Ep 41: Reuben Bolieu on Travel, Blades, & Minimalistic Gear

Reuben Bolieu shares about his many travel adventures over the years and how it's shaped his outdoor lifestyle and work. He also shares some woodsman hacks, favorite gear, knives, and why we should care about spending time in nature. 

Reuben is an adventurer, writer, photographer, musician, world traveler, and survival instructor for Randall's Adventure & Training, the makers of ESEE knives. He's spent most of his life hiking and backpacking through the wildernesses of the world. He's traveled abroad in extreme environments, from the cold climate of Alaska to the desert heat of Egypt & Jordan and the humid conditions of Southeast Asia & South America. 

Reuben continues studying survival techniques, construction, and use of knives and edged tools from South America, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, and numerous countries in the South Pacific and Scandinavia. He's a part-time knife designer and created the TOPS Knives C.U.B. and ESEE Knives RB3. He has published many articles on survival, knife and tool use, woodcraft, shelters and remains a lifetime survival student.

Quotes:

"Like laughter, the next best free medication for anything is to be outside, to be outdoors." 

Topics Discussed:

• Getting into the outdoor industry
• "Peak Bagging" 
• The glory days of Forums 
• Knives & the backpacking community
• The necessity of signaling 
• Altitude sickness & preparation
• Packing your fears
• Trail runners & moccasins 
• Thin polyester dress socks for hiking
• Having strong ankles
• Rewarming cold extremities 
• Breaking the gear rules
• Avoiding the "ugly American" stereotype
• Climbing mountains
• Knife preferences 

Resources Mentioned:

• Adventure Ready Brands
• Gossamer Gear
• Tuff Possum Gear
• Wazoo Survival Gear
• Uberleben
• Victorinox
• Platypus 
• Morakniv
• TOPS Knives
• Asolo Boots
• S.O.L.
• Wilderness Athlete
• Coalcracker Bushcraft 
• Randall's Adventure & Training
• ESEE Knives
• Reuben Bolieu
• Adventure Food Guy
• LMNT
• Dave Canterbury
• James Gibson
• Book: The Ultralight Backpacker by Ryel Kestenbaum
• Book: Beyond Backpacking by Ray Jardine
• Book: S.A.S. Survival Handbook by John Wiseman
• Book: Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties by D.C. Beard
• Book: Camping and Woodcraft by Horace Kephart
• Book:

The Adventure Made Podcast is sponsored by Rewild Gear. Essential gear built for the great outdoors, designed to fue