Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

news.ycombinator.com

131–140 of 171 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#131

I hiked across the Alps, alone, on foot and camping in the wild for 3 months. I had no phone with me (no GPS) and just paper maps, and a pen to keep notes on paper. It was the best time I ever had my whole life. I thought I might get lonely but being in the flow of walking every day actually created some kind of an internal dialogue in my head which never made me feel lonely. I met others who were on a similar trail…

How did you managed food, water and hygene?

I love hiking but I often rely on mountain huts here in the alps, limiting tent

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#132

1. A powered height-adjustable table. Now when I work I stand more often, and sit less. It has a 4 position memory, which makes changing the height as simple as a button push, so I switch between standing and sitting as frequently as I wish. 2. An oven with electric grill and a timer. It makes cooking healthy whole food so easy. Just throw it in, set the timer, pull it out, and eat. I use the oven to cook chicken, fi…

So many ovens come with timers that just beep - yet they keep on cooking. Who on earth thought that was a good plan? If I wanted a timer, I'd have used my phone.

Turning the oven off isn’t going to help much anyways because most of the heat will remain and continue cooking the food

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many ovens come with timers that just beep - yet they keep on cooking. Who on earth thought that was a good plan? If I wanted a timer, I'd have used my phone.

Turning the oven off isn’t going to help much anyways because most of the heat will remain and continue cooking the food

Slightly burnt pizza still beats 'literaly on fire' pizza any day.

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#134

I hiked across the Alps, alone, on foot and camping in the wild for 3 months. I had no phone with me (no GPS) and just paper maps, and a pen to keep notes on paper. It was the best time I ever had my whole life. I thought I might get lonely but being in the flow of walking every day actually created some kind of an internal dialogue in my head which never made me feel lonely. I met others who were on a similar trail…

How did you managed food, water and hygene? I love hiking but I often rely on mountain huts here in the alps, limiting tent

I brought 2 servings of cat-food[1] for absolute emergency, never had to use it. Also made some pemmican before I left but fed it to a stray dog since it tasted like lips+assholes :D also had a gas-cooker initially but got rid of it due to weight, ... instead I carried oats|bran|cuscus, dark chocolate, nuts, figs, dates. Anything that is nutritionally dense and light in weight. I cold-soaked the oats or cuscus with some water which was another reason I was able to ditch the cooker. Not exactly a Michelin star meal, but gave me enough energy during the hike. Whenever I arrived in a village I'd "stock up" on fresh veg+fruit (whatever fit in my belly) to minimize weight. I ate probably several kg of mushrooms, blue-berries and raspberries (whatever I found really), but it was also good to know that if I wanted a real meal just go to one of the huts and order a Schnitzl or Kaiserschmarrn.

There is plenty of water in the Alps, even the "Tote Gebirge" has water if you do enough research. Some stretches I had to carry more water than normally but I never had to carry more than 3L (2L Platypus type of container integrated into the backpack and 1L sport-bottle to easily grab on my belt) most of the time I only carried 1-2L and usually had 500ml or even 1L by the time I reached another water source. I drank from all rivers that looked OK and didn't bother to filter (and never had problems). I wouldn't do the same thing in Sweden or Finland but considering the population density it really was no issue. Also I made a habit of asking people who I would meet about any knowledge they had about water.

Hygiene was easy since I left at dawn (4-5 AM in summer) and was still above the tree-line when it got dark, I just used whatever I could find (streams, lakes, or just those things where livestock drinks out of - don't know the word in English). Also I couldn't wash myself every day I managed to clean myself pretty decently like this at least 2-3x/week at least. And a hot (or cold) shower every 7-10 days when I found one. (The huts sometimes have coin operated showers which was pure luxury for me). I also had a small bottle of anti-bacterial soap I used 2-3x/day on my hands.

Going to the loo was more of a challenge. I hated the idea of leaving anything behind, including my own stink, (and a lot of the frequently used trails are littered enough with toilet paper as it is). I usually dug a small hole so I wouldn't leave anything behind. My philosophy was that "if somebody knew I was there I had made a mistake". Also being a total coffee-addict served me well up there because I was able to control the timing of my bowel-movement with having a strong coffee in the morning (brought some instant coffee powder and just mixed it with cold water for this purpose ... sounds horrid but I wouldn't have been mentally able to survive without it :))

[1] this was overkill, but the idea was that there would be no way I was going to eat this unless I would be in real trouble. I was told that this is what people in Canada recommend to bring to survive long stretches. No idea if that is true but it made sense. In retrospect the pemmican had the same effect, but was slightly better in taste than the smell of cat food (and also why I opted to feed the dog with pemmican instead of giving him my cat food).

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#135

I recently got my first multitool and it has sort of changed something fundamental about how I view the world to have a small, basic toolkit in the bottom of my bag at all times. I live a life where cycling everywhere is very feasible. My bike is cheap, I get exercise. I made a sunscreen for my laptop out of illustration board, drafting tape, and some magnets. When the weather's nice (and I live somewhere where it's…

I would answer: my bike, and within my bike the dynamo hub and my lights that lit as soon as I start and remain on when I stop :) ... peace of mind at its purest.

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#138

I recently got my first multitool and it has sort of changed something fundamental about how I view the world to have a small, basic toolkit in the bottom of my bag at all times. I live a life where cycling everywhere is very feasible. My bike is cheap, I get exercise. I made a sunscreen for my laptop out of illustration board, drafting tape, and some magnets. When the weather's nice (and I live somewhere where it's…

Is sticking magnets close to your laptop screen a good idea? Otherwise, nice. I am still waiting for the eink screen laptop that works in daylight.

They’re built in by Apple, that’s how it can tell when the lid closes.

And I want a color e-ink laptop so bad. Someday.

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#139
I got back into working out about a year ago. The amount of workout apps and online resources was SO overwhelming, I didn't know where to start. I decided to just ask my brother (who is big into working out) to show me a few basic exercises with dumbbells and body weight that I could do at home. Then I just used a notebook and pen to keep track of my progress. I love not having the phone around while working out. I feel like it can be such a distraction. And there's something about writing out a log with pen and paper that is just really satisfying. I love looking back and seeing pages and pages of workouts that I wrote out. It really helped me to get back into working out on a regular basis and make it a habit.

Re: Ask HN: What are some example of low tech improving your life?

#140

Stretch ~15 minutes a day. You don't need a special routine or a bunch of research. Stretch whatever is sore/stiff. If you can't think of anything start by touching your toes. Think of it as general maintenance on your joints. The effort compounds and starts to feel really good after a few months.

Overall good advice! But trying to touch your toes, while not inherently a bad thing to do, is one of the last things a typical person should be doing in terms of hips, shoulders, etc.* Similar kind of thing going on with planks, reverse planks are going to help a lot more for most people. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i69PC4PJdAQ

Great share. Cavaliere's content always solid. Thanks!

The J-Curl would seem to mimic the same range of motion as touching ones toes.

Yet, comes highly recommended > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYwOuNBzqk

Post reply on HN