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Never allow them to sleep. Even if hypothermia is not that severe. I'm talking from a personal experience where two fellow trekkers died due this. The reason is when you go the sleep, your breathi...
I see three priorities: Make sure no one gets hurt Make sure possessions needed for survival (food, tents) are not destroyed Make sure the fire doesn't spread further and become a forest fire I...
The USGS Fort Collins Science Center published the following map of the conterminous United States in 2005: It has been published as a factsheet with a PDF (that can be zoomed for more detail): ...
In addition to zoul's excellent answer, the Bowline has another drawback in that it can come loose (or even undone) after repeated load/unload cycles (i.e. weighing and unweighing the rope). This ...
It doesn't take -20°C to form ice near waterfalls or freeze curtains of water, though perhaps it takes that to freeze fast-flowing falls entirely. See this Blog entry from which these pictures wer...
It takes me about 40 minutes to pack for an overnight or longer trip, and this includes making and packing sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. The biggest advantage is that I know exactly what I n...
I've got experience with this. The first trick is prevention: we would encourage our kid at any rest break to walk around bare-bottom and try to get them to go pee (there's tons of techniques, ...
Close your eyes and stay in a prone position with as few bounces as possible. This works very well for me on boats, and when there is an extra seat available, on an air plane. It maintains a stabl...
Actually they can probably be fixed. For the cap there are two options with JB Weld that I have used. The first is described here, but basically consists of coating the original cap with JB We...
We used an Ergo baby carrier when our now 5 year old daughter was too small to walk. I am fairly small (5'2" with a narrow frame), so the bigger backpacks with frames like Kelty didn't fit me. ...
My money goes to a Mora knife for all around usage and cost. And very very sharp right from the factory. $12 - $20 is not bad at all. I ended up buying the Mora Heavy Duty recently which is much t...
In the Top Gear Winter Olympics special Richard Hammond (and the car he is inside) are subjected to extreme winter conditions (-40°) at the MIRA test labs. Hilarity ensues. Top Gear segment: http...
Maybe you're thinking of the Vertical Chill, at Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden? This is like a giant refrigerator for ice climbing but not rain and wind. http://www.vertical-chill.com/vertical-ch...
The garbage bags are soft and flexible, so they'll fit around stuff a lot easier than a rucksack. As well as being stiffer a rucksack will be divided into different compartments. The volume will in...
While I agree with the above comments, one thing worth noting is that, like all "luggage", there is a certain element of "stuffability" possible in a backpack, which would not be possible in a bin ...
General tips to help you out: If your boots have felt liners, then remove the felt liners and keep them in your sleeping bag. It goes a long way to making things bearable in the morning, but I'd ...
The primary rating that should be on the bag is the pounds of insulation. It is a somewhat imperfect measure, but a summer bag might well be 2 or 2.5 pounds. A three-season might be 4, but that w...
Please don't drink alcohol to stay warm. It may make you feel slightly warmer temporarily, but it isn't actually helping you. According to my favourite volume on Wilderness Medicine (page 156), a...
When exactly do you plan to go? If you head over there in mid-late June, you should be completely fine without reservations. High-season for European trekkers doesn't start until much later in the ...
Some non-tested ideas: Put rubbers/galoshas (or any other huge size boots) on your ski boots. Remove the soles of your previous ski boots (or any other of your old boots with good grip) and glue ...
Beal Ropes has a guide that covers this. Read the page but here are two images for quick reference: A robust half rope such as the Mammut Genesis is probably a very good choice; such a rope is...
From personal experience, I would say that maps made by an organization that focuses on the area in question are the most accurate. For instance, here in the Easter USA, I wouldn't head out on the ...
I haven't used a wigwam, but I expect you'd have the same issues as with any shelter. You have to expect there to be some smoke, but you want the amount of smoke to be as low as possible. Perhaps t...
In one of the series of Survivorman the Les Stroud has put into fire the whole fallen pine. A very thick trunk will burn for a long time. Generally, the thicker the wood the longer it will burn. A...
Depending on the terrain, a map is often very usable even without a compass or a GPS. If the terrain is anything-but-flat you can generally use the contours of the terrain to orient the map correct...
