Equipment Outfitters

Caravanning and Camping Barbecue Units

Portable barbecue are becoming more popular among travellers as the designs become more sophisticated and the products lighter and more efficient. Kettle barbecue are a good example as they are lightweight and long lasting. They come in a wide range of manageable sizes and can be used to make a wide variety of foods. With the lid on, the air flow can be finely tuned and they are mercifully easy to clean. More important, they contain heat well and are considered a perfectly safe place to make a fire when there are non-permanent places available. Their ideal fuel is compressed charcoal brikettes, which are light and conveniently packaged. Read the rest of this entry »

The luxury motorhome must surely represent the ultimate touring vehicle. As a combination of large vehicle and caravan it offers the benefits of both, and allows the traveller the sort of freedoms one would usually find only on a yacht! Passengers, for example, are able to sleep comfortably stretched out while the kilometres speed by.

Modern motorhomes are made for comfort, lightness and aerodynamic efficiency — they’re certainly more evolved than their older relatives. The interior layouts are more sophisticated and well thought out and the specification levels are higher. Although a common complaint is that the smaller versions are underpowered, fuel consumption is an important aspect of touring; while bigger engines have more power and are more exciting to drive, they are very much thirstier. Read the rest of this entry »

Use of the Motorcycle Throttle

Smooth motorcycle operation of the throttle goes hand in hand with smooth motorcycle clutch control and machine appreciation. Harsh motorcycle acceleration can cause motorcycle wheelspin or wheelies; great for posers and fly boys, but bad for professional and caring motorcyclists, and bad for the general image of motorcycling.

Excessive use of the motorcycle throttle, when not absolutely necessary, is also very expensive. The cost of motorcycle fuel is always rising, so the less you open the throttle the better for your pocket. Read the rest of this entry »

Once you have arrived at your destination, check out the surrounding area for anything that might constitute a danger to your child. This can be anything from a communal braai area where hot coals are still burning to a large nest of biting ants. A nearby pool full of happy children is irresistible to any toddler, who may simply wander off to see what’s going on. Other children who may not have smaller siblings can cause unintentional trauma, and accidents happen quickly. Small boys racing around on bicycles may not notice a child in their path until it’s too late. If you see a dangerous situation developing, shout loudly to attract their attention! Read the rest of this entry »

Bush Etiquette

Many people go camping to get away from it all, and expect to find the peace and tranquillity they are paying for. If you are visiting a nature or game reserve you can safely assume that everyone who goes there does so to experience the natural environment. You may come across ardent birdwatchers, reptile or plant enthusiasts, amateur astronomers and wannabe entomologists. In-between are people who simply love to wallow in the delightful chaos provided by Our Creator. Read the rest of this entry »

One-piece, two-piece, lined, unlined, nylon, waxed-cotton, or any combination is the choice facing every buyer of a motorcycle ride gear oversuit. Most serious riders have two suits; a lined one for the cold weather and an unlined one for summer ride gear wear.

A one-piece, unlined, nylon ride gear suit will fold very small and can be strapped to the seat behind the rider, using rubber aero-elastics, when not being worn. This kind of motorcycle ride gears are ideal for wearing in warm weather. Read the rest of this entry »

The drive belts on an inboard or sterndrive engine provide power to the alternator and to the engine’s water pump. Both are necessary for the engine to operate. A drive belt may break if it wears, dries and cracks or is not replaced regularly. Constant use in the engine compartment dries out the rubber and causes tiny cracks. You can, however, “jury-rig” a temporary drive belt to get home, if you motor slowly. Read the rest of this entry »

Specialized Travelling Tents

If you intend travelling in a large vehicle such as a Kombi, you may wish to try a tent that fits snugly over the vehicle, extending its interior by several square metres. It works somewhat like a carport, and you can still drive the Kombi away — the inside door of the tent matches that of the vehicle, which allows access between the two without them being attached.

For school groups or sports tours of 20 people or more, look in the army surplus stores. The tents you’ll find there are very big, and although they are sometimes used by campers they’re more suited to caterers who hold large functions. They are sturdy but also very heavy, and require many strong hands to put them up and take them down. Such tents are usually associated with school outings, outer-fringe religious group gatherings and soldier-of-fortune reunion weekends. Read the rest of this entry »

Mountainboarding is a newcomer to the world of extreme sports, although I can track its lineage to a few other more “established” extreme sports like snowboarding and mountain biking.

Essentially, the mountain board creators developed a hybrid skateboard/snowboard that allows aspects of each sport to be used on terrain where neither can be practiced. Which isn’t to say that skateboarders have not tried using fat tires on their skateboards so that they can ride on loose sand and gravel—they have. Read the rest of this entry »

Charging down a hill at warp speed on a bike is a rush that most of us have enjoyed at some time. As bikes developed they headed down the path of tradition, and for a while, all a bike buyer could find was a road-racing-style bike or a cruiser. Road bikes were fine for speed and offered a broad range of gears. But road bikes offered little comfort and didn’t take very well to rough surfaces. Cruisers were very comfortable, but heavy and not geared very well. All that changed in the early Eighties when a Japanese bike company by the name of Specialized purchased a unique bike made in Marin County, California, and took it home for a closer look.

The mountain bike can trace its roots back to when a small and unknown group of riders in Marin County, California first began riding stripped down and beefed up Schwinns on mountain roads just prior to WWII. One can only assume that the natural propensity of extreme oriented riders continued to pursue downhill riding until a few notable pioneers of the modern mountain bike began simultaneously experimenting and redefining the equipment they were riding. According to one of those pioneers, Gary Fischer, the early Schwinn “Ballooner” Cruiser bikes everyone was riding were so heavy that they were pushed, not ridden, uphill. Fischer is reported to have been the first to equip a Ballooner with multiple gears, an act that made it easier to pedal uphill, but also added 25 lbs (11.35 kg) to their weight. Read the rest of this entry »

The hydrofoil, a wing that creates lift in water, is not new, and hydrofoils are commonly used on powerboats today. They are even used on sailboats to minimize resistance and set speed records, which is itself an extreme endeavor. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that a hydrofoil attached to a chair became commercially available for athletes seeking a new tow-behind water challenge.

The air chair, as it has become known, was designed by a couple of friends on the Colorado River, one of whom was the co- creator of the kneeboard (a waterski that the rider kneels on) and a hot dog waterski pioneer, Mike Murphy. Murphy’s friend Bob Wooley became fascinated with the concept of riding a performance hydrofoil, and after several months of experimentation attached the foil to a “sit ski,” a seated version of a waterski. Read the rest of this entry »

Swimming into the deepest reaches of the ocean is a feat that many divers have experienced to a degree. Some may go below 200 feet (60m), others deeper. All would be lost without the air they bring with them. There is a special breed of diver who can go deeper than most, without air tanks. These freedivers have pushed the limits of unassisted breathing dives to below 400 feet.

Tofreedive to depths of even 50 feet (15m) is an unsettling prospect for all but the strongest swimmers. To dive much deeper requires holding a breath for minutes. In fact, the world’s best freedivers hold their breath for periods that rival many marine mammals. Read the rest of this entry »

Sports are about competition, but also about contact. Sports which involve the thrill of speed invariably require specialized equipment to undertake them, but for the sportsman, the nearer to the elements you can get, the greater the sense of accomplishment. So for water skiiers, what could make more sense than dispensing with the skis?

Barefoot Water Skiing began in Winter Haven, Florida in 1947. Water skiing pioneer Chuck Sligh theorized that water skiing without skis might be possible if the ski boat went fast enough. A 17-year-old boy named AG Hancock proved him right, becoming the first water skier to drop a ski and continue barefoot successfully. Hancock left on a family vacation before he could show the trick to Cypress Garden’s Dick Pope Sr.. A few days later, Pope’s son Dick Jr. successfully dropped a ski and got all the glory— photographs, newspaper stories, newsreels, the works. Barefoot skiers soon adapted many of the freestyle moves of traditional waterskiers. Spins, backward maneuvers, body drags, and other tricks made barefooting an exciting new discipline. Due to the speeds required to barefoot, the tricks are especially difficult, and dangerous, since the water becomes very hard in a high-speed impact. Read the rest of this entry »

Swimming long distances for sport is a challenge that only the most fit and determined extreme athletes pursue. Its roots can be traced back to1875 when Captain Matthew Webb became the first swimmer to cross the English Channel. Since then, crossing the channel has been one of the more defining feats of long distance, or open water, swimming. Open water is the appropriate term, since races and crossings are never held in a pool that would be too easy and lacking danger.

Open Water Swimming races are held globally, and were included in many of the early Olympic Games. Course lengths are usually 5, 10, 15, or 25 kilometers (3-15.5 miles) and require several hours to complete. The courses are set between two points on any large body of water. Some races require athletes to do several laps to complete a given distance, while others may consist of one very long lap. Read the rest of this entry »

Cuts

Cuts are not uncommon out-of-doors and are usually the result of incorrect handling of knives and tools. Sharp tools, incidentally, are less likely to slip and cause injury than blunt ones, so keep your sharp tools sharp, but covered.

Wash a cut well and, if it is very deep, press the edges together, and bind firmly. If a vein or artery is cut it may need to be tamped with the fingers until, as the clotting starts, the bleeding slows. Bad cuts may require stitching and puncture wounds, or cuts from rusty wire or farm implements, may need an anti-tetanus injection. Bad cuts and all puncture wounds should be seen by a doctor. Grazes should be washed to remove any ingrained dirt before covering. A light application of an antiseptic cream like Savlon may be soothing. Read the rest of this entry »

Avalanche precaution

The best precaution is to use your common sense, observe avalanche warnings, and never travel on closed routes. They have been closed to keep you out of danger, and even if you take the risk and get away with it, your tracks may tempt others into danger and they may not be so lucky.

Most avalanches occur at known spots, and when avalanche conditions exist, a warning is issued, ski pistes are closed and the emergency services stand by. Providing the skier does what he is told, and stays out of danger, little harm can come to him. Read the rest of this entry »

Rescue services

Most mountain and wilderness areas have established rescue services and they may be broadly divided into three sections:

1 Amateur but skilled teams: These are often the members of climbing clubs, hill walking organizations, or the local Civil Defence teams, who are trained in rescue techniques and stand by at weekends or in bad weather in order to answer emergency calls. These are almost always part-time volunteers, without whom the wild places would be a good deal more risky than they are.

2 The police: In remote areas the police have assumed the liaison role in mountain rescue. Many members of the police service are trained in rescue techniques, and thanks to their radio communications network and mobility, are in the ideal position to liaise between people in trouble and the rescue services. Read the rest of this entry »