Posts by Sherwood Botsford
I worked with a girls high school for a while. We used standard Serratus packs. As another answer pointed out, the critical dimension is the distance from the shoulder to the hip bones. Girls at...
I got into a 'discussion' with the vice principal of the school I work at. He was worried about the dangers inherent in our fairly extensive outdoor program. I pointed out to him that an analysis...
More canoes are destroyed by flying off a car than are wrapped around rocks. (Western Canoe Company factoid) Best is if you have roof racks. A: Secure mid point of the canoe to the back of the ro...
I have one, and have used it for years. As a warmth device it works primarily as a air movement blocker -- you would get the same effect from a chunk of plastic. As a ground sheet it's wonderful:...
In cold weather a simple thick scarf over face and nose is effective and reducing exhaled water by between a quarter and a half. On inhaling, the scarf is chilled. On exhaling, some of your breat...
Ignoring the valid criticisms on the design of this particular unit, the chief virtue of titanium is the strength to weight ratio. In principle you can cut the weight by half or so compared to a s...
Google waist packs for travel This isn't quite what you are looking for, but may be functional enough for your purpose. Padded ones are often used by photographers. In use, you commonly h...
I have found that many drycleaning/laundry agencies (where you drop off your clothes and pick them up later, not laundromats) will do small repairs/alterations.
Treat them respectfully, but there's no reason to be afraid of them. Excerpt from http://www.kayakguide.com/Kayk-Alligators.htm I Feel Safer Paddling by Alligators than Driving Doing most...
A quick search found this on a vet site: Picaridin is another common active ingredient in insect repellents made for people. Though it appears to have a wide margin of safety when used on ...
Backaches are part of life with backpacking until you have a pile of experience. Causes Compression. You are carrying more load than you are used too. This squeezes your vertebrae together. T...
Wash the eyelets with soap and water (tooth brush) follow with a solution of TSP. (tri-sodium phosphate) Let dry. Apply zinc chromate primer with small brush or Q-tip (cotton swap on a stick) ...
Look for a pack where the ice axe is on the side of the back. Strapping snowshoes to the back of a pack is fairly trivial: usually I rig a loop at the bottom of the pack about 4" in diameter. Ru...
Walk barefoot a lot. Rub your feet with alcohol. Use the 99% stuff, not the 70%. Soak your feet in brine. On hot surfaces it's cooler to run. When you walk, each foot is on the ground more...
Roald Amundsen, the arctic explorer, would stand by his open window without a shirt from the time he was 11 or 12. Myth or fact? Personal experience, living in a climate with big changes between ...
If you are doing outriggers, then do not plane the boat. At those speeds, catching a pontoon on an outrigger can either rip it off, or twist the boat hard enough that occupants go flying. If you ...
Some bags have an adjustment where you can set the upper attachment point of the straps. This often isn't obvious, as you have to un thread the plastic triangular attach point, run the central str...
I backpack with my D7100 and an 18-200 mm zoom. It rides in a nylon camera bag -- just a cheap $20 buck one, that I spray with 2-3 coats of scotch guard water repellant. The strap that came with ...
I run barefoot, and I hike in neoprene water booties. You're over thinking it. A: For your stepping, my preference is to keep my feet parallel to my direction of travel. If you want to practi...
Seed fluff: wild clematis, milkweed, dandelion, thistle, salsify... Birch bark: Shred into narrow pieces (1/16 wide Cedar bark: shred. Nettle fibers. In general google anything that could mak...
HDHM polyethelene. The acronymm is High Density, High Molecular weight. Sheets of it are used to line the chutes for ore dumping facilities, and to protect the edge of highway snowplows. I used ...
We live for a month at a time on the following type of diet. Weights are in pounds if unspecified. Breakfast: hot cereal 0.2 brown sugar 1 oz dried fruit 2 oz margarine .5 oz Lunch: 1 cup gran...
Teach your dog to pack. 4 cups seems like a lot. Big dogs? Our dogs live outside in winter and get 2 cups. The two larger ones are 50-55 pounds. If the main ingredient in your dogfood is corn me...
Given your environment, disguise the packed portion of dirt with litter. If you make it look disgusting (add a rubber dead rat...) more people will avoid even walking near it. Adding something ...
Light colours don't heat up as much during the day, nor cool off as much at night. Light colours allow more light in the tent. If I'm stormbound I'd much rather be in a white/light beige tent tha...
