Glow Sticks

Keep a few glow sticks in your patrol pack. Snap one and it will glow for hours, long enough to read by or to mark a trail or your position. Sticks come in lengths from 1.5 to 15 inches and burn from 5 to 15 hours. They’re now available in a rainbow of colors, including infrared.

As Halloween approaches, prices come down and availability soars. You’ll find inexpensive varieties in drug, convenience, and discount stores. Cheap sticks don’t have the shelf life or shine as long as the classic brands, Cyalume or Omniglow. My strategy is to buy a dozen cheapies every October, give whatever is left to the kids a year later, when I buy another bunch. You can find wholesale dealers by searching on the web for "glow sticks". Your patrol may want to buy a gross every year.

Animated Knot-Tying

This is undoubtedly the best way to learn knots and their tying. View a fast or slow animation of each knot or step through the process at your own leisure. Grogono demonstrates both rope and webbing knots and hitches. The illustrations are dramatically clear, and color is used to advantage. The search and rescue section includes 14 knots, including the Trucker’s Hitch, my personal nemesis. Perhaps I’ll finally master it.

While you’re at the site, look at the 17 climbing knots. You may be interested in reading the review on Kevin Kelly’s site.

Image courtesy of Alan W. Grogono.

Improvised Tarp Shelters

Here are almost one hundred plans for folding and pleating tarps into improvised survival shelters. The 76 pages are chock full of how and why and why not. Don’t skip the great introduction in Q & A style about shelters, tarps, and ropes.

Australian David B. Macpherson lends his experience and creativity to this essential skill.

You may be interested in the Cool Tools item on Tarptents.

Expert Tips from Karhu

Karhu brings you these tips for fitness, waxing, skinning, and clothing. The Shameless Commerce Division updates you on their products. Karhu supports many nordic program around North America.

Check out Dave Watson's K2 climb. Here’s the link.