Outdoor Source Magazine

Just like boots need to be broken in to avoid injury (and serious pain from rubbing and blisters), you need to learn how to walk with a backpack.

Rule #1 about walking in a group (even a small group) is for you to stick together. It is very easy, particularly in a very rugged area, for someone to fall behind and potentially not be able to continue on. This situation can become very dicey because the straggler could get lost and the ‘not lost’ party could get injured looking while in a frenzied search for the straggler.

Keep a strong walker both in the front and in the rear to make sure that the less able (or weaker) walkers dont fall behind.

When walking with a pack:

• When you are walking uphill, it’s important for you to take very short steps, then place your feet on the ground prior to pushing yourself up.
• When walking downhill, again, take short steps and move steadily. As you are moving downhill, lean backward to take strain off your knees. DO NOT POINT YOUR TOES AS YOU STRETCH DOWN, you can very easily hyper-extend your knee. I’ve done this several times (usually playing basketball) and it is extremely painful.
• For steep or soft slopes, climb down with your feet placed sideways and use a walking stick for extra support.

Personally, I’ve never backpacked and haven’t hiked in 15 years without walking sticks. It actually takes a little practice for you to use them, but for the added stability on the walk and the added peace of mind, it’s well worth learning to use them.

I just received my latest edition of Backpacker magazine which i plan on bringing along with me to read out on the trail.

I have to tell you, I WAS ticked. The entire issue is Global Warming propoganda.

Being a suburban dweller that works in the middle of Long Island I rarely get the chance to get out into the woods to enjoy the smell of pine and bug spray.

This weekend this finally changes for me. I’m taking a solo 1-nighter up in the Catskills. There are a couple of waterfalls that I’m going to get out and photograph. I’ll post something on Monday or Tuesday that I shoot.

Captain Obvious Alert: You should always pick a tent that is suitable for your expected conditions.

For backpacking you will obviously want to go as light as possible since you’re lugging your shelter along with you. You’ll need to make a tradeoff between peace of mind and weight. My basic recommendation is that if you don’t really need a tent, dont bring one — bring a bivvy bag if you can. A bivvy bag is essentially a tent for your head with a waterproof bag for your sleeping bag.

If you ARE going to bring a tent, here’s the breakdown of types:

• Ridge Tent. This is the classic pup tent. It’s a waterproof bottom with a ventilated inner tent with a rain fly. You can use these tents pretty much anywhere in almost any condition.



• Dome Tent. Ideal for high wind situations and less cramped than a ridge tent.



• Single Hooped Tent. This lightweight tent provides ample living space, easy to set up and its sloping design helps deflect oncoming winds.

Finally - the image below illustrates the Bivvy Bag.

Photography and in particular, outdoor and nature photography, is one of the main reasons that I personally head outdoors. To me there’s nothing more relaxing than getting up early (or heading out right after dinner) to get to a great photo spot and wait for the light to be perfect. It’s not the getting there that’s relaxing, it’s the waiting that is relaxing.

Now, why is the timing so important in outdoor photography?? Well if you’ve ever been out in the sun at around noon or 1 in the afternoon and taken pictures, you know what i mean. Shots come out so bright that you can barely tolerate the harsh coloring that results. You can tone everything down with a series of filters as well as adjustments to the white balance settings in your camera, but the best results typically come from ‘Good Light’.

Good natural light is only available for around an hour a day. The 1/2 hour (maybe 45 minutes) right after the sun rises and the 1/2 hour as the sun is setting are by far the best times to be outside taking photos. The light at this time of day is very subtle, the shadows are long and expressive and the colors of nature are their most vibrant at these times.

Photographic results depend on the temperature of the light for their results. The higher the temperature of the light, the harsher the colors. Here’s an experiment that you should try out to see what I mean:

• Set your camera up on a tripod
• Set your camera on automatic with some standard setting
• Focus on something that will allow you to see some details both close up as well as at a distance.
• Every hour on the hour (or every half hour or whatever time interval you want), take a shot
• After shooting literally all day from sun up to sun down take a look at the results of your pictures

You’ll see that the shots that you took in the middle of the day tend to be very harsh in their presentation. These shots can possibly be altered in photoshop (or some other photo editing program), but the best shots typically need little altering. You will also see that the shots taken during the prime shooting times will have nice warm and variant colors — or will illustrate a beautiful array of shadows.

Happy shooting.

For those of you that are athletes out there, cramps can almost get to be a way of life. When you’re out running, the cramp that you get on your side is almost enough to cripple you.

When you’re out hiking more often than not you can get a cramp down in your calf — these hurt like the blazes. A cramp is a sudden, involuntary and painful muscle spasm. There’s 2 things that cause them:

• Heavy exercise
• loss of salt through excessive sweating such as in heat exhaustion

To relieve cramps in your calves and thighs, straighten out your leg so that your knee is not bent. If the cramp is in the FRONT of your muscle then bend your knee. Essentially what you are trying to do is make the muscle as long as it can possibly get. If you get the cramp back in your calf not only should you straighten your knee but you should also point your toes up.

In all cases, you should massage the affected area so that you can get the muscle to relax. Also, it’s a good idea to get some fluids into you — sports drinks are great or in a pinch water. The issue with water is that yes it helps to hydrate you, but it can just sometimes pass right through your body and not get absorbed by your tissues.

Drinking water purification.

There is probably NOTHING more life threatening than getting a severe illness while out in the wilderness. Water bourne illness can sap you of strength and can dehydrate you, both of which can prevent you from getting out of the woods safely.

Out in the wild, water is almost never pure and MUST be purified before drinking it. When you’re out on a 2 night backpack trip the chance that you will be able to carry enough water to get you through a 3 day/2 night tip is pretty low. Even if water in a stream looks really clean, it will probably contain some microorganisms or parasites that can make you extremely ill almost immediately. [yes, be very very afraid.]

ALWAYS filter water to remove particles of silt and other contaminants. We like the Katadyn set of filters, but anything in this price range (not cheap) will do a great job of filtering out over 99% of the ’stuff’ in the water. Don’t try to cut corners with these systems because you’re really playing with life and death here. These filters are not foolproof (thus only 99%), so you DO need to take additional steps.

Step 2 –> sterilize the water. We recommend that you use sterilization tablets. Yes, they make the water taste a bit like pool water, but believe me, you don’t want to get sick. After filtering the water, you put tablets (according to instructions) into the water and let the tablets dissolve for at least an hour (again, follow the instructions).

IF you still have any doubts about the water, boil it. The last time I was out on an overnight I:

• Filtered the water
• Used sterilization tables
• Boiled the water

just to make certain that I wouldn’t get sick. To cool off the boiled water, I put the water back into my water bottles and then put the bottom of the bottles into the stream that I was using for the water. This allowed me to cool the water off before heading out the next morning.

This does sound like an involved process, but waterbourne illnesses like Leptospirosis (from animal urine), Schistosomiasis (freshwater worm), Amebic Dysentery (from infected sewage), Hookworms and Giardiasis are NOT to be taken lightly. At one time, I did have some illness like this where I had symptoms similar to amebic dysentery (diarrhea with blook and an infected colon) and believe me, the pain and the misery for nearly 2 weeks is barely endurable. [no, i did NOT get this from water, i actually got this, along with about 20 other people in my town, from a local restaurant that has since been shut down.]

Over the next several weeks/months we’ll be putting together a series of tips to help you enjoy your outdoor experiences.

I saw a great discussion last night between John Stossel and RFK Jr on Fox News (the Cavuto show). The discussion centered on Global Warming, since RFK has attached himself to the Gore directive and the Inconvenient Truth.

It was a very interesting discussion. What I found to be very during this discussion was just how rattled RFK seemed to get. In typical Fox News fashion, Neil Cavuto was the moderator in the discussion and allowed each man to discuss their points and to rebut the others point of view. RFK when confronted with serious (and calm) questions from Stossel became distressed to the point of stuttering over his words and just had difficulty making his counter point and defending his point of view. His entire argument was centered around the 2,000 scientists that have all but closed the debate on the issue by proclaiming that global warming is a trend and that man is the root cause. No matter what Stossel said as a response, this statement was repeated as if he (RFK) was doing yoga and that was his mantra.

Mr. Stossel on the other hand made several clear points regarding the extreme views coming from some so-called environmentalists. His point was that the last 4 or 5 points that have been made have been so extreme and threatening to all of mankind that we had no choice but to listen. The problem with each of these points is that none of them ever came true — so why listen now. Stossel went on to ask RFK “how much good would changing a few lightbulbs do in the scheme of what is happening right now”. The response from Mr. Kennedy was as-expected complete disregard for Mr. Stossels point of view, which seemingly has become the strategy of the most extreme points of view.

A final thought on this — a lot of the more extreme environmentalists who are indicating a coming calamity are beginning to become almost like the old cartoons with the homeless guy (used to be called a bum) standing on a street corner wearing a sign that read “The End is Near” with everyone walking past him laughing at his extreme (and ultimately incorrect) view of the world.