Katadyn Hiker - The Secret Behind Great Outdoor Adventures

By David B Miller

Any individual that is planning on spending an extended period of time in the great outdoors should consider making the Katadyn Hiker a permanent part of his outdoor equipment. This handy little water filter is the perfect accessory for any outdoor activity, especially hiking. Its portable nature makes it the perfect personal water filter and it can easily go long on any excursion. In fact, it may very well be the most important thing that you bring with you if you are going to be spending a great deal of time away from the comforts and safety of civilization.
The Katadyn Hiker comes equipped with some of the most useful features available on any water filtration system available in the market today. A hiker can easily get a drink without ever breaking stride by using the 3 foot hose. The process of filtering water could not be easier and requires only that an individual pump it through the system. It takes less than a minute to have a liter of clean, purified water. The filter in this device can last for an incredible 200 gallons depending on how clear the water being filtered is. Dirty water will cut down on the filter's life somewhat but the result will always be refreshing and drinkable water.
One of the most serious issues that can befall any individual enjoying a vigorous or strenuous activity outdoors is dehydration. Staying well hydrated is one of the most important parts of staying alert and healthy while going on a difficult hike. We all love the great outdoors in the summertime, but the warm summer weather makes it and an especially dangerous time for heat exhaustion.
The Katadyn Hiker is the convenient and easy way to make sure that you always have fresh, safe drinking water readily available. It is definitely a better option than trying to pack in the gallons and gallons of water that you would need to keep yourself hydrated while enjoying the wilderness. Since the bodies of water that a hiker or outdoor enthusiast is likely to encounter are full of harmful microorganisms, drinking from these sources is never a good idea. The only sure way to know that the water you were consuming is safe to drink is to run it through a high quality portable filtration system.

To view more information and videos on the Katadyn Hiker visit http://www.MidwestOutdoorSupply.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_B_Miller

Dowsing

How to Use Dowsing or Divining Rods

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Before technology came about that would allow us to "see" into the ground, people depended on dowsing (also known divining or water witching) to find water wells, metals, gemstones, and even missing people and unmarked graves. Although dowsing has never been scientifically proven to work in a controlled setting,[1][2] the practice remains popular in many parts of the world.[3][4] It's been suggested that humans may be able to sense electric and magnetic energy that's invisible to the eye (as many animals can)[5] and subconsciously manipulate the dowsing rods or pendulum to reflect that information (the ideomotor effect).[6] Whether you're a stout defender of dowsing or you think it's hogwash, doing your own experiment can be both educational (from a historical perspective) and fun.

Steps

1. Obtain a dowsing rod.
   
   • Find a forked ("Y"-shaped) branch from a tree or bush. Hold the two ends on the forked side, one in each hand. You may want to experiment with holding it with your palms facing up or down; one may be more effective than the other. Hazel or willow branches were commonly used because they were light and porous, and were believed to better absorb vapors rising from buried metals or water, thus weighing down the unforked end and pointing towards the source.[7]
     
   • Bend two identical pieces of wire into an "L" shape and hold one in each hand by the short part of the "L" so that the long part is parallel with the ground and so they can swing freely from side to side. You can use coat hangers to make these rods. Some dowsers claim certain metals, such as brass, to be more effective.[8]
     
   • Make a pendulum by suspending a weight (such as a stone or crystal) by a string or chain. Pendulums are used with maps or to answer yes/no questions, rather than to guide the dowser on unfamiliar terrain; instructions for using a pendulum are given in a separate section below.
     
   
   
2. Relax. Whether you're priming yourself to receive paranormal insight, or you're relaxing your muscles so they can better transmit the ideomotor effect, or you're just experimenting with this for fun, relaxing will make it a more effective or enjoyable experience. Take a few deep breaths or meditate for a minute or two.
   
3. Calibrate your dowsing rod(s). Lay out cards numbered 1-5 face up and in a line with about 1-2 feet (1/2 meter) of separation between each card. Start at one end, holding your dowsing rod(s), and make a request, like "Show me where the card labeled 4 is". Close your eyes and visualize the card you want the rod(s) to find for you. Then open your eyes and walk slowly next to the line of cards with your dowsing rod(s) over them, pausing over each one, and see what happens when you go over the card you requested. You may find that the wooden rod points downward, or the metal rods cross each other.
   
4. Test your dowsing abilities. Repeat the previous step, but this time, shuffle the cards and put them on the ground facing down, so you don't know which is which. Make your request and see if you can correctly identify the card you requested by dowsing. If you can't, either you're a bad dowser (you're not focused or relaxed enough, you're psychically challenged, you're holding the rod(s) incorrectly, or you're too skeptical to allow dowsing to work for you) or dowsing is nothing more than superstition punctuated by coincidence. You decide.
   

Pendulum Dowsing

1. Calibrate the pendulum. Hold it perfectly still over a bare surface, then ask a specific question to which you know the answer is "yes". Does it go in a circle (if so, clockwise or counter-clockwise?), swing right to left, or swing up and down? This is your "yes" answer. Repeat to find a "no" answer. If your goal is to find a lost person or object, hold the pendulum over a picture of that person or object and see what the pendulum does.
   
2. Hold the pendulum over an object or person and make a request. The simplest way to use a pendulum is to ask a specific, yes or no question and see what the pendulum does. A dowsing pendulum can also be used in other ways:
   
   • For map dowsing, hold the pendulum still over the map and make a request (e.g. "Show me where this object or person is"). Move the pendulum slowly over all areas of the map until you see activity that coincides with your calibration. This type of dowsing was used by the German Navy in Nazi Germany.[9]
     
   • Write several answers on a piece of paper, leaving the center blank. Hold the pendulum over the center and ask a question. Watch the pendulum carefully to see in which direction it swings. Which answer does it point to? (This is similar to using an ouija board.)
     
   • Radiesthesia is the practice of using dowsing to make a medical diagnosis. A common technique is to hold the pendulum over a pregnant woman's stomach to identify the gender of the child. It's not wise, however, to depend on a pendulum for medical advice.
     
   
   

Video

Tips

• Whatever it is that you're trying to find through dowsing, visualize it as clearly as you can.
  
• The "L"-shaped rods will only perform well when parallel to the ground. Do not let the rods droop towards the ground.
  
• Once you've found a water source with rods, you may be able to use a stiff pendulum (a floppy horizontal wire with a weight at the end) to determine how deep the well is by counting how many times it bobs.[10]
  

Warnings

• Make sure your dowsing area is clear of other people. Do not use the rods in a crowded place or in close proximity to other people because someone could get poked and injured. (It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye). Besides, the rods might pick up energy fields from other people and they won't work.
  
• It is tempting to stare at the rods while you are working. Please be mindful of where you are walking though so you do not trip on something or fall in a well.
  
• Place your bets on dowsing at your own risk.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Play Light as a Feather
  
• How to Cold Read
  
• How to Conduct a Tarot Reading
  
• How to Use an Ouija Board
  
• How to Find Lost Objects
  
• How to Read an Aura (for Beginners)
  

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ http://www.csicop.org/si/9901/dowsing.html


2. ↑ http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/


3. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EEDF173BF93BA3575AC0A9659C8B63


4. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3D8133CF933A15750C0A96E948260


5. ↑ http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/1281661.html


6. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideomotor_effect


7. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divining_rod


8. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing


9. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Straniak


10. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3D8133CF933A15750C0A96E948260

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Use Dowsing or Divining Rods. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Collect Water From Plants

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

This is a method of collecting drinkable water. Plants constantly respirate water vapor. The intent of this technique is to collect and condense plant-respirated water vapor. In essence, plant-respirated water vapor may condense against a sealed plastic bag, then drain to the lowest point. This method can be useful as a survival skill or just for a science experiment to see what happens.

Steps

1. Encase the living tip, top or branch of a growing plant within a plastic bag. Cover as much of the live plant as the bag can accommodate. Ensure that the plant is intact, alive and growing. Neither a dead plant, nor a dormant plant will respirate water vapor. With a severed branch, prospects of collecting water are limited, unless you are dealing with succulents such as cacti.
2. Secure the opening of the bag around the branch, stem or trunk. Make certain that the seal is as airtight as possible. For example, tie with string over multiple layers of the plastic bag. Envision a living, leafy branch within an unpressurized, sealed balloon. This is your objective.
3. Ensure that some aspect of the plastic bag is lower than the (hopefully) airtight seal.
4. Ensure that the plastic bag and plant can bear the weight of any collected water.
5. Wait for 4-5 hours. Depending on the type of plant, surface area of the enveloped leaves, local conditions and the air-tightness of your seal, there may be about 1 cup of water in the bag.

Tips

• The bigger the bag the better, provided your collection system can sustain the weight of the collected water.
• Unlike photosynthesis, plant respiration does not depend on light: it occurs at night as well as during the day.
• Plant respiration: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 => 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + Energy
• As long as water is collected regularly, and air within the bag refreshed, any likelihood of suffocating the plant is remote.
• Don't tie the bag around the plant too tightly, or else it might kill the plant. But make sure that the seal is airtight.

Warnings

• Do not use poisonous plants.

Things You'll Need

• A plastic bag without perforations (not zip lock). A zip lock bag presents more challenge in creating an airtight seal
• A piece of string, or other means to secure the seal
• A live plant with leaves

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• How to Make Water in the Desert
• How to Make Campfire Starters
• How to Purify Water
• How to Build a Swamp Bed
• How to Survive in the Desert
• How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Elegantly
• How to Cat Proof Your Christmas Tree

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Collect Water From Plants. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.