Equipment Outfitters

No matter how large your boat, finding enough storage will be a constant challenge and you’ll soon find you have more items than space to store them in. This gives rise to one of the first rules of boating: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” After using an item stow it in its proper place. A corollary rule states “less is more” aboard a boat. Stick to essentials and you’ll reduce fuel-guzzling weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Dry Foods

The smaller collapsible cupboards that consist of shelf space only are as good for storing canned and dry foods as they are for storing clothes. The same goes for card‑board boxes, and these can be used in the usual way, opening side up.

Wet Foods

If you do not have a fridge or freezer, keep perishables such as milk, meat etc. in a cooler box. If you keep buying ice, you should be able to keep the temperature acceptably low. Pickling or marinating meat was an effective method of preservation before the advent of the freezer: vacuum pack the whole mixture in strong plastic bags (you can buy your own machine that does this) and keep it cool — it will not only last longer but will taste better as well. Vacuum sealable containers are particularly efficient if you exclude as much air as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Unless you are the sort of person who thrives on assault courses and marathon runs, carrying a loaded rucksack all day long or cycling uphill with heavy panniers is quite strenuous exercise. It therefore makes sense to get yourself reasonably fit before you set out on holiday and to experiment with carrying different loads over a period of several hours. Aching muscles are to be expected in the first few days of a walking or cycling tour however little you carry: you will not yet be fully in trim. But at the end of the holiday you want to be in the happy situation of not even noticing the weight on your back — not worn out and returning home in need of another fortnight’s rest. 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 »

Camping is one of childhood’s greatest adventures, and the times you spend with your children having fun in a tent or caravan will remain in their memories forever and unite your family in later years.

The sheer novelty of it all and the fact that the whole world comes so much closer may have something to do with this. Whatever the reason, don’t hesitate when it comes to packing them into the car and going away.

Children take to camping like the proverbial duck to water, and apart from when fatigue overtakes them, the simplest pleasures still have the ability to carry them further, and in a more wholesome fashion, than the most expensive toys. Read the rest of this entry »

Walking, scrambling on all fours, and crawling on your belly into the moist darkness of a cave is not everyone’s idea of a good time, but it is certainly extreme. The labyrinth-like tunnels that can lead to huge sheer drop offs or expansive chasms are not for the faint of heart. Those prone to nightmares from watching too many reruns of Dracula also may not appreciate the propensity of caves to attract legions of bats.

Appropriately, those who do cave (serious cavers do not refer to their sport as spelunking or potholing) always travel to the inner depths of the earth in groups of two or more. Not surprisingly, cavers are subject to many dangers that one would expect could occur in a cave, such as death by starvation, falling, asphyxiation, drowning, and hypothermia from exposure. Read the rest of this entry »

Food storage

If food looks or smells doff’, don’t eat it. Keeping times vary according to the food, the situation, and the weather, but hot or humid weather conditions are bad for storage. Eat your fresh food first, cooking extra portions to eat cold later.

Where wild animals, foxes, raccoon or bears are possible visitors, hang the food out on a thin branch well up in a tree. Bears have been known to come into tents after food, and injure the occupants in trying to obtain it. Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-trip cooking

A large number of dishes, sandwiches, pasties, salads, cold meats, sausages and so on can be cooked at home and taken into the field to be eaten either cold or re-heated.

Many foods can be enjoyed equally well cold, accompanied perhaps by a mug of hot soup or a brew.

Replenishment

Here again, as is so often the case out-of-doors, the value of pre-trip information is apparent. Since the amount you can carry is limited on a long trip, it is usually necessary to find somewhere to stock up every three or four days and these stops are usually at country stores where special outdoor foods, in light, dehydrated form, are rarely available. You must check that the shops will be open, or even that they actually still exist, for quite a number of villages survive with only a church and a pub. Read the rest of this entry »

Cooking stores

There is a world of difference between living to eat and eating to live. Depending on his or her expertise, the outdoor person hovers somewhere between the two extremes and how far you lean one way or another will depend on the competence of your cooking and the degree to which a few useful and tasty spices and herbs are introduced into the cooking.

A small nylon bag containing a selection from the following items can turn the most mundane meal into something appetizing and add that little extra touch which rounds off the day. The quantities need not be large, but the benefits can be terrific! Read the rest of this entry »

Filling stoves

Never fill a stove when it is hot, with a cigarette or fire alight nearby, or inside a tent. Use a small plastic funnel to avoid spillage and mop up any liquid at once. Be fire-conscious.

All good stoves should have a windshield, which helps to prevent the stove flaring in the wind, especially when first lit.

Stoves

The range of stoves is, by now, vast. Any good outdoor shop should be able to show you half a dozen or so, and having decided on the amount of cooking you intend to do, and the most suitable fuel, you should be able to find a suitable stove.

Good stoves are not cheap, but always buy a reliable model from a proven manufacturer. A petrol, or any pressure stove, must be safe, and this is not the area to tolerate cheap goods or shoddy workmanship. Read the rest of this entry »

Tent pegs, ‘dead men’, and guys

Getting a peg to hold in snow or soft ground can be a real problem, especially in high winds. Hammering a peg into frozen ground can be very difficult. In winter carry some thin steel pegs to cope with the latter difficulty and take a selection of long wooden, serrated plastic, or aluminium pegs for better holding insoft ground.

If they still fail to provide sufficient grip, you can use a `deadman’. These are flat metal plates which you can bury in the soft ground or snow, and their shape offers good holding properties. You can, however, use your initiative and construct your `deadman’ from your normal pegs, or whatever aids come to hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Food

Most survival situations are, mercifully, of a fairly short duration and usually end within forty-eight hours. Food is therefore the least of your worries, but nevertheless a great deal of comfort and morale booster.

In addition, food does provide the fuel which keeps the body warm, and for this reason every outdoor person should have a small pack of survival food kept in the rucksack and changed only in order to keep it fresh. This food pack is only opened in an emergency.

A survival ration might consist of:

• A bar of chocolate or mint cake A packet of glucose sweets
• Tea bags
• A tube of cheese
• Nuts and raisins
• Sugar
• A packet of oatmeal or muesli. Read the rest of this entry »