Practical guides on kit design, altitude planning, trip risk, and wilderness medicine — written for anyone heading somewhere remote, not just those with a medical background.
Most commercial kits are built for general use — which means they're optimised for nobody. This article walks through how to build one that suits where you're going, who you're going with, and how far you are from help.
Jungle and desert expeditions both get filed under "hot weather trips" — but the clothing that keeps you safe in one will work against you in the other, and the reasons why determine what you should actually pack for each.
Altitude, polar, desert and marine environments each distort appetite or fluid balance in different, sometimes opposite, directions. A practical, physiology-based guide to eating and drinking properly in each.
Mountain and polar trips both get filed under "cold weather kit" — but the layering system that keeps you safe on a one-day alpine ascent will work against you on a multi-week polar traverse.
Shop-bought freeze-dried meals are convenient and expensive. This guide covers how to build seven days of lightweight, calorie-dense breakfasts, lunches and dinners you dehydrate yourself, plus a sample day-by-day plan.
Movies need drama, not correct management. A FACEM emergency physician separates movie medicine from what actually works in the field — from snake bites to tourniquets to altitude sickness.
Survival is as much a mental game as a physical one — how panic hijacks your thinking the moment you realise you're lost, why staying put is the golden rule, and the simple S.T.O.P. method that gets you found.
Choosing between a PLB, a satellite messenger and Starlink Mini comes down to matching the device category to your terrain and evacuation plan, not just comparing brands.
You don't need a commercial vapour barrier bag to build an effective hypothermia wrap — it can be made from gear already spread across your group's packs, and the order of layers matters more than the materials themselves.
"Drink 2 litres a day." "500ml an hour." These numbers sound scientific because they're specific — but specificity isn't evidence. A deep dive into where the rules came from, what the research actually shows, and why cold and altitude are the exception.
"You need proper boots for ankle support" is the most repeated piece of hiking advice there is. It's also been tested — a thru-hiker cohort study, a basketball RCT, and a military meta-analysis of 16 studies all point the same way. A deep, evidence-based look at what boot height actually does.
Every emergency shelter promises the same thing. A FACEM breaks down the physics of heat loss and tests each option against it — including why a sealed foil bivy bag quietly beats the flat blanket it sits next to on the shelf.
A FACEM reviews the UIAA Medical Commission's guidance on mountaineering after 60 — why age itself isn't the risk factor most people assume, what changes in the body with training, and what's worth screening for before a trip.
More articles coming — medication planning, and more.