Friday, January 11, 2008
Why learn about wild plants just to go backpacking? Of course it is interesting for some of us, but beyond that, a little knowledge of plants can save your life. This isn't just about the edible ones. Food is actually a low priority in most wilderness emergencies. However, there are many other important uses for the plants out there.
Useful Wild Plants
Cattails: The cattail is one of the most useful wild plants in the wilderness. Swampy or wet areas throughout the northern hemisphere have cattail plants, and once you identified them, you'll never forget them. While they have five edible parts, cattails are much more than food plants. Their long flat leaves have been used for centuries to make baskets and food-serving trays. You can weave them into mats for sleeping on, and even make crude clothing out of them.
The "fluff" of the cattail seed head that makes it one of the first wild plants you should learn about. The old fluffy seed heads often cling to the tops of the stalks year-round. Put a spark to these and it they can burst into flame. This can be a life-saver if you don't have matches. Stuff your jacket full of cattail fluff and you'll turn it into a winter coat, possibly saving you from the number one killer in the wilderness: hypothermia.
Some have also reported using cattail as an insect repellent. Just keep a smudgy fire going by burning the seed fluff. This may not be any more effective than any smoky fire would be, but it's so simple to collect and burn cattail fluff that it is worth remembering.
Yuccas: Sword-like leaves with sharply pointed ends make these easy plants to recognize. Few plants can be used so easily to make rope or twine. In the California desert I peeled yucca leaves into strips and braided them into a rope in a matter of thirty minutes. With two men pulling hard on either end, we couldn't break it. This is one of the better plants for making ropes as well as finer string (separate out the finest fibers).
Yucca can also provide needle and thread for emergency repairs. Cut the tip of a yucca leaf from the inside, an inch down and about halfway through. Bend it back, and you'll be able to peel some fibers out of the leaf, which stay attached to the "needle" or tip of the leaf. I've pulled out two-foot long strands of fibers this way, and sewn up clothing with them.
Milkweeds: Several parts are edible with proper preparation, and some people apply the white sap to warts to get rid of them. The really useful part of the milkweed, however, is the seed fluff. It is even more flammable than cattail fluff, so you can use it for starting fires from sparks.
It is a great insulater, too, even looking something like goose down. Fill bread bags with milkweed down and these "mittens" will keep your hands very warm. Insert your hands and tie the bags around your wrist or tuck it into your sleeves.
Some other useful wild plants? The bark the white birch tree burns better than paper, even when wet. Pop sap blisters on fir trees (young ones) and you can use the sap as an antiseptic dressing for small cuts. Smear the juice from crushed wild garlic and onion on yourself as an insect repellent. There are endless ways to use wild plants, so why not learn and practice a few?
Steve Gillman is a long-time advocate of lightweight backpacking. His tips, photos, gear recommendations and new Wilderness Survival Guide can be found at
http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com/wilderness-survival-guide.html
How useful a Bike Rack can be
What do you do if you want to take your bikes on holiday? You can't exactly cycle there in most cases, but you'd like to cycle around once you get there. The answer is to simply attach your bikes to your car using a bike rack, and then drive them there. It's a lot easier than taking them on public transport, and cheaper than renting bikes once you get there.
Bike racks sit on top of your car, and can hold a surprising number of bikes – sometimes as many as five on one rack. They are very useful, yet generally inexpensive, and you can buy them at any good garage or DIY store. Don't worry too much about which model you get: as long as it can hold the number of bikes you need it to, it'll generally be just fine.
If you're going to fit a bike rack to your car, however, it is important to realise that it could potentially be a hazard not only to you and your car, but also to the other drivers on the road. For this reason, you need to make sure that the rack is secured to your car exactly as the instructions say and follow all the relevant safety regulations. If your rack seems unstable, you should take it to be fitted by a professional – don't take any risks.
By the same token, you should also realise that bikes that are badly secured to bike racks are very often stolen in car parks, as they are easy to take without people noticing. You should lock the bikes to the rack using a secure bike lock, such as a solid metal D-lock, and never leave them unattended without the lock on. This applies especially if you are taking valuable mountain bikes, as losing five of those at a time could be a real disaster.
John Gibb is the owner of Bike rack information , For more information on bike racks please check out http://www.bike-rack-information4u.info
Let me explain the game of Billiards
Billiards is a game you can play on a snooker table – but, arguably, it's much easier and more fun than snooker itself. Eight-ball billiards, especially, is one of those games that you can just pick up and play with only a little explanation, and you can often find tables for it in pubs and bars.
Eight-ball billiards is actually played with 16 balls: one white cue ball, seven solid-coloured balls (numbers 1 to 7), seven striped balls (numbers 9 to 15) and one black ball. The name of the game comes from the fact that the black ball is the most important ball, and its number is 8 – making it the eight-ball.
To start the game, you and your opponent both hit a ball as hard as you can to the other end of the table. Whoever's ball goes the furthest gets the first go and so gets to pick whether they want the solid balls or the striped balls. The players then take it in turns to pocket their balls in number order, lowest to highest. If you pocket a ball, you get an extra turn, but if you miss, or hit or pocket the wrong ball (including the white), it's a foul, and you miss a turn.
Once one player has pocketed all their balls, they get to shoot for the eight-ball. This is a very tense shot, as putting it in will win you the game, while missing gives your opponent a chance to catch up. Also, there's one final twist: if you pocket the eight-ball without first pocketing all your striped or solid balls, you lose the game on the spot! Harsh, yes; frustrating, yes – but also very entertaining at times.
As long as you're careful to play against someone who is as new as you, you should have a good time – although you might want to go at a quiet time, as better players might find it frustrating to watch beginners play so slowly on their table. Have fun playing billiards!
John Gibb is the owner of billiards information , For more information on billiards please check out http://www.billiards-did-you-know.info
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