181–190 of 192 posts
How old is this article? It seems to use the old Fahrenheit temperature scale. I'm sure my grandfather would understand those temperatures but for myself I had to convert each one into modern units. Eventually I couldn't be bothered and stopped reading.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have any cellular reception at all, you're generally not lost or stuck in the wilderness and at risk of freezing to death.
I don't think that's right. I've been places in Colorado miles from "help" and still had cell reception.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure, do cars reliably start in the cold?
They do. I've personally never had a problem starting my engine, even in -40 (Celcius) nights in Canada. It sure takes a couple of seconds, but recent cars (>1990) all start just fine in extreme cold. Given your battery is charged, and your engine is in normal conditions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Get one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/1200-lb-capacity-cable-puller-3... http://www.harborfreight.com/4000-lb-capacity-cable-winch-pu... http://www.harborfreight.com/8000-lb-cable-winch-puller-543.... http://www.harborfreight.com/manual-strap-winch-95541.html It's only $15 for the cheapest one (they have other types too that mount to the car). Also get a long strap to go with it in case the nearest tree is n…
There are wheel-mounted winch pullers that are much better suited for the task, since they don't require standing out in the cold or as much physical effort. http://www.bushwinch.com.au/recoverysystem.html
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also find it completely strange that here in the US people tend to use feet as a sub-division of miles, but the mile/foot relation is not trivial: 1 mile == 5280 feet. And why would you need so many units for length? mile, yard, feet, inch... All (apparently) unrelated. The metric system on the other hand, is so elegant and simple. Only one unit: meter.
Growing up in the US, we're exposed to these units our entire lives. End result? When my GPS tells me to turn right in a quarter mile, I can eyeball that distance. If it told me to turn in 400 meters, it'd make me pause a bit. When I buy a gallon of gas, I know what I can expect to get from it. I know roughly how much a gallon is and how much a liter is, but I'd have to do math to tell you how far my car will go on a…
All of them were equally wedded to the pre-change system (fixed in mental habits, etc.), of course; there's nothing special about the American situation.
There's obviously a cost, but it's most severe for the older generation (whose mental habits are so ingrained they have real trouble adjusting) -- even for younger adults, your brain adapts to the new system after using it regularly for a while. AFAICT (I moved from the US to a metric-using country 7 years ago) it's never quite the same as the system you grew up with, but I'm pretty comfortable with it now.
It's something like learning bad words in another language -- they never gain the burned-in power of expletives in your native language, but your ears certainly learn to perk up when you hear them, and you can use them perfectly well.
Summing up -- quit whining, America, switch to better measurement systems, and the difficulties will smooth out more quickly than you think. :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where did you get that information? The Inuit traditionally use a qulliq/kudlik (a lamp fueled by seal oil) for light, heat, etc. and everything I can find now says that it's not something introduced in the last couple of hundred years. For example, http://books.google.se/books?id=G49CwQpozoUC&pg=PA29&... says that Inuit were curious why people were hunting whales for oil for light, when they knew that seal oil wa…
Can you find anything that says fire was a necessity for survival for paleo-eskimo cultures because I remember reading it wasn't, but I'm having trouble googling a source for or against it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Switch to metric system USA!
Read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_State...
Along the way we get sad stories like the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1998, where everyone except Lockheed Martin was using metric units in the parts and software written for the orbiter.
So come on, USA! Keep trying!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you find anything that says fire was a necessity for survival for paleo-eskimo cultures because I remember reading it wasn't, but I'm having trouble googling a source for or against it.
I don't know whether it's true (haven't googled it) but the natives of Tierra del Fuego were reported not to use fire much & to wander around nekkid. The natives didn't survive contact w/ Europeans very long, however.
I teach search and rescue people how to travel on skis or snowshoes and live in winter mountains. If you are prepared, you can stay out in sub-zero for days and days very comfortably. A key skill is constant regulation of your body temperature. You never want to become too hot/sweaty or too cold. If too cold - get into shelter, drink something hot, eat carbs, add clothes, move faster. If too hot - remove clothes, or…
If you read the annual compilations of mountaineering accidents in North America you'll notice a few trends, generally people being under prepared and having insufficient basic equipment like lights, warm clothing, or rain gear. A common theme is people getting lost or poorly estimating time or getting caught by weather and then being forced to spend a night out on a mountain when they hadn't planned to. Generally, j…
I just saw a list of the "ten essentials" posted at the entrance to a wilderness area in New Hampshire's White Mountains. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I was without many of them, though it was on a day hike with a partner on a very wide, flat, heavily-traveled trail. I remember a spring backpacking trip in the Smoky Mountains where one person in my group fell into a creek we were crossing near nightfall as it was beginning to snow. Fortunately we had extra dry clothes ready at hand to give that person to change into.