Posts by Chris H
I have a mapcase made of clear plastic (PVC I think). It has a roll top held shut with velcro. Both sides of the velcro were attached by some sort of welding process but one of them has completel...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Stews based on fresh vegetables and pulses (dried or tinned) are as healthy as you like and can be made from only shelf-stable ingredients. With the addition of potatoes or pearl barley you can coo...
I doubt it's possible to get a sensible answer with realistic equipment, as removing evaporation will make you sweat more. So weighing your clothes while tightly sealed would give an overestimate. ...
Bags that are long enough and sturdy enough to take a hip belt probably already have them. The belt needs to couple well to the frame/load if it's going to take any weight so you need more than jus...
Grey squirrels make a surprising range of sounds, including quite a loud one sometimes called barking, but repetitive and rather like a cackling at times. This video collects a few of them; you mig...
Keeping things against the floor with insulation on top is often the best approach for keeping them cool. This could be under the front seats or in the spare wheel compartment, but many modern cars...
Until you got to "shorts and T shirt" I'd have said a waterproof belt bag. I've used them kayaking (on the rare occasions when it's warm enough to go without a drysuit or at least dry-cag in the U...
For one day a phone will do it. Most android phones allow GPS in flight mode and there are plenty of apps that will log tracks offline (I use one called IPbike as a bike computer with data and WiFi...
I spent much of today cycling around quiet country lanes in South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, and saw at least 6 dead badgers on the road. I saw a few others earlier in the week on ...
I have a rather nice 1-2 person hiking tent from over 20 years ago. It's still made, with very few changes, and is a double wall design that pitches in one go. I thought it was nylon but the curren...
There are lots of good reasons to reject such proposals, and these would have stopped them being implemented. Some examples: Deliberate injury - would the emergency services attend if someone was...
Seal them away (in transit and at work - store them somewhere dry and well ventilated at home). You could use a dry bag sold for kayaking etc. Small ones are cheap on ebay but I've linked to some...
It's perfectly possible for both to be true: it moistened your mouth but doesn't help with hydration The act of chewing stimulates saliva production, so your mouth is less dry. But that wastes a li...
