Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Should I air down tires to drive in snow?

Airing down your tires in the snow keeps you safe by improving both traction and flotation. That said, there are some very important factors to consider before reducing your tire pressure.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Which tires work best in Deep Snow?

Tire selection is absolutely critical when driving in winter conditions, especially if you plan on driving in deep snow. This article covers the top tire choices for various winter conditions that you might encounter.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Maxtrax Vs Budget Traction Boards

Traction boards are a useful piece of recovery gear, but which ones should you buy? We discuss the pros and cons of spending money on Maxtrax vs saving with budget traction boards.

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Tessa Jackson Tessa Jackson

Beginners Guide to Snowshoeing

Dylan and I have spent years snowshoeing in the Oregon back country. We have put together a cohesive beginners guide for getting into snowshoeing. This covers everything from how to rent snowshoes, how to go about finding a good trail to snowshoe and what to wear.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Outdoor Research Flurry Sensor Glove Review

Tessa spent years searching for the perfect winter gloves and went through several brands that just did not cut it... until she found the Outdoor Research Flurry Sensor Gloves. These have proven to be perfect for general winter use with a great combination of warmth and dexterity.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

10 essentials for Off-roading in the snow

When it comes to driving in deep snow having the right gear can make the difference between a good time and an emergency situation. Here is our top ten list of items that we never leave behind when we go snow wheeling.

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Tessa Jackson Tessa Jackson

Ocoopa Electric Hand warmer review

The Ocoopa electric hand warmer is one of our favorite staples in our winter gear closet. It is small, rechargeable (making it environmentally friendly, yay!), long lasting and most importantly oh so warm and toasty.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Fjallraven Nuuk Parka Review

When it comes to extending your outdoor lifestyle into the winter months traditional layering techniques will only get you so far. Sometimes you need a true heavy duty winter jacket to keep you warm and cozy through 20 degree nights around the campfire. That’s where the Nuuk Parka from Fjallraven really shines.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

How to Go Off-Roading In Deep Snow

Driving off-road in the snow can be an exhilarating experience, and an excellent way to get into some gorgeous scenery during the winter months. Yet for many people it can also be little intimidating. We put together this guide for new off-roaders who want to go play in the white stuff this winter, but don’t know where to start.

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Tessa Jackson Tessa Jackson

The North Face ThermoBall™ Traction Booties Review

In continuing with our staying warm in winter theme today we’re going to talk about one of our absolute favorite piece of camping footwear across all seasons… The North Face ThermoBall Traction Booties, aka the puffy camp slippers (the men’s version can be found here). 

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

How Not to Freeze while snow camping

Winter camping can be a ton of fun, public lands are far less crowded and snowy landscapes provide a kind of beauty that just hits differently. With a positive attitude, appropriate gear and a game plan to stay warm you can easily turn camping into an activity that is enjoyable all year round.

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

We Took a Toddler on her first camping trip

When our friend Mike asked if we could help him take his daughter June camping for the first time we couldn’t say no! Watch the video to join Dylan, Mike and June for a weekend of wild camping at a gorgeous mountain lake in Central Oregon. Lessons were learned, fun was had and S’mores were made!

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

How to get a large dog into a Roof Top Tent

We absolutely love camping with Porter, our golden retriever, but it took awhile to get his sleeping setup dialed in for our trips. After trying several approaches we eventually settled on having him sleep in our CVT Roof Top Tent with us, which has worked out great… but the process of getting him up there can be a little entertaining!

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Wildflowers and Creek Crossings in the Three Sisters Wilderness

After three straight weekends of wild camping we mixed it up a bit with a mid-July wildflower hike in the Central Oregon Cascades. At 10 miles this was the longest hike of the year for us (so far) and the biggest trek since Tessa injured here Achilles in 2021. At times it was hot and buggy, but totally worth it to get deep into the mountains as the wildflowers started to pop out.

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Camp Chef Explorer 2-Burner Stove Review

Whether you are a weekend warrior or on a more extended adventure, having an efficient and reliable stove is essential to an enjoyable overlanding trip. When we decided that we were going to commit to the overland lifestyle we purchased two things: a CVT Rooftop Tent and a Camp Chef Explorer 2-Burner Stove, a beast of a cooking implement that we have affectionately christened “Big Greasy.”

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Dylan Garrett Dylan Garrett

Video — Central Oregon Wild Camping in Spring Snow

We have officially launched the Western Wild Youtube channel! Our first video covers a spring dispersed camping trip outside of Camp Sherman, Oregon. We knew that the weather wasn’t going to be perfect… but did not expect to get snowed on for the better part of the trip.

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