Posts by Chris H
Even if it's only for a day or so, you'll need to rebuild your glycogen stores (though many light packable foods are starchy and will top these up quite nicely). That requires carbohydrates, inclu...
Approaching this from a slightly different direction, and assuming you're on your own or with one other person and therefore fit in either: Once you're in your sleeping bag you'll be almost immedi...
One obvious activity that will appeal to many (but not all) outdoors people is watching the local wildlife. The sort of voyage in the question can't be far from shore, so watching for birds and cet...
Maybe you could start by burning the thinner branches before moving on to the bits that are thick enough to need splitting, but it probably hasn't dried enough, without much surface area and that c...
I've used bamboo tweezers before. They're normally made by gluing two flat pieces of bamboo togther with a wedge in between, but with skill and suitable thread you could lash the blades together w...
If you can recover a source of glass, you should be able to melt it using a charcoal fire with bellows to force air and increase the temperature. You'd need a mould, for which clay would be good. T...
Salt dissolves in water so will pass though a normal filter or cloth. You can try that with a coffee filter at home. So there's definitely an error in the article. A still (i.e. distillation appar...
It depends on the size of the pocket, so here are a few very different ideas for small things you might want to get at without stopping (for long): Many I've seen would take a small phone or compa...
A bit more than a comment on Olin's answer: I've done an experiment, and no, you can't. I took: a brand new CR2025 some steel wool to make it easier; this is a nice firelighting filament with b...
While there's a lot of overlap, a trail that can't possibly lead to anywhere to stay the night is unlikely to be called a backpacking trail, as backpacking implies multi-day trips carrying sleep ge...
One time I've seen it done is by the steersman of a dragon boat when going straight. It only adds a little thrust but an experienced helmsman can help novices along a little.
One specific thing point not otherwise covered is seams: seam sealant may need renewing, and seam tape may well have fallen off or be about to. I resealed one before the first time I used it, and s...
This is part of the chest strap of an Altura Morph backpack/pannier that I use for commuting. I've lost half the strap and one of my bikes can't take a pannier rack so I use backpack mode on that ...
It's not very different but here are a few things that might help Coming up from behind, a greeting is more common than a warning. I'm often on a bike and if I'm gaining on a hiker or horse rider...
Without spending a fortune on a kayak ergo there are still useful exercises. These will tend to use body weight and and/or minimal equipment. A lot of the effort in kayaking comes from the core, ...
The laminated OS maps at least won't get damaged, but they're still troublesome in the wind. When I used to go to Dartmoor a lot, I had 2 maps, one folded to north sheet, and one to south. That's...
I've just got back from the French Alps and while I was in a camper van, the others were in tents. There are a few things to consider: Will the sun light/heat wake you in the morning? This is a f...
The first problem with folding bikes (which to some extent they share with electric bikes) is that the things that make them special are quite hard to get right. This is in contrast to a standard d...
I don't think it works like you think it works. If you're trying to build your distance, you might do 8 miles one Saturday, then the next weekend do 8 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. The next, 10 on S...
The first difficulty is technical: keeping such food dry requires a moisture barrier, or it will absorb water from the air. There aren't many materials that will do that, and biodegradable plastics...
The dark tint isn't required for UV blocking. That's not to say it's not a good thing to have. Many plastics have strong UV absorption, and some safety glasses have an additional coating. For blo...
On backpacks intended for cycling (including some generic commuting/school bags) this is often described as helmet storage, even if those backpacks have no other cycling-specific features. Bike hel...
Terrain makes an enormous difference. I have a pair of light boots that have lasted me nearly 10 years and probably over 1000 km with many more to go (normally with a backpack, quite often over 10k...
For walking on rough terrain and scrambling in hot conditions I've found hiking shoes or approach shoes to work very well. That is after all what they're meant for. They're a bit tougher and heavie...
One thing worth a try is if you have a tumble drier (clothes drier) that will do cold or at least cool. The last 10-20 minutes on the timer is often cold.
