But dudes. Dudes can rib you if you don't have your knife or multitool handy. Dudes I know check the sharpness of each others' blades. We're taught early to be self-sufficient, not ask for help. We're sposed to be competent & leaderly. So I want folx to know it's OKAY not to be.

I grew up reading Louis L'amour novels. His heroes were the men I measured myself against. Calm. Self-assured. Agile. Strong. Tough. Never complaining. Rarely needing help and never asking for it.

No one can live up to that standard all the time. It's okay to try, but it's also okay not to. None of this makes you less of a man.

But we're given messages that weakness and incompetence and less-than-perfect preparedness make us _less of a man_.

And I want people to feel WORTHY of the outdoors. I don't want them to be scared that they don't have the right equipment or that they don't know everything about how to make a campsite or put up a tent or climb a rock face. Who does?? Everyone who does had to LEARN these things!

For a lot of women, I'm learning that pressures are different. You may have been given messages that you should be light & small & weak & needy. So u might be trying to retrain yrself that it's OKAY to be prepared & skilled (maybe more than men around you! Gasp!) & layered up.

So it can seem like B & I are in opposite directions re outdoor gear/prep. We dont oppose one another! We agree 95% on how to stay warm, how to survive, &c. But I'm valuing permission to just chill while B is in touch w an audience thats had to find courage just to take up space.