Just TrailsToday’s DIY trail tip is inspired by this “pin“–yep it’s a cup made out of duct tape. It took us about 5 minutes to make, you can check it out here: 
So, we’ve decided that the duct tape cup is definitely cool but I can’t think of a reason to take it camping or backpacking since water bottles are much more useful to have. What are your thoughts? Would you take this camping or backpacking and what would you do with it?
I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I love the layout and easy to find recipes, DIY ideas and tips. But, I’m also skeptical (especially when it comes to outdoor related pins)-do all of those tips and ideas really work? We’re adding a new segment every Monday where we test and evaluate a Pinterest “trail tip“. We’re looking at if the tip actually works, a cost/time analysis and if it required a trip to the store for any special tools. Once we’ve thoroughly tested the ‘tip’ we’ll give you our verdict-useful or useless.
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Today’s DIY trail tip is inspired by this ‘pin‘ all about waterproofing matches.
We used two methods to waterproof matches. The first was to coat a match head in wax and the second was to paint the match head with clear fingernail polish. Here’s what we did:
Do you use matches in the backcountry? (We typically don’t) What do you think of waterproofing your own matches? Do you know a better/faster/easier way?
To measure distance on topographic map you need a UTM grid, a very basic knowledge of the metric system, a little math… and dental floss.
On the UTM-gridded map below, I’ve highlighted the stretch we’re going to measure along the Thorofare Trail from the ford on the Thorofare River in the Teton Wilderness to the Thorofare Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park. Also shown is the length of dental floss – blackened here with a magic marker to make the photography clearer – we’ll use to do the measuring.
Place one end of the length of dental floss at your start point on the map, (in this example, the ford), then use your fingertips to work the dental floss along your entire route – in this instance, the highlighted trail; in effect, tracing your route with the floss, as shown below, until you reach your end point (the Thorofare Ranger Station).
Once you’ve worked the length of floss along the entire route (or other distance), grip the start point with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and the end point with the thumb and forefinger of the other.
Place the measured length of floss against one edge of the UTM grid on the map, either north-to-south or east-to-west, whichever is more convenient, and measure its length, as shown below, using the grid as a ruler. On this particular map, each grid square is exactly 1 kilometer x 1 kilometer (1,000 meters x 1,000 meters), with the grid squares along the map’s edges graduated in 100-meter “hashmarks.” I’ve placed a mark on the length of floss’s end point, so we can see that the measured length is 5 kilometers (5,000 meters), plus 400 meters. If you operate with the metric system, you’ve determined the distance to be 5.4 kilometers and you’re finished.
For a distance in miles, it works like this. There are about six tenths of a mile in a kilometer, so to convert kilometers to miles, multiply the number of kilometers x .6, which gives us 3 miles, plus the 400 meters indicated. 100 meters is right at 110 yards, so we multiply our 400 meters x 1.1 to get 440 yards, which is 1/4 of a mile, for a final non-metric result of 3 1/4 trail miles from the ford on the Thorofare River to the Thorofare Ranger Station.
(The maps used here were generated with Terrain Navigator Pro, which creates not only the UTM grid, but the 100-meter “hashmarks,” which do not appear on “store bought” USGS topos.)
Using this approach allows you to determine distance along irregular stretches like trails or watercourses. String or yarn works just as well, but I prefer dental floss because it’s light and very strong, making it useful in other applications, such as emergency repairs and/or situations requiring small, tough cord.
A measurement like this is, of course, a simple horizontal distance that does not take terrain into account. A formula developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute is useful in dialing in ground condition to calculate the actual “effort mileage.”
Flat, scrub desert, or temperate terrain…………………………………………………………add 10%
Rolling, temperate wooded terrain………………………………………………………………..add 20%
Any loose surface material or snow (to factor in foot slippage)…………………..add 20%
Jungle or hilly temperate terrain……………………………………………………………………add 30%
Sandy desert…………………………………………………………………………………………………add 30%
Mountainous terrain……………………………………………………………………………………..add 40%
We are excited to have Dick join the Just Trails blogging team writing a weekly post on back country navigation. He has a few decades worth of experience not just navigating but also teaching people to navigate. Check out his bio on our Who are these people?!? page and be sure to throw your hardest navigation related questions at him. – Al
Returning to camp (or anywhere else, for that matter) with nothing more than a compass is readily accomplished. (Note, though, it goes without saying that venturing out without a daypack that contains the essentials, including a map and compass, with a GPS as a plus, is, of course, foolhardy.)
The map I put together (below) helps explain the process. Let’s say you plan to bushwhack around the general area east of your camp (or, perhaps, your vehicle.) Before starting out, with a good sighting compass such as the Silva/Brunton 54, U.S. military lensatic, Silva Ranger, or the British prismatic, take a bearing on several distinct landmarks east of camp, such as Smith Peak, Twin Bluffs, and Mount Jones. (Smith Peak’s bearing is 050 degrees, Twin Bluff’s is 080 Degrees, and Mount Jones’s is 120 degrees.) Rather than trying to memorize these bearings – always risky – they should be jotted down.)
When it’s time to head back, the procedure is as follows:
Take bearings on those of the original landmarks you can still see. (The more, the better. Hopefully, all of them.)
Compare these new bearings with your original bearings for each landmark. Determine which of the new bearings is closest to its original bearing. (For the sake of this example, let’s say that turns out to be the new bearing to Twin Bluffs, taken from point “X”.)
Change your position, taking a bearing on the selected landmark (Twin Bluffs, in this example) at intervals until your new bearing matches your original bearing. (Here you would move south until the bearings match.)
Once you are back on your original bearing, (in this example 080 degrees), determine that bearing’s reciprocal – here, 260 degrees – and follow that bearing back to camp.
(Some explanation may be in order here. In navigation, a direction that is the exact opposite of another is its reciprocal. North is 0 degrees; hence its reciprocal, south, is 180 degrees. West is 270 degrees, so its reciprocal, east, is 90 degrees. To determine a reciprocal, add 180 if the initial direction is less than 180 degrees. If the initial direction is more than 180 degrees, subtract 180.)
Topography, of course, will have a lot to say here, but the fact remains that following the reciprocal (sometimes called the back bearing) of the original bearing of any one of the landmarks will take you back to camp. If an obstacle like a line of rimrock or a big, boggy patch compels you have to depart from your line of bearing, simply repeat the process once you’ve cleared the obstacle.
Reference: http://www.troop97.net/bshb_ed6.htm
Yesterday @HikingTheTrail shared a story via twitter about $4,000 worth of tents, camp stoves and pop-up canopies being stolen from Boy Scout Troop 503′s storage unit in Puyallup, Washington.
My response was “What kind of a pathetic soul steals from Boy Scouts!”
It’s a sad day when Boy Scouts have to beg and borrow equipment to go on a campout because some jerk stole their tents.
And according to the press release, these Boy Scouts had spent 6 months selling candy bars to earn enough money to purchase their new gear. Jerk indeed.
When the thief is caught I think he or she should be stripped down to their skivvies, duct taped upside-down to a tree and forced to listen to The Regis Philbin Christmas Album for 72 hours straight. And then then they should return what was stolen and buy another $4,000 worth of candy from the Boy Scouts so they can buy new sleeping bags and canoes to go with their new tents.
It’s a sad soul who steals from children.
So, be on the look out for some jerk trying to sell a bunch of tents on Craig’s list or at the local pawn shop.
Good luck Troop #503. I’m sure your upcoming campout will rock (despite some losers attempt to sabotage it). Let us know when your gear is returned so we can stop being angry.
When we’re camping I’m a Jetboil chef, and a boring one.
I don’t even like to cook at home, why would I want to cook when I’m supposed to be playing in the mountains?
Foil dinner's, so easy that even I can make them!
Some outdoor mom’s go all out with camping feasts for their families. They use actual recipes, toys like dutch ovens and set up entire camping kitchens. And then they post pictures of their festive meals and tidy camp kitchens on pinterest, twitter and facebook. I’m not that awesome and a teeny bit lazy.
This is how I “cook”…(both on and off the trails)
Open instant oatmeal packet, put oatmeal in a mug or bowl, add boiling water, and eat up. Simple, easy, tasty. That’s the extent of my outdoor cooking expertise.
Well, during our latest yurtin’ adventure I decided to deviate from my “just add water” philosophy and make foil dinners. For me, it was a big step.
Hamburger, Sweet Potato, Peppers, Green Onions, Montreal Steak Seasoning. So easy.
…a big delicious step. I’ll probably never break down and buy a fancy camp kitchen but now I know how to make the ultimate foil dinner. Cheers!
Last weekend we stayed in a yurt in Colorado State Forest State Park. While we like camping we also like sleeping on beds and the Clark Peak Yurt combined the luxury of sleeping on a bed with all the fun of camping.
Our weekend began late Friday afternoon with a rush to pack and get to the yurt before dark. Following written directions and relying zen navigation we made it to the yurt just as the sun set and right before a light rainfall.
Al quickly went to work unloading the car and doing manly things like building a fire in the wood burning stove while I inspected the cleanliness of the yurt, checking for evidence of mice and spiders. We spent the weekend reading, writing, hiking, exploring, eating and enjoying the beauty that is State Forest State Park. (click the thumbnails to enlarge photos)
Here’s what we liked about the Clark Peak yurt:
1) The yurt was rather remote and rustic the perfect place to get away and nap…I mean relax.
2) There’s something so peaceful and serene about the way that yurts are designed. It was fun laying in bed and looking up at the stars through the center ring.
3) We loved the yurt’s deck, it was perfect for reading and playing.
4) The inside of the yurt was larger than we expected, it could comfortably sleep 9 people, giving us a lot of room to spread out. And there was plenty of firewood.
5) The Clark Peak Yurt journal was super fun to read.
Here’s what we didn’t like:
It currently costs $80.00/night to stay in the Clark Peak Yurt ( $120.00/night during the winter). Since we were forking over a decent chunk of change I expected the yurt to be cleaner than it was. Thankfully we brought our own clean sheets and a plastic tub to protect our food from rodents.
We can’t wait to check out this cross-country ski trails at State Forest State Park this winter and we will definitely stay in one of Never Summer Nordic‘s yurts again.