by Christine Conners

Dehydrophobia is the irrational and debilitating fear of dehydrating your food.

This phobia came to my attention after the publication of "Lipsmackin' Backpackin’." This book, designed for backpackers, regularly called for the use of a dehydrator. Despite the book’s popularity, there were a few readers that had an odd negative reaction to the suggestion of drying their food.

Their reaction was so extreme in fact that I, a trained psychotherapist, couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t something more insidious lying beneath the surface. What would cause this? An incident from their childhood? A genetic disorder? A bad case of giardia? And more importantly, what would Freud say?

And then one day it came to me! These people were consumed by a fear, a fear so debilitating that it might forever keep them from discovering the joys of dehydration! They were suffering from a new psychiatric disorder: dehydrophobia.

If you are suffering from dehydyrophobia, take heart! By following my four-week program, you CAN beat this.

As you make your holiday gift lists and check them twice, be sure to keep an eye out for these cool gift suggestions for your favorite gear guy or girl:

By Joe Glickman

No stretch of water on the planet is as feared as the legendary passage around Cape Horn, where gale-force winds, rogue waves, icebergs, and summertime blizzards have sunk more than 800 ships. Freya Hoffmeister intended to paddle around it.

Avalanche Vest

You don’t have to be an avid mountaineer or a member of the ski patrol to appreciate the cool factor of this piece of avalanche protection gear. In the event of a massive snowslide, the North Face Powder Guide ABS Vest’s two airbags can be deployed by pulling an activation handle, much like a parachute. As the airbags inflate, they help protect your head and cause you to rise to the top of tumbling waves of snow, making you more visible and easier to reach by a rescue party. Because the ABS system has all the gee-whiz appeal of a James Bond gadget, it’s easy to forget that this baby is also a functional vest, complete with eight zippered front pockets and internal goggle and stash storage spaces. Thenorthface.com; $1,199.