Topgear breathes new life into satnav

It's usefull having a gadget freak in your crew, especialy when he can bring your satnav back to life after you'v given up all hope of it working again and had tossed it too one side.
Cheers mate, she's working like a dream again.

October 2010 Forest Camp

Well guys I have to say that was a great weekend. Good to see old faces and a new one. The tree climbing was a lark, as was the slingshot shooting. Great company and nice BIG fires, which in my case were needed after my encounter with that ditch ;-)

October 2010 Camp

Here's some video from our October 2010 Camp, special thanks to the Big Guy for the camera work and editing.   Highlight of the weekend, appart from it been too warm and too many bugs, was the tasty spit roast grey squirel!

Photo slideshow from the weekend can be found here


Looking forward to the Christmas camp.... subzero temperatures and possibly snow!

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

As some of our regular readers might notice, the Big Guy and myself are know flashpackers out in the field, which means lots of batteries to keep our techo kit running while we are away.    One recent innovation in battery technology is Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries.  We like them because they hold more change for their size and they work well in the cold (but not below freezing!).

I found this article particularly useful on how best to look after and prolong the life of Lithium Ion batteries.  Here's the simple guide for looking after your Lithium Ion batteries : -

• Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
   
• Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.
   
• Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.
   
• Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)
   
• Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.
   
• If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.

letsomebodyknow.com (where to find the body?)

Here is a handy free $30 service for all us adventurers out there :-

http://www.letsomebodyknow.com/

"Want to stay safe but don't want to bother people by always telling them your plans?  Use LetSomebodyknow.com to quickly log your plans and have the choice of only notifying people about them if you don't return."

or should that be 'going somewhere you shouldn't be and don't want to tell anyone... but just incase you dont come back they will know where to look?'

Joking aside, it is very important to let someone (or a website) know your travel plans, your expected locations with date/times and your expected return date/time.  Be safe, be happy.

Topgear.

Fiskars Axe or a Gerber ?

Fiskars say that the handle is a virtually unbreakable FiberComp^® fiberglass handle, and the head locks in a permanent, wiggle-free position.

 

Well I knew our axes were strong, and I have to say that in all the years that myself and TG have had them, they're as good as the day they were new.

 

Now the reason for this post is to spread a little known tip when buying one of these axes.

 

Fiskars and Wilkinson Sword, are one in the same.  So if you see one of these little orange gems with Wilkinson Sword or Fiskars on the handle then buy it.

 

The main tip comes here.......the Gerber axe sells for a shed load more than my Fiskars which only cost me £17.99 about five or so years ago, and at the time then the Gerber equivalent axe cost closer to £50.  Now a few of you know this but not everyone, so here goes......a Gerber axe is realy a Fiskars axe that's got a black handle and a badge that reads Gerber.  So save yourself some money and go to the gardening store to buy a Fiskars rather than an exspensive outdoor store that's selling the same axe in a different jacket !

 

Water in a meths burner !

I just recieved this response to one of my videos......

Now here's the WARNING......I'm not endorsing this as a tried and tested method because I've not had a chance yet to test it myself, but I am interested in anyones comments with regards to this and have they used this method and does it work and what sort of results did you get.

 

Good video. a small tip: I've found that adding a TINY amount of water to the meths in the burner doesn't affect it's efficiency, but certainly prevents the base of the pans getting "sooty", so to speak!

 

My stove setup for use in a tent

This is now the only cooker that I use when I'm camping in a tent.

I've done away with the big heavy twin burner cooker and large gas bottle and gone for this little cooker that I had knocking about in the back of the car for brews and meals when out on the road.

 

Now I know the benefits of a twin burner with grill as I'm sure TG will tell me, but that's fine in his HUGE bungalow tent, but for smaller tents like my dome and tunnel tent, then one of these little gas stoves that fit into a compact case the size of a cordless drill box is the way forward for me.

 

You can see from the picture that I've taken an old curver plastic storage box and cut out the one side and then flipped the box over and cable tied an old wire rack where the box wall once was.  I've also blue tacked my cooker splash guard around the inside of the box to reflect the heat and to save me having problems with the box melting !

 

It's proved to be a great setup.  The cooker is fast and stable to have in a tent, the gas lasts for ages and the cans of gas are nice and cheap. The heat output is good so it also doubles as a tent heater.  The splash box I made not only gives me somewhere to store the pots but also keeps stuff from splashing onto the inner walls of my tent.

 

I used this cooker on a frosty week up in The Lake District and only used two and a bit cans of gas, which I was surprised about.  It's nice, clean and boils water fast.  This will always be the cooker of choice for tent cooking in future, and if I find I need another burner then it's only £14 to buy another one of these cookers.

 

Yes I have small gas cookers and meths burners, but who wants to burn meths in a tent, the smell and sooty pots is a bitch and then the chance of spilling it is not something I want to think about, and as for small gas cookers, well they're liable to tipping over wich is not so bad outdoors but for in a tent it's a HUGE problem.

 

I pull the cooker from this box and put it back into it's case and toss it in the back of the car for year round use so It's been a good investment.  I also like the Piezo ignition.

 

Anyway, here it is in it's splash guard box.

Rare footage of JB from HAE on a water run in Maine

Guestbook Closure

For sometime now we've made all our posts here so I've closed our

Free Radicals Guestbook

 

A link to all of our old Guestbook entries will go here soon...

 

Thanks to smartgb.com for our ever working FREE guestbook.