If everything goes according to plan, there will be big changes coming to this site by the end of this month. After being the only owner since the early days of the interwebs – 1996 if memory serves – I am selling the broadsword.com domain to a new business startup. It wasn’t an easy decision, […]

The sun rose far too early in the morning, waking me up with light that flooded my tent. I considered going back to sleep but I could hear Anthony rustling around in his rooftop tent, and Bryon was already up and going. I reluctantly dragged my butt out of the sleeping bag and got dressed. […]

Editorial note: This short post wraps up our Death Valley trip. It covers our drive home and our stop in the historic town of San Juan Bautista, so fair warning: the actual Death Valley and offroad coverage ended with the previous post. There will be one more post after this one to conclude this series. […]

You don’t have to be a fanatical gram-counter to benefit from lightening your backpacking load. What does help is taking something of an analytical approach to your gear. What’s needed is a simple but honest evaluation of what you’re carrying: Will you use this item? Could you do without it? Or is there a lighter […]