Posts by Martin F
I believe key parts of your question concern both the size of the toe hole and the length of the pivoting, clawed sole plate. I suspect that an ideal adult snowshoe would come in different sizes, l...
There are at least two companies that make cleaning and proofing products specially for outdoor gear of various materials: Nikwax and Grangers. They both recommend first pre-washing the item in the...
Let's address what you refer to as "Grid declination". Unfortunately, there are two competing definitions: First, the definition you are conforming to, is that it is the angle from grid north to m...
Here are some articles that claim that pedal beats paddle, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak: paddlecraft.com.au: What-Everybody-should-know-about-Pedal-Powered-Kayaks yakgear.com/the-pros-a...
Sit-on-top kayaks are a popular alternative to traditional sit-inside kayaks. One advantage is that they sometimes come with a foot pedals for propulsion. The foot pedals are linked, via gears, eit...
The folks at Smartwool explain why you should not use fabric softener on Merino wool: Machine-wash on gentle cycle in warm or cool water (avoid hot water as heat may shrink wool). Use mild soa...
Yes, snowshoes can be very useful when mountaineering. The ideal conditions for their use are lots of snow and fairly gentle slopes. The deeper the snow, the greater the advantage snowshoes have ov...
A strap running through a buckle is typically easy to loosen and tighten as desired. Usually, it stays in place. Sometimes, however, it slowly (or quickly) works its way loose, as though the thickn...
Something not widely understood yet of critical importance is the cold water shock phenomenon. Cold-water shock is the first stage of the sudden and unexpected immersion in water which temperat...
They are said to be little patches that simply stick onto clothing, lasting for 12 hours. They are made from "natural ingredients" and DEET-free so I have my doubts. How well do they work?
The simple answer is to first draw the declination diagram (or at least picture it in your minds eye). Following is an edit of my answer over at GIS.SE: https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/617...
A great starting point would be to undergo an intensive program in outdoor skills and leadership. In Canada there is COLT -- Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training. COLT is 100 days long and covers ...
You mention hiking boots but you show what are more like mountaineering boots. The difference between the two types of boot have implications regarding their use for certain types of climbing: Hiki...
A thin, heat-reflective sheet (aka “space” blanket) is a popular outdoors emergency item, having a number of uses. See adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/space-blanket and gotimegear.com/blo...
There's a website called Run Repeat that bills itself as "#1 Sports Shoe Review Site". It does meta analyses of shoe reviews. In the search rankings-of-wide-hiking-boots is a list of high ranking...
There are three different ways of describing elevation gain/change for hikes. The least useful – and sadly a very common – method is simply to subtract the starting elevation from the ending elev...
Tandem kayaks are extremely common. That said, some degree of qualification is needed. Unlike "solo" and "tandem" canoeing, the terms "single" and "double" are used. (They can be abbreviated to S ...
Short of seeing a video of your technique, here is some general advice. A very common but poor technique in the forward stroke is where you keep your torso relatively still and repeatedly push and...
There are canoe and kayak versions of the indoor rowing machine. Essentially, instead of sliding back and forth, pulling an oar, to simulate rowing, you are sitting/kneeling in place, pulling/pushi...
Ethanol is usually sold as bio-ethanol in Canada, although, strictly speaking, it is really denatured alcohol (i.e., it has an additive to prevent people from drinking it). While you can get it fro...
Possibly the easiest camping stove to maintain – and very easy to make – is the alcohol stove (aka spirit burner). It's just some form of cup with ventilation – no pressure, no pipes, no nozzles. I...
There are four common types of stove alcohol: methanol, ethanol, denatured alcohol, and isopropanol. You can usually find them in hardware stores and (but not always) in camping stores. You can al...
What are the different names for camping stove alcohol and where can I get such a fuel? Note, this is not about white gas (aka "Coleman" fuel).
The bull hitch is just a cow hitch (aka girth hitch) with an extra round turn. Bring the working end over and around the bar then over itself. Make a turn around itself. Bring it behi...
I reuse "single-use" plastic bottles many, many times. Generally, they do not break. The big advantage of many outdoor-use plastic bottles, however, is that the lid remains tethered to the bottle....
