denz Recreational » outdoor info

Best Way to Pack a Month-Long Backpacking Trip

Denz — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:44:46 +0000

Packing for a day-long backpacking trip is one thing. Packing for a week-long trek is another thing but, how about packing for a month-long backpacking excursion? Many of us may cringe at the thought of preparing for a trip lasting for 30 days, let alone one that requires us to transform our backpack into the a snail’s or turtle’s shell. While hauling our household appliances with us on a month-long backpacking trip is impractical, enjoying a month-long backpacking trip can be easier than expected. We can certainly take some steps to make our trip as practical as wearing Metal Tags:

A huge feat for feet. In the grand scheme of things, what is a month? But without the proper footwear, every step will seem like forever and a day, to your feet. Along with your Metal Tags, you should wear your hiking footwear whenever possible. The trick is to wear a pair of shoes or boots that have some space between your feet and the footwear-but not too much space. From my experience, three-quarter or high-top footwear is ideal, to provide your ankle enough support while hiking. You may have some knowledge about the general terrain that you will encounter while backpacking. That said, it is better to always be prepared for the unexpected boulders that you may have to climb up or across.
Separating needs and wants. When going on a lengthy, month-long backpacking trip, some items may seem as crucial as outstanding Military Dog Tags, when in fact they are best left at home: (a) one book is enough. If you like reading as much as I do, you probably take a library of books with you on vacation, but end up reading none to one of them, (b) one and a half pairs of footwear is enough to bring along a month-long backpacking trip: one pair of comfortable shoes or boots, and one pair of flip-flops, (c) an MP3 player can conveniently provide hours upon hours of rock, jazz, country, rap, classical, or polka (yes, polka!) music for you to enjoy. But make sure not to overdo it. Items such as portable game systems can become too heavy and bulky.
Packing light is still right. If you will be camping and backpacking for a month, it may seem logical to pack everything except the kitchen sink. However, while you should bring the necessities, such as Military Dog Tags, it is still advisable to pack light. In fact, while deciding which items to include on your trip, and which items to leave at home, it is wise to leave out items that you stack in your “maybe” pile. As a general rule, “when in doubt, leave it out.”
Learn to layer. When backpacking, keep in mind that you are not in a fashion show. So it is always better to choose function over form, and only wear practical accessories, such as a hat with a broad brim, and Rectangular Tags. In particular, tend to choose lightweight clothing over heavier pieces, to conserve weight in your camping backpack. For instance, a Coleman Emergency Poncho or Coleman for Kids Disposable Rain Poncho would be better options than a bulky raincoat. Also, you could opt for a few long-sleeved t-shirts, over a heavy sweatshirt.

One month is a relative drop in the bucket, in the average American lifespan of 912 months. But a month-long backpacking trip can seem like an eternity if you haul more than the essential items, which include Rectangular Tags. So before you start your month-long expedition, always make sure to pack light, and pack right.

Tips and Skills How To Stay Warm on Wilderness

Denz — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:21:21 +0000

Keeping warm in the wilderness is about proper gear and good skills. Proper gear means clothing and equipment suited to the environment you’re in. This is a subject in itself, worth studying if you spend much time backpacking. With better materials and designs, the newest clothing and equipment saves lives. It is skills, however, that make the biggest difference. Here are some tips and skills how to stay warm.

Set up camp in the right places - hilltops are windy and cold, and cold air also fills valleys at night. Level ground somewhere in between, out of the wind, is best.
Wear clothes to bed - shake and fluff them up to make them insulate better. Some recommend against sleeping in clothes, but I’ve tried it both ways many times, and it’s always warmer with clothes on.
Wear a hat - this may be equal to a pound of insulation in your sleeping bag. A lot of heat is lost through an uncovered head.
Go to bed dry - stay up until your clothes have dried, or change into dry clothes. On a warm, dry night, however, you can put damp clothes on your sleeping bag to dry them with body heat. You may need warm, dry clothes the next night (Thinking ahead is a great wilderness skill).
Breath into your sleeping bag - only do this in a dry climate, or if you’re sure it’s your last night out. You’ll get damp, but you should dry quickly from hiking in the morning.
Take a water-bottle full of hot water to bed with you - this is easier and safer than heating rocks and placing them around you.
Make a pine-needle mattress - dead leaves and dry grass work too. Scatter the leaves in the morning, so they won’t smother the plants underneath. I’ve slept warmly below freezing, with no sleeping bag, in a pile of dry grass collected from a frozen swamp.
Fill a water bottle with hot water, and take it to bed with you - this is easier and safer than heating rocks and placing them around you.
Adjust your clothing as you hike - remove and add clothes as necessary to stay warm without sweating. Sweat can cause you to lose heat rapidly when you stop.
Stay dry - on a cold day, wet and hot can become hypothermia soon after you stop moving those muscles. On a hot day, however, wear wet clothing to dry it out in preparation for a possibly cold night.
Conserve your energy - it’s tough for your body to keep itself warm with no energy reserves. You may also need that energy to gather firewood or hike to the car to escape a blizzard. Finally, you’ll make better decisions if you aren’t tired, and you’ll remember how to stay warm.

additional tips how to save backpack weight

Denz — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:51:12 +0000

Added way to save weight with your backpacking food is to bring only meals which don’t have to be cooked. This will be a problem for those that can’t get comfortable without a hot dinner, but some of us enjoy the break from cooking and washing pots. There is no reason you can’t have a healthy diet without cooking, and most backpacking is done in the warmer months, so why not try a no-cooking trip?

You will save the weight of the stove, as well as the fuel. There is a compromise that gets you one hot meal, without carrying the equipment. Just put a few frozen hotdogs in a sealed plastic bag and wrap them in the clothing in your pack to insulate them. In this way it should take them a full day to thaw out, so on day two you can cook them over a fire.

If you really want to go light on your backpacking food, there are two other tricks to use. The first is called carbo-loading. You essentially avoid carbohydrates for a week or so, and then eat a lot of them in the two days prior to your trip, causing your body to store them. With this routine, your body can store up to 1,800 calories of carbs in your blood, liver and muscles, in the form of glycogen. That means you can pack less food (okay, it only gets you half-days’ worth).

The other less extreme and perhaps more enjoyable technique is to learn enough about wild edible plants to supplement your diet. I have eaten hundreds of calories of wild raspberries in a twenty-minute break while hiking mountains. If you know the seasons of the various plant foods where you’ll be going, you can essentially replace some pack weight with your knowledge. Even if you don’t want to plan on eating wild edibles, knowing them well means you can more safely carry the minimum amount of backpacking food you think you’ll need.

Choosing your Backpack to suit your Need

Denz — Tue, 17 May 2011 07:35:39 +0000

If hiking is your style, then go for a backpack that can store all your hiking treks. Make sure that the backpack can protect your gear in adverse environment conditions. Most hiking backpacks come with a top closing flap that prevents water from dripping inside while hiking in rainy conditions. An ideal backpack will feature an extendable top portion, so that you can increase the amount of gear and equipment to carry along. A backpack should have more than one compartment so that you can keep items separately. Lastly, make sure that the backpack has straps to carry along a sleeping bag.

If you travel a lot, then go for a travel backpack so that you can carry all the items in one smooth packing device. Choose a backpack that has a detachable pack that you can carry along for smaller trips, so that you don’t have to carry the entire pack with you. When you store your items in a backpack you may feel you are storing them in a suitcase. But what stands out is the functionality of a backpack.

Day backpack is ideal for smaller trips with all the benefits of a larger backpack. The straps should be adjustable so that you can make changes depending on the items you want to carry along. It’s not necessary to have different compartments for your gear, but if you do have the option then it’s a boon.

You will pay varying prices on any backpack that you buy. Of course, the larger the backpack, the higher the price will be. You’ll be able to choose from many brand names, some that are well known and have high prices. It doesn’t matter where you buy your backpack so long as the manufacturer offers you a guarantee on both the materials and the way the pack is built. If there is no guarantee or warranty with the backpack, shop around until you find a pack that includes this service

Food to Eat Before Running

Denz — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:23:36 +0000

A good diet for runners is a healthy diet that is good for everyone. Foods that is high in energy-rich carbohydrates, low in fat and sufficient in body-building protein. Typically most of your calories should come from complex carbohydrates, though each person’s body is different and always follow your doctor’s or nutritionist’s recommendations for calorie intake.

When you run you need plenty of carbohydrates, which break down into glucose immediately used or stored as glycogen in your muscles. Carbohydrates can be simple or complex. Slow absorbing complex carbohydrates are found in cereal, vegetables, bread and pasta and should make up most of your diet, according to the Cool Running website. Simple carbohydrates are basically sugar and are only good for a short energy burst. Some natural sources of carbohydrates like vitamin containing fruits are okay but junk food – candy, chips – should be limited because they do nothing to help with your physique or running regimen.

It’s common knowledge that too much fat is unhealthy, though it’s not all bad. Fat provides some energy and should make up 20 to 25 percent of your daily caloric intake, according to the Cool Running website. Try to stay away from saturated fats and lean more toward the unsaturated and monounsaturated fats, like those in peanut and olive oils. As with exercising and running, consuming unsaturated fats may lower your cholesterol.

Protein does help build and repair muscle, but intake should be lower than carbohydrates and fats because your body doesn’t need that much to function. The Cool Runner website indicates that the average intake should be 10 to 15 percent of your total daily calories. When you run, you burn off some extra protein so you may need more than non-runners. Consider eating half a gram of protein daily for each pound of your body weight. Sources of protein include lean meat, fish, poultry, egg whites, beans, nuts, whole grains and low-fat milk and cheese.

Best Backpacking Habits

Denz — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:49:03 +0000

Foot Care – Blisters and other foot problems are not always just painful inconveniences. If they happen far enough into a trip they can slow your hike out to the point where food runs short or you just can’t continue. You may know how to treat a blister or trench foot, but good habits can prevent these from ever happening.

Make stopping several times daily to air out your feet a part of your routine. Take off your shoes and socks and set them in the sun. Pull out your insoles if you can. Soak your feet in a cold stream if they are very hot, but be sure the skin is entirely dry before putting the shoes back on. Change socks if necessary, and let the wet pair hang from the pack to dry. Cover and “hot spots” with moleskin before they become blisters. This regular attention to your feet may seem time consuming, but it will allow you to travel more miles more safely.

Water Planning - Dehydration is always a possibility when hiking in the wilderness. It is dangerous in hot weather and it can even lead to hypothermia in cold (we need enough fluids for our bodies to heat themselves properly). Plan ahead so you never get the point of being thirsty and without water.

Carry two water bottles, and develop the following good backpacking habit. Anytime you cross a stream or are near a water source, if one water bottle is less than half full, finish it off and fill it. If you are using a water treatment chemical like iodine, while it does its job you will still have the other bottle full of water. If there is a long stretch coming without opportunities to collect water, drink up both water bottles if practical, and fill them both. Also be sure to start each trip fully hydrated. One more habit is to watch your urine. Unless you are taking vitamin pills it will usually only be bright yellow when you aren’t drinking enough fluids.

Watch the Weather – It is a good habit to watch the weather reports before you go backpacking. You can get the forecast for anywhere in the world now online. But you also should be looking at that sky from time to time, and be aware of any changes. It is common to have lightning almost every afternoon in some mountain areas, for example. If the trail you are on is heading up high and you see the clouds forming, you might want to wait where you are until after the storms.

Learn to observe the skies in the direction where the weather is coming from, and also where it will affect you. If the streams you are crossing are fed by the mountains in the distance, and you see heavy rain clouds there, you might soon see a rise in water levels. Also, if you see the whole sky clearing out at sunset, you may be in for a cold night. Learn and observe.

Cell Phones – When backpacking, it’s a good habit to fully charge your cell phone before you leave. Then turn it off. The primary reason to even bring it is to have a way to call for help. Preserve the batteries for just such an event. It’s not fun to continually hear the phone ringing in the wilderness anyhow.

If you have a GPS unit, put fresh batteries in it before every trip. Then “mark” your car or the trailhead just before you hit the trail. A GPS can walk you right back to the vehicle if you remember to enter it as a landmark. Otherwise, it may not help much to just know your coordinates.

Leave an Itinerary – One of the backpacking habits most important to your safety, is to let someone you trust know where you will be and when you expect to return. That way if all else fails, help will be sent out there to look for you. Just be sure to notify that person as soon as you do return, so they don’t think you are still out in the wilderness.

what you should know about Tents

Denz — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:00:22 +0000

Tents that are advertised as one person are rarely big enough for one person. Two person tents are usually comfortable for just one person, a three person tent is comfortable for two people and so on. If you do not pick something large enough, you will find yourself cramped, claustrophobic and uncomfortable.

Pick something that will give you a little room to move and some space for some of your gear as well. Each person needs about 3 by 7 feet to stretch out. You will need extra room to dress etc. Remember, if the weather is not good, you will be stuck in whatever you have picked. You don’t want to be sitting cramped and hunched over feeling miserable.

In deciding on what you need, decide whether you will be summer or winter camping, and whether you will be backpacking. Tents are not waterproof. They are made of breathable rip stop nylon. It allows your sweat and breath to evaporate. This means you need a rainfly. They are waterproof. It fits over the roof of the tent and is meant to carry away rainwater from the tent sides. Make sure the fly is large enough to substantially cover the tent walls. Applying a sealant to the tent seams is a good idea. Apply sealer as needed throughout the tents life.

Most tents have a fine mesh screen over the door and window designed to keep out insects. All netting is not alike. Standard netting is made of nylon. Dacron is a finer mesh to discourage even the smallest bugs. They are usually zippered at the entrance with a flap that zippers over the door and window for privacy. Because of the nature of the fabric used in making tents, being porous, very few tents are designed to keep you warm. They are designed to protect you from the weather and from insects. They will protect you from the wind and rain, snow and sun.

To care for your tent, nylon is virtually maintenance free. The only thing that needs to be done is sealant occasionally. Of course never store your tent when it is wet, or even slightly damp. Always set it up when you are finished your trip and dry it out completely. Also sponge off any dirt or mud inside using a very mild liquid detergent or a baking soda and water solution. Be sure to make any repairs if you have had the misfortune to burn or damage your tent in some way. You can buy repair kits that come in various colors and are easy to use. Store your tent in a cool, dry place in its storage bag.

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Safe time to exercise outdoors

Denz — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:45:59 +0000

No doubt how important to watch the temperature, but the most relevant number you need to know before heading outdoors is the heat index, which takes humidity into account and represents how hot it feels.

The risk of muscle cramping and heat exhaustion rises as the heat index climbs above 90. Although less serious than heat exhaustion, cramping is dangerous, especially when you’re dehydrated. When you start cramping and don’t have enough fuel in the tank, which can lead to something more serious, like pulling a muscle. When the index is higher than 100, heat stroke also becomes more likely. It’s really important to modify your exercise routine when the index is that high.

Scaling back the duration or intensity of your workouts once the hot weather hits. It takes about two weeks to get acclimated to exercising in the heat (especially if you’re not in top shape to begin with), he says. When it’s really hot out, it’s a good idea to take breaks more frequently, exercise in the shade whenever possible, and wear breathable and light-colored clothing. Exercising in the heat is safe if you use common sense and follow some basic rules. Thus, as long as you’re not working too hard, well rested, hydrated, and nourished can tolerate pretty tough conditions.

lodging tips for traveling on a budget

Denz — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:11:29 +0000

We’ve all watched the shows on Travel, Discovery, Animal Planet, etc., and each of us is swept away by the people, food, and scenery. The world outside of our basic environs is an interesting and wonderful place, but free time and money are precious commodities that can severely limit our opportunities to travel and expand our horizons. “Traveling on a budget” can make the world available to many who would otherwise not consider such an adventure possible. So here are some lodging tips for traveling on a budget:

Hotels - major consideration is that travel is about sightseeing, not where one stays. It’s important to have a clean room and bed, but as priorities lie, the experiences outside of the hotel are the ones to remember. One way to save money is to book a hotel that isn’t centered in the middle of major tourist areas, usually on the outskirts of town. Safety however is always a consideration; so don’t ever sacrifice this when trying to save money. Depending on the area, bus fare or even walking to tourist hot-spots can add even more to your savings. So leave the neon signs and under-the-pillow chocolates for the tycoons and moguls. The internet has many sites that cater to budget travelers.
Hostels - today’s hostels are no longer for youths only. The price range is $6-$20 a night, depending on the location. If you have never stayed at a hostel, you should know that you sleep in a dorm-like setting with 10-20 other people. Many hostels offer single-sex rooms and co-ed rooms…make sure to ask! Lockers are available for luggage and valuables, and typically there is a common area for food preparation or a cup of coffee, thus cutting back on the cost of eating out. There are also bathroom areas to shower and change. Hostels offer a wonderful opportunity for meeting fellow travelers. Make sure to ask them for money saving travel tips. Each hostel is different, so make sure to find out the rules of the establishment at check-in. Noise and lack of privacy are the drawbacks, but in the long run these are small prices to pay when trying to keep travel costs low.
Camping – campsites typically have a water supply and bath and shower facilities. During the warm seasons, camping provides a great opportunity to experience the natural setting of your travel destination. Obvious drawbacks are possible wet or cold weather and rustic sleeping conditions. When circumstances allow, this is the cheapest option for the budget traveler.

Sleeping Pads for Ultralight Backpackers

Denz — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:58:58 +0000

You can make four-ounce sleeping pads – then sometimes carry two of them. Start with the plain blue closed-cell foam pads available from any backpacking supplier. These are made larger than necessary, usually 24 by 72 inches. You can just cut them down to a four-ounce size.

It’s important that it reaches from your shoulders to your hips, so cut it to that length. Cut the width a little at a time, testing for comfort as you go. You want the pad as small as you can make it, while still big enough to insulate your torso from the ground. Your head can be on a pillow of spare clothes, and your legs on your empty pack to insulate them.

Sleeping Pads For Ultralight Fanatics

If you want it really light, cut pieces out of the pad. Half-inch holes in the pad don’t seem to make it less comfortable. Cut out a hundred little pieces of foam and you get to save an ounce and join the ranks of the fanatical ultralight backpackers.

To be comfortable with a thin pad, or none at all, try sleeping where the ground is soft. You can also pile up leaves or dry grass to sleep on. Please do this only where it won’t harm the environment, and scatter the leaves in the morning so they won’t kill the vegetation they’re on. With fifteen minutes of work each night collecting materials, you can leave the sleeping pad home and be more comfortable. A thick pile of dried grass – now that’s a nice camping mattress.