In case you’re at work today wondering, or if you already know and want to reinforce your “outdoor knowledge,” here’s a quick tutorial about bear spray from Charles W. “Chuck” Bryant of SYSK fame.

What is it?

Bear spray isn’t unlike pepper spray that humans use to protect themselves from other humans. The main difference is that bear spray can shoot farther and casts a wider effective area. There are three main ingredients in bear spray:

• Oleoresin Capsicum (OC): oily residue from hot cayenne peppers. Capsicum is a naturally occurring ingredient that causes a burning sensation when sprayed in the face of an attacker. Food-grade OC is used to give heat to edibles like salsa.
• Base fluid: mixed with the OC to dilute it. It’s typically oil-based to prevent separation from the oily OC.
• Aerosol propellant: used to eject the ingredients from the can to the threat.

Is it Effective?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated human and bear encounters from 1992 to 2005 and found that people who defended themselves with firearms were injured about 50 percent of the time by the bear. People who used the bear spray escaped injury 98 percent of the time, and the few injuries they suffered were far less severe than those in the gun-toting realm. Why? Because it’s difficult to stop a bear with a gun and wounded bears are more likely to become even more aggressive.

Read the rest of article right here:

“This is a scan of a slide that I took while on an outdoor survival camp in February of 1978 up north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was -30°C on our camp out night…We slept in quinzhees.” *

I guess at that temperature (-22°F), all you can do is think warm thoughts…

MP3: Delorean – Stay close

MP3: Aphex Twin – 4

To all you wonderful people out on the interwebs,

There’s no doubt about it. 2011 was one hell of a year. We hope you have a great holiday season and get to spend some well-deserved time with friends and families.

We’re going to try and sign off  Cold Splinters for a little while (though who knows how that will actually play out), so we’ll see you back here when the clock strikes 2012…

Thanks for everything,
JNT

MP3: Randy Newman – I’ll Be Home (Live)

After being laid off from his job in April 2011, Kolby Kirk (The Hike Guy) decided he would attempt to complete as much as he could of the 2,650-mile PCT. Starting at the Mexican border near Campo, California, he walked for 159 days and nearly 1,700 miles. In that time, Kolby wrote 850 pages in his journals. a few of which he has started to scan for a major dose of visual stimulation. The pages are filled with charts, drawings, receipts, beer labels (nice), stamps, crushed poison oak, and much much more. He’s even added descriptions under a few of the pages to give us better insight on the process:

“Hiking journals shouldn’t be clean unless your hike is clean. In this example, you can see dirt and smears of ink, a subtle clue that I was grimy and had just applied insect repellant to my hands. At the time, I was a little upset that the chemicals had smudged the ink, but I have learned to appreciate that my journal records more than just the words I print on it, for better or worse.”

Kolby is now working on a book that will help hikers and travelers start and retain their own journals while on the trail. And after looking at his Flickr for the last couple of hours, that is certainly a book I’d read.

Congratulations, Kolby.

In 1948, Earl Shaffer hiked from Mt. Oglethorpe in Georgia (the Appalachian Trail’s southern terminus at that time) to Mount Katahdin in Maine, making him the first person to hike the trail’s entire length. He did it with no expert advice, no previous footsteps to follow, or fancy mile-by-mile guidebooks to help him. At the time, experts believed that a hike of the entire Trail was impossible. So, in 1965, he thru-hiked it again as a southbounder, starting in Maine and ending at the new and present southern terminus, Georgia’s Springer Mountain. Good ol’ Earl’s “Advice for Long Distance Hikers on the Appalachian Trail, circa 1950” includes the following:

• Framepack–Mountain troop or similar, with large pocket removed.
• Poncho–serves as raincoat, parka, groundcloth, shelter cloth, etc.
• Rainhat–indispensable because of variable weather.
• Sheath knife–small size. Pocket knife as auxiliary.
• Small axe–necessary for maintaining campfire in rainy weather.
• Compass, waterproof matchsafe, snakebite kit-just in case.
• Cook kit–Mountain troop or similar (two nested kettles and frypan)
• Sleeping bag–blanket type (April-October), down or kapok in winter.
• Extra set of clothing–for added warmth, rather than heavy underwear, and as a dry change after a rainy day. (Perhaps like the Penfield kit above?)
• Socks–(heavy) reinforced wool or spun nylon.
• Canteen–flat, one quart, slung to side of pack.
• First aid kit–include foot powder such as quinsana, insect repellent.
• Headnet, flashlight, plastic food bags.

On his 13th (!) hike along the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from British Columbia down to the California/Mexico border, Scott Williamson, a tree climber from California, set a new speed record, finishing the length in 64 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes. That is insane. He added 20 miles to his hike with only 12 (another !) drops for food and gear. Interesting part of a recent interview with Mr. Williamson:

“There is more trash, more impact on the water sources and fires have really adversely affected the trail in the 19 years I’ve been on it, particularly in the last 10 years,” Williamson said. “The trail, especially this first 700 miles through Southern California, is radically different due to fire and tree disease. There are stretches that used to be pine forest that now are just chaparral because the trees died due to different diseases or fire. The first 700 miles of the trail are now shadeless.

“The positive changes are that, since there now are about 500 plus people thru-hiking it each year, the preservation and maintenance of the trail is exponentially greater than when I first started hiking this trail,” he added.

“I think the positives in the last 20 years vastly outweigh the negative changes. The maintenance level that is occurring now is much greater than 20 years ago, and I feel there is an effort to preserve the trail from the various threats, the development, things of that nature.”

(via The Goat)

This past Saturday Nate Damm wrapped up his 7+ month walk across America, taking the ceremonious final steps into the Pacific at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Nate walked lonely roads and highways mostly alone from Delaware, pushing his gear in a jogging stroller. He kept a blog during the trip, and maintained a facebook page with some great photos, videos and anecdotes along the way.

Get caught up.

I’m kind of a backcountry-coffee-snob (like so many of us are), but not in the sense that I’m really picky about what I’m drinking. It’s just always one of the first things in my pack. Second best, alongside your Knorr sauce packets and ramen, is powdered apple cider. Super light, and one of the best fall-time recovery drinks. Sure, your palette becomes a little more critical this time of year when the cider mills are really gearing up, but who’s lugging a gallon above the treeline?

I take mine straight, but I’m sure this would be great hot-toddied-up. Got some recipes? Share ‘em.

It’s likely that you’ve come across a version of the Prayer Of The Woods sign in your travels, and no matter how many times you see it, it’s a pretty darn nice thing to read before walking off into the trees:

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.
I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.
I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.
I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty. ‘Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.