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Ecology lesson: Most species reproduce enough juveniles that there is an "expendable" portion of the population that does not impact the needed reproductive age class size. It is a fact that the superlative guardians of population health and welfare are the trappers with licensed trap lines...

The source may not be an unusual plant. In extreme weather, many kinds of plants will "sweat off" hydrocarbons from their leaves. Some of it is a byproduct of the formation of protective waxes on the leaf surfaces. I live in the forested valley of the Fraser River. Under calm conditions and...

The best freeze-dried food that I ever ate, bar none, was peas. They looked perfect, rattling from the bag into the pot. The taste was genuine. When the pomace olive oil is extracted with hexane (which is then recycled), suits me just fine. I've mislaid my last tub of margarine so I've been...

Vegetable fats are entirely OK. The margarine that you disparage is made from olive oil in my house. I have olive, canola, peanut, sesame and a mix for deep frying.

Freeze-dried food is a special kind of food dehydration. Frozen, much of the air is pumped out of the tank at low temperature. The "food water" evaporates from solid to gas (sublimation). It's supposed to maintain the structure of the food better. But, you're going to rehydrate it, cook it...

See if I can paste this https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/impacts/rainwater-is-now-unsafe-to-drink-due-to-forever-chemicals

I continued to drink alpine snow melt water here for the past 20+ years, even in the face of a couple of Boil Water Advisories. What I drink really has to be much the same as rainwater, just that it's winter and 20' deep. Maybe those "forever chemicals" add flavoring? I have melted fresh snow...

Don't plan on drinking what you collect for rainwater in the butts. Made Reuters News. Analysis shows that there's no place on earth with clean rain water to drink. This all makes me wonder about our village water which is essentially snow and glacier melt from the alpine across the valley...

I lost a cheap 8" Bowie. Never sharpened well so it had become the camp knife for splitting wood, stirring stew, flipping steaks and pounding tent pegs. I can do just about as much with a Fiskars camp hatchet. In my day pack is a 3" heavy old Kershaw locking folder which is great for food prep...

Someone in this parish made hide coracles. I can remember seeing the pictures of the builder with one of his creations. This was years ago, not long after I first joined BCUK.

Cover like a hunting blind but still really good light. Dream camp. We had a place for hunting ducks and geese. Seems nobody ever found the tables and benches that we hid in a dense grove of trees. Do I see the evidence of camp fire pits for the usual light/warmth and cooking?

Shellfish. For millennia, First Nations here on the coast cultivated every possible beach for clam, oysters (the size of your hand) and festoons of mussels on the rocks. The middens are tens of thousands of cubic meters of shell. Bottomless in some places. I want to steam buckets of little...

Remember that water is essentially incompressible. Pressure from overburden could be applied a great distance away from where it is up welling from the ground. I think that the thing to do right now is to stockpile drinking water. Rotate the inventory, water potted herbs and house plants as...

Gonzo: let the freezer sit upright for 30-60 minutes before you start it up. The oil and Freon have to gurgle and bubble back to their standing levels. Otherwise, the pump might start to cavitate and all you get is foam, not liquid refrigerant.

I'm faintly surprised with the value of urgent meals. Off with the top, gobble gobble, done. Please explain why the rush. To me, camping means primarily slowing down. Look at the environment and really "see." it. Listen to it. Listen carefully. I think that this was one of the primary...

Billy-o: Try Home Hardware and Home Depot. They both stock what's called "lamp oil". I don't think it's kerosene or Jet B helicopter fuel. Fairly volatile. Any time the living room at the lake got up to 40C or more, all the lamps would sweat and smell. The thermometer on the floor would...

Memories. I was a member of a shooting club for 30+ years before I moved away from the city. We had a 25 meter indoor range for 8 shooters in a squad. .22cal LR pistols or low vel. .38 and .45 only. Somebody would buy a bottle of rum or whiskey, tie it on a string 1" off the floor and we...

Although rare in most ecosystems, humans are omnivores, our teeth designs give us away. Top is usually some sort of a carnivorous predator. Here, bears operate as omnivores to avoid competition with the big cats. Most populations of most species have a fraction that can be "given away" without...

I have knowingly been stuck, killing time, on a number of occasions. I made up a kit of several 1-2 meter lengths of different diameter ropes and Des Pawson's KNOTS: The Complete Visual Guide. Originally, I bought the book to relearn some fish-boat rope splicing knots. Then I found many others...

I looked at my Gazpacho recipe. Never doubled it. There's a 1.9 liter/66 oz can of veg juice of some sort. The veggies are chilled, being tossed with 24 smashed up ice cubes. That must add 30+ oz water. Some oil and all the herbs & veg. That would keep both kids happy for lunches on the...