Posts by Sherwood Botsford
@ShemSeger has a good answer. Some additional bits: Don't try to go straight up. Doing a traverse is faster in fine scree. The uphill foot doesn't bury the lower foot. place your foot as close...
The tables above are generalizations. "Your mileage may vary" But the numbers to me do not look like extended effort numbers, but huddle and try to remain conscious numbers. Swimming results is ...
I was doing ski patrol at a local low level hill. As skiing the hill is not very challenging. One fellow patroller suggested decreasing the tension in my bindings. By doing this, and popping a b...
You will need more than one pair of pants. Nylon hiking shorts. Dry fast. Cool in hot weather. I'm uncertain how culturally appropriate shorts are on adult males in SA. In touristy areas they...
As a reference, see Patterson's "The Dangerous River, Adventures on the Nahanni" book. He would prospect for gold, and had a camp a good ways up the river. His boat was in effect a 30 foot long 5...
We had this as a constant issue when I worked in a school with a strong outdoor program. General things As group size increases problems increase faster. The distance between the first and las...
There are two approaches you can take: Wear heavier shoes that wear longer, or wear lighter/cheaper shoes and replace as needed. I'm interested that you wear shoes out. I typically get about 500...
I don't think it is possible to explain how to do this in words. Peilonrayz makes a good crack at it, but even as a skier I get confused by this. It's like trying to tell someone how to tie their ...
Smoke contains phenols which are antioxidants, and anti-microbial. This reduces fat going rancid, and bacterial growth on the surface. Smoke also contains formaldehyde, poisonous to bacteria and p...
Answer so far: James is correct -- when possible go around. Move between clumps. Crossing powerline ravines, it can help to go up or down stream to wooded terrain which shades them out. If yo...
Trees that grow in cold climates have a chilling requirement -- a certain number of hours below a certain temp that they must have before they break bud. If they don't get enough chill, they don't...
I'm on holiday near Sechelt right now, and have been hiking the trails and powerline right of ways. On several occasions I've come to the end of one trail, and can see the start again on the other...
For horses I've seen various numbers but 125 to 250 seems to be the range. This depends on the breed, the difficulty of the terrain, and the length of the trip. Horses need a lot of time to graze...
They have zero insulation value. They have near perfect IR reflectivity and are vapour tight. This is unlike most things you have used. Since they are dirt cheap (in the flimsy emergency form, u...
A lot depends on how the water system in your RV works. Some RV's really aren't made for winter use. Others are designed from square one to be usable at cold temps. These will have heat tapes on...
Smoke has it's hazards. For 30 years I cooked over open fires for about 6 weeks a year. It's irritating as heck, but I don't have obvious problems. That may be about as good as the 2 pack a day ...
They are a hassle to use. On every trip I've been on, I've adjusted layers a dozen times a day. The last thing I want to do is to take apart my liner from my shell. It's much better to have se...
If you are going to go backpacking, get a system your back is going to be happy with. $200 is not unreasonable. I mention several options below, but these are mostly canoe trip use -- portaging i...
The old style pocket compasses worked just like that. The problem: If you use a compass without using that arrow -- just using the degree marking on the dial, your error will about triple. I...
Locally one of the forms of firestarter our hardware store sells amounts to coarse sawdust mixed with candle wax. Break a piece in half to get a rough edge to start. You can make your own from old...
Most countries have a national mapping service. In the U.S. it's the U.S. Geological Survey. In Canada it's the national topographic service. In the UK it's the Ordinance Survey. Google is grea...
A lot depends on the type of snow you get. Ojibwa regarded snowshoes as 'disposable' You made them for the current conditions, used them for a week or a month, or a winter, and threw them away. H...
Part of this is learning to pay attention to what your body is doing. I had a friend on a dogsled trip who was soaked when we reached camp: He could wring water out of his polypro underwear. Me,...
Little things add up. Do you need a set of batteries a day for your GPS or is 3 sets enough for a week. Take food out of boxes. A plastic bag is 6 grams. A box is 40 grams. -- about an ounce....
I'm taking a different tack. I have slept both in and out of a tent on many winter nights, and I will not use a tent unless there is significant wind or precipitation. Here's the problem: The te...
