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The Tarp Bivy Combo: Your Sub 1lb Shelter | Brian's Backpacking Blog. Altoids Survival Kit. EDC - Lip Balm Applications in Survival Situations via... Lip Balm Applications in Survival Situations via theprepared: Chapped lipsIn extreme cold weather, you can rub it on the exposed parts of your face. The thin layer helps prevent heat loss by limiting radiation and air convection.Lubrication for your fire bow drill, etc.It is a great firestarter! It works just like petroleum jelly. You can rub it on a piece of cloth, lint from your pocket, a cotton ball, gauze pad from your first aid kit, or even on natural tender.

I always have a cotton ball or two stuffed in my matchcase to keep the matches from ratteling around and in my little pill vial I use to carry some basic medicines.Emergency waterproofer. Editor’s Note: I know a lot of you guys probably carry chapstick and don’t even think of it as “EDC.” Transparent Bubble Tents. Posted on November 24, 2010 by saya These Transparent Bubble Tents encourage users to have a closer contact with the nature. Totally transparent, the new tent not only provides beautiful sceneries but also offers smart beds, cabinets, shelves and even electric lighting for use. To sum up, it’s really the best tent designed for those who love waiting for the stars. Designer: Pierre Stephane Dumas Selling Price: $11914. Hiking and Backpacking Trail Maps. Pack a Backpack for Camping.

From Wired How-To Wiki A well-packed sack will save your back. Photo by The Glasshalffull via Flickr. It's happened to everyone before. You start out in the comfort of your living room, with a cavernous empty backpack and all your gear spread out before you. Then, six miles out, you realize: Despite stuffing your pack to the brim, you've forgotten your rain shell and soaked your food in fuel. Here are a few tips to avoid mid-trip debacles and maximize the success of your adventure. This article is part of a wiki anyone can edit. Outside In Especially with a lightweight backpack, you should put your sleeping pad in first. Sleeping bag next Pack in the reverse order of stuff you'll need. Distribute your supplies Tent: Heaviest items go in the middle and closest to your back. Cooking Gear: If you're planning on hot meals along the side of the trail, your portable stove is up next.

Water for cooking food: Dried food is good if you're near water, and canned is good if you're not. Balance it out. Desire path. A typical desire line A desire path (also known as a desire line, social trail, goat track or bootleg trail) can be a path created as a consequence of foot or bicycle traffic. The path usually represents the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination.

The width of the path and its erosion are indicators of the amount of use the path receives. Desire paths emerge as shortcuts where constructed ways take a circuitous route, or have gaps, or are lacking entirely. In parks and nature areas[edit] A desire path (right) merges with a footpath (center) in Helsinki, Finland In Finland, planners are known to visit their parks immediately after the first snowfall, when the existing paths are not visible.[1] People naturally choose desire lines, which are then clearly indicated by their footprints and can be used to guide the routing of new purpose built paths.

Land managers have devised a variety of techniques to block the creation of desire paths. See also[edit] 10 of the Best Places to Hike in the United States. The United States is a huge country with tons of variety, so there’s no shortage of awesome places to lace up the boots, get that blood pumping, and take in some amazing views. Want to add US hikes to your trip itinerary? If you’ve been stuck indoors much of the winter and spring, here are ten great places around the country to get out and hike. Zion National Park – Utah With a wide variety of options and a multitude of landscapes, Zion National Park in Utah is a hiker’s and climber’s paradise.

The park is very well organized, there’s a shuttle system that passes many of the trailheads, and there’s plenty of backpacking options for those looking for a more serious overnight adventure. Popular hikes in Zion There are a lot of challenging trails in Zion, and it’s imperative to be aware of weather and time of year, particularly when it comes to hiking in the canyon, as flash floods can happen at any time.

>> Read about the best US cities for National Parks lovers. Grand Canyon Backcountry Hiking. Drop Spots. A dropspot is a kind of alternative mailbox. It’s a hiding place in a public space, where people can leave things for exchange. Anything. It’s a weird and wonderful way to add personal character to the streets that we live in. Stash something fun and see what you get back. To find a Drop Spot in your neighborhood, visit the Drop Spots map. Select a Drop Spot map marker near you, make note of its location and visual description and head out the door to find it! Once you locate the spot and discover your mystery gift, make sure to leave one in its place to keep the exchange going.

To create a new Drop Spot, find a hidden nook or crevice in your neighborhood to tuck away a simple gift you would like to share; perhaps a poem, photograph, favorite quote, or mix CD—something fun that represents you. Chart the progress of all of your favorite Drop Spots online. Fire. There's no doubt that the ability to make and control fire was one of the greatest technological advancements of mankind after tool making. It was there for warmth, protection, cooking, hunting and even primitive agricultural techniques. The knowledge of how to make fire utilizing primitive methods directly connects us to the people who used these techniques.

When you are coaxing fire from some tinder using a coal that you created, and you see the glow get brighter, and you smell that curl of smoke, and the tinder suddenly bursts into flame, you are experiencing exactly what the ancient ones did so very long ago. Sparks From Flint It is the old one. The constant metaphor for great beginnings. The spark. Long ago the ability to create and make use of hot sparks to make fire was discovered.

Top: A fire works kit consisting of a striker and a piece of good black flint is shown in its waterproof tinder box. How To Catch A Spark One of the best materials for catching a spark is charcloth. Primitive cooking methods | Practical Survivor. Click title or picture for full article. Primitive Cooking Methods Whether we are backpacking or in a survival situation, having a knowledge of wilderness cooking techniques is important. We may not always have cooking equipment so lets go over some alternate methods. Primitive Cooking methods we will cover include: * Cooking over coals (ash cooking) * Plank Cooking * Hot rock cooking * Flat stone cooking * Spit cooking or spit roast * Clay cooking Outdoor cooking without proper equipment can be a challenge.

After practicing several methods, it can actually be fun. . * radiative heat - grilling, roasting * steam * baking For the scope of this article, we will cover methods without cooking equipment. Cooking over coals (Ash cooking) We are using fish (white Perch) for this method. The great thing about Kudzu is, we can use the Kudzu vine to wrap the leaves. Once the fish is wrapped properly, we want to create a bed of coals. Cook time would depend on the size of the fish. Plank Cooking.

Amazing Underwater River : Cenote Angelita in Mexico. Underwater River in Mexico If you are a professional diver you should visit Cenote Angelita Mexico. These amazing pictures were taken by Anatoly Beloshchin in the cave Cenote Angelita, Mexico. Here’s his description: “We are 30 meters deep, fresh water, then 60 meters deep – salty water and under me I see a river, island and fallen leaves… Actually, the river, which you can see, is a layer of hydrogen sulphide.” Living Bridges in India Have Grown for 500 Years (Pics)

Photo Credit:Vanlal. via Flickr with photographer's permission Some of the smartest, most sustainable engineering feats were discovered hundreds of years ago, and many have gone unacknowledged. For evidence, take the bridge growers of northeastern India. Planning 10-15 years in advance, they build what may be the most sustainable foot bridges in the world -- by literally growing them out of living tree roots. These bridges are extremely sturdy, reach up to 100 feet long, and many are at least 500 years old.Requiring the harvesting of only a few betel nut trees to create, each root bridge is sturdy, efficient, and, well, alive. A tribe in the hilly Khasi and Jaintia region of India -- one of the wettest places on Earth -- evidently came up with the concept some hundreds of years ago.

Atlas Obscura explains: The War-Khasis, a tribe in Meghalaya, long ago noticed this tree and saw in its powerful roots an opportunity to easily cross the area's many rivers. Photo Credit: Vanial. The Great Geek Manual » The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries. I make no secret of the fact that I’m a hardcore bibliophile, but we’re a common enough lot these day. And the one sight that always makes me linger over a webpage is rows and rows of neatly organized books. So, in an effort to draw more like-minded read here to my little blog, I decided to round-up a gallery of photos of some of the most beautiful libraries I’ve ever seen photos of. Enjoy. If you enjoy this gallery, make sure you check out our other list of The United States’ Most Beautiful Libraries!

Abbey Library St. Gall in Saint Gallen, Switzerland Photo Credit: Gerda Steiner & Jorg Lenzlinger. The Astronomy Library of the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands Photo Credit: (Erik) Bristol Central Library Photo Credit: *Firefox The British Library reading room at the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum in London, England. Central Library of Vancouver in Vancouver, Canada Photo Credit: lightgazer Delft University Library in The Netherlands Photo Credit: rutger spoelstra. BuildItSolar: Solar energy projects for Do It Yourselfers to save money and reduce pollution. Shelter. Yurt Buildng. Here is a free copy of my book Build your own yurt, written in 1995, It has been used by a great many people who have built their own yurts.

Our designs have progressed enormously since 1995. For a much more comprehensive guide see The Complete Yurt Handbook or see the rest of our website A complete guide to making a Mongolian Ger by P.R. King First edition 1995, Second edition 1997. Third edition, revised, updated, and expanded. 1997. Third Edition Fully revised and expanded for 1998 Internet Edition Jan 2000 The Yurt The English word Yurt comes from the Russian Yurta describing a circular trellis walled framed tent.

The Kirgiz yurt with bent-wood roof poles and crown and a domed overall shape. The two tiered yurt with a pointed roof and two layers of wall section placed one on top of the other. The Mongol or Kalmuk ger with straight roof poles, a heavy timber crown, often supported by two upright poles, and fitted with a wooden door. Figure 1. Backcountry Bliss: [How To] Get Odors out of a Nalgene (Water Bottle)

We’ve all done it, you come home from a long hike and dump your pack on the floor and just leave it there for awhile. You're too tired to empty out your pack now, you'll get to it later. Days pass by and when you open your water bottle up the destict aroma of “water bottle funk” fills the air. Not to fret, It takes less than 5 minutes to totally cleanse that funky bottle. It’s simple and easy though to get out the gross and get back to fresh clean water for the trail.

What You’ll Need: A Funky Water Bottle or Reservoir Baking Soda Hot Water Step 1 Open the Water Bottle and Spoon in about 1/4 of a cup Baking Soda. Step 2 Add about 1/8th a cup of Hot Water (but not boiling, you don’t want the plastic to melt!) Step 3 Close the water bottle and shake the mix around letting it coat the sides of the water bottle. Step 4 Usually a simple wash will do the job, but for stubborn odors let the closed water bottle sit upside down for 12-24 hours.

Step 5 Step 6 Final Step. How to make a Swedish Log Candle. Swedish Fire Log.