[via OutdoorsMagic]

Wasp sprays usually have better accuracy and range to hit bears at the sensitive areas but they’re not better at keeping away bears when the attack. Why?

1. Bear sprays fire in a wide fog so that you don’t need accuracy to nail an angry, charging bear.
2. Even if you hit a bear in the eye, it’s not likely to irritate it more than a pepper spray does.
3. Making a bear inhale wasp spray doesn’t stop it from attacking

Unless you plan on using the wasp spray as a flamethrower (using a lighter), stick with a bear spray.

Taken from Backpacker.com

Conor Pope of The Irish Times was expecting to stay at a nearby hotel, with beds, hot water and the like, when he was sent down to the Electric Picnic to “produce a daily, bite-sized edition of our Friday entertainment supplement The Ticket for festival-goers.”

Then everything changed:

“At the last minute, the Ticket editor decided it would be a wheeze if I camped, in order to, you know, savour the real festival experience. It is more than 20 years since I slept in a tent, so I wasn’t thrilled, but I was so desperate to go to the Picnic – it was my very first time – that I agreed.

She allowed me to spend more than €200 on a pitch in what is known as the Tangerine Fields. For this hefty sum, I got my tent put up by magic elves, an air bed and a sleeping bag. And I was promised a better class of showers and toilet facilities.

Now, while these might well have been better than what was on offer in regular campsites, that does not make them good. The toilets were hazardous from the start, the showers were not much better, and the queues to get into them were massive.”

Finish the story at the Irish Times.

You can get one here at the knotworkshop. You might also want to check out some cool camping coffee stuff because you need a good cup of joe to do some epic shit.

3 parks with the most bear attack fatalities:

1. Glacier National Park – 10 fatalities
2. Yellowstone – 7 fatalities
3. Katmai – 2 fatalities

Glacier has the densest population of bears. Even though Yellowstone has more bears, they have much more room to roam in and therefore there’s less chance of encounters with human.

Read more at Backpacker.com

A bear kills a hunter, leaving his friends to ponder his fate.

The outdoors is good for the kids. Studies have shown that kids who spend a lot of time outdoors have a good foundation for health, fitness and self-confidence. Spending too much time indoors may result in a number of behavioral problems and obesity for kids according to Richard Louv who coined the term Nature-Deficit Disorder in his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods.

Here are five tips for choosing the right hiking trail for your kids:

1. Know your limits
2. Choose the right distance
3. Pick a great destination
4. Pay attention to a trail’s difficulty level
5. Consider the view along the way

For more information go to FamilyCampMan.com

Looking for ideas if you decide to do some grilling after work? Watch this:

Have you ever thought that your boots could be causing environmental damage?

Felt-soled boots provide unrivaled grip on slimy rocks and boulders. In fact, no other type of sole even comes close. It’s dangerous to wade through river without felt soles.

New Zealand have banned the use of felt-soled boots since 1998 in an effort to stop the spread of didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) or “rock snot”, a microscopic pest that can be spread by a single drop of water. Evidence have shown that felt-soled boots carry these noxious microorganisms from stream to stream.

While not poisonous, it can be severely damaging to stream habitats and disrupts the sources of food for fish.

Alaska and Vermont have also banned felt-soled boots but there’s some resistance to it, most notably by the fishing community in New Zealand. I’m not sure how it goes but I’m betting that the resistance was futile.

via Technorati.

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• Choose a spot close to a water source but not too close because water levels might rise when you’re sleeping. However, it’s a good idea to camp far from the water source if crocodiles, anacondas or something like them are known to exist in the area.
• Choose a spot that is sheltered from the wind but try to avoid camping near trees because it could fall unexpectedly.
• A flat area is ideal for setting up camp but if you can’t a flat area be sure you sleep with your head on the higher side and remember that when you sleep on a slope, you might slide a bit so be careful about your position relative to the campfire if any.
• Choose an area where there is little or no sharp objects like rocks and roots.
• Avoid areas where there are evidence of recent animal activities like foot prints, droppings, etc.

Do you have any more tips on choosing a spot for camping?

1. Aerobie Aeropress
2. Bialetti Moka Express Stovetop
3. Bodum Columbia Thermal Press Pot
4. Finum Brewing Basket
5. Planetary Design Double Shot Travel French Press Mug
6. Coleman Camping Coffee Maker
7. Mypressi Twist
8. Handpresso
9. Thermos Leak-Proof Insulated Travel Mug
10. Planetary Design Airscape

You can find these camping coffee gear here.

If that’s the case, I’m willing to do their marketing for them for free and I’m sure their fans will do the same simply because the world needs more of them.

Although the company is new, the people behind it has a lot of experience in the outdoor industry:

• Martin Zemitis – Founder/VP/Designer/Gearhead. Widely known as one of the best tent designers in the business. 33-year industry veteran and gear guru developed award-winning products for other well-known industry leaders. Co-founder of Mountain Hardwear. Now, he’s got his very own sandbox. Two SlingFin patents and more to come.
• Timothy Baka – Founder/President. Co-founder and “numbers guy” behind Mountain Hardwear. Past lives include investment banker and number cruncher. Lost the suit to start China-based sourcing and production business specializing in organic cotton. Likes to stick his fingers in the marketing pie.
• Jonathan Buck – Creative Director/Designer. Makes us look good. A great eye for design and photography. And check this out – he actually uses AND designs gear. Co-author of our ExoPak ™ patent. In charge of SlingFin’s look out of the blocks.
• Devin Swisher – Graphic Artist/Design Consultant. Made Mountain Hardwear look good for a decade. Artist extraordinaire. Idea man. Master of design and things Internet.
• Phil Scott – Legendary Designer/Production Guru. Outdoor industry man since the 1960’s. Never met a computer CAD system he couldn’t beat. Never met a marketing person he liked – reason why SlingFin has no “marketing department.”
• Robert Link – Professional Mountaineer/Design Advisor – Robert hast been kicking ass and taking names on many of the world’s highest peaks. Putting our ideas to work is his nugget. The design feedback loop from him is one reason we make the best gear ever.
• Lhawang Dhondup – Professional Mountaineer/Design Advisor – 30+ Himalayan expeditions under his belt. Climbing partner of Robert Link. Also kicks the shit out of our gear to make sure it works.

My personal favorite is the Bear Bag. Maybe it will keep us safe from the recent rise in bear attacks.

Here are some of the gear found at Outdoor Retailer Summer by the GearJunkie crew:

1. Petzl GRIGRI
2. SteriPen Sidewinder
3. The North Face DryWall tent
4. Helly Hansen Rainwear
5. Women’s Cirrus Wind Top by Rab
6. Earthkeepers Cupsole Sport Boat Shoe by Timberland
7. Wenger EvoWood
8. Patagonia Athletic Dresses
9. Brooks-Range Mult-Functional Plier
10. Sperry Top-Sider
11. Gerber’s Bear Grylls Survival Series Ultimate Knife
12. Stunt Puppy Collar

For further details go the GearJunkie.

I’m not a fan of coffee percolators but sometimes it’s hard to resist the bubbling sound that comes from the coffee in a percolator. The reason I prefer the french press is because not only does it make a perfect cup of coffee, it’s also much less of a hassle and cheaper too.

In case you didn’t know what a coffee percolator is, it’s a type of pot used to brew coffee as pictured above. The bottom section (A) is where you fill in with hot water. The water level should at least be above the bottom tube but not more than usually indicated on the pot, depending on how many cups of coffee you want to make. The middle section (B) is where all the ground coffee goes. The top section (C) is should be empty initially and that’s where the final product goes.

To use the percolator once you have filled the water up to the required level and put in some quality ground in the middle chamber (2 spoons per cup of coffee or however you like it), first boil the water by heating up the pot on the campfire or camp stove. Once the water has boiled, put the pot on the edge of the fire or turn the camp stove on low. Pressure will build up in the lower chamber (A) until there is enough to push the hot water through the spout and through the coffee grounds.

Allow to percolate slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. The resulting coffee is collected in the upper section (C). You can then remove the middle chamber and discard the grounds.

It’s now time to pour the coffee into your favorite camping mug and enjoy.

Note:

Definition of per·co·late: (of a liquid or gas) Filter gradually through a porous surface or substance

You might also be interested in other camping coffee gear.

While there are plenty of innovations in the outdoor industry but most of them are just minor. Lighter materials, fancy features, more comfort and better efficiency are all great but it’s not the level of innovation I’m looking for. The latest camping mattress like Exped’s SynMat 7 UL, may be lighter, more robust and packs smaller but the innovation to me is still small. I want to nominate something with a WOW factor. Innovations in outdoor gear, I thought, is not that great after all.

Other questions came to mind. Do I choose the ones that started the innovation or the ones that improved on it? Why 50 years? How could something NOT in the last 2 years (or even the last year) win on innovation?

This is really difficult. Maybe I should start listing out all the backpacking and camping gear categories and choose a few products in each that qualify as “innovative”. This is going to take a lot of work.

I’m starting to think about the problems I have when I’m in the outdoors and which gear could solve that problem. I think if I spend enough time on this I might just invent some new outdoor. I need a break…

I went outside for a smoke break and decided that I need some coffee when it suddenly came to me. People have probably been dealing with crap camping coffee for the most part of the last 50 years. The one thing that made me go WOW when I first saw it was Mypressi. I didn’t know about Handpresso until a few days later and it was probably the first portable espresso maker of its kind but Mypressi makes better espresso so there you go. I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to nominate Mypressi.

And to think that I was just about to go through some tents, sleeping bags, camping mats, camping stoves, etc and list out the ones that are the most innovative in each category and then painstakingly pare down to the one gear I would think is the most innovative.

I don’t know about you but I’m going over to RohanTime.com right now for my nomination. I don’t really care if I win but it would certainly be interesting to see which gear won in November.

UPDATE

You can actually put up to 3 outdoor gear for nomination.

Here are some of the most unique tent designs today (one of them is not really a tent):

MyHab

Tent Dresses

Abrio Socio

Kahuna

See more amazing tent designs.

Games for kids are an important part of family camping. It doesn’t really matter if the kids learn more about the outdoors or not from these games. What’s important is that the kids enjoy playing them in the outdoors. If the kids learn more about the natural environment, that’s a big bonus. The main goal is for the kids to have fun in the outdoors. Portable video games don’t count because when kids play video games, they’re in another world of their own.

Some tips on camping games for kids can be found at TLC.HowStuffWorks.com and FamilyFun.Go.com

A Double Wall Tent

Single-wall tens, as the name suggests, are tents that only have a single wall that acts as a barrier against the weather. Double-wall tents are tents with an inner mesh wall covered by a waterproof rainfly. Both can be used for backpacking. But which one is right for you?

There are 5 reasons why  you’d want to choose Single-Wall Tents:

1. You don’t mind getting wet in the middle of the night when it starts to rain on you from the inside soaking your sleeping bag and pad
2. You’re camping in a dry environment where condensation is not very likely.
3. You love to keep your backpack light so you can hike further, faster and with less effort.
4. They’re cheaper than double-wall tents
5. They’re much easier to set-up than double-wall tents

And there are 5 reasons why you should choose Double-Wall Tents:

1. You’re only happy when you sleep dry
2. The extra weight is worth having a good night’s sleep
3. You’re going to camp in a humid environment
4. There’s no backpacking involved
5. You can afford a double-wall tent that’s lighter than some single-wall tents

For more information, read Single Wall Tents and Double Wall Tents.

You can mimic a double-wall tent with a bivvy and a tarp tent.

I wouldn’t exactly call them “campsites” because you don’t actually do any camping (not with a tent, or a sleeping bag or even outside) on them (at least on most of them) but the guys at Mirror.co.uk seem to think they  are.

Here are 5 of the coolest campsites (more like glamping sites) in the UK found with the help of Pitchup.com. (No tents or sleeping gear are required):

1. The Original Hut Company, Robertsbridge, East Sussex
2. The Treehouse, Halse, Somerset
3. Eskdale Pod Camping, Cumbria
4. La Rosa, North Yorkshire Moors National Park
5. Billycan Camping, Arundel Sussex

The trap first attracted the female bear’s cubs instead. 2 of the 3 cubs were left in the cage while the other kept making loud calls through much of the day. The mother bear was eventually captured when it returned back to the sow.

The bear’s behavior was said to be unusual because it specifically targeted the three victims and went after them. Experts believe it was not the actions of a bear trying to protect its young especially since the victims were in three separate tents in different locations. Tent or sleeping bag fibers were found in the bear’s droppings.

Many in Cooke City who heard the news of the bear attack started carrying bear sprays. A couple had a bear spray within reach in their BMW convertible as they were driving through the park.

If the bear is confirmed to be the killer, it will have to be be put to the death. Officials have yet to decide the fate of the cubs.

The CSI of bears have taken some samples of bear hair to their lab to determine the sex and species of the aggressive bear. If Henry Ostrander was there no one would be hurt.

Read the full story.

Meanwhile, celebrity wildlife educator Jack Hanna shared a story on CBS about his encounter with a female bear and her cubs on a narrow trail returning from Grinnel Glacier.

Hanna advocates the use of bear sprays over firearms in a public service announcement for the National Park Service.