Abstract Expedition resilient data-collection technology is an often-overlooked hurdle facing outdoor education researchers. How can interviews and observations be captured in remote areas? This reflection piece traces the challenges and solutions discovered in preparing and conducting research on a 10-day wilderness expedition. Issues of recording capacity, green power, and instrument protection are addressed. The digital recording of both interview data through an mp3 player and observational fieldnotes on a lightweight keypad are discussed. ********** Many qualitative research textbooks, if they even deal with recording technology, plausibly assume that a controlled environment is available, that electricity is accessible, and that transportation of the recording device poses no risk of damage. Yet, these are the trials facing expeditionary data collection. The motivation for this piece comes largely from the enthusiastic interest expressed by fellow researchers towards the fieldtechnology used during my research. While I expect some of this is mere 'boys and their toys,' I do think expeditionary travel presents particular challenges to research data collection. My research might best be called applied philosophy. Specifically, I'm looking to see what can be made of character development on a wilderness expedition when viewed through a virtue ethical lens (Aristotle, trans. 1999). I have attempted to bridge theory and practice through participant observation. Field-based interviews and observations, taken over a 10-day expedition, allowed me to experience phenomena in its natural context as it unfolded; how I captured these data is the substance of this paper. Interviews As a good hammer is essential to fine carpentry, a good tape recorder is indispensable to fine fieldwork. (Patton, 2002, p. 380) My search for appropriate technology began with an assessment of the recording environment. The expedition was to take place in the boreal forest of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. The weather was expected to be conducive to interviewing with temperatures in the mid to upper-20s Celsius, a predominance of sunshine interspersed with mild showers and occasional thunderstorms. The interviews, all individual, would take place during daylight hours (6am-10pm).If rain or bugs proved menacing, and my co-instructor was available to be a visual witness (research ethics), the interviews could retreat into in a tent. The setting now framed, my first dilemma was whether to record in analog (tape) or digitally? I decided to digitally record my interviews for several reasons: 1) Most significantly, since my data analysis would utilize Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS), I wanted my interviews captured digitally to allow for 'coding on the WAV.' That is, coding directly onto the recorded sound wave (extension .WAV) file. The CAQDAS program, Atlas TiTM, allows the digitally recorded WAV file to be uploaded into the program and coding performed along the duration of the audio file; 2) Digital sound quality appears to be consistently better. One university's professional transcribers estimated that 20% of the taped interviews given to them were at least partially incoherent (Patton, 2002, p. 381); 3) Lastly, digital recording has a functional convenience: instantaneous rewinding/ fast-forwarding; ease of data storage and security; interviews can be listened to on computer, mp3-player, or a CD-player. Having decided that a digital recorder would be advantageous, I now needed one that would withstand the journey. While the attributes germane to something passing as 'expedition-grade technology' are as limitless as their users, the rubric I used was: cost-effective, durable, light, and small. These qualities were sought against the following requirements: capacity (enough space to record for up to 25 hours), power (a means of field-powering the instrument for two weeks), and protection (from impact and water). …