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The world's changing, and it's changing really fast now. The environment we grew up in is just memories.
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Jul 19, 2021 16:28
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:59 |
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xzzy posted:The world's changing, and it's changing really fast now. The environment we grew up in is just memories. We used to get one good school-closing snow for a couple weeks out of the year and now we don’t even get sleet. It’s already in the 90’s in spring and I rarely see the butterflies, fireflies and bumblebees I used to see everywhere when going in the woods.
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Jul 19, 2021 17:36
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I was talking to my french FIL and he said that when he was younger he had to constantly stop his motorbike to wipe bug splatter off, nowadays there are hardly any. It's pretty scary to think about. He's from a pretty intensive agricultural area, they probably drench all that corn (for biofuels(lol) and beef) in pesticides now, and it doesn't look like anything is going to change that.
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Jul 19, 2021 18:47
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any road trip i took around the east coast in the 00's over four hours used to require packing along an extra gallon of windshield wiper fluid because of all the bugs. that hasn't been true for a long time now
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Jul 20, 2021 06:57
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Latest estimates are that something like 80 percent of the insect biomass has been destroyed over the last 30 years, largely due to pesticides, land clearing, and climate change. At the current rate, insects may be mostly eradicated within a century. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature
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Jul 20, 2021 10:38
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And at the current intelligence level of our politicians (and the voters that empower them) it's gonna take another 50 years before anything is done about it, long after we've reached the point of no return. Enjoy the outdoors while you can, I guess.
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Jul 20, 2021 11:05
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I'll be going camping this weekend but my outdoors store is out of freeze dried stuff. What other foods would be a good replacement for it? I'm mainly interested in lunch/dinner, I have breakfast sorted. I've only ever done either freeze dried foods or car camping with a cooler type food, so I'm not sure what I should bring. For what it's worth, It'll be a wild camp, with a little portage in the middle, not backpacking in the real sense.
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Jul 20, 2021 20:44
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bobmarleysghost posted:I'll be going camping this weekend but my outdoors store is out of freeze dried stuff. Andrew Skurka has a bunch of backcountry meal recipes - the beans/rice/Fritos is particularly good but a bunch of options. https://andrewskurka.com/tag/backpacking-meal-recipes/ They require a little more prep at home beforehand than just buying some Mountain Houses but they probably end up being cheaper too.
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Jul 20, 2021 21:04
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Congrats on your mega pack of tortillas, jar of peanut butter, and sticks of salami. If you're fine taking on some extra weight over freeze dried, the retort pouches are great for camping. I really like the Tasty Bite brand. 
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Jul 20, 2021 21:06
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great, thanks for those!
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Jul 20, 2021 21:09
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Casu Marzu posted:Congrats on your mega pack of tortillas, jar of peanut butter, and sticks of salami Don't forget the jar of jelly and a bag of wheat pita shells for backcountry PB&J! If you're feeding two, those kraft 'deluxe' mac and cheese meals are good in a pinch because all they need is water. But it's quite a lot of pasta for a single person. Nab a box of cliff bars too. Can probably do something with instant rice too.
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Jul 20, 2021 21:11
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Dry soups are also good where you just add water and simmer a bit. Look for dry peanut butter you rehydrate. A little olive oil and it's got the right consistency. It's easy to find in grocery stores now and saves a lot of weight. Tortillas or pita. Tortillas though. Honey packets. Honey and peanut butter tortilla roll ups are great. Olive oil for extra calories to everything. Cheddar cheese will last several days not being refrigerated. Dried fruit is great. Instant oatmeal is a quick breakfast. Knorr rice and pasta sides are easy to find and make plus taste like normal food. Salami and jerky obviously. Flavored, or plain, tuna or chicken packets. Apparently there's such thing as dried hummous but I've not found it. Ramen is really easy. I always like to pack something fresh if possible. Orange, apples etc. Carrots are also super easy to bring and feels good to eat real veggies.
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Jul 21, 2021 02:26
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Weirdly in the early 90s, dry hummus is all I ever could find. I was a vegetarian then, and poor as hell. That was like my main protein source. It's been replaced by the normal stuff for a reason. Instant rice is my new camping love.
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Jul 23, 2021 18:51
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Casu Marzu posted:Congrats on your mega pack of tortillas, jar of peanut butter, and sticks of salami. They also do sachets of just rice FYI (the palak (spinach) lentils and veggie vindaloo are my favourite. Different labeling in Canada interestingly enough)
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Jul 24, 2021 05:08
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Made a hilarious mistake this week, asked my wife to go over our hiking first aid kit (which had the bare minimum.. bandaids, leuko tape, advil, tick remover stuff like that) and make sure everything looks good and wasn't expired. But see, she's a DNP. End result is the kit is bursting at the seams. I guess the upside is we could perform open heart surgery in the backwoods.
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Jul 24, 2021 16:02
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I would be extremely interested in seeing the inventory of this Professional Grade kit your wife made. Given her credentials I’m wondering if there are a few good ideas that I should consider.
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Jul 24, 2021 16:14
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It's nothing that hasn't been discussed in this thread before, there's just an enormous quantity. Like two handfuls of gauze pads, an enormous variety of bandaids, a bunch of anti-itch creams (which I'd never considered, that's real cool if the stuff works), scissors, and rolls of bandages. Plus all the typical pills one takes into the woods. It's all real bulky and adds up fast.
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Jul 24, 2021 16:26
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quote:I have seen people curious as to what should go into a first aid kit when in the backcountry. As a healthcare worker, here is my 71g kit. This is what I based my kit on, along with any pills/medicines I anticipate needing: tylenol, petobismol pills, zyrtec, caffeine pills, etc.
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Jul 24, 2021 17:42
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This was way too far of a drive but I got one of the 8 ultra prominent peaks in Utah, Mt Ellen It's just really remote    The worst part was driving up the road on the mountain. I got tired of driving it and walked the last few miles. It was ridiculously rocky and there had been a giant storm the day before that had washed away a decent amount of the dirt. You can see things got kinda real at one point with the height of the creek 
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Jul 24, 2021 19:28
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Longest hike since I injured my foot last year and developed plantar fasciitis. I've recovered quite well now and can happily do 3+ hour hikes by just taking 5ish minute breaks every hour, stretching my foot during those breaks, using my trekking poles, and wearing chaco shoes, which I've found to be the absolute best at relieving the pain. No lingering pain after I finished the hike so that's great.
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Jul 24, 2021 19:41
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bobmarleysghost posted:I'll be going camping this weekend but my outdoors store is out of freeze dried stuff. Pasta/noodles are my go to. If you have a stove (assuming you do since you mentioned freeze dried foods), pretty much any kind of reasonably quick cooking pasta works fine. "Instant dinner" dried pasta with powdered sauce type meals from the grocery store (mac and cheese, knorr pasta sides, whatever) are widely available, light weight (contain no water), and don't require any prep. You can throw in some dried salami, summer sausage, bacon bits, or whatever. Ramen/asian noodles, couscous, or spanish noodles, all cook much faster than e.g. regular macaroni but even the latter will cook fine up to 4000-5000 meters elevation just by leaving it sit in boiled water for 5-10 minutes. The meals from Skurka posted above are all really good. Some contain ingredients that aren't easy to source anywhere or on short notice, though (and some require more prep than I prefer). His "pesto noodle" dish is basically just ramen noodles with dried parmesan powder, some dried spices, and olive oil, though, and (like pasta dishes in general) that one's really easy to throw together.
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Jul 26, 2021 04:19
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My first aid kit on the AT ended up being a ton of ibuprofen for when I absolutely ravaged my heels and a ton of immodium for when I absolutely ravaged my guts. Everything else could be solved with duck tape if I really needed it to be.
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Jul 26, 2021 04:23
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A friend of a friend of mine has a photo of the sole of their foot after 3/4 of the pct before coming off due to injury. The injury? The entire sole of their foot peeled off of their foot like an old boot sole.
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Jul 26, 2021 04:41
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Verman posted:A friend of a friend of mine has a photo of the sole of their foot after 3/4 of the pct before coming off due to injury. 
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Jul 26, 2021 04:50
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Should brought more duct tape.
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Jul 26, 2021 05:22
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I don't really understand how you aren't forced to stop long before that point
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Jul 26, 2021 12:05
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I've started backpacking lately and I've been very spoiled with the places I've been going to. My first 3 trips so far have been to South Sister, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Rainier last weekend. I've gone with friends the first two times but my friend had to cancel last-minute for Rainier and I decided to go solo anyways since I had a permit. I didn't have reception at all but I figured that it being a national park and my itinerary being a segment of the northern loop trail, as long as I stuck to the trail I would manage OK, since reports were the trail conditions were good and I would be seeing people both ways. I just let a friend know that I'd be heading out and then let them know when I got back once I was in reception range. At what point is a sat com a requirement? Is it based on just trail length or remoteness, or just every time you go outside with no reception by yourself? cerious fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 16:10
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pointsofdata posted:I don't really understand how you aren't forced to stop long before that point Broadly speaking, the only way to thru hike one of the big three is to walk through a whole bunch of physical pain and minor injuries. It's sometimes tricky to figure out where the 'hike through it' and 'no I really need a doctor' boundary line is.
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Jul 26, 2021 16:33
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cerious posted:I've started backpacking lately and I've been very spoiled with the places I've been going to. My first 3 trips so far have been to South Sister, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Rainier last weekend. I've gone with friends the first two times but my friend had to cancel last-minute for Rainier and I decided to go solo anyways since I had a permit. its your personal comfort and ability to afford them. people did this for decades without sat com. being outside reception does indeed raise the potential risk, as its a useful modern safety net. its the difference between a broken leg being a potentially life threatening issue and a terrible but "safe" experience.
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Jul 26, 2021 16:39
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cerious posted:I've started backpacking lately and I've been very spoiled with the places I've been going to. My first 3 trips so far have been to South Sister, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Rainier last weekend. I've gone with friends the first two times but my friend had to cancel last-minute for Rainier and I decided to go solo anyways since I had a permit. I've hiked a lot with large groups, in areas that are heavily trafficked, or I knew well enough to not have concerns about getting lost or misstepping and blowing a knee or ankle out or whatever. I never saw a need for a personal beacon or sat communicator really. But since covid, I've been doing a lot more solo/double hiking and backpacking trips to areas that are pretty goddamn remote, have zero reception, or spending more time than planned out there would really really really suck (i.e. desert/nasty storms/blizzards/going through the ice/etc). Spending $300 on a garmin and a subscription is not thaaat much money for peace of mind that if my partner or I get hurt, we have back up if poo poo goes bad. It's also nice to get weather alerts if you're in an area that flash floods in a second or has a lot of lightning activity. Casu Marzu fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 20:39
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I go solo backpacking in winter in -20F temps so it's a no brainer for me. My stove goes out, bag gets wet, etc and things could go south in a hurry. I think they recently raised prices but the freedom plan with the Garmin inReach mini has worked pretty well for me. Activate it in the winter and on my longer summer trips and turn it off otherwise.
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Jul 26, 2021 20:58
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I just activated the yearly plan for the inReach and treat it as BOTH a safety tool for hiking (even day hiking) and as a disaster communication lifeline.
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Jul 26, 2021 21:06
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I've had a PLB for a while now, but it's just reaching the end of it's stated battery life. I plan to replace it with a satcom device, although I haven't looked at what's available in a few years. I still hear mostly about the InReach so I assume it's still one of the main contenders. I'm going to end up with something in that space in a few months for sure, just not sure which yet. Edit: I should add - my use case here is primarily alpine climbing with a single partner. So, a pair of us out in some really remote places with no cell coverage, where an injury could easily prevent any kind of self-rescue. I'd certainly bring it for backpacking trips once I have it, but historically I've just told people my planned route and timeline for that sort of thing, and texted if I got a blip of signal on a rise or something. armorer fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 21:45
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Well I suppose that settles it. I'm probably going to do more solo trips and I'd like to squeeze in the Loowit Trail around Mt St Helens in the coming weeks and that's definitely worth the peace of mind. So to piggyback onto satcoms, is the Inreach mini the main one people get? I just use my phone + Alltrails to navigate so I don't think I need a GPS map feature.
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Jul 27, 2021 00:08
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I was looking at the Zoleo device as it's messaging seems to work better across different types of connections.
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Jul 27, 2021 00:11
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Avalanche and glacier travel, plb. Big lengthy trip, maybe where someone is picking you up at the other end, or dropping supplies, satellite so you can press the button that says "on schedule". For everything else the $300 piece of plastic is the same as the "Starbucks" printed on your water bottle: Nothing in comparison to your awareness and preparation. You don't just show up one day and do a deep sea scuba dive solo. You don't pick out a rifle and plb walk into Jurassic Park with your friends. You don't hop in a fighter jet and expect to do barrel rolls. You figure out your limitations, physical and mental, and steadily train and push them. You stop and drink some water, assess your hunger and energy, look at the weather and your map, and decide if you proceed or go back. If you make a mistake, it'll happen long before you press the Roops button on a satellite thingy. I'm a 98% solo hiker, Pacific Northwest, all year round, spikes, snowshoes, ice axe, as warranted. First rule for the personal 'locator device': The first time you ask yourself, "Maybe I shouldn't be here?", you do the things above, check your health, review your emergency/exit options. Be aware of quickest route to a road, to where people are likely to be found, to a spot without snow, that's warmer or has water. Be cautious of geography and impassable topographic or hydrologic features. Figure out if you can come back the route you're about to follow. Certainly you can complain to yourself, "Oh this was a great idea, sheesh it's hot", but when you hear yourself flip over to "Um wait this may not be the best idea", you need to review. Set a time when you'll review again to see if the situation has been resolved. Second rule for the pld: The second time you ask that question, no more second guessing; you leave, immediately, full stop.
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Jul 27, 2021 00:19
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cerious posted:Well I suppose that settles it. I'm probably going to do more solo trips and I'd like to squeeze in the Loowit Trail around Mt St Helens in the coming weeks and that's definitely worth the peace of mind. I still use my phone + all trails (or "OSM And" if i'm going off the trails) for navigating. I just text my location where I'm starting with my inReach and then I update my contacts every ~3 hours or when I return to my car. If they don't hear from me they should try to reach me and if I don't respond to either the satcom or the cellphone they have my last known location. You can technically send unlimited premade messages you can create up to 3 bespoke messages you can send as many times as you want, on any plan. I set mine to be a "I'm starting my hike, please try to contact me if I don't reply within 3 hours, don't respond unless there's an emergency because it uses my messages," "I'm still on my hike, but okay please try to contact me if I don't reply within 3 hours, don't respond as it uses my messages unless its an emergency," and "Back safely, don't reply unless it's an emergency as it uses my messages" Each of those messages can have your current GPS location attached to it. and then if poo poo hits the fan I'll either use my aformentioned limited messages, or hit the SOS button.
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Jul 27, 2021 00:39
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Avalanche and glacier travel, plb. Big lengthy trip, maybe where someone is picking you up at the other end, or dropping supplies, satellite so you can press the button that says "on schedule". I hate that attitude so much. The most hosed up I ever got on a hike was a quick 2hr jaunt, missed a step and tore a tendon in my ankle half way around. Took me 4hrs to struggle back. If it had been one of my multi day hunts then I'd have needed a heli. It doesn't matter how much you prepare and assess poo poo happens and if you can afford to have a way to get out of said poo poo then you take it. Here in nz, imo, it's just plain negligence to not have one with you if you're headed into the back country
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Jul 27, 2021 00:54
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Yeah it's not an "oopsie I got in over my head" button. For me it's a "freak rockfall took out my belayer" or "broken ankle 2 days into steep backcountry" sort of button. I've been in some serious poo poo before with my PLB on me and never pushed the button, because my partner and I were still healthy and had functional gear to handle self rescue.
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Jul 27, 2021 05:07
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I kind of understand what Phantom was getting at. I just dont know how common it is that people jump straight in like that. Like I think its more common that poo poo just happens than people get in over their head. Doesnt mean its not good to know yourself and the situation, just that that wont do you a whole lot of good if you randomly fall and break your ankle or something.
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Jul 27, 2021 14:52
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