How to avoid spending a lot of money on kids gear

Posted inTips & How-To
I’ll get straight to the point: we don’t believe you need a lot of fancy, expensive, new gear to adventure in the outdoors with kids. If you have been playing in the outdoors yourself for many years, you’ve probably splurged on some good quality clothing or the lightest pack available, but your intention was most likely to use it for the next 10-20 years. For example, I still have the Whisperlite stove I used hiking the Appalachian Trail over 20 years ago, and it still works great. But kids grow quickly and (unless you have a teenager) the gear probably…

Hiking Gear

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You don’t need lots of special gear for hiking - that’s the beauty of it! But it is a skill that sets kids up for so many other adventures, so it is worth it to do your best to ensure they are comfortable and having fun. Here are the key items to think about selecting gear:Babies: Child carrier or baby backpack carrier: If you use a backpack carrier, it’s helpful to get one with a rain or sun cover Make sure it's comfortable for you (and your partner, or have a separate one for them) An attached mirror can be…

Group Camping

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This week we have an update to our Camping​ section focusing on group camping. As always, we love hearing feedback from readers so we can make this page as helpful as possible. This advice is based on our experience camping in groups organized by our good friends who have amazing organization experience. Plan for no more than about 6-8 families of about 4 people Have one person book a group campsite or multiple campsites that are close togetherUse the campground maps on the reservation websites to find sites nearby (don’t assume consecutive numbers mean they’re close together!) Use a google sheet to like…

First Aid Planning

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This week we have an update to our General Advice section: first aid planning. This list is based on my experience and my wilderness medicine training that I take every 2-3 years and I updated it based on the course I just took in January.  As always, we love hearing feedback from readers so we can make this page as helpful as possible. First aid planning is more than just building a good first aid kit. Our recommendation is for at least one and preferably both parents to take first aid and wilderness medical training to match what you would…

New parent survival guide

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How am I ever going to keep climbing / backpacking / skiing / camping / biking after I have kids? I can’t push myself as hard as I used to or go as far as I used to now that I’m pregnant! It will never be fun again! My friends / coworkers were right, I’ll never do anything outdoors again! Life is over!Obviously most of that is not true, exploring the outdoors with kids is amazing. It is just a lot different - sometimes much harder and sometimes way better. Here are some tips on adjusting to being an outdoor…

Bike commuting with kids

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In a perfect world for most outdoor families our kids walk or bike (or ski) to school each day. We don’t want to strap them into cars for the short journey to school, or we want to bike commute ourselves. This is great when the weather is perfect and the sun is out, but then there’s the rest of the year. And many of us (ourselves included) are part of a two working parent family, so the kids are in after-school programs or all-day daycare/preschool and have to be picked up when it's dark out. ​What are the best ways…

Bike touring with kids

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Bike touring can be a really fun way to explore new places with kids, including small kids. Our biggest concern was to find a place with bike paths or roads that we felt were safe enough to take kids on for longer distances. Ideally we wanted a place where we could go camping as well. ​ Since we were visiting family in Europe, we decided to try bike camping in France, which is famous for bike camping on the canals. We spent 10 days bike camping in Brittany, with a 3 year old and a 6 year old and all four…

How to keep your kid moving down the trail

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The biggest challenge to hiking or backpacking with kids is keeping them moving. It's so important, because we all need to be able to count on completing our hikes before dark or making it to our campsites in time for dinner. Here are the tips we have compiled over the years of hiking with our kids and with our friends:Get the right pacing and timing of breaks: Take enough breaks:  Try to time breaks to milestones based on distance or time Plan for longer breaks to play/play cards every certain time/distance But don’t take too many breaks - experiment to find…

How to go backpacking with small kids

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​Backpacking with small children can try your patience, but keep getting out there because each year gets easier! We started with our kids when they were able to hike a mile or two. This meant that for us we had a “gap year” in our family backpacking journey, between when we couldn’t carry them any more and when they could walk on their own. Here are our tips to make it work:What can your kid carry: (Note: these are rough suggestions, adapt them to your kid’s size and ability levels and consider starting with less stuff when they’re older if…

How to take your baby backpacking

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​Taking your baby on a backpacking trip is a great introduction to outdoor parenting. We took our daughter on her first backpacking trip when she was about 9 months old. It was only one night and just a two mile hike but we loved being able to give her the experience of being in the backcountry with us from an early age. Here are some of our tips on how to make it happen: Recommended age/weight for these trips: Your baby should be small/light enough that you can carry him/her in a baby backpack and ideally with an extra 5…