Short clips

Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds

Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Cooking Flame. Nylon Enclosure. Recipe for Disaster?

When we get into challenging climbing in mountain environments space, weather, and other constraints might necessitate that we get our calories in while in the relatively secure confines of our camping tent. How can we do that given all the risks that come from cooking with a camp stove when enclosed? Well, there's a learning curve we should take seriously.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

This Camping Stove Hack Changes Everything

Most commercial hanging kits for camping, backpacking, and climbing stoves are minimalist and light. They can be because they typically fit integrated stoves - where the stove and pot couple securely. This improves safety by containing the flame and creating stability. The full video provides a  build for a hanging kit for a non-integrated stove that will bring us a similar safety profile.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Winter camping stove performance that beats the rest

Integrated stoves for camping, backpacking, and climbing transfer heat very effectively, reducing fuel demands. But the integrated stove and pot are often heavy. There are people who prefer lighter backpacking stoves, but to make alpine-ready hanging kits, they often need a heavier and more robust design to transfer heat and keep open flames away from gear. So, I ran a test on some store-bought integrated stoves with hanging kits, and some DIY hanging kits with backpacking stoves. The full video goes deep into the results.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: Winter Stove Test Results Will Surprise You!

I hear that canister stoves don't work in the cold a lot. But I've also used canister stoves in the cold a lot, and so have many other climbing teams who head to the coldest corners of the globe. However, it could be that there are times that canister stoves make more sense and times liquid-fuel stoves are a better option. The full video goes deep into this test of eight different stoves to shed some light on how the knocks on canister stoves are overstated as well as circumstances where liquid-fuel stoves might make a better choice.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: I Tested the Flextail Zero Pump and was Surprised!

Flextail makes the Zero Pump and claims it to be the lightest self-contained pump for both inflating and vacuum deflating your backcountry sleeping mattress. I purchased my own and tested it out over multiple seasons. The full video provides a complete review of the pump and my take on circumstances when carrying this into the wild makes sense for me.

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Short Clips, Quick Tips (09) Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips, Quick Tips (09) Jason Kolaczkowski

Choosing the Right Tent at a Glance

While I look at a lot of different metrics when choosing to buy a tent (peak height, length, water pressure test results, etc.), once I have made the purchase, there are a few I want to be able to find at a glance so that I can choose from amongst my various tents as I select one for a particular trip. Here's what I mark on my tent stuff sacks to make this easier.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

How Fast Should We Ascend if We Want to Acclimatize? Preview to a Deep Dive

Whether going from sea level to moderate altitude or from moderate altitude to high altitude, our bodies need time - and water - to adjust and adapt to the reduced oxygen we will take in. The full video gives an overview of the physiology, the potential illnesses, and the preventative tactics that all come into play when we experience significant altitude changes.

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Short Clips, Quick Tips (08) Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips, Quick Tips (08) Jason Kolaczkowski

A Route Plan is MORE than Just a Map. It's Mental Flexibility

When we head out into the backcountry for a climb, hike, or backpacking trip, having a sense of the surrounding topography can prove essential. Beyond having devices and apps, taking the time to plot out routes and familiarize ourselves with area maps creates the mental images we need to make decisions on the fly when things get complicated.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: the Right Cook Pot Can Save You HOURS Across a Climbing Expedition

In the older days of gas stoves, conventional wisdom was that a larger pot would make turning snow into boiling water more efficient when on a climbing expedition. But new equipment may have changed the calculus. The full video gets into an experiment I ran to see if smaller or larger pots would be more efficient given different stove types.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: 6 Tips to Stay WARM in a Cold, Snowy Camp

Our boys, Connor and Kade, have been gathering up a pretty good amount of cold, winter, snowy camp experience. So, they wanted to each share three tips - so six tips total - that they find to be the biggest difference makers when it comes to staying warm in camp. The full video goes into all six.

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Make Overnight Camping Trips MORE Comfortable With This Pillow Setup

A video can introduce concepts and even provide tutorials, but it cannot cover all of the variable situations and context of outdoor environments. Learn about something here, but then seek qualified instruction to master it.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: Using a Remote Canister Stove in the WORST conditions with a DIY Hanging Kit

Remote canister stoves often improve stove performance in cold weather when compared to standard canister stoves. But remote canister stoves can be hard to use in the harshest environments when there is no means to safely hang the stove. Well, the full video provides a step-by-step tutorial to build a DIY(ish) solution for that problem.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: This DIY Hack Improves Your Canister Fuel Performance In COLD Weather

There are lots of ways to maintain a warmer temperature for your canister fuel, thus improving the performance of your camp stove when out climbing, backpacking, or camping in the snow. One way is using a bath for the canister, into which you can pour warm water. The full video shows how I made one and some options on how to use one.

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