Time out of doors is a precious commodity to outdoor enthusiast - but are we getting most out of this time. One way to ensure maximum backcountry enjoyment is to get most possible value from gear you acquire and use. Here are 5 ways to get most out of your backcountry gear – and your backcountry experience.

- Purchase best gear you can possibly afford. If you are going to spend a year planning your next excursion on continental divide, spend three months getting into great shape, take three weeks vacation when it’s time for hike, purchase an airline ticket, and so on – then why are you using cheapest backpack you can find? A good backpack will make all difference in world. This applies to all of your backcountry gear. Whether its your GPS unit, sleeping bag, rain gear or dual-fuel portable stove, be sure to carry good equipment in order to get most value for your money. Don’t buy cheap!

Sitting around watching football on Saturday with my Dad, who isn't a degenerate sports junky like most of us, he usually asks who's playing, what spread is and who do I like. This past week, he asked me where each team was ranked and I couldn't tell him for sure, and that got me to thinking about this weeks handicapping tip.

When it comes to handicapping NCAA football games, a teams ranking in Top 25 poll (or omission) should have no bearing on your handicapping of games at all. I liken Top 25 Rankings to a popularity poll in high school similar to most likely to succeed from your graduating class. Isn't it ironic when you go back to your class reunion and find out that your classmate who was supposed to be a huge success rarely is. The same thing happens in College Football Rankings.

You are really limiting yourself if you handicap football based on a team's ranking, or include this in your decision making process of whether to play on a team or not. Teams in Top 25 will obviously not lose as many games, but against spread (ATS), over course of a season, Top 25 teams will lose more games than they win because of lack of line value with favorites. This is what you are concerned about in sports investing, finding winners.

Key elements of handicapping football are line movement, situational handicapping, match-up information and line value.

Line movement is tracking how a line moves throughout week. College Football lines are up late Sunday afternoon. Movements early in week are indicative of smart or sharp money. Line movements later in week (Friday and Saturday morning) are caused in most cases by Public.