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Archive for August, 2010

Portable Coffee Brewing at Its Finest With a Backpacking Expresso Pot Aug 15

A camping coffee maker can make mornings in the outdoors just like mornings at home. From camping coffee pots to percolators and coffee press products, outdoors companies and coffee enthusiasts have made it easy for coffee lovers while camping. With many types of portable coffee making devices on the market, you’ll find a coffee maker for camping and backpacking that’s right for you.

One of the most popular coffee devices is the Coleman camping coffee maker. One problem with percolated coffee is the chance of being over-boiled. Using your this coffee maker in the woods will enable you to get drip quality coffee to your camp stove. It has a steel base and perfect for use on a camping stove burner. Like home coffee makers, it has a removable swing-out filter basket and decanter for 10 cups of coffee.

Also, this portable camping coffee maker by Coleman can be used to make hot cocoa, cider and instant soups. It will make coffee in a few minutes with all brands of basket filters. At 5 lbs., this is a great option for camping and coffee lovers. The portable unit is also easy to clean, stable, and durable.

Because the unit uses a stove burner, be sure to keep an eye on the pot after it’s done brewing and turn it off. Some users have recommended getting the carrying case for the coffee maker to transport it over long trips to avoid damage. Other reviews state that the brewing time was longer than stated while others commented on the weight of the unit. Another piece of advise is that the decanter does not stay warm like on home plug in coffee pots, so pouring the contents into a thermos for drinking later is a good idea.

Another great camping coffee making device is the Bialetti Moka Express 6-Cup. This is a small coffee pot, makes great coffee as well. Users have commented that making sure the handle is not over the camp stove is recommended. Like the Coleman model, the Moka Express is easy to use, brews fast and is affordable. There is also a 1 cup version as well. Backpackers like the Expresso maker by Bialetti because it’s light and made of aluminum, so it’s very durable.

Other notable brands of camping coffee makers include the Bodum Columbia, Black and Decker Brew N Go, and the GSI Technologies JavaPress. These three have loyal users that have used the same coffee machine while camping for years. The Bodum makes 8-cups and some compare the taste to press style coffee. The Black and Decker model doesn’t have a glass pot, so nothing can break while hiking and camping. The JavaPress brews coffee faster than percolator coffee makers without sacrificing the taste.

If you’re in the market for a good camping coffee maker, make sure that it’s lightweight and brews coffee fast. Also, ensure that the model has a sturdy housing, easy to use and easy to clean. Being able to use standard coffee filters is a plus as well. Lastly, make sure to test the models for yourself and make sure it makes excellent coffee that’s up to your standards.

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The choice of a combination of cold for surfing Aug 15

Not all of us are blessed with hot water to sail around the year requires the use of a combination of cold water. Fortunately, technology has come a long way suits and dresses are to be kept for the surfer at home in almost any temperature water. Cold water is here as the water temperature is 65 degrees or less defined. This means that each measure will be an Oneill Wetsuits cold water. A quiksilver cypher chest zip covers ankles, wrists, body surfers. Fullsuit described thickness in millimeters. A 2.3, for example, has a thickness of 3 mm around the torso and 2 mm around the arms and legs. Most costumes come with zipper front or rear. Some have zippers in length and some are even zipper less.

The thickness of the xcel wetsuit you choose depends mainly on the temperature of water in its navigation, its tolerance and / or level of comfort, in general, a 2.3 run on the water temperature 65-55 degrees, a 3.4 in 54-49 degrees, and 5 4 / in 48-43 degrees. Here’s a combination, 5.6, or perhaps a dry suit is required. Some costumes have been built, the bells, especially cold water thicker. The shoes are at the upper end of the scale and electives at the bottom.

Most popular brands of cold water suits include Billabong, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Quicksilver y. This marks engraved Use the glue of high quality and reinforced seams and knees. A surfer should be used regularly expect 1-2 years of use out of them to get is always maintained. Proper maintenance includes flushing with fresh water after each use and dry on a hanger in full sun.

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Finding Well Priced Flights Aug 13

Every year the standard of living drops in the UK and people are finding it harder and harder to be able to treat themselves to life’s little luxuries. If you look back to fifteen years ago it was common practice to be able to budget for a family holiday once or twice a year, but these days such possibilities are beyond many families. The recent economic climate has been anything but rosy, and this has meant that people are living lives close to the poverty line. Those that were wealthy before now live at a level below what they were used to.

For those people who find a family holiday to be just a fraction out of their grasp, there may be help at hand. A concentrated search online nowadays will bring up a whole host of cheap holiday opportunities. It seems though that you need to be some sort of an expert to be able to decipher the good deals from the bad.

One good piece of advice is to hunt out websites where you are able to compare the prices between several different flight operators, which will give buyers the possibility of finding discount flights. Grabbing these bargains is the only way that many of us are able to holiday at the moment, but if you search long and hard you will find that you are able to save hundreds of pounds on your average flight. Track down some cheap accommodation, and suddenly you are looking at a very affordable holiday.

Popular Summer Vacation Destinations for Campers Aug 11

Each year, a large number of individuals make the decision to take a summer vacation. Summer vacations are decided on for a number of different reasons. Their main purpose is to experience excitement, fun, and something new. If you love the outdoors, you could choose a summer vacation destination that allows you to relax in your element.

When it comes to outdoor summer vacation destinations, most individuals make the decision to go camping. Camping is a fun, outdoor activity that many people enjoy. Unfortunately, when it comes to summer vacation ideas, there are many individuals who feel that camping does not qualify. This is simply not true. If you are interested in spending your summer vacation camping outdoors, you may be wondering what types of vacation destinations are available to you.

In the Untied States, camping is not as popular as it used to be. Despite the decline in popularity, a large number of individuals and families still enjoy camping. To tailor to those individuals, a large number of public campgrounds have been developed. If you are searching for a popular vacation destination, you are encouraged to examine public campgrounds.

When examining public campgrounds, you are likely to find that there are a number of campgrounds in or around the area that you live. This is because there are a large number of campgrounds in the United States. If you wish, you can make reservations with a local campground. For added excitement and a change of scenery, you may want to consider making reservations at a campground in another city or state.

Before deciding on a particular campground, it is important to examine the layout of the grounds. Unfortunately, a large number of public campgrounds have close corridors. This means that you and your family could be a few feet away from other campers. If you wish to experience camping, but privately, you may want to consider selecting a state park as your vacation destination.

Selecting a state park to vacation at is a fairly easy decision. The only problem with doing so is the number of choices that you will have. A number of states have at least twenty or more state parks. If you are interested in choosing a state park, you are encouraged to consider the amount of distance you are willing to travel. Since state parks are located all around the United States, you may be able to find a local state park. If traveling is not a problem, it may be a nice getaway to visit another area of the country.

Whether you choose to select a vacation destination at a state park or a public campground, you are encouraged to keep the onsite activities in mind. Without a large number of activities, you could find that camping can easily become boring. You are encouraged to look for campgrounds or state parks that offer boating, swimming, hiking, biking, outdoor sports, and other outdoor activities. Most state parks and campgrounds will have a number of these activities, but it is still advised that you verify so ahead of time.

To learn more about the activities available at a particular campground or state park, you can individually search a number of these destinations. As previously mentioned, in the United States, there are a large number of states that have public campgrounds and state parks that allow camping. Popular camping destinations include Upstate New York, California, Oregon, Texas, and North Carolina.

In addition to being able to research a particular campground or state park online, you may be able to make online reservations. During the summer months, camping becomes fairly popular. To ensure that you are able to select the perfect campground site, you are encouraged to make your reservations well in advance.

If you’d rather be camping in the outdoors then why spend your summer vacation elsewhere? With a large number of summer vacation destinations available for campers, you are sure to enjoy your summer camping experience.

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Where to Go on Vacation With Your Pet? Aug 09

People with pets may sometimes have a tough time finding the right vacationing spot. Some hotels have strict rules thus pets are only allowed to stay in kennels or in special carriers. So what are we to do with our four legged friends when we go on holiday?

Before you start planning anything you should decide whether you want to take your pet with you when you go on holiday. When choosing a place where to spend your vacation, make sure that the hotel that you are going to stay in allows pets. So in order to avoid any problems, the hotels have built these special kennels where you can leave your dog. However, you might find it hard to visit your dog only between some hours.

So why not plan a holiday in the countryside for instance? There are some great resorts that actually rent chalets all during the summer season so surely you will find something that will fit your needs. Spending your summer holiday in the countryside can prove to be a great choice as you will be together with your family, friends and pets.

More and more people are attracted to go to the countryside because they have realized it is one of the best ways to spend the torrid summer season. There are various activities that can raise your interest when you are in the countryside like: going horseback riding, hiking, bird watching or even something more adventurous like rappel or bungee jumping.

The summer vacation is the time of the year when we should focus on relaxing and enjoying ourselves. This is why it is very important to make the best of the situation. Spending some quality time with your friends and family may be the best thing for your summer vacation. So plan carefully and enjoy your holiday.

Running a Bed and Breakfast Aug 09

If you are thinking of running a bed and breakfast, be sure that you are the right person for the job. If you are one who by nature enjoys meeting, greeting, and working with people, and you are organized and have good personal habits, a bed and breakfast business could be for you.

Good Potential B&B Candidates

Assuming that you meet the above qualifications, here are a few candidates whose life-situations tend to be conducive to running a bed and breakfast:

  • You are retired, or are an early retiree
  • You are widowed, or divorced, living in a home alone
  • You have a home large enough for a full-scale B&B
  • You are seeking a career change
  • You are a home-maker seeking supplementary income
  • You have a multiple bedroom luxury apartment in an area with lot of year-round, or seasonal tourism
  • You are willing to consider a B&B in a new home-search

Good B&B Host Habits and Skills

There are many questions to ask as you picture yourself running a bed and breakfast. Try to answer some of the following about your personal habits, life-skills, and attributes:

  • This one is obvious: Do you enjoy making breakfast? People come for the view, or the location, or a million other reasons, but they remember that fantastic breakfast you served them before they set out on their adventure.
  • Do you maintain a clean and neat home? The overall cleanliness of your B&B, especially the bathrooms and kitchen, has a major impact on your guests impression of you, the host. Are you naturally a tidy person?
  • Are you good at keeping records? This is a business, after all. Are you organized? Do you tend to enjoy keeping things in their proper place? Are you the kind of person who knows what is in your first aid kit, how to use those items, and where it’s located?
  • Are you a veritable storehouse of information about your local attractions? You are going to get asked a million questions by guests! Do you love the lore of your town and enjoy talking about history?
  • Can you be diplomatic? Or do you insist on making, and winning your point? It is almost guaranteed that you are going to play host to people who do not think exactly like you do.
  • Are you tolerant of other people and their lifestyles? You are going to be meeting a lot of different people from all walks of life, and from all over the world. Can you be a good ambassador?

If you have a tough time answering yes to any of these questions, it might be well for you to do a self-inventory to see if there are areas where you need some work. Remember that as a bed and breakfast host you are not the smiling-for-a-salary-desk-clerk at the local motel. You are the B&B, and it is you who sets the tone when you open the front door to your guests.

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Find an Affordable Rent a Car Cheap Aug 08

If you’re in the market for renting a car because you’re on vacation there many places we can save money. Search online and look at the many discount sites that are offering low cost car rentals. You’ll find that most travel sites along with airfare and hotel have added low-cost rental car options.

You should also check with many of the companies websites directly. You will find that on occasion they will offer rates that are lower than any travel site will have. Remember they’re giving you direct pricing and in some cases this can be the best way to go.

If you can’t try to avoid getting around car at the airport does in most cases this is the highest priced place to rent from. If you’re going to visit family or friends try to rent a car from someplace that is close to their home. This will help you to save money on your rental car and that means a lot because most vacations are expensive anyways.

Make sure that you check your favorite rental site over the period of several days different times of each day. This will allow you to see how the rate varies because in most cases turning off time they will reduce the price.

Remember that finding a rental car is not difficult to do but it takes a little effort to search online get the best rate. Many car companies will offer upgrades so you may want to stay with the economy cars when you make your online booking. Later when you go to the your vehicle you can do inexpensive upgrades and get the car you want.

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Sailing Woman Humbled by the Cold Aug 06

In the early days of my citizenship in the cruising village, I was intrepid…mentally intrepid, at least. When I read memoirs and letters by people who had already lived aboard their boats or put thousands of miles under their keels, I invariably said to myself, “I can do that! I can do that!” As time went on, I proved out my assertion, first along the U.S. east coast and into the Caribbean, then on the U.S. and Latin American west coasts and into the Caribbean. Like any sailor on a small boat for a long period of time, I encountered all kinds of challenges–some easy, some difficult–that I was able to meet and learn from.

Then, during a sail down the Intracoastal Waterway in the fall, I discovered that I hate being aboard in the cold.

This was not a situation that I ever thought daunting up until then. I had read letters from any number of U.S., Canadian, and European liveaboards who spent most or all of their time in the upper latitudes, and I had talked with folks who lived on boats as far north as Alaska. They all had one thing in common-an almost offhand dismissal of living on board in their winters. Sure, they all said, there are things you have to do or have so that you can live comfortably, but once you get the hang of it, no problem. I had come to think of living aboard in the cold months as simply another challenge to be mastered-certainly not something to drive me off the boat.

Boy, was I wrong.

The beginning of my cold weather initiation started in October during our trip down the Intracoastal Waterway from the Chesapeake Bay.That fall was particularly cold in that part of the U.S., and the cold came early. A passage that in other years would have been in an Indian summer was made in below-freezing mornings and days that didn’t get much warmer. We had the proper gear–Polartec tops and bottoms, long underwear, wool socks, ear muffs, inner and outer gloves, Aran sweaters straight from Ireland, UGG boots with sheepskin linings-and we knew the ins and outs of layering clothing to maximize heat trapping. I wore my fleece “Dr. Denton” jumpsuit at night (over my long johns and accompanied by the UGGs that rarely left my feet), and sometimes slept with my watch cap on to keep my head warm.

The diesel heater warmed up the cabin in the mornings that we weren’t traveling and pretty much all the evenings of the trip. The tea kettle was kept busy heating water for coffee, tea, soup, and hot water bottles. And, of course, the engine (which stayed on most of the passage) helped keep the cabin warm.

After reading this list of preparedness, you may be saying, “So what was the problem?” Well, no amount of layering or diesel heating worked completely for me. My nose stayed cold pretty much the whole trip-and sleeping with a cold nose has never been something I do well. And I discovered that I am a victim of Reynaud’s Phenomenon (look, Ma, I have a phenomenon!) – an autonomic nervous system response that’s gone awry. Reynaud’s is my body’s over-reaction to protect itself from the cold. The result is painful numbness in my fingertips, which also turn alarmingly white; ditto my toes. It didn’t matter what gloves I wore, how many socks I had on under my UGGs-my fingers and toes hurt bad all the way down the ICW. (A few days after we put in to a Charleston marina, where the space heater stayed on at all times, the skin on my finger tips started peeling off…most distressing!).

So…I have discovered one aspect of living aboard and cruising that I really CAN’T do–and it is humbling to admit it. After braving Atlantic gales, sitting out hurricanes, and threading my way through coral reefs, I have to admit to being crushed by something that a lot of other folks take as a matter of course….winter cold.

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Learn Survival Skills For Trekking Aug 04

Trekking is one of the most difficult out of doors activities for adventurous people. It may also be the most gratifying. There’s a difference between sitting by the balcony and staring at the mountains, and being deep into the jungle experiencing nature at its most raw.

However interacting with nature by means of trekking comes at a steep price. An individual wants a lot of physical and mental preparation before he can journey on foot through rural areas and forests. It’s a must to be strong enough physically to climb a rock wall, and mentally strong enough to cope with the challenges that come with navigating across a mountain range for a few days. You’ll have to be educated in survival techniques before you may join a group of mountaineers and go on your first climb.

The Significance of Survival Knowledge

Trekking is often done in teams of 5, with the one that is best trained in survival methods as the leader of the pack. If the group is larger, yet another skilled trekker should help the group. Those who are new to trekking might know all there is to learn about survival from textbooks and training classes, but they may still need guidance in terms of application.

What you must understand is that you’ll have to hike, climb and set up camp with your group if you’re going for a trek. Once you join a group of mountaineers, everyone expects you to do well on your own, whether or not you’re with the group. There’s no telling when you could be separated from the group for various reasons. While your teammates will always have your back, they expect you to hold your own when it comes to surviving in the wild. Independence and self-reliance are some of the best traits of a mountaineer. Don’t be a burden to your group. Learn how to survive.

Regardless if it’s your first climb or your tenth, it is best to know the most fundamental survival methods just in case you get lost, you get separated from your group, or you need to defend yourself against predatory animals. From foraging expertise to understanding the right way to create improvised weapons, there is a lot to learn about survival in the jungle.

Every member of the pack must learn the fundamentals of first aid and navigation. Apart from your gear, you have to also carry a compass as well as a map of the area and surrounding areas to figure out in which direction to go. If you’re travelling to dangerous places such as desert, mountains, and jungle, you must have the best equipment and enough provisions to keep you alive.

Take Ownership of Your Gear

When you’re up there in the mountains, you’ll understand that it’s very, very difficult to borrow anything from your team mates. It’s because most of them brought provisions and equipment that are often enough just for their personal consumption, they usually expect you to do the same.

Use a waterproof backpack, ideally one that can comfortably fit more than 10-20 kg of gear. Some pieces of clothing can be worn instead of stuffed inside the bag to conserve space. Get the very best pair of hiking boots you can afford. Always keep several pairs of dry socks by wrapping them in plastic. Take good care of your ft to avoid pain and accidents. Other survival equipment, such as a first aid kit, a combat knife and navigation tools are also very important.

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Getting Prepared For a Camping and Hiking Trip Aug 02

Getting prepared for any camping or hiking trip means having the right gear. You should always start every trip by going down a check list.

It doesn’t matter if your going hiking for the day or camping for the weekend, the gear is pretty much the same.

A good comfortable backpack should be one of the first things to consider. I stress comfortable, make sure it fits properly and doesn’t rub any ware.

Even though you may think you know the area, a compass should always be in your pack.

A good multi-tool is handy to have along. It is more than just a knife. They all have pliers and some have screwdrivers with extra bits. There are different models with a variety of tools. The multi-tool can be worn on your belt and most weigh under a pound.

Always expect the unexpected. A flashlight should be included, even for a day trip. If something goes wrong, you could be out after dark. An emergency blanket, first aid kit and a magnesium fire starter are items that don’t take up much room, but you will be glad to have them if you need them.

Don’t forget the binoculars. They don’t have to be expensive or heavy. There are a lot of lightweight binoculars on the market that fit everyone’s budget. A small pair of 7×35 or 8×40 will do just fine.

A camera should be on your list. This is an adventure you’re on, try to capture some of the memories along the way. Again, you don’t have to go the expensive route. A small disposable camera fits nicely in the pack and should do the job.

In this article I have tried to give you some idea of items that should be on your list. I’m sure you can come up with a lot more. The main thing is, get a list and use it.

By all means, have fun on your outing. Camping and hiking are great ways for family and friends to get together. Just remember to get prepared and have the right gear.

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