And with it, lots of outdoor activities. If you’re anything like me, you love getting new gear to play with while you’re hiking, camping, climbing, biking, etc. If you’re even more like me, you hate paying retail for it. And if you’ve read this far, you’re probably like me to the extent that you have at least a minimal set of skills/desire to make this stuff yourself. Ray Jardine is the man who invented cams for use as climbing protection, as well as revolutionizing the backpacking world with his ultralight tactics to make things better on the trail. (Ever trim the edges off your topo map, so it’d be lighter? Betcha he did it first.) His website has some projects for free, and some for sale, and a bunch of books about the ultralightweight backpacking world.
Backpacking.net also has a ton of projects for making ultralight backpacks, stoves, tents, and lots of other accessories. They also feature reviews of commercially available products, so you can compare stoves before you kick down the 25 cents for the store brand soda, the can from which to build your own stove.

If you get started now, you should have time to finish your tent, stove and sleeping bag in time for camping season 2006…

Josh : DIY Projects
March 18th, 2006