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Erik Vadas-Gauden

The one who started Outfarer

Outfarer started with Erik, who launched it with a few passionate friends. A nature lover above all, he writes about the subjects closest to his heart and reviews a good part of the magazine, including every survival and bushcraft article before it is published.

Passionate, literary-minded and very sociable, Erik loves meeting fellow enthusiasts, and a good laugh. Nature comes first: he observes birds, animals and plants with the naked eye, through binoculars or with a spotting scope, goes stargazing and practises nature photography, right up to stalking wildlife with a camera.

He hikes, walks in the woods, wild camps in a tent or under a tarp, also goes glamping and travels by motorhome. He is passionate about survival and bushcraft: shelters, fire, navigation. His other pursuits include geocaching, archery and target shooting, wild swimming and freediving, paintball, airsoft and scouting. He has been skydiving and done several extreme sports, including parkour, and he has travelled widely.

On Outfarer, he writes regularly about subjects of his choosing and shares what he has learned first-hand. He reviews survival and bushcraft articles as a priority, always before they are published, as well as those on nature and the night sky, observation and optics, camping, wild camping and campervans, and outdoor activities such as archery or geocaching. Once he has reviewed an article, ‘Reviewed by Erik Gauden’ appears in its byline.

His editorial line, which is also the magazine’s: open, cited sources, rules read in their current version, and safety above all. A story is always told by the person who lived it, and an opinion is presented for what it is, an opinion. He has been part of the team since the magazine launched in 2026.

To suggest a topic or report a mistake, write to the editorial team from the contact page: your message will be passed on.

Topics
Survival and bushcraft, Nature and the night sky, Observation and optics, Camping, wild camping and campervans, Archery, airsoft and geocaching
Languages
French, English, German and several other languages
Portrait of Erik Vadas-Gauden

Articles (2)

The Milky Way arching over a dark meadow and a few scattered trees, with a faint glow from a town on the horizonNature

The Bortle scale: reading the night sky

The Bortle scale rates the night sky from 1 to 9: what each class means, what light pollution maps really show, and how to check the sky for yourself on site.

Portrait of Erik Vadas-GaudenErik Vadas-Gauden··10 min

Entrance of a soaked green tent in the rain: muddy boots with insoles out, a wet jacket and a cloth in the porch, sleeping bag dry insideHiking

Walking in the rain: lessons from three wet days

Three days of walking in the rain in the Monts d’Arrée: jacket, boots, rucksack and tent, what gave way, and the routine that keeps the dry things dry.

Portrait of Erik Vadas-GaudenErik Vadas-Gauden··13 min

Articles reviewed (144)

Village motorhome aire seen from above, six vehicles of different sizes between low hedges, a couple walking off towards the rooftopsCampervans

French aires: prices, services, time limits

Free or €30 for 24 hours, limited to 48 or 72 hours: what French motorhome aires offer, based on nine dated examples, from water points to apps.

Portrait of Julien de JurquetJulien de Jurquet··15 min

Hands of a walker sitting on a dry-stone wall, pulling on a grey wool sock next to an unlaced walking bootHiking

Blisters on your feet: preventing them on a walk

Why blisters form on a walk, how boots, socks, lacing and preventive tape help, and how the NHS says to care for a blister that has already appeared.

Portrait of Guillaume HoarauGuillaume Hoarau··14 min

Walker seen in profile descending a zigzagging path of earth and stones across a misty alpine pasture, both poles planted ahead of herHiking

Walking poles: getting the length right

Elbow at a right angle, 0.68 or two-thirds of your height, 5 to 10 cm shorter uphill and longer downhill: the height chart and what the studies say.

Portrait of Guillaume HoarauGuillaume Hoarau··15 min

Woman walker in profile, rucksack on with a rolled tent strapped beneath, checking her watch at dusk on a stony pass, limestone cliffs behindCamping

Wild camping in the Spanish Pyrenees: the rules

Wild camping in the Spanish Pyrenees: Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, Ordesa, Aigüestortes and the GR11, with the texts, altitude thresholds and fines.

Portrait of Arnaud CoudercArnaud Couderc··18 min

Small isolated stone hut on autumn moorland at blue hour, a lit window, smoke from the chimney and a small tent pitched a few metres awayMountains

Bothies and unstaffed huts: the rules

The Bothy Code, the Alpine clubs’ Winterraum, winter refuges in France: what you will find, what to bring, how to pay and how to share the space.

Portrait of Guillaume HoarauGuillaume Hoarau··17 min

Pick-up with a rooftop tent parked at the end of a dirt track in sagebrush desert at dusk, low hills on the horizonCamping

Wild camping in the USA: the rules

Dispersed camping in the USA on BLM land, national forests, refuges and state land: stay limits, distances, fire rules and official maps, agency by agency.

Portrait of Arnaud CoudercArnaud Couderc··16 min