 That makes buying boots off the internet really easy too - simply measure your mug before you shop! 
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 if you use foil for your windscreen clip the ends together with a peg which stops it blowing around so much- make sure the diameter of the foil is big enough so that the stove doesn't overheat. plenty of other uses for a peg too.
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i allways take salt/pepper herbs and spices with me. can make even the worst food -imho wayfarer - tastes worse than forces MRE's - and that takes some beating! stock cubes also help and make a very quick and tasty meal/drink. if taking dried noodles, add slightly more water than suggested, when cooked extra liquid makes a drink. "borrow" thnigs like sauce sachets, etc. from resturants/pubs etc. again can add flavour to dried food. coffee/tea sachets from hotels are handy to. H
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 Good tips, and if you can still find them these days the old 35mm film pots for camera film are useful little spices or salt and pepper condiment holders too. Some stores still sell the Couglans plastic salt and pepper tops, to replace the film canister tops too, which are also a useful addition then. There is a very good Swiss Army make container around too that hold ones salt and pepper. I recently this year got one of those in a sale online at Blacks, and it is a most useful little kitchen item indeed, I've found.  No matter what gets thrown at one weather-wise, the stuff inside the little Swiss Army condiment container stays completely dry!
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| Edited: 10/10/08 03:38 |
if you have to use snow/ice for water, don't try to melt one big lump in one go. break up into smaller bits and add as each bit has melted. quicker and uses less fuel. if using a snowhole as shelter, put your axe/trekking pole through the "roof" and pull through/push back as often as possible, especially if cooking. should let fresh air in, or you risk co2 poisoning.
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And risking a build-up to possible carbon monoxide poisoning too I should think, if you are cooking on a stove within the snowhole there as suggested.
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that why i said to put axe/pole through roof. to keep an air-way open to let co2 (carbon monoxide ) escape. it is also very good idea too have a opening at bottom of "door", again to let fresh air in. a "sink space" lower than floor or sleeping area is useful too, as stale air is usually "heavier" than fresh and will form a layer below fresh air . it's to complicated to explain here how to build a snowhole, if you think you need to know then either get instruction how to build one, or at-least look on net for instructions, and if you can practice building before you might need to "for real". H
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co2 = carbon dioxide, co = carbon monoxide, but hey ho, lets not get hung up about what might kill you - ventilation in a snowhole is a jolly good idea And it's great fun practicing building them, and other versions of snow shelters - just a shame that it can be scarce to find the conditions for it in the UK these days, except for a few rare days or up on the Cairngorm plateau. Oh, and here's one I made earlier....
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| Edited: 12/10/08 17:21 |
When the lady in your life discards yet another pair of tights rescue them from the bedroom wastebasket. Most waterproofs will roll up into a tight bundle but then tend to unwind in the rucksack. I cut off the legs from tights and stuff my waterproofs into them. This keeps them compact and also protects them against abrasion in the pack.
I have several waterproofs and keep them all, except my Páramo Cascada jacket and trousers which are too bulky, in this manner with a small luggage label attached to identify the garment. It makes the packing of a rucksack much quicker and permits the use of a smaller pack.
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good tip Hugh, but the "boss" either wears jeans,trousers, or skirts and fake tan!
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 If you're one of the naughty types who makes open fires, take part of a used inner tube from a bicycle - lights even when wet and burns good and slow. That's one of Ray's, that is.
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.jpg) Adding on to the lighting fires theme. Get a small cup full of petrol in a metal container, you only need a little. Add polystyrene from everyday packaging to the petrol in small quantities, stirring it in with a metal stirrer (tent peg will do). The polystyrene will melt in the petrol. When the consistancy reaches that of plasticine, remove the substance and wrap it in foil (it will stink everything out otherwise). This makes a great fire lighter. (I accept no liabilities if you try this)!
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how about an old WW II trick, empty tin can with a couple of holes near bottom, fill with sand to near top, add petrol, ( have been told diesel works too, but haven't tried it myself ) or kerosne. depending on size of tin can last for hours. to put out cover top of tin with something, preferably fire-proof, but a damp cloth will work if got nothing else. Richard's fire-lighter recipie, but a bit "runnier" was the original recipie for Naplam!! H
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this only works in very hot places, i.e desert. put instant noodles into pot, (even works with Pot Noodles ), cover top with cling film. either hang from 'sac - making sure can't spill, or when resting out of hot sun (around mid-day), place in hottest spot can find. will cook in next to no time, and does't use fuel! knew before but also one of ray's from a few years ago. if global warming works, might not need to go to desert, in a few years to try this!!
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Not totally convinced on the real reason for G/W, i was taught that the earth's orbit is not "perfectly" round, so sometimes we are closer to sun, (warmer), and sometimes further away,(cooler/ice ages). i wonder if the scientists have taken this into account? Know this is not the forum to debate this. H
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Richard's fire-lighter recipie, but a bit "runnier" was the original recipie for Naplam!! H It sure was! (ie - the disclaimer)!
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A couple of things if you're backpacking - get used to hostels and walking a lot! Be very flexible with you plans etc
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Huskeyman is right about the napalm recipe there. They gave it out in an article in a men's 'lads' style mag in fact a few years ago, in the late nineties I believe. I still have the article kept somewhere or other now too. Loaded, or Maxim I think it might have been, or else one of the newer glossy ones maybe. They got in quite a bit of hot water legally for publishing that here, to that particular target audience, I seem to recall too! It had been copied out of a US edition mag, where such stuff is less frowned upon seemingly!  Silly, and a highly irresponsible idea really, giving that kind of info to the age audience direct, that are of the type to try going out there and blowing things up!
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Welcome to the forum there, LowFlyer.
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' Not totally convinced on the real reason for G/W, i was taught that the earth's orbit is not "perfectly" round, so sometimes we are closer to sun, (warmer), and sometimes further away,(cooler/ice ages). i wonder if the scientists have taken this into account? Know this is not the forum to debate this.' - Wrote H. Everything is relative here I feel, h! If you want to though, you could indeed transfer that by cut and paste to the global warming thread on here too maybe, by all means.
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