dwindling open spaces

Wide Open Spaces Are Going Fast – Map Shows How Fast

You’ve heard of urban sprawl. Chances are you’re quite at home with it. But you might not be aware of how fast it spreads – an acre of land is lost to human development every 2-1/2 minutes according to the website Disappearing West. An interactive map of disappearing open space gives a county-by-county view of

off-road camping trailers

Giant List of the Best Off-Road Camping Trailers

You like to get far off the beaten path but you hate sleeping on the ground. We get it. And so does the Adventure Portal with their buyers guide to off-road camping trailers. All in all they cover trailers from 32 different manufacturers, with a rundown of models, features and specs: The styles of the

grit leads to success and happiness

True Grit is What Leads to Success…and Happiness

If you need any more evidence about what it takes to find happiness, here it is – grit. Simply sticking to your master plan is a better indicator of success…and ultimately happiness…than brains or luck. This not-so-surprising news comes from a Time article about MacArthur genius Angela Duckworth and her book Grit: The Power of

W. Ben Hunt – Grandaddy of the Makers

Even if you’ve never had the urge to make something with your hands, glancing through one of W. Ben Hunt’s beautifully illustrated tutorials will have you itching to chop down a tree and carve out a dugout canoe, tan a bear hide, make your own “mock” eagle feathers and so much more. Hunt, born in 1888

off road teardrop trailer

Teardrop Trailer Holds its Own in the Outback

One of the big questions about mechanized camping is whether the expense and trouble of a camper offsets the hassle of setting up and striking a tent. But when you’ve got a camping trailer as capable as the SoCal Teardrop the equation starts leaning in the direction of “camper.” Chris Cordes takes an in-depth look

how to remove a fishhook

How to Remove a Fishhook and Other Extraction Tips

  Here’s some essential knowledge if you ever plan on fishing with me…via a tweet from Guy Kawasaki…Wired’s How-to Wiki explains how to remove a fishhook from a buddy. But why stop there? Here are some other helpful extraction techniques you should know: How to remove a tick How to remove a raccoon from your

How Robots Might Change the Experience of Off-Roading

A road trip is the ultimate journey into the unexplored territory of one’s soul. FastCo Design asks the question “how will that change when cars drive themselves?” Honda invited creative director Morihiro Harano to highlight the company’s autonomous driving tech by talking about his love for exploration: “My inspiration for this project came from a

Bifidobacterium

Gut Check – Is Your Intestinal Biome Making You Crazy?

You might want to skip the hand sanitizer after you read this…a new study from New York City’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai cited in the Huffington Post reveals that an imbalance in your intestinal flora could be making you mentally ill. Or worse. In particular the study shows that intestinal bacteria may

fire crew photo by FEMA

5 Firefighting Tools that Belong in Your Tool Shed

I worked one summer on a blue card fire crew, one of the best jobs ever. A ten-person crew can clear a trail five feet wide down to mineral soil almost as fast as you can walk it. The tools we used were so useful that I’m surprised at how rarely I see them in

Jeep Trails: Ballinger Canyon (part II)

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Despite drought conditions this year, the Shrubby Brushweed plants are covered with yellow flowers in Ballinger Canyon. Other flowers blooming in the canyon are Hareweed, Phacelia, and Bush Lupine. It’s a different story in Quatal Canyon to the south where hardly any wildflowers are blooming at all. On this trip to the Ballinger OHV park

nylon paracord

Close to 100 Uses for Paracord – and Growing

You’ve got one of those nifty paracord bracelets and you know that it must be good for something more than Macgyver-esque style. More than Just Surviving lines out 93 ways to use that paracord bracelet for more than drying laundry. Here are just a few of the ways you can use paracord: Belt or replacement

iconspeak multilingual shirt

Get Your Point Across in Any Language with this Clever Shirt

It’s a good idea to learn the language of a country when you travel. Little things like bus signs, menus and movie marquees make more sense. But if you don’t have the 3 months it takes to learn a language, or even if you know the language and simply can’t get your point across, then

Texas Bull Nettle

How to Relieve the Sting of a Texas Bull Nettle

A brush with a nettle of any species is something to avoid but the Texas bull nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus) is particularly nasty. My East Texas offers some tips for dealing with with bull nettle if you ever get stung. While there are several theories for relief floating around, most folks will recommend urinating on it!