Posts by Chris H
I'm looking for easily obtained fuels for an open-cup stove, such as a Trangia, in case I need to top up while travelling. I have a small simple DIY open cup spirit stove, for boiling water when b...
Mobile mapping is optimised for colour, which isn't available on any of the e-ink devices I can find, despite talk of colour e-paper since about 2013. Having played with black and white prints of ...
As some of you who are also active on bicycles.se may know, I broke my collarbone in a bike crash last year, and it's now got a titanium plate in there. I'm not sure whether it's the plate or not,...
I regularly cycle to the pool with limited time, and have found that the best option is trunks, but they don't have to be as skimpy as we tend to think of as speedos. Mine (similar to these but a l...
A massive advantage of paper maps over electronic is the combination of area and resolution. You can take a bearing to a mast on top of a hill several km away, when zooming out that far on a GPS sc...
To me, and I'm no climber, this is about outdoor activities in general. You could equally ask why people kayak in the wilds rather than going to the artificial whitewater centre that's always relia...
Another difficulty (or at least downside) of a combined system is that while combining pedalling and paddling uses more muscles, they're still only supplied by one heart and pair of lungs. Either m...
I'm not a climber so this is a non-expert thought that was nearly just a comment. Could something have changed affecting your ability to hold awkward positions, perhaps a loss of suppleness if you...
I'm not much use with a needle and thread, and would be worried about piercing a breathable membrane, so what I'd do is get some light webbing of the same width (this might be tricky to find) and u...
If you've got the strap to the perfect length and want to maintain that length, you can sew a small fold in the strap, similar to what's used at the end to stop the whole strap running through. Sli...
This is rather speculative, but draws on a few birding/wildlife books I've read and it's too much for a comment. It also has a little UK bias, but I've visited 4 continents on wildlife trips, and m...
Carrying less weight makes a big difference. My packing follows the "be prepared" style more than the ultralight one, but even I admit it's easy to carry too much. Stepping cautiously especially o...
If the devices are fully turned off, sensible amounts of insulation won't keep them warm overnight as they won't give off any heat. If they're turned on and giving off heat, too much insulation can...
I use a small cotton towel, such as a tea towel, folded a few times in to a long strip. If the pan is small and light you can wrap the towel round and hold the ends tightly together to form a handl...
The first thing to consider is where you're going to be carrying it, and under what circumstances. The (optically) best scopes are heavy and bulky and need a solid tripod; they're not ideal if you'...
One thing you can do is close up the gap under the fly sheet on the upwind side using something you already have. That's easy for me - I go bike camping and my panniers are heavy duty dry bags that...
In the UK many petrol stations (which, BTW have some of the longest opening hours of any retailers, especially on Sundays) say minimum 2 litres, some minimum 5. There are rules about the type of co...
I've had trouble finding kayaking gloves with adequate grip on my paddle (unless they grip too much to rotate the shaft in my left hand). So you may have trouble. However I'm looking for warmth and...
Flares appear to weigh up to around 200g each, and to be fairly bulky. As each one can only be used once, that's a lot to carry per fire - a similar amount of liquid fuel and tinder could be expect...
In the UK this has been required for some years. I'm not saying you'll never find an old installation that isn't, but I haven't seen one since converting my campervan nearly 10 years ago. Usually w...
Herbivore faeces doesn't smell as much as human faeces (or dog/cat/other carnivore). The vast majority of mammals, by number or mass, are herbivores. Population densities of large herbivores (overa...
I grew up car-camping in a frame tent (slept 4 in about 1/4 of the floor area). Those things are heavy. Seriously heavy. Lifting the fabric onto the central pole with that half-extended was hard...
Considering I will always have my phone turned on while hiking There's a lot of variability in this, even given that you've specified airplane mode. Why is it on? Track logging with the scr...
A dark coloured water bottle strapped on top of your pack would absorb quite a lot of solar heat on a sunny day. Getting the snow in would be easier with a wide neck, like a bike bottle or Nalgene....
There are several uses, but regular strenuous outdoor leisure activities aren't really among them. Breathable gear only goes so far - there comes a point when the best gear you can afford will re...
