For years I have been quite dissatisfied with backpack straps. They place a quite unnecessary and undue strain on a small area of the shoulders. It seems to me that for horses this problem was solved back in circa the C14th with the invention of the horse collar and associated hardware to allow a horse […]
I am often gob-smacked by just how bright Willis Eschenbach is, but this observation was astonishing. Could breathing out more combat the breathlessness you get by strenuous walking uphill. I tried this out on my recent hunting trip, and it’s true. I was able to walk in one go to the top of hills I
‘Waste not, want not’ was another of my mother’s favourite maxims – one I have certainly taken to heart, as my wife will attest as I have fill our house and sheds up with all sorts of ‘mathoms’ – hobbit for ‘junk’. I had two ‘dead’ laptop batteries which I probably ought to have binned
Baden Powell, the hero of Mafeking was right. Even though I have never been a scout, having long followed Groucho Marx’s dictum that I would not be a member of anything which would have me as a member – besides I prefer to travel alone – nonetheless I am an admirer of such proverbs and
You will definitely see more deer if you spend longer deep in the bush where they live, and especially if you can spend the night out with them. I prefer to ‘get away from it all’ and camp out far from anyone else rather than eg hunting the fringes of private land where I admit
If you are joining ultralight waterproof material such as Membrane Silpoly as I am just now to make a new version of my 7 x 7 Poncho Multi Tarp this stitch seems to work better than anything I have ever come across before. It is better than my Flat Felled Seam Alternative, a flat-felled or
How to prevent the rain from putting out your fire? I have been toying with this idea for some time. My solution is the ‘fire umbrella’ or ‘fire canopy’ – as shown. This is a prototype which doesn’t need to be set up thus or quite so close to the tent (if you are worried
I know the old John Donne map store in Little Bourke St Melbourne used to sell a brush on (wax?) product for waterproofing paper maps (topos etc) called perhaps ‘Map Seal’ or the like. I admit I have never used it, or a spray on silicone normally designated for raincoats, boots etc (eg ‘Camp Dry’)
Thanks to Aussie Outfitter and hammock maker Tier Gear for allowing me to repost DIY instructions for this excellent tarp. You can still find their original post here: Tier Gear Catenary Cut Hex Tarp. You can purchase all the items you need to build it and the ‘Netless Hammock‘ from them at a very good
As a a follow-up to my DIY Fire Blower and to my DIY 33 Gram Roll Up Hobo Stove I would like to draw your attention to these two of Tim Tinker‘s ingenious DIY Hobo Blower Stoves Ultralight Blower Stove & Ultralight Coffee Cup Stove If you really want lightweight heat to cook with these
