Posts by Sherwood Botsford
After a while you get a feel for the country that comes through from the map. E.g. In Willmore Wilderness, you will often find hunting camps that are clear and pretty well made, but are only us...
I currently own 7 pairs of footwear: Croc knockoffs. Used in camp. MEC moc boots. Much like a diver's boot. 3/16" neoprene with rubber soles, toe and heel caps. I like these for any trail wor...
Can't speak to avalanche beacons. However, I have lost a GPS hiking in bush. My suspicion is that I broke the cord, but never noticed it. I have also lost compasses that were strung around my nec...
Take a closer look at european construction techniques up to the invention of asphalt and steel roofing. In general, if you can keep the water off of the building, you can use a water soluble medi...
I currently have the Canada NTS 1:50,000 maps, and the 1990 revision of the complete park map. They don't agree on details, and so far the NTS maps have higher error rates. I also have a couple o...
For odd sharpening tasks like this I have a dremmel tool (handheld rotary tool) and a set of inexpensive diamond hones. Use it wet to keep from clogging, and use very light pressure. You can also...
The primary occluding agent is air bubbles that separate from the water as ice forms. You can get clear ice cubes for drinks by heating the water first to expel most of the air before you freeze i...
Short answer: You can't judge a wet rock's traction by appearance. The slipperiness usually depends on a biofilm on the rocks themselves. That, in turn, will vary depending on flow velocity, tur...
Original answer below. Apparently I'm not the only one incensed by Garmin's behaviour. Garmin has a firmware update for the PN-60 series version 3.7 that was NOT present on their website last tim...
On a dare with a friend I went into the Saskatchewan River while the river was still running with broken ice, and there were bergybits in the main current. The bet was to stay in 1 minute up to ou...
This sort of hard decision happens at lower elevations. In some ways harder: The Death Zone scenarios obliges you to abandon the victim to save the rest of the party. At lower elevations it's of...
A mix of spruce resin, lard, and wood ashes was used by both voyageurs and natives for caulking the seams of birch bark canoes. Spruce logs have smaller branches than pine, and so are easier to ma...
Suggest you confirm by observation: This is sort of what I would expect to see from a squirrel eating. Take a closer look and see if you can figure out if they are crap, or just cores and peels...
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...
Science for this is simple: Hypothermia is not instant, and has a well known progression. Survival times in fresh ice water are 15 to 45 minutes; depending on your body build, subcutaneous fat, a...
I used to snowshoe in winter, and would be out all day. I would take a 2 liter pop bottle, and put a pair of work socks on it to insulated it. This went into my daypack next to me. I always carr...
@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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
