Posts by Sherwood Botsford
One possibility: Check out the home improvement store. Check the tool section. You can get all sorts of attachments for tool belts, including ones to carry things like a cell phone. They aren't...
Case study: Persimmon Pass. We were running a group with 20 kids and 4 adults in Willmore Wilderness in September. The nature of the trails in Willmore: At low elevations they are the remains o...
I use tin cans as pots. I put a nail hole in opposite sizes just under the rim and string a chunk of bailing wire about 1.5 can diameters. Twist at each end. Most cans now have a thin liner of pl...
Prevention is important: Wear the shoes with trip socks for a few weeks before the trip. The shorter distances involved in day to day living will get your feet accustomed to your shoes. There ar...
PFDs come in various flavours: The best ones have sufficient floatation around the neck, and enough more flotation on the front compared to the back, than an unconscious victim is naturally rotate...
Ok. If you aren't going to wear it dirty, then risking its waterproofing doesn't matter. Things to try: First one sounds crazy: You have a stain. Stain the rest of the poncho to match. You ...
The tips in the Keijzers' answer are valid. Some additional comments: Overall the purpose of loading your pack with weight high/close is to reduce the lean you need to compensate for the change...
Some times local disposal isn't unreasonable. Here's my thinking: Animals crap in the woods. Assuming wilderness use, the crap load from people is small compared to that of animals. (Animals us...
My viewpoint: If it is unlikely to be seen before natural processes take care of it then disposal in the wilderness isn't unreasonable. Thus, below timberline, outside Jasper National Park, walki...
In mountain terrain, the fine particles are likely rock flour -- and they are really small If the water has a blueish cast, they are on the order of the wavelength of blue light -- about 400 nano ...
Edit your question, then I will edit this answer: What is the symptom of not working? A: The motor won't start. Check fuel Check that the spark plug works. After this it's pretty much 'my two...
As a boy, I bought Raikle boots from REI. I wore them daily to school, and on my paper route. A new pair would take about 3-4 weeks to break in. One way I read about in a hiking book was to take...
I am not a climber. These should work in the sense that they are unlikely to fail. But be sure you understand both the original purpose and the history of the sling: A: Some emergency stuff -- ...
Geologically significantly different. Fjords are flooded glacial valleys, and usually have very steep sides. Often the fjord itself is deeper than the ocean beyond it's mouth. Many have very inac...
How about repurposing an old belt. Add a few more holes to it.
Charles answer is the correct one for speed. The traditional answer is a sheer lashing. 3 loose turns around the pair (or trio) of poles, then pass between the poles twice, pull tight and tie off...
Biggest reason is weight. Horse packers still use canvas wall tents. Almost indestructible if you don't store them wet. But a 9x12 wall tent can weigh over a hundred pounds, and much more if wet...
My work boots are leather with plastic toe protectors (Thank heavens steel is no longer used. Heavy and cold...) I hike in low top Merrells, including boulder fields and scree. The Merrells are ...
Possibilities: Some form of remote sensor, Perhaps they wanted to monitor microclimate values of temp and humidity on a long term basis. Bug trap. The container fastens with wingnuts, while the...
Blue may be somewhat more likely to let UV through if they are poor quality. Most sunglasses now carry some form of label regarding UV blocking. In photography, you often use an orange or red fil...
Canadian topo maps have a diagram with grid north, true north and mag north marked on it. Due to the drifting north pole, I will look up what it is this week online, and pencil it in. Grid north ...
We have several feeders. Chickadees will eat nyger until the sunflower feeder is empty. Gold finch and purple finch seem to prefer the nyger seed. So far the only bird that eats millet seed (fou...
I make camp coffee as follows: I use large tin cans as pots. They can be gotten at any restaurant, cafeteria and hold about 3 quarts. It's quick work to add a wire bail to them. Morning coffe...
I run into similar problems on canoe trips. My camera is a through-the-lens viewfinder, not an electric screen. Doing an entire canoe trip (3 weeks) and taking ~500 frames is easy. In additio...
A vivid description of this is described in "Young Men & Fire" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Men_and_Fire Early 50's Forest service is developing smoke jumpers. At the time teams didn'...
