Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Welcome back to Gear Abby , the advice column of the outdoor world where Shawnté Salabert answers the weird, controversial, and occasionally nerdy questions that other outdoor podcasts avoid. This week Shawnté and producer Colin True kick things off with the usual banter including questionable social media polls, REI dividend talk, and electrolyte drink preferences; before diving into three listener questions that cover outdoor et

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert  and producer Colin True  tackle three listener questions that move from serious backcountry safety to the realities of trail romance and finally into the world of outdoor industry manufacturing. Along the way there are lightning safety lessons, relationship advice for backpackers, and a guest appearance from industry veteran Eoin Comerford  to help unpack the economics be

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True cover everything from satellite rescue tech to swamp paddling and the mysterious building atop Mount Whitney. It’s a classic Gear Abby mix of practical advice and outdoor lore complete with gator safety tips and a surprisingly deep dive into early mountaintop science. Pre-Question: Is Trail Running a Sport (Again)? Before diving into listener questi

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True celebrate a quarter-century milestone (25 episodes!) the only way they know how: by discussing sex science, ultralight gear controversies, Mount Baldy rescues, heel-lock lacing techniques, and whether America should just let natural selection handle national park safety. It’s chaotic. It’s thoughtful. It’s deeply on-brand. Pre-Question: Enlightened Equip

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True kick things off with rattlesnake etiquette, ancient mega-kangaroos, and Olympic “aerodynamics” scandals before diving into three very real listener dilemmas. It’s equal parts cranky industry hot takes, heartfelt life advice, and hydration-gear redemption arcs. Question 1: Has Trail Running Lost Its Cool? A mysterious (definitely-not-Colin) listener

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True cover an unusually wide emotional elevation range from grief, rage, and civic responsibility to full-tilt poop chaos and climber beef. It’s an episode that proves Gear Abby can hold space for both the heavy stuff and  the deeply awkward realities of spending time outdoors. What follows is a conversation about who gets to feel safe outside, what we o

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True take on listener questions that span the deeply practical, the unexpectedly philosophical, and the proudly awkward. From the future of brick-and-mortar outdoor retail to murder mysteries in wild places this episode is a reminder that the outdoors isn’t just about gear and destinations, but about how we relate to the systems, stories, and bodies we bring a

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True tackle three listener questions that sit right at the intersection of aspiration and anxiety: fueling a thru-hike, learning a notoriously expensive winter sport without going broke, and finding real support for runners with larger chests. Along the way, the conversation veers into enchilada fantasies, mountain-town economics, and the surprisingly complex

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True kick off the year by easing back into listener questions with a mix of thoughtful ethics, practical physiology, and a healthy dose of bureaucratic reality. What starts with reflections on winter safety and outdoor education quickly turns into a wide-ranging conversation about fires, fluids, permits, and the fine line between optimism and logistical hell.

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this special end-of-year episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True ditch listener mail in favor of interrogating each other. The result is a wide-ranging, deeply nerdy, and occasionally unhinged conversation that blends wildlife biology, outdoor industry reflection, and a full-blown gear-of-the-year showdown. Equal parts reflective and ridiculous, the episode feels like a campfire conversation where t

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True tackle some of the most quietly judgmental corners of outdoor culture—those moments where people wonder if they’re doing the outdoors “right,” hoarding too much gear, or willingly subjecting themselves to freezing misery for a good cause. The result is an episode that dismantles outdoor status games, celebrates thoughtful decluttering, and offers a

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True take on some of the most gloriously niche problems an outdoor brain can produce: climbing chalk ethics, poncho pride, and the logistics of dropping a deuce when everything is frozen solid. “The Great Chalk Debate, Poncho Town & The Snow Poop Protocol” leans hard into the mix of humor, gear-nerdery, and real talk that’s become the show’s trademark. Qu

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert wanders from bookshelves to snowfields to elk harems to satellite signals. “Sexy Elk, Big Decks & Women Adventure Writers!” serves up exactly what it promises: big feelings about representation in outdoor literature, practical beta for winter curious folks, real-talk wildlife etiquette, and a surprisingly heartfelt ode to non-phone electronics in the backcountry. Question 1

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode, Gear Abby comes in hot with two spicy debates (permits and tent footprints), cool everyone down with plein-air watercolor wisdom from guest artist Latasha Greene (Jitterbug Art) , then map out U.S. options for European-style hut hiking. As always: humor + hard facts + actually useful takeaways. Question 1: “Permits are stupid.” (…and how to talk your brother off that ledge) A listener asks for ammo to convince her

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to enjoy nature and  your creature comforts at the same time, this week’s episode of Gear Abby  is for you. Shawnté tackles some of the most delightfully disgusting, oddly profound, and completely necessary outdoor questions yet! From redefining what it means to be “outdoorsy” to dealing with backcountry water hazards and an untimely trail shart. Question 1: Can I be outdoorsy if I’m b

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! When British explorer George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he famously replied, “Because it’s there.” But what if the real answer is simpler and potentially more beautiful? Today on Open Container , Doug  explores the deeper meaning behind Kilian Jornet’s “States of Elevation” project , a 3,200-mile, human-powered journey linking all 72 fourteeners in the lower 48 states . Jornet ran, climbed, and biked his way

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True explore everything from elite mountain running to backcountry bidets and dog-friendly tick prevention then wrap with a deep gear dive into a very fuzzy fabric. Pre-Question: Mindfulness, Meditation & Messy Feeling The show opens with Shawnté confessing that she’s back in therapy and newly into meditation... sort of. Colin teases her about doing it o

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! What happens when you build trails that everyone  can ride? In this episode of Open Container , host Doug Schnitzspahn  talks with Berne Broudy , writer, filmmaker, and director of Best Day Ever , and Greg Durso , adaptive athlete and Senior Program Director at the Kelly Brush Foundation . Together, they share the story behind Best Day Ever, a film and movement that began when a few friends realized their local trails weren’t acce

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! On this episode of Gear Abby , Shawnté Salabert juggles listener backlash, bear safety,...

We go to the outdoors to find healing, to find resilience. But how resilient is the natural world on its own? I often think of Gerard...