How to Properly Sharpen Your Blade

Not for the faint of heart, knife sharpening is an important and handy skill to have for any outdoorsman. Although knife sharpening can be dangerous if done incorrectly, it is a skill that can be learned and, if mastered, can be perfectly safe.

Knife sharpening is usually done using a solid, coarse surface to grind down the old edge of the knife and create a new one. For an even finer and sharper, razor-like knife, a strop is used at the end to delicately fine tune the edge.

How Hand and Foot Warmers Can Save Your Dactyls or Even Your Life!

We’ve all been there: Coming home from an enjoyable outdoorsy trip in the subzero-degree weather, having our car slip off a mountain, overturning and landing in a frozen river… After you’ve scrambled out from your car (which is now sinking to the bottom of the freezing cold water), you realize you’re alone in the snow, ice cold, and may have to wait in that condition for a long time.

All right, so maybe that hasn’t happened to all of us. But the point is: it could. Or any number of other horrible situations could leave you stranded and alone in the cold. It’s a fantastically good idea to be prepared for these possible, very scary, scenarios; and one of the things that you should always make sure you pack is hand and/or foot warmers.

Keep Dry With A Poly Tarp

The “Poly” in Poly Tarp is short for polyethylene or polypropylene, which are plastics commonly used in woven/sheet form to make the water resistant tarps with which many people are familiar today. These tarps are great for a variety of anti wetness uses in the home environment, on the road, and on camping or hiking trips. Let’s go over a few of these:

In the Home

Geocaching Fun For the Whole Family

For a growing number of families looking to spend time together in the great outdoors, geocaching is the activity of choice. Combining the peace, quiet, and exercise of hiking with the excitement of a treasure hunt, geocaching is a great way to grow closer together as a family. Getting started is relatively inexpensive, and caches are available for all skill levels.

To begin, you will first need a GPS device which is capable of adding and displaying waypoints based on coordinates. This means almost any outdoor GPS made in the past 10 years, although newer models do have some features worth considering.

How to Wade Through Hard Running Waters

1. The first thing to keep in mind is to take things slowly. Since most hard running waters will be on the colder side, one should be careful to wade in slowly - the same as you would with calm waters. Jumping in all at once may shock your body too much, and in hard running waters especially, this may prove dangerous. Begin in shallow waters. Start by just putting your feet in, and get used to the temperature of the water. Once you feel comfortable, you can wade in deeper.

2. Given that these are, presumably, rather powerful running waters, the key is to make sure you’re still wading, and not swimming. Swimming in hard running waters, especially far from shore, can get extremely dangerous, and is a needless risk to your life and well being. Now, keeping this cautionary piece of advice in mind, make sure that you stay in water that is shallow enough for you to stand up in. Make sure you have a good sense of balance, and try not to get knocked off your feet, as this may be dangerous, since the running waters may end up sweeping you out to a deeper area of the river or lake - which is definitely not a good place to be, especially in an environment with powerful, fast running waters. Strong legs and a good sense of balance go a long way in hard running waters. Getting into an exercise routine that will build up those leg muscles prior to wading out into those waters would not be a bad idea at all. Jogging or running will help with this, in addition to balancing exercises. In addition, familiarity with being in the water will help you keep from panicking in potentially dangerous situations. Perhaps most importantly of all, make sure that you do know how to swim, in case you need to. Running water - especially hard running water - is often unpredictable, and you should do your best to be prepared to survive in any situation.