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Author: Tom

Shade tree chef: Dutch ovens

Shade tree chef: Dutch ovens

Tweet Do’s & Don’ts for Dutch ovens and camp ironware… Do get started today! The heft and clangor of cast iron cookware takes us back to great grandma’s hearth. Rattling iron echoes our ancestors’ busy hands around stone fireplaces. Dutch oven lids clanging to closure, the ring of heavy utensils, and the aromas of hardwood coals and bubbling cobbler are simple pleasures, and much more. Camp cooking with cast iron is enjoyable and convenient, all you need to get started…

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Quinzee fun, basic snow shelter

Quinzee fun, basic snow shelter

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TweetBuilding a quinzee… Wilderness survival manuals illustrate several types of snow shelters suggested for emergency use. Oddly, the simplest shelter with the broadest application is rarely suggested, it’s a snow-mound shelter called a quinzee. Building a quinzee requires little more than snow, a shovel or two and a few hours work. Quinzee’s are simple to construct compared with other wilderness shelters. A quinzee is a great choice for your first snow shelter construction and a great choice for an emergency…

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Firecraft 101 #1 Coming home to fire…

Firecraft 101 #1 Coming home to fire…

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TweetOur Promethean origins Our relationship with fire is ancient and intimate. Early in our hominid prehistory we borrowed useful fire from natural causes. Later, like mythological Prometheus, we stole fire from the gods: We learned to create fire at will.  That essential primitive skill energized a cultural leap and much more. Our relationship with fire became reciprocal: Arguably, fire recreated us as we influenced the adaptations of fire-dependent landscapes. We have been torch bearers, dependent upon fire, shaped by fire,…

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Weather: know before you go …

Weather: know before you go …

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TweetToday, your weather information options are nearly endless. In addition to your weather radio, a must have device, your smart phone offers access to a multitude of App’s supporting real time weather information and programmable warning systems wherever you get a signal–don’t leave home without your radio (very broad reception) and your phone App’s! When you listen to and respond to weather information, that’s weather readiness. More weather access: Weather Underground offers global forecast coverage and everything weather-related. Accuweather.com offers…

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Cool weather readiness

Cool weather readiness

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TweetAre you ready? Prolonged exposure to cool season weather demands adaptive behaviors and adaptive clothing systems for staying warm in the cold, wind, snow and rain, especially while working hard or playing hard in remote areas away from cabin warmth. When you won’t have warm buildings or big fires to dry you out and return the feeling to your numb fingers and toes, warmth management (thermoregulation readiness) enables you to survive and thrive in the great outdoors. Warmth management tips:…

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Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics

Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics

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TweetGoing Easy in Our Great Outdoors Human impacts are part of the ecology of wild places and local green spaces. These impacts are indirect and direct. Addressing the indirect impacts is a large topic involving global sustainability choices. Our direct impacts are our footprints on and off trail and much more. Ecological readiness includes more than the names of plants and animals, awareness of your own impacts is essential. The sum of our direct impacts; our migrating fire ring scars,…

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Readiness Ethics

Readiness Ethics

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TweetReadiness is an ethical pursuit. Readiness impacts more than the immediate outcomes of outdoor pursuits. Modern approaches to readiness must consider more than individual ability and preparations matched with chosen pursuits to ensure success and personal safety in the outdoors. Today, more than ever, readiness must consider other people and nature, sociological and ecological impacts–ethics for our crowded modern world. Choices matter. The outdoor pursuits we choose and the methods we use impact others and the wild places we enjoy….

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