aluminum stakes into the ground. The most effort would be to step on them with my boot but not pound them with my boot.  At campgrounds however when car camping, some sites and platforms are so hard that a stake will not go in unless pounded. At such sites, I have used the largest nails I could find at Lowe's and pounded them with the blunt end of a hatchet. ... View more

No help here, because all I do is boil water, leaving no pots to clean. ... View more

I carry a pair of light weight and fast drying plastic Crocs to slip into for stream crossings and to lounger around in once I make camp. When crossing a steam, I make sure my boots are TIGHLTY tied to my pack. ... View more

In an earlier life more than forty years ago I was a Nationally Registered EMT. I served as an EMT volunteer as well as worked for pay as an EMT. Skip ahead to a few years ago when I took a Wilderness First Aid Course. Yes, I drew on my EMT experience and knowledge in that course, but I learned that first aid and emergency medicine is a different thing in the wilderness than it is in an urban or suburban environment, or anyplace a rescue squad can easily reach in ten to fifteen minutes to an hour. REI has partnered with the (NOLS) Wilderness Medicine Institute to offer a two-day Wilderness First Aid Course. I highly recommend it for anyone who spends anytime in the back country or wilderness regardless of what you are doing there. ... View more

About an ounce per day, or a little more, sounds about right from my experience of boiling water only for a cup of coffee and maybe instant oatmeal in the morning and a cup or cup and a half of water at night to reconstitute dried meals. ... View more

I have made my own alcohol stoves of several designs using aluminum soda pop cans and steel tuna cans. I think they are a little messy compared to cannister and even liquid fuel stoves. On longer trips I will sometimes carry a basic alcohol stove and a few ounces of denatured (rather than isopropyl) alcohol as a backup in case I run out of fuel or something. The alcohol can double as a disinfectant. ... View more

Hello, Nikki, and welcome. Generally speaking, what part of the globe do you call home? ... View more

I experienced a shortage in my area a year or so ago when people started getting outside after the Covid shutdown. Since then, I have learned to always keep two or three around the house. After all, oine never knows when the power might go out and you will need to revert to your backpacking/camping gear for household use. I use the liquid fueled MSR for winter camping and always have some liquid fuel on hand as well. While I would prefer the light eight and convenience of cannister fuel in warmer weather, I could always use my liquid fueled stove if I needed to. ... View more