​Everybody that's been Hiking, Camping and Shooting for a while has a list of gear that they always take with them on their adventures. For some people their method of keeping track of their gear is to keep it all in one place. Others make a checklist to ensure that they have everything that they need. We do both.
 
Based on our experience the gear that you need for Hiking comes in 10 categories, Camping has 10 categories, Disaster Preparedness has 9 categories and Shooting gear comes in 17 categories:

​To make it easier for you we have updated and added downloadable PDFs of the Hiking, Camping, Disaster Preparedness and Shooting gear checklists that we use. The checklists include the types of gear that we think you need in each of these 46 categories.

Our website has all the details on the specific gear that we use (536 items from these 46 categories at last count), the reasons that we selected it and links to Amazon, or other locations, where you can buy the gear. Our gear checklists have 54 Hiking items, 122 Camping items, 123 Disaster Preparedness items and 237 Shooting items.
 
You can find these downloadable PDF checklists on our Hiking, Camping, Disaster Preparedness and Shooting pages.

​During our recent trip to Maine, in addition to visiting lighthouses along 200 miles of the Maine coastline, we also hiked all over Acadia National Park. From the Beech and Canada Cliffs, to the Seawall. From Sargeant Drive along the Somes Sound to Bass Harbor. From Pretty Marsh to Jordan Pond. In fact, the only part of Mount Desert Island that we didn’t visit was Bar Harbor because that’s where all the casual tourists flock.
 
In addition to the beauty of the mountains and coast, of particular note was the Asticou Azalea Garden of the Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve which was designed to resemble a Japanese stroll garden. Having spent 16 days in Japan only 2 months ago we were impressed by how a much the garden, which was designed for a coastal Maine setting, looked like the gardens that we saw in Tokyo and throughout Japan.
 
You can see all the photos of our Adventures in Acadia on the Adventures/North America page.

We just got home from a trip to Maine where, as a part of the trip, we visited seven of the larger active lighthouses (there are ~60 active lighthouses) along the Atlantic coast to include:
 
          1) Cape Neddick (Nubble) Lighthouse - York, Maine
          2) Cape Elizabeth and Cape Elizabeth West Lighthouses - Cape Elizabeth, Maine
          3) Portland Head Lighthouse - Portland, Maine
          4) Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse - Portland, Maine
          5) Pemaquid Point Lighthouse - Bristol, Maine
          6) Owls Head Lighthouse - Rockland, Maine
          7) Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse - Acadia National Park, Maine

If you want to learn more about the lighthouses in Maine here is a great website that has detailed information on 29 of the lighthouses:

     https://www.us-lighthouses.com/displaystate.php?StateID=12 

In April we took a 16-day trip to Japan and South Korea - and I’ve finally had time to catch up, review, edit and post some of the 2,500+ photos that I took during the trip. It was a great trip that allowed us to see a lot of spectacular sights and hike all over the countries (both in the woods and in the urban areas). Here’s a short list of the places that we went and the sights we saw:
 

1. Tokyo, Japan
   1. Akihabara, Studio Ghibli Museum, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace Gardens
2. Shingu, Japan
   1. Kumano Kodo Pilgrimages Trails - Daimonzaka Trail, Nachi Taisha Shrine and Seigantoji temple and the Nachi Falls.
3. Kagoshima, Japan
   1. Chiran Tokko "Kamikaze Pilots" Museum,  Chiran historic samurai dwellings and gardens, Shoko Shuseikan Museum and the Senganen Garden
4. Sasebo, Japan
   1. Ohashi Kannon Temple, Emukae Honjin Ruin and Yamashita House, Kozakihana Park - the westernmost place of mainland Japan
5. Busan, South Korea
   1. Seokguram Buddhist Temple, Bulguksa Buddhist Temple, the Gyeongju National Museum and Tumuli Park
6. Fukuoka, Japan
   1. Niji no Matsubara pine forest, Karatsu Castle, Hikiyama Exhibition Hall and Koreyoshi Takatori's historic residence
7. Hiroshima, Japan
   1. Miyajima, Itsukushima Shrine and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
8. Kochi, Japan
   1. Katsurahama Beach and the Kochi Castle
9. Kyoto, Japan
   1. International Manga Museum, Nishiki Market, Mameshiba Café, Kiyomizu Temple and Kiyomizu area and Gion
10. Osaka, Japan
    1. Osaka Castle, Umeda Sky Building, Dotonbori, Lucky Owl Café and the Harukas 300 Observatory

You can see all the photos of our Adventures on the Adventures/Asia page.

Recently I’ve had a few people ask about video reviews of the various firearms listed on our website. Since we haven’t recorded any YouTube reviews ourselves - we decided to add the best YouTube reviews that we had seen to the site. These reviews include the following:

• Smith & Wesson M&P Shield
• Beretta 92FS
• Walther H&K MP5 A5 22 Rimfire Carbine
• Israel Military Industries (IMI) Model "B" Uzi
• Hi-Point 995TS
• Coharie Arms CA94
• Kriss Vector
• CZ EVO3 S1 Scorpion
• Winchester Model 121
• Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 AR-15
• Stag Arms Model 9 AR-15
• Stag Arms Model 3 AR-15
• Colt R6550 A2 Sporter II AR-15
• Benelli SuperNova Tactical Pump Shotgun
• Franchi Law-12 Semi-Auto Shotgun
• Franchi Spas-12 Semi-Auto/Pump Shotgun

 
You can find the YouTube firearm video reviews on the Handgun, Carbine, Rifle and Shotgun pages.

​As an example, here’s the Uzi review from the Military Arms Channel.

​We just got back from a trip to Maryland, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Saw lots of interesting historic sites as we hiked through the Maryland countryside, the heart of DC and Gettysburg.
 
In Maryland we saw the sites of Point Lookout Prison (the largest Union prison camp for Confederate soldiers of the Civil War), Fort Lincoln (one of three forts constructed for the defense of Point Lookout) and the statue commemorating Benjamin Welch Owens Confederate States of America (CSA) Medal of Honor actions at Gettysburg.
 
Although not "backcountry" hiking our trip to DC qualified as a 10 mile "urban" hike. We walked everywhere and saw everything that we could fit in. Saw the Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, National Archives, National Gallery of Art, Capitol Building , Washington Monument, WWII Monument, Viet Nam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Korean War Monument, White House (even got to see the President's helicopters fly in) and the Hamilton statue at the Treasury Building.  The weather was 70 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze and reasonable humidity - so it was as close to a perfect as you could hope to have in DC.
 
In Gettysburg, after going through the museum and the Cyclorama (a 360° cylindrical painting of the battle, originally commissioned in 1884, that's 42 feet high and 377 feet in circumference), we hiked all over the battlefield - focusing on Little Roundtop, the Devil's Den, the Bloody Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard since that is where the most critical fighting occurred.
 
You can see all the photos of our Adventures on the Adventures/North America page.

​Everybody that has been Hiking, Camping and Shooting for a while has a list of gear that they always take with them on their adventures. For some people their method of keeping track of this gear is to keep it all in one place. Others make a checklist to ensure that they have everything that they need. We do both.
 
Based on our experience the gear that you need for Hiking comes in 10 categories, Camping has 10 categories and Shooting gear comes in 17 categories:

​To make it easier for you we have added downloadable PDFs of the Hiking, Camping and Shooting gear checklists that we use. The checklists include the types of gear that we think you need in each of these 37 categories..

​Our website also has the details on the specific gear that we use (304 items from these 37 categories at latest count), the reasons that we selected it and links to Amazon, or other locations, where you can buy the gear.
 
You can find these downloadable PDF checklists on the main Hiking, Camping and Shooting pages.

Last summer we launched our Hiking, Camping and Shooting (HCS) website. This year we're taking on Social Media. First up was Facebook - so last week we launched our Facebook page. Take a look if you want to see what we are up to - or if you want to see the latest in Hiking, Camping and Shooting gear and adventures.

You can get to our new Facebook page by clicking either the Facebook icon in the footer of our website or here: Hiking, Camping and Shooting Facebook Page

Today I added some photos showing a small part of the Adventures that we had on our recent hiking and camping trip to New Hampshire, Maine and Canada. During our trip we drove a total of 2,110 miles and saw sights in:

• Mount Washington, New Hampshire 
• Sebago Lake and Chop Point, Maine
• Saint Andrews, New Brunswick
• Saint John, New Brunswick
• Bay of Fundy National Park, New Brunswick
• Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick
• Brackley Beach and Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island
• Anne of Green Gables House, Prince Edward Island
• Pictou, Nova Scotia
• Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia
• Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia
• Fortress of Louisbourg , Nova Scotia
• Halifax and Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
• Oak Island, Nova Scotia 
• Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
• Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

We hope that you enjoy seeing these photos as much as we enjoyed the activities that went into making them. You can find these new photos on the Adventures/North America page.

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Today I completed adding the photos for many of our larger Adventures in Europe. These photos show a small part of our Adventures in the following locations:

• Lisbon, Portugal
• Porto, Portugal
• La Coruna, Spain
• Bilbao, Spain
• Bordeaux, France
• Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo, France
• Saint Peter Port, Guernsey
• Giverny, France
• Pointe du Hoc and Normandy, France
• Paris, France
• London, England
• Visby, Sweden
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Helsinki, Finland
• Berlin, Germany
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Dover, England
• Canterbury, England
• Barcelona, Spain
• St-Tropez, France
• Monte Carlo
• Florence, Italy
• Pisa, Italy
• Cinque Terra, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Sorrento, Italy
• Taormina, Sicily
• Corfu, Greece
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• Venice, Italy
• Windsor, England
• Stonehenge, England
• London, England
• Amsterdam, Netherlands

We hope that you enjoy seeing these photos as much as we enjoyed the activities that went into making them.

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