10 Best Sporks, Freestanding Tents, Backpacking Survival Gear
Newsletter - September 16, 2018
Freestanding tents are the holy grail of backpacking and mountaineering tents because they can be set up quickly just about anywhere, on wooden tent platforms, rock, sand, snow, and even climber’s portaledges, without having to be staked to the ground first.

Backpacking trips and day hikes don’t always go as planned. The weather can change unexpectedly. You can injure yourself and you might come across someone who needs help. Different times of year can also necessitate carrying different types of survival tools or supplies.  

Sporks are one of the backpacking industry’s greatest inventions. It’s a wonder that they’re not more widely used since they'd cut down on the plastic utensils polluting our oceans. Equally amazing, is the amount of creativity and design ingenuity that manufacturers have applied to making different types and styles of sporks to fit different needs and preferences.

Recommended Products
The new 3L CNOC Vector Water bottle is now available. This easy fill soft bottle is 100% compatible with Sawyer Water filters. Use it as a squeeze bottle or in gravity filter mode to filter drinking water. Also good for extended water carries.

When was the last time you started a campfire from scratch with wood that you collected? It takes practice. But you can improve your odds with UCO's Sweetwater Fire Starter. Each cone starts like a match and then burns for 7 minutes, long enough for you to get your tinder lit. They also work great for starting wood stoves.

More News
Guthook and I (yes, THE Guthook) were on a three-day backpacking trip from the Nash Stream Forest followed by a Kilkenny Traverse in the northern most section of the White Mountain National Forest. It was a reunion of sorts, since we haven’t done any hiking together for a few years, due to busy schedules and life demands.

The SteriPEN ultraviolet water treatment system is a popular choice for backpackers and day hikers because it's easy to use, fast, lightweight, and doesn't leave any aftertaste in your water like chemical treatments. But like all backcountry water treatment solutions, it has its PROS and CONS, and is not suitable in all circumstances.

Orvis' Ultralight Wading Boots are rubber-soled wading boots that I wear with stocking foot waders when I fly fish rivers with a rod and reel. On wider streams and rivers, a rod and reel, waders, and wading boots give you the extra mobility, reach, and precision to place a fly where trout are likely to be holding

About SectionHiker
Philip Werner is the editor and chief hiking officer of SectionHiker.com, named the #1 hiking and backpacking blog in 2018 by AdventureJunkies.com. Founded in 2007, SectionHiker.com has over 2000 in-depth articles and gear reviews that cover every aspect of hiking and backpacking from ultralight backpacking and winter hiking to off-trail navigation. Not a regular reader?  Click here to subscribe to the SectionHiker.com Newsletter.