manoftheson

1,155 reputation

616

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	location	United States
	age	28
visits	member for	5 months
	seen	Apr 27 at 18:35
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A guy who is into a little bit of everything...music (listening and making it), photography, DIY, technology, the outdoors (hiking, backpacking, climbing...), and trying to live by grace through faith. I also currently work at a high adventure camp in the Southeast where I also do a little bit of everything...

	1,155 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	5 months
616 badges		location	United States		seen	Apr 27 at 18:35

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Jan 19	comment	If I have to cross an icy, flowing river, what are some ways I can cross safely? The method I learned in my Swiftwater Rescue class was to form a circle with no more than 5 or 6 people. They told us this was more stable than the chain in fast-moving water and indeed it is in my experience.
Jan 19	comment	How can you navigate without a compass or GPS Some type of visual representation would really help explain this. Or a reference. But this is a good tool to know.
Jan 19	comment	How can you navigate without a compass or GPS This is sometimes true, but in my experience it's not a reliable indicator of direction.
Jan 18	comment	Can I replace Dish soap? @RussellSteen - What do you do to clean that microfiber cloth after it gets really nasty? Or does it get nasty?
Jan 18	comment	How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad Glad it helps! I work at an outdoor camp and we have a lot of inflatable pads for the backpacking program, and this is the method I usually use. The dunk method is great, but it's sometimes hard to differentiate between bubbles that just happen because they cling to the pad, or bubbles from the actual leak.
Jan 18	comment	Can I replace Dish soap? Have you tried Dr. Bronner's Soap? It's really concentrated and it's totally organic/natural. Great stuff. I use it to wash not only dishes but also myself (LNT style of course.) It comes in several varieties and not too hard to find these days. Sometimes you just need some soap, even after doing all the things mentioned below.
Jan 18	comment	How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad Cool deal. I added it.
Jan 17	comment	How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad If you don't already practice this (many don't), never use your inflatable pad directly on the ground if you want it to remain leak-free. Use it only inside of a tent or in a hammock. Trust me.
Jan 17	comment	How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad A similar solution exists if you have no place to dunk your pad. Fill a squirt bottle or spray bottle with several drops of liquid soap (dish detergent is great), fill the rest with water and spray it on your inflated pad until you can isolate the leak by the bubbles forming. You can usually rule out the top as the location but not always, and you may have to refill your bottle a few times until you find the leak. I've had to use this method before, and while not ideal, it works.
Jan 17	comment	How do I treat a blister? How can I prevent getting them in the first place? I've used these pretty successfully in most conditions. Although in the summer I'm often on trails going through a lot of water, and the Compeed just doesn't hold up quite as long as normal. But they last better than moleskin in the same conditions!
Jan 16	comment	Difference between a Fingerboard and a Hangboard Yeah man! I edited the first reference to include another sentence from that same page that also uses the terms interchangeably.
Jan 15	comment	Is it safe to use denatured alcohol as an antiseptic? I'm wondering if we have differing ideas of Betadine. Pure iodine is far too strong to use, but a 10% povidone-iodine solution (1% actual iodine) is very often used to disinfect and is not nearly as necrotic as alcohol. But my training still taught to only use clean, sterile water to debride deep wounds and use the disinfecting substance on the skin around the wound. Although abrasions are messy and don't have clear edges to the actual breaks in the skin, so it's good to treat the whole area with the iodine to help kill any possible infection after it's already been cleaned properly.
Jan 15	comment	How do I mount a hangboard in an apartment? The "system board" idea is great, but it's not freestanding. It needs to be attached to the surrounding structure (the studs and joists inside the walls of the room.) But if you are going to put holes in the walls anyway, this is a better option if you have the space, the cash, and access to tools to build it.
Jan 14	comment	Is it safe to use denatured alcohol as an antiseptic? Yes I should have been clearer in what I said. Small cuts it probably wouldn't hurt, but you don't want to put iodine in a deep laceration.
Jan 14	comment	Practicality of Beards Also having a healthy beard often seems to earn you instant respect and credibility when meeting new people of the outdoors variety. ;)
Jan 14	comment	Is it safe to use denatured alcohol as an antiseptic? +1 - Denatured alcohol is only good for fuel or for cleaning mechanical parts, not flesh. I recommend keeping iodine solution (Betadine) in your first aid kit for disinfecting wounds in addition to debriding the wound properly.
Jan 13	comment	Methods for taping hands, wrists, and fingers for climbing? This is great! I'm going to leave it open for a bit so we can hopefully get more great contributions.
Jan 12	comment	Methods for taping hands, wrists, and fingers for climbing? Well I was actually asking this way because I didn't want to ask a question that was too specific so that it could be helpful to a larger range of people. Maybe I should be more specific and ask separate questions for different tape jobs/methods/body parts? ...But I do have intermittent wrist pain that seems likely to be tendinitis. I know how to tape a wrist (and other joints), but not any effective techniques for climbing. The method(s) I know are too restrictive for climbing and cover the palm, which is no good.
Jan 11	comment	Material of shirt for Desert hiking I'm curious also how linen or linen/cotton blends fare compared to 100% cotton.
Jan 10	comment	What essential items should go in a small first aid kit? And the assist term is quite vague. An instructor told me that you could essentially have the patient's hands on the Epi-pen, while in actuality the one making it all work is you. And that would be legal if you didn't have the cert. But really who is going to say anything to you if you save someone's life?