Toby Speight‭

What equipment should I carry in case of emergency on a coastal kayaking trip? I normally do short trips (1 week or less) around the islands of northwest Scotland. I tend to travel solo (sometimes...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Here's what I normally take with me on these trips at the moment. I can divide them into what's needed before, during and after an incident. Avoiding trouble clothing and food (including drink)...

posted 8y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

You need to know whether the magnetic declination you have was measured from Grid North or from True North. If you have a Grid declination, then you align the north arrow of the compass with Grid...

posted 7y ago by Toby Speight‭

Higher-end compasses have a north arrow that can be rotated relative to the baseplate - usually with a screw adjuster somewhere around the edge. The grid lines on the baseplate remain in a fixed p...

posted 7y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

This is an unsourced quote, I'm afraid, but perhaps relevant. Reflective foil is very effective, reducing radiated heat loss by 97%. That's almost all of the 5% we lose by radiation. In othe...

posted 7y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

If you are overdue, and the search party know you have a PLB, the fact that they have not received an alert from it suggests either you are merely delayed, and will turn up soon, or you are so in...

posted 7y ago by Toby Speight‭

A good rule I was taught as a teenager is that each person must keep contact with the person behind them. Importantly, don't try to keep up with the person in front - if they are following the rul...

posted 6y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by System‭

In short, just the name. Fjord is of Norse origin, loch of Gaelic. They are the same feature, formed when glaciers debouch into the sea. In both countries, you'll find varying scales, from a few...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

A flare is designed around producing light or smoke for a long period (often 30 seconds or more), rather than heat. If a flare is all you have, then it may serve as a fire-making tool, but I would...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

You need to be looking for semi-static rope, as used by cavers for SRT, usually of thickness between 8.5 and 11.0 mm. It's normally sold in 200-metre reels, though most retailers will cut to a spe...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭

If appearance isn't important, you may be able to get away with stitching a new loop to the remains of the old. It will be fiddly, and not amenable to machine stitching. Another possibility, if i...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Given that you're top-roping, very little needs to be on your harness when you're actually on the route. In fact, one of they joys of top-roping is the freedom from all this clutter! Everything e...

posted 6y ago by Toby Speight‭

GPS track logs can be shifted in time using GPSBabel's track filter: Example 4.8. Time-shifting a track with the track filter The following command line will shift all tracks to be one hou...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭

If you don't have an electric hot-knife, it's possible to heat a (sacrificial) table knife in a flame until it glows, and use that to make the cut against a wooden block. It doesn't need to be sha...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

A mnemonic rhyme I was taught as a teenager (in a region with westerly declination) is Grid to Mag -> Add Mag to Grid -> Rid Doesn't help those with easterly declinations, of course (...

posted 5y ago by Toby Speight‭