A normobaric hypoxic tent can be a useful addition to an expedition's acclimatization plan, but like anything, it's usefulness will be contingent upon optimizing it's setup, not just getting it pitched correctly, but also ensuring we can deal with things like temperature and noise. And then correlating real data with how we feel is the secret to knowing when and how to adjust our simulated altitude. Here's a video on optimizing our hypoxic tent setup in ways that go beyond the instruction manual.

What is it like to sleep in a hypoxic tent? What's the experience that isn't detailed in the manual? My family and I used a normobaric (no different air pressure, just reduced oxygen percentage) hypoxic tent to help us pre-acclimatize prior to an expedition to the Indian Himalaya. Here's what we experienced.

My family and I used a normobaric (no different air pressure, just reduced oxygen percentage) hypoxic tent to help us pre-acclimatize prior to an expedition to the Indian Himalaya. Before using it, we already knew that it could help us achieve some necessary adaptations, but not all of them, and so could not be the only component of our acclimatization and performance plan. Here's what we learned from and how we applied the medical literature.

When we think about modern weather forecasting, modern communication devices, including phones, radios, and satellite communicators, electrical power has become more than a luxury, it has become part of our safety chain. Yes, we need to be skilled enough to survive without it, but it's hard to argue that we wouldn't be safer with it. Having reliable and productive solar panel is now a major part of my expedition equipment. Here, I review the Cruxley Field Goods Danger Cat 50 solar panel.

In many parts of the world, tethering our rappel device and extending it away from us has become the norm. In other parts of the world, it is not. So, let's take a look at the pros and cons of extending a rappel device to dig behind those differences.

A disagreement about if extending a rappel device away from us while on rappel makes it easier to hold ourselves up while wearing a heavy pack moved into a discussion about pivot points and centers of mass, and it got me thinking more deeply testing this theory and understanding the results. This answer may surprise you!

Another discussion that seems to get climbers strangely combative is the decision to clove hitch into an anchor or to use a personal anchor system, or PAS. Well, like most things, there are tradeoffs. Let's get into several of those tradeoffs which might tilt you to using one or the other system in a given situation.

Climbers seem to get overly heated up when talking about things like using the rope to make our anchors or using slings, runners, or cords. Well, like most things, there are tradeoffs. Let's get into several of those tradeoffs along with some of the uses cases where I might use one solution over another.