Essentials You Shouldn't Leave Home Without

Even if I am simply stepping out of the house to hike a local trail there are ten essentials I never leave home without. I carry this simple list for all day trips four hours or under and expand it for longer trips. I can also tailor it to include activity specific items such as specialty items for paddling or other activities.

1- Navigation Aids

At a minimum this should include a trail map unless you are in a small and familiar area. Beyond that, it can also include GPS and compass. Make sure that you are well trained with whatever aid before you set out depending on it.

2- Sun Protection

This includes a hat, sunscreen, and lip balm. There are a myriad of specific sunscreens you can choose from such as those included in lip balm. Hat choice is a personal preference, some prefer an ultralight baseball cap while others prefer a wide brimmed hat.

3- Protection from the Elements
Again this brings  wide variety of items and you must choose depending on your environment. This can range from a technical long sleeve shirt, to a fleece vest, to winter gloves with a baklava. At a minimum you should always carry rain gear- year round. Wind and water can bring you hypothermia faster than many realize.

4- Lights

In this area you can choose from lanterns, small handheld flashlights, to headlamps. Choose the most appropriate item for your trek. Whatever you choose always carry a spare and extra batteries. I recommend a headlamp so that you can still use your hands and most are bright enough to illuminate entire trails.

5- First Aid Supplies

You can carry either a homemade kits or a store bought. Store bought kits range in size from ultralight to multi-day guide kits. When buying a kit always check the contents list to make sure it includes what you need and supplement if needed. Also, always check to make sure the items are within the expiration date. I have bought many a kit with all contents were expired. Also, I tend to pack a little heavy in this area due to being a guide and needing to carry enough to handle everyone else problems, plus being an EMT means I carry more interventions than most.

6- Fire

In the event of an emergency fire is great for warmth, signalling, and psychological well-being. Always carry a fire starter such as lighters or weather proof matches. Make sure matches are kept in a waterproof container. I encourage you to always carry at least two fire starting device, one of mine is always a windproof lighter. Although we can teach you to light a fire with a bow drill, since we don't have to we encourage you not to. In addition to your fire starter always pair it with a fire aid such as fire gel, lint, or even a squirt bottle of alcohol. We are past the stone age, no need to act like we are still there.

7- Tools

At a minimum always carry a pocket knife, even better carry a multi-tool. You can choose from a wide range of prices and activity

8- Food

On a short hike you should carry snacks to fuel you through the trip, on a hike carry enough food for the day. With that said, take that and double it. If something bad happens you need to have extra. I also recommend taking enough to take a break and have a lunch or large snack while sitting at a beautiful vista. If the worst happens and you must resort to cannibalism remember do not eat the fat guys because fat has little nutritional value and don't eat the strongest guy because you might need his strength later.

9- Water
Never leave home without water, you can never guarantee that whatever source you may think you have to fill your bottle will be working when you get there. Aim for self sufficiency. In addition, always carry something that can purify water if you run dry. I carry a bladder for my water, a bottle for the doggies, and a pump filter to fill them if needed. Make sure if you are carrying a device like a filter that it fits your bottles.

10- Emergency Shelter
I have never had to bivouac when I did not plan, but I still always carry shelter. You can get fancy and carry a pre-sewn tube tent, a tarp, a disposable sleeping bag, but at a minimum carry a solar blanket. They cost about a buck, can be fashioned into a shelter, used as a blanket, use to reflect heat from a fire, or use to signal.




With the exception of clothing and water all of these items can be carried in a stuff sack inside your day back or even in a large belt pack. I once found a kit that contained these items and over time have got ridden of the contents but continue to use the pack. It has elastic loops and waterproof pockets for my essential as well as a plastic map case sleeve, a hook to hang it with, and a belt loop. Since I carry much more than this it is too heavy to carry in my belt.

With a background in wilderness survival and search and rescue I tend to carry much than the above list. I am chronically overpacked in preparation for worst case scenario and to take car of others, not to mention as a search and rescue profession you can never live down getting lost and having to be rescued. Some of the other items I carry include extra batteries (never carry ones that large if you can help it), a bandanna for use as head wear and a dozen other things, nylon cord for a multiple uses, bug spray, biodegradable cleaning wipes for freshening up or using the bathroom, dog or bear spray, lightsticks for marking my way or signaling, paper, pencil, duct tape, snare wire, a whistle and foil. Foil can be used to fashion a drinking cup, creating a dry surface to light a fire, signaling or reflecting heat. For a longer trip hike i might also carry a fishing kit and a trowel.

Please contact us if you would like to learn become more proficient in choosing or using an of the above items.

GET OUTSIDE

-Luke

Skill: Climbing on a Mountain Bike

After a trip to the local trails this weekend and some struggling on my end, I decided this was a worthwhile post.

When Approaching a steep climb on your mountain bike here are a few tips for how to get to the top with the least amount of efforts.

1. Choose your line avoiding as many obstacles as possible but not so many that you are waisting energy swerving all over the trail.
2. Resist the urge to stand up.
3. Choose the gear that will get you up the hill before you get there and get your cadence up before it gets hard.
4. Bend at the waist and get your nose over your stem and handlebars. This puts weight over the front tire.
5. Keep your butt to the back of the saddle or off the the saddle low over the back tire to make sure your rear tire is gripping the dirt.

These tips will help in conquering the hardest of climbs, but what is even more important is practice. If this is an area that remains hard to you find a hill and climb it, ride down, and do it again. I do this weekly on my road bike.

Survial Swimming

Introducing a new class- Emergency Swimming.

We conducted this class for the first time this weekend. This is designed to help people stay alive after having to enter the water while in the back country, after falling out of a boat, or any other activity that might take you near still or moving water.

We covered how water moves, hypothermia and other medical problems, proper safety equipment, PFD use, throw rope use, self rescue, survival swimming, and rescuing panicked swimmers.

This class went great with a mix of classroom, pool work, and the last few exercises in a slow moving river.

PADI Rescue Diver Certification

Since completing my dive certification in November 2009, I have had abundance of opportunities to continue my in-water education.

This was a two weekend course teaching the skill necessary to rescue myself or my partner given an emergency. For me this is a prerequisite to becoming a public safety course but is a class all divers should take.

The class was held both in confined water (pool) and open water. Skills included towing a tired diver, assisting with out of air emergencies, locating a lost diver, helping a panicked diver and culminated with having to tow an unconscious diver a quarter mile with doing rescue breathing.

I know I am much more confident and ready to start organizing dive trips as part of our possible activities.

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Although it was not a company trip, I spent the last week on a mission trip to Guatemala. I have been involved in different aspects of search and rescue since I was 15 years old. This trip was a chance to give back. Searching for missing persons, rescuing flood victims, and so many other things are due are considered community service but this was a chance to teach the firefighters, USAR workers, and military of Guatemala how to conduct rescue operations. For more information see my fitness blog fatlete.blogspot.com.

Fathers Day Dive trip

Happy Fathers Day!!

I hope everyone enjoys this day with their families. I will be meeting up with two of my friends who decided to spend their fathers day by letting their wives stay with the kids while we go deep.

This will be first recreational dive. Although I have logged over 20 dives this year, it is the first one that is not a part of a a dive class (as a student or assisting the instructors).

More coming soon I promise!

Finaly got all of my notes together from my last few trips. We lost all the notes and picutre do to a computer crash recently. They will be posted soon. In the meantime, new blog fatlete.blogspot.com.

White Water Rafting

With the spring in full gear it is starting to get warm. What better way to cool down than spend some time in the water. The French Broad River in western North Carolina is a perfect river with a warm temperature for the unexpected ejection from the raft.

I used a rafting company I have never used before and was not disappointed. I met two river guides that will become future associates for us. This was a fun trip lasting a few hours and covering many class 2, 3, and 4 rapids.

After the river trip I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends and camp in the area and take part in a river rescue course with both rescue personnel and kayakers.

Open Water Dive Refresher

Today was another chance for me to take advantage of maintaining my outdoor skills.

With two of my friends teaching an open water dive class, I was invited to tag along and assist. With hit and miss weather it was a good day to sit with the new divers and practice my own skills. I also got some swim around time and explored Fantasy Lake Quarry.

Camping 101 class

This weekend brought a great a chance to travel to the NC coast and meet some beginner campers. During this class we taught very basic fire craft, camp selection and set up, and how to choose equipment. This was paired with some basic boating and swimming in a local lake.

Fun and simple just like a introductory class should be.

Emergency Camping Class

This weekend we spent some time in Medoc Mountain State Park. This park is often used for search and rescue training and therefore is a great place for the emergency camping class. The day started with a quick overview of equipment and weighing of all of the students packs. This class keeps the student on his feet constantly moving, the student learned that weight and equipment choices are important.

After this was a quick hike to an area to learn the basics of improvised shelters and basic fire craft. Next was another hike down to a local creek where we met some contract associates for a lesson on how to obtain fish in an emergency. Then we hikes to the local ranger station where students got a chance to sit down while a NC Park Ranger gave a lecture on food and dangers in the back country. After the lecture students were given a quick course on GPS use and a few maps, then assigned to teams and sent on a hike involving several way points that ended at the location of the next class.

Once the student arrived at the end of their hike an opportunity to ask questions and share learning lessons from their adventure. Once questions were answered teams were assigned the task of collecting firewood and upon their return were given a surprise assignment. The students were informed that the evening was not complete and were given new maps and GPS coordinates. Students were sent out and told to carry their firewood with them. At the end of their course they were greeted with the area they were to set up improvised shelters and man a fire for the night.

When the morning came, students were given a lesson on emergency rope techniques and a given a much earned breakfast.

In my opinion, when you truly love the outdoors there are two constant truths. First, you want to teach and share your love with others. Secondly, you want to strive to continue to build your skills and experiences. With that in mind last weekend I took a trip to Florida in order to grow my skills as a diver and experience nature underwater by completing my PADI Advance Open Water Diver certification, as well as Adventure Diver and AWARE Coral Reef Conservation.

With 30 degree highs in North Carolina it was a great time to escape to Florida and dive Ginnie Springs, Blue Grotto, and Devil's Den with Florida Highs in the 70's. Nothing like good weather, good fun, and good friends!

Stone Mountain Day Hike Trip 2

Just like after Thanksgiving dinner, a great way burn off Christmas dinner was to return to stone mountain for a day hike. The planned hike was to complete the majority of the trail in this park by hiking Wolf Rock Trail, Black Jack Ridge Trail, and Cedar Rock Trail with an out and back to Lower and Middle Falls if time allowed. Although a great time as always conditions made this trip hairy. The temperature at the beginning of the hike was 36 degrees, the snow from December 18th that was a fond memory in the low lying lands was still present, and due to stops to take photos of picturesque skies and wildlife plus the moving of clouds it got dark well before the forecast predicted. This hike was not for beginners due to the combination of low temps., snow and ice, and hiking the last 1.25 miles in the dark; but as always we were prepared and everyone arrived to the trailhead safely. Highlights for the trip included seeing deer, a variety of animal prints preserved in the snow, and my personal favorite a lone tree growing out of the rock reminding me of a bonsai which I have had a love of for many years.

Stone Mountain Day Hike

In order to burn off the turkey, today I escorted one customer up to Stone Mountain State Park for a day hike. Although a little chilly it was a beautiful day so the Wife and Holly joined us. Completed the Stone Mountain Loop from the upper parking lot via the .3 mile mile extension to the loop, the 4.5 mile loop starting with the trail to the summit, down to Hutchinson farm, to the Stone Mountain Falls, and then back to the parking lot. As we exited the trail there were four deer in the field grazing, great way to end the hike. The temp was 53f going in and 47f when we got out and we completed the trail in 2 hours 45 minuted. We traveled most of the loop at decent pace but made many photo stops. Steady pace with no long stops until we hit the stairs at the waterfall this slowed us all down. An additional highlight as we left the park were the additional 14 deer grazing in a field on the side of the road who one by one crossed the road and jumped the wooden fence.Looking forward to returning soon to take a day hike to Wolf Rock and the other side trails off of Stone Mountain Loop. May even throw in some rappelling!!