GearCrave.com just announced a giveaway yesterday for four SPOT Satellite
Messengers (as endorsed by Survivorman himself, Les Stroud). This looks like a great giveaway! I’m definitely signing up for a free Spot Satellite Tracker.

DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR OLD POLYCARBONATE WATER BOTTLE – TURN IT INTO A SOLAR LANTERN!

The last thing this planet needs is any more plastic in the landfills. But what do you do with your old polycarbonate water bottle (Nalgene or similar) that you don’t want to use any more? Don’t throw it away! With the incredibly handy LightCap200 you can turn your old (or new) bottle into the coolest home, deck, boat or camping lantern anywhere!

Just pull off the old cap and replace it with a safe, bright, environmentally-friendly solar-powered LED LightCap200 and you’ll have light anywhere you want without wasteful batteries, dangerous, toxic fuel, or electric cords.

Put one on your picnic table, deck, out by the BBQ, kids playhouse, bedroom nightlight, car safety light, cockpit light on your boat, camper, tent or anywhere else. Simply fill your bottle with water (even colored water) for a safe lantern that won’t run out of fuel or be a fire hazard. No candles to burn out, and when your bottle is filled with water it won’t tip over if the wind comes up.

The built-in light sensor automatically turns the light on whenever it gets dark, and off when there’s enough light for charging. Or you can click the water-tight switch and turn it off manually. It weights only 2.6oz and you can even use it as a flashlight. The four super-bright, white LEDs provide lots of
light without giving off any heat or danger of chemicals in your water.

By adding a LightCap200 cap to your bottle you’re not only creating a useful item, you’re helping the environment. You can even use your bottle to store things: trail snacks, dog treats, fire starting supplies, first aid kit-anything you want to keep safe, floating and dry. With the LightCap200 on top, you’ve always got a useful emergency light.

The LightCap200 is just $19.95 and will last for many years of continuous use. They make a great gift and are available at many fine outdoor stores as well as at our website: www.sollight.com

If your an outdoor type that hikes and bikes or even has lots of daily tasks to do around the house such as mowing grass, or gardening, the heat so far this year in 2007 is going to hurt you. But this doesn’t mean you have to quit doing them, you just need some tips and advice to know how and when the right time is!

For anyone venturing outdoors for most anything in high temperature there are some basic tips to follow to keep yourself in good shape:

1. Drink Plenty of Water (Not the sugary caffeine type or pop they just dehydrate you that much more.)
2. Substitute water with pure fruit juices and sport drinks to also replenish your body with electrolytes.
3. Do not overexert yourself, you don’t need to have a heatstroke.
4. Take breaks often in shady areas if available
5. Bring a water wet towel or one of those oh so cool misting fans, they aren’t just a waste of money but they really do help lower your body temperature acting as your sweat would.

With this preparedness also comes the part most people fail to notice, the signs. Signs include a high body temperature, a rapid pulse, red, dry and hot skin, a headache, nausea and dizziness . These are all very serious signs that your body needs to be cooled more. If you don’t you could suffer a heatstroke, where your body can no longer control your temperature.

A lot of people in abnormally hot seasons also suffer from heat exhaustion which is a step down from heatstroke but can lead to it and is also dangerous due to loss of bodily salts and fluids. Symptoms include profuse sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, fatigue, and nausea and headaches.

Most seasoned outdoor types will have a resistance to the sun and heat and will sweat more than normal to keep the body cooled, which is good and means that more than ever you should keep drinking fluids.

All in all you will no when you have had enough of the heat, and when you do you should immediately head somewhere out of the sun at least and preferably somewhere cooler. Alternate activities may also be an option, something near the lake or pool may take place of a hike or other activity to lessen the affects of the heat, while still being active.

By Jesse G Roland

Boil water at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. A pinch of salt added to each quart of water improves taste. You can also purify water with two chemicals: chlorine bleach and iodine.

Chlorine bleach (unscented) such as Clorox or Purex. Check the label to be sure that hypochlorite is the only active ingredient. Do not use bleach that contains soap.
Use the following amounts:

1% chlorine – Add 40 drops of bleach/ gallon of water
4 to 6% chlorine – Add 8 drops of bleach/gallon of water
7 to 10% chlorine – Add 4 drops of bleach /gallon of water

Mix bleach into the water and let stand for 30 minutes. Water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn’t, repeat the process and let the water stand for an additional 15 minutes.

Iodine. Iodine from your medicine chest can also be used to purify water. The iodine should be 2/United States Pharmocopeia(U.S.A.) Strength. Add 20 drops/gallon of clear water, and 40 drops/gallon of cloudy water.

Water purification tablets are available at drugstores. Follow manufacturer’s directions.

From Disaster Preparedness: How do I purify water?

I recently came across this Equipped to Survive site and then with a little more digging I found Doug Ritters Mini Survival Kit. This is a survival kit that is meant to be very small and lightweight and great for hiking or camping or any other time where space matters. Some items include:

• Compass
• Iodine to purify water
• Fishing line
• Fishing hook

I won’t list it all you can get that from the link above. I am glad I found this link as it mentions many items not listed in things to take camping.