Posts by Toby Speight
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)...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Falling birdshot stings a little, but I've never known it break the skin. It's no worse than having a 5p piece dropped on you from a couple of feet up. If you're on a public footpath, guns may no...
Well, firstly, there's generally no need, given that any reasonable navigator carries a compass, thereby allowing the direction to be determined. With two or more known lights in sight, a simple r...
For Great Britain, with both climbers beginning at the foot of the next pitch, with leader L and second S: LOn belay: I'm tied to the rope and prepared to climb SClimb when ready: I am now belayi...
An effective technique that I have used in the past for removing mould growth is to clean it using ice. Ice expands inside the tube, giving it very effective scouring force. Start by threading s...
Some places are more sensitive than others. It can be hard to tell whether some innocuous-looking pebbles are a critical habitat for creatures you don't see, but a good guide is to look at how muc...
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 (...
If you find it hard to remember between adding and subtracting, you might have more success with a visual approach. This works for me: I have a spatial memory, so it takes effort to remember lists...
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...
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...
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...
Although I'm primarily asking about caving, this is a problem that exists in any activity that moves through the landscape: walking, cycling, kayak touring, etc. A natural tendency when on the mov...
With suitable preparation, photography can be more useful than you currently realise. The trick is to make yourself some props to communicate the data you need: For species identification, make ...
Common mistakes, some of which I've made: Unfamiliarity with equipment - this isn't specific to winter camping of course, but if you've used all the gear before in milder conditions, then there's...
The top pocket is a good place for things you don't expect to need, but must be quickly/easily accessible in extremis, by touch alone, without opening your sack: things you must be able to get at w...
