I hope the title of this post is catchy and might generate a bit of traffic to read it. My blog is mostly written for my kids and a handful of friends, as I have stated numerous times. I am under no illusion that I have any influence in the world of backpackers or adventurers and recognize the readership of this website is small. My hope is that I can inspire a handful of people to think about wilderness and our proper place in it, who in turn can encourage others to approach wilderness in an ethical manner. Perhaps we can create a renewed focus on Wilderness Ethics.
Category Archives: The Environment
Does Home Solar Make Sense?
When it makes sense, I love solar power. In my recent post of my all-time favorite camping gear our campers’ solar system was my favorite gear. In my post Solar for Backing I laid out all the considerations but did not say if it was a good or bad idea
If you want to carry this stuff, go ahead, it’s okay. Just isn’t my personal cup of tea.
In other words, I am not interested in carrying a bunch of electronic devices when backpacking, other than a headlamp and sometimes a camera and solar doesn’t make sense to me. I did try to be objective and present good information for those who are interested in solar for their backpacking trips.
Starting next month I will be on a fixed income, so planning to reduce my monthly fixed overhead has been a priority. The greatest opportunity for savings is our monthly utilities. For most people, the first thing that comes to mind is installing a solar system – especially since most of us have been bombarded by telemarketers and door-to-door solicitors over the past 4 or 5 years. When we get this volume of sales pitch bombardment, your first reaction should be “someone is making a ton of money and they are going to try and take advantage of me.” In other words,
home solar might just be a pig with lipstick
Stove Bans
I have few backpacking acquaintances, fewer than I have fingers on my hands. And I have even fewer backpacking friends, and an even smaller circle of close friends. That’s how it should be. Just because someone likes you on Facebook or is your friend on one of the other social media sites, doesn’t mean they are true friends.
Anyway, my few backpacking acquaintances and friends know I go screw-shit when I see so-called gear or outdoor experts operate a stove in an unsafe manner. One of these fine folks (my acquaintances – not the so called experts) emailed me a “stove” picture. No subject in the email, no comments; nada. Just a picture. Guess he thought it would piss me off.
campfires, drought & camping
CAMPFIRES
I am not big on campfires. I build a campfire on less than 5% of our camping trips. I haven’t built a fire on a backpacking trip since 1971.
But there is something special between our species and campfires…
A Call To Action (protect our wild lands)
ANOTHER POTENTIAL THREAT TO WILD PLACES
If you are reading this post, then you are probably one of my children, a camper, or a backpacker. You almost certainly value wilderness. These wild places are continually under attack by those who want to turn them into mines, clear cut the timber, turn them into expensive country clubs, or amusement parks. If we value our wilderness, we must continually be vigilant in their protection.