August 5th is the sad anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire [1] in Montana that took the lives of 13 firefighters (including 12 smokejumpers and one former smokejumper), in 1949. The intense, fast-moving forest fire took place in what later became the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness. The events of that fire were chronicled in the book Young Men and Fire [2] by Norman Maclean and immortalized in the haunting lyrics of the ballad Cold Missouri Waters [3] by James Keelaghan. (Warning: Grab a box of tissue, before listening.)
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Today, we present a product review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio. But first, we’re announcing the winners of Round 83 of the SurvivalBlog Nonfiction Writing Contest. Round 84 is already underway. If you’d like to win one of these prize packages, then get busy writing!