Posts by Chris Johns
The problem with cotton for base and insulating layers is the fact that it tends to absorb moisture this can be a problem in both cold and hot conditions. In cold conditions it greatly decreases ...
If you just want extra load carrying space then you can buy suitable belts from military suppliers. you can either get plain belt and separate padding which you can slip onto the belt, which is b...
There are two options. First you can sharpen it with a single bevel (per side), this requires sharpening with the wide bevel flat to the stone. Alternatively you can sharpen with a small secon...
I see no reason why not. I have no idea whether climbing is an optimal way to loose wight or not but an form or exercise which you enjoy and actually do is definitely better than one you don't. ...
There are a few reasons. This first is that legs are mostly bone and muscle, which if you're walking is doing fairly constant work. Compared to the head and torso your legs are much less bothered a...
Typically the widest part of a van is about a third of the way up (although this is usually only very slightly wider than at floor level) and they usually narrow a bit towards the roof. I happen ...
Unless you are properly trained in rope rescue techniques I would not advise attempting a rescue unless it is pretty clear that the casualty is in immediate danger. The issue here is that a spra...
Most climbing harnesses support the majority of your weight, if freely suspended, around the tops of the thighs. While the waist belt may be designed to take the brunt of loads in a fall once you ...
Trapping can be effective with very simple equipment and a properly designed and constructed trap should either kill the animal outright (preferable) or not be easy to escape from. Also bear in m...
Fully inflatable mattresses don't provide a great deal of insulation from the ground and tend to be fairly heavy plus they take a bit of effort to inflate and deflate which can become a nuisance if...
The simplest way of smelting iron is a bloomery furnace. This is essentially a beehive shaped structure, covered in clay and containing alternating layers of charcoal and iron ore with openings top...
Why would one want one of these rather than a Storm Lighter? The advantage of a ferro rod is that it is simple, reliable and lasts a long time. There are no moving parts to break or fuel to run ou...
When you say an 'inflatable sleeping mat' is this a sealed foam type one or an inflatable airbed. If it is an air mattress then that could be part of the problem. Because they contain a large vol...
If you are concerned about sharpening I would suggest that the best advice is to find a knife which is easy to sharpen rather than one which doesn't need sharpening. A lot of cheap consumer knive...
Often absolute strength isn't that important and it's certainly not just a case of dragging yourself up with your arms and really it is more about technique than brute force. Equally many people ...
There are two principal techniques for making stone tools, depending on the properties of the material you have available. The first and probably best known is knapping. This is used with glassy ...
This is debatable. In the last few decades there have certainly been a steady stream of new steels introduced into knifemaking, however there are very few steels which are designed specifically f...
There are a whole range of options from simple plastic tubes to something more like a small tent. Ones which have no real supporting structure at all, essentially waterproof sleeping bag covers n...
You could also try releasing your feet first and using the resulting swing to drive the move to the next hold that way you can start use your existing hand holds as a stable base to resist the init...
Often the best solution is to get some fine nosed pliers and push the point of the hook out and through, making an 'exit wound'. This is often preferable to trying to pull a barbed hook back the wa...
It depends a bit on the circumstances. If you have just fallen in freezing water than stripping off will probably get you warm faster as wet clothing will usually conduct heat away from your body...
The problem is that baking generally requires heating a large volume of air to a fairly high temperature and so is not very fuel efficient if you aren't already using a wood fire for other purpose...
The biggest danger in hiking alone is that any sort of injury or illness can very quickly put you in a situation where your life is at risk. anything which immobilises you in the wilderness is pote...
Water resistant is often used where water resistance is quantified usually in terms of static pressure head. An obvious example is watches which have long been classified by water depth in metres o...
There is a whole industry of commercial rope access for maintenance etc and the techniques used are related but not identical to recreational climbing and mountaineering. There are also a few indiv...
