I like camping in hammocks, and sleeping under the canopy of stars and leaves. In early summer, this isn’t possible with an open hammock design in the woods because of the bugs, but during the day, any hammock is just heaven.
I recently conducted a test of the Grand Trunk Single Hammock, and if you’re in the market for something to bring with you this Fourth of July weekend, you can’t go wrong with this simple little number.
Happy (soon-to-come) Canada Day/Fourth of July/First week of summer!
Spring is officially done, and for many people that means that summer fun can begin in earnest. More active, outdoor lifestyles means more weekends at the local park, at the cottage, biking, hiking, and, of course, camping — all of which mean mosquitos.
In the buggy times for the upper USA and Southern Canada, it’s time for me to stay along the lakes, where it’s breezy and bug-free.
You can’t always choose when you’re needed in bug country or season, so you should have a good roster of deterrents, and their relative effectiveness.
Today, I look at the Mosquitno line of products, which include their flagship wristbands (“Bands“), and a secondary product called “Spotz“. Their website seems a little light, but this is a simple, straightforward family-run company, so most people’s questions would be answered in their FAQ, and, of course, reviews like this one!
It was 28°C (83°F), and the humidity was up. My back had been a little bit off of true for the last year (sneeze-and-your-knees-might-give-out sort of pain), and while I had been looking forward to a nice wilderness hike, I dreaded the consequences should my health and fitness not meet my needs on the trail. By past standards, it was a relatively easy hike of less than ten kilometres (6.2 miles) a day, but it would be my first real exertion since my previous trip, in November. With my back and the broken terrain in mind, I packed quite lightly, and was looking forward to testing a new piece of kit that seemed quite appropriate — the Ribz Front Pack from Ribzwear.
Most people who like the outdoors have invested in a good hiking pack at one point or another. The most technical and the simplest all have a few common traits that are horrible for use in a canoe. Is there any alternative? Yes, there is…