I don’t personally know anyone with a “trail name,” but I was introduced to the concept through a few hiking blogs that I keep time with. As The Crow Flies is a blog by a woman with the trail name “Crow,” and Tom linked to a guy who goes by Sole to Soul, which seems needlessly long, but I guess I don’t really know anything about trail names. Maybe the longer the name, the cooler it is—like it’s some kind of role playing avatar for hikers. Personally, I think people just invent trail names because they go batty from hiking by themselves for so long. I think “fake names” are a lot more useful than trail names, which is why people start calling me “Josh” whenever I bump into a parked car.

Much to the relief of every fully outfitted person who’s attempted and failed to summit Everest, the Dutchman Wim Hof failed to summit the mountain in the first only-shorts attempt. He reached 24,278ft and said he weathered the extreme conditions by controlling his heart rate, which allows him to regulate his core temperature. He said he was turned around by a foot injury sustained while running barefoot above the Arctic Circle last year. Sounds like that’s the least of his problems.

via GetOutdoors [Times of India]

The Outdoor Research Radar Pocket Cap comes with UPF 30+ for sun protection and has the popular Castro styling. It’ll look great with my quick-dry, vaporwick Che Guevara hiking shirt. Outdoor Research made the 2.1oz hat with a brim that folds in half so that it’ll look normal when you pull it out of your back pocket.

A customer told me that the 100% DEET insect repellent he used while camping in Central America caused vivid nightmares after a few weeks. After he walked away his friend said to me, “Yeah, or it might have been all the mushrooms he was eating.” Either way, the pharmacology and toxic effects of DEET are still being debated. DEETfree is an insect repellent that doesn’t use any DEET or Citronella, which is a toxic-smelling common alternative to DEET. DEETfree says they use all-natural ingredients and claim their essential oils are highly effective at keeping bugs away. It’ll probably be okay for your kids during soccer games, but I would hang onto a watered-down DEET for camping trips.

via Outdoors Magic

You have to hand it to the people at SkateStoppers for finding a niche market. These things can ruin a skater’s day by closing a favorite spot, not to mention the risk of an unexpected crash. The only defense is finding a lawyer and taking The Man down in his own world after you come up from a newly pegged rail with two broken arms. Not that I think you would win any money in a settlement or be thrilled to tell the police you were skating on private property where No Skating signs are posted every five feet. There’s really no defense for these things, but at least part of the skater aura is being among society’s shunned.