Welcome to the backcountry hunting podcast. I'm Joseph on Benedict and we're sitting down again today with my old hunting buddy Joe Kennedy.

Last time we talked, we did an episode on how dangerous all-cutting can be,

how the things that you love,

if you're not prepared and careful,

how they can kill you.

And we kept coming back to gear,

and that kind of prompted this episode here.

We're going to talk about some of the gear that we really value,

some critical items, and how they can make

or break your backcountry experience.

So welcome back here, Joe.

We talked a little bit before setting down here and there are certain aspects we want to talk about,

cold and wet, sleeping conditions and proper rest, handling your knife

and choosing the right knife and so forth.

Let's talk about boots first because you mentioned you had some high top shoes that darn near damage your Achilles

tendons.

Yeah, now you're if you're hiking a lot your foot gear is incredibly important. In fact, I would say it's a necessity to have good

foot gear. Lately, I've been going with a low-rise shoe, something that gives me full mobility of my ankle.

And it also leaves the tendon on the back of my Achilles tendon,

free to have all the movement that it needs to. Those high top shoes restrict you and

a lot of guys I know do wear them and love them. I like to do a lot of hiking. Sometimes I'll run

in the mountains, you know, all kinds of movement and different type of terrain.

...