Outdoor Skills & Gear

These Appalachian Trail Lessons come from Wade Bastian, one of two of my old Scouts hiking the 2200 mile trail.

You can estimate using Naismith’s rule named after the Scottish climber W.

Being prepared is not only knowing what to do or having the right gear.

What’s a good place to test insect repellent? How about 25 Scouts canoeing their way through a buggy week in Ontario, Canada’s Algonquin Provincial Park? In mid August we don’t usually run into too many mosquitoes and the black fly season is long over.

Autumn’s crisp temperatures, fall colors and clear nights make for great camping.

Is there really a difference between outdoor leadership and leadership in other situations? To my mind just about everything we do in Scouting hinges on how you answer that question.

Wilderness emergencies caused by sudden, unpredictable changes in conditions may be unavoidable BUT: Ignorance, inattentiveness, bravado , and lack of preparedness cause more wilderness emergencies than sudden changes in conditions.

Author and Instructor Peter Kummerfeldt conducts outdoor safety skills seminars for his company OutdoorSafe .

Any good outdoorsman knows how to make a fire in the rain.

What are Scouting Skills? Can you throw some things in a pack, step off the road into the woods and live comfortably for a few days without getting lost? Can you build a fire, lash a tripod together, set up a shelter, cook your food, stay warm and dry and leave no trace of your presence when you leave? If the answer is yes then you possess what I would call some basic ‘Scouting Skills’.

Modern portage packs have an advanced suspension system that is much like a normal backpack.

Portage pack and day bag (the waist or lumbar pack) The canoe never gets lighter, but the packs do.

On our high adventure canoe trip each crew packs and cooks food for a group of five to nine Scouts.

If, when in the forest, we know the names of the trees we are more at home.

The Wilderness Medical Society published an article concerning Wilderness Communications authored by Gordon H.

I have developed this ten step camping gear buyer’s guide over many years.

First of all – I apologize if you’ve had enough of the nutty tee-shirt thing! I have tried to balance keeping everyone informed with being irritating; hopefully I have kept it below the point of being too terribly aggravating.

Camping in the rain sounds awful – and it is if you aren’t prepared! Here’s ten tips for surviving rainy camping trips: 1.

can be a challenge! … let alone figuring out where they all belong! Here’s some information that should answer your questions about where those patches belong, how to sew or iron them on and some ideas for displaying them.

Several books authored by W.

The word uniform is both an adjective and a noun; the noun being what we wear and the adjective the reason it is worn.

Management Most of our Scouts will leave the relative comfort of an air-conditioned house for a week in the out doors.

Study Here’s an illustration that s explains how to roughly determine direction from moon phases.

I first wrote about mess kits five years ago.

Kevin Callan on bear bags from the Paddler’s Guide to Happy Camping Keeping your food safe from bears (and other critters) is an important element of any camping trip.

I must admit that every once in a while I cannot resist this bit of fun (so long as it is not demeaning my Scouts).

Today 18 Scouts and adults are off to our annual high adventure trip to Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park.

8×10 Tarp Setup June 19, 2007 By Clarke Green I am a tarp convert.

Gearheads like myself find great pleasure in hunting down the nec plus ultra in the expansive (and expensive!) world of specialty backpacking and camping gear.

Peter at the Ropes and Poles pioneering blog has posted three lashings from John Thurman’s book Pioneering Principles (available in PDF format from The Dump ) These ‘new’ lashings are certainly worthy of wider use.

There’s nothing quite like baking a pineapple upside down cake in a dutch oven.

There is no jesting with edge tools.

Go light, and the lighter the better so that you have the simplest material for health comfort and enjoyment.