Posts by Kate Gregory
"Things don't always go perfectly" - what does that mean? There is no reason at all you should ever leave plastic behind. Bring in as little plastic as you can. Pack your stuff in reusable contai...
If you have children with you, you will have no worries about keeping yourself busy, you'll be plenty busy. If the weather is nice, your kids might enjoy games like: Throw Rocks in the Water Run ...
The key here is to plan the meals. If you know all the dinners you will make you will know what pots etc you need. That said: Plates 1 per person + 2 or 3 for cooking purposes Mugs 1 per person, ...
At one end, I tie the rope any old how. It can be loose even. Then I go to the other tree and pull as hard as I can on the rope until it's really tight. Then, holding tight, I walk around the tree ...
Out and back is the same as total. The 10 mile trail might be 5 miles out and 5 miles back, for example. If you take a different route back, the numbers might not be the same. For example you mig...
Aluminum is not good at compound curves. My Chestnut Prospector has a section that is concave front to back and convex up and down (or the other way around depending on whether you're looking at it...
I tweeted a link to this question and a series of tweets from Heritage Futures said: A big question and the answer is it remains to be seen. There are no current plans to extend rewilding in th...
Someone with an aversion to snakes has two issues when it comes to a camping trip: seeing a snake and having a panic attack or other negative reaction in a particular moment worrying about seeing...
Your priorities are: not drowning having a boat and paddle you can get yourself home with your stuff Your boat must contain (and to know it will contain these post-flip, they should be attached...
I have a pair of water shoes with a thick rubber sole and a neoprene upper. They provide good protection from coral cuts, stonefish etc. In the past I've used these in the Ontario wilderness (f...
Front country is a rarely used term; it would only be in contrast to backcountry. Backcountry camping means that you are not near the road or in a developed area. Typically sites can only be reache...
If you were a voyageur, among your most important equipment would be your fellow voyageurs and a larger boat so as to hold them all. Assuming you're a little more modern and have a 16 or so foot bo...
Here's the theory: at noon, if you're in the northern hemisphere, the sun is due south of you. At 6am it's due east of you and at 6pm, due west. (Day length may tweak this a little if you're far en...
I have bought the Copper Spur 3 and slept in it now on a cottage lawn and on a backcountry campsite. The advantages (lightweight, easy to set up) are real. There are some disadvantages that I have ...
I have a workhorse of a tent, an Alpine Meadows, (described in this answer) that I really like. We bought it 30 years ago, and at first we just had way more stuff than we should, and eventually we ...
You are going to need some sort of sticks. If you're canoeing, you have paddles. (It would be great if you had 4 - lash them together blade to blade and get longer stretcher handles. With only two ...
I face this problem not for hiking, but for portaging. That is a slightly different situation, but not entirely different. We often went as two families: 4 adults and as many as 5 children. Not onl...
I don't take a tarp to protect my tent, I take it to create another dry area outside - typically for cooking and eating. It can also create shade for cooking, eating, and just lounging around. (On ...
On canoeing trips, especially with a lot of people, I schedule at least one "stay put" day for every two or three moving days. This allows different people to do different things: hike up to a hi...
I have never taken an axe or hatchet camping with me, and I canoe-camp and car camp where space and weight are far less an issue than they are for hikers. In addition to weight and space there is t...
I see three priorities: Make sure no one gets hurt Make sure possessions needed for survival (food, tents) are not destroyed Make sure the fire doesn't spread further and become a forest fire I...
When I get to the "simmer" part of cooking on the Whisperlite, I take the pot off the stove, put the lid on, and wrap it in a towel including underneath and on top. Whatever I am cooking will stay ...
If all you want is to go fast, look for something with ridges or raised runners on the bottom so it will have less snow contact. However you may find it hard to steer - it will pretty much just go ...
My mother swears by a combination wasp-repellant and sunscreen that she buys from Boots in England. I see they also carry wasp repellant alone, at http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Pharmaceuticals-Repe...
With a straght shaft paddle, one of two strokes is common: you put the paddle in the water ahead of you sloped like this \ and don't get great efficiency on the first half of the stroke, because ...
