Outdoor Vibe

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A Swedish man was rescued from his car last week after claiming to have been trapped in there since the 19th of December without any food or water. The car was discovered on Friday at the end of a dirt track road that is over 1km from one of the main roads in northern Sweden.

During the period the man was trapped the temperature was shown to have dropped to around -30C. It is believed that the man may have had a small amount of food and ate snow for water. Some theories are suggesting that a form of hibernation may have taken place allowing him to survive with so little sustenance.

That being said there there are some doubters, who are concerned that no-one had reported the man missing over the claimed 2 month period and the fact that he had over £150,000 worth of debt. However the majority of people are waiting for the man to recover sufficiently to tell his story and make there judgement then.

You can read more at BBC.co.uk

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Granted the idea is a bit out there. But it’s true camping in winter can be great fun providing your are properly prepared. To be honest camping in winter is an entirely different experience to camping at any other time of year.

For a start you get the place to yourself, and even the wildlife is different, it could be the same place you visit regularly in the summer but it will appear to be an entirely different place. Yeah so long as you give the trip due care and attention it’ll be an excellent experience we have found a great video to help you get prepared be sure and watch it before you set off.

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We all used to love bounding about on our BMXs – ill never forget my first (and only) BMX bike – an Andy Ruffel Team Burner that looked a bit like this:

Andy Ruffell Team Burner BMX

Amazing restoration job by Bendycat Eleventeen on Retro Bike forums.

It was awesome.

And whilst i liked to think i was pretty good on the bike, i couldn’t even concieve that someone would be able to do this triple backflip. Well done Jed Mildon.

One of the most viewed sports videos of the year (over 8.2 MILLION views), and deservedly so.

Merry Christmas everyone – we’ll be back next year with some bigger and better Outdoor Vibes!

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Hi guys I thought since the days are getting shorter and the we’re getting colder there’s a good chance that like me your BBQ is firmly packed away.

And there’s also a good chance that like me you’ve just left it as is since the last time you used it.

Well I came across this video from Joe Davidson (he’s a big deal in BBQ land) and hes giving some great tips and advice on cleaning and preparing your gas BBQ for winter.

Apart from making you feel a little guilty about mistreating your BBQ it’s a great watch and means everything will be working come next summer..

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Even in the autumn and winter months hill walking and hiking are two fantastic ways to stay fit and healthy. But as the sun starts go down a bit earlier and the temperature drops that little bit lower. We thought it would be a good idea to make our outdoor enthusiasts aware of some of the most important things to think about, when walking through autumn and winter.

This is possibly the single most important piece of advice – Be sure to check the weather forecast before you set off and if need be change the course of your walk to suit the conditions. Otherwise you could be featuring on your own episode of Mountain Rescue. One of the most accurate websites for weather forecasting is www.metoffice.gov.uk.

Some of the other key elements to staying safe are:
•    Be sure to check your map before setting off.
•    Are you leaving yourself plenty of time to complete the walk before darkness falls?
•    Are there any cliffs to cross? If so could the wind be a problem?
•    Are there any streams to cross? If so what are the chances they could become flooded?

Making an emergency walking stick

Equipment
Very few backpacks are completely waterproof, but rather than spending a fortune on a new backpack to ensure your gear stays dry we would recommend the Respro Waterproof Hump Rucksack Cover.

It is essential that your back pack is large enough to carry enough gear to keep you warm, dry, fed and watered; plus some extra gear to be on the safe side, things such as a torch in-case you get caught out by a change in the light, a flask/hot drink to help if you start to get cold, spare fleeces over and above any you plan on wearing, an extra hat and gloves and a survival bag for more extreme emergencies.

When you’re out on the hills you need to be sure to keep yourself dry and warm at all times, don’t allow yourself to get cold or wet, as that’s when things can start to go wrong.
Your clothing layers are particularly important for walking, a good general rule is to find it a little chilly when you leave your car and then after about 15 minutes into the walk you should be reaching a comfortable temperature.

General Safety
Mountains and hills are not the place for bravado. If the weather takes a bad turn, or a member of the party is struggling then it’s far better to make the decision to shorten your walk sooner rather than later.

Be sure to plan out your route before setting off on the hills, this way you can track your progress, so if the mist comes down you should know roughly where you are. In order to make this more accurate it helps to know your average walking speed.

Finally safety is paramount on even the most basic of walks, but at the rate the elements can change things tend to go downhill very fast. So please do your best to prepare thoroughly.

Do you have any walking tips or experiences to share? We’d love to hear from you!

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In an incredible feat that puts young bucks across the world to shame, 80 year old Lorne Browne from North Lanarkshire in Scotland succeeded in climbing eight major mountains in the Italian Dolomites. Lorne has also braved the frozen north – he completed a 12 day trek in Greenland last year – who knows what he’ll be getting up to next! ?

All of this endeavour is for a great cause – Guide Dogs for the Blind.

You can donate to Lorne’s Just Giving page here.

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Danny Macaskill is a Scottish cycling hero and all round very cool guy. His amazing trick videos are amongst the most watched on YouTube, racking up millions of views. Anyway, a new Macaskill video dropped last week, and its just as mind blowing as the others – especially where he cycles along an……….no, we’re not going to ruin it – watch for yourselves here:

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The age-old debate of charcoal vs. gas has raged on for years and there’s no sign of it coming to an end any time soon. Therefore with BBQ season in full swing it seems like a good idea to explore the differences and see which is best.

Those in the charcoal camp are well known for taking great pride in their ability to cultivate and maintain a flame whilst cooking. Whereas the gas grill-meisters are drawn to the accuracy and control that only a gas BBQ can provide.

This debate is taken so seriously in some parts of the world that studies have been carried out to determine if there is any difference in the taste and results have shown there is little or no difference. So let’s have a look at the pros of each and then you can make your own decision.

Gas BBQ              

Easy set-up- All you need is gas and you’re good to go which means you can get your BBQ up and running within 10 minutes.

Adjustable heat- The heat from a gas BBQ will remain at a constant temperature that can be altered to suit what you’re cooking.

Its versatile- Gas BBQ’s can cope with just about any type of cooking and often come with a wide variety of attachments to suit.

A common misconception is that that the smoky BBQ flavour comes from using a charcoal BBQ when in fact it is actually from the juices hitting a hot surface. So whether your using coals or gas there’s no excuse for not having that delicious BBQ flavour.

Charcoal BBQ

Wood smoking has forever been charcoal’s advantage over gas; however these days it’s every bit as easy to get that woody flavour with gas especially when using the specialist attachments that are available.

BBQ flavour- Charcoal BBQs are long famed for that delicious BBQ flavour, however gas is catching up and most people cant tell the difference.

Cost- Charcoal BBQs can be very cheap to buy, depending of course on the model. The one downside is that the coals can prove expensive if you’re using the BBQ a lot.

Here at outdoor vibe we love the precision and versatility you get with the gas BBQs but we will concede that you do feel an extra bit manly when you use the coals and it all goes to plan.

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There was an excellent article passed around outdoor vibe recently that documented how, when we go hiking/camping in the wilderness we are ethically bound to leave as little trace as possible. The idea being, others can experience the same level of satisfaction at finding somewhere you think no-one else has been. Lets be honest we all know the feeling when you’ve just stumbled across the perfect campsite only to have your eyes immediately drawn to a crushed beer can or sometimes worse.

So upon some further investigation we came across an American organisation called Leave No Trace, they are an outdoor ethics group dedicated to low impact hiking and camping. Anyway the point is they have 7 principles that have been adopted by a lot of hikers and backpackers. And we thought it would be a great idea to share them here.

1. Plan ahead- Find out any rules for the area you will be in i.e. fire regulations. These rules are in place to keep you and the countryside safe.

2. Only travel and camp on durable surfaces- It may not seem that bad but pitching a tent over some fragile vegetation and scorching the earth with your campfire can have a pretty devastating effect on that local area. So either look for areas that people have camped in before or select somewhere free of vegetation.

3. Waste disposal- This rule applies to anything you bring with you and any personal “waste”. The simple concept is if you carried it in you can carry it out. With personal waste number 1’s should just be conducted out of the way. However a number 2 will require a cat-hole, and be sure to keep it at least 200 ft away from any water source.

4. Leave it as you found it- That means no taking anything that you didn’t bring, don’t remove items from their natural habitat.

5. Minimise the campfire impact- this comes down to, only use a fire ring if one was already there, if possible use a metal fire-pan, or build the fire on a mound of dirt it should be at least 4-6 inches in height. Remember to extinguish the fire with water when you’re finished.

6. Respect the locals- If you do happen to come across an animal whilst you’re out there, resist temptation and leave it in peace. You can watch it from a distance but don’t follow it or allow your dog to give chase.

7. Be considerate of other people in the area- So no loud music, screaming etc. Try to choose a campsite off the trail so you can’t be seen by other visitors. And if you’re going somewhere hunters visit ensure you and anyone with you including the dog are wearing orange.

By following these simple principles we can all do our bit to help to keep outdoors great, and still have a great time.

Please let us know how any of you get with the principles we’d love to hear about any adventures.

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It’s the time of year where thousands of Brits pay a small fortune to spend a weekend camped up in a huge muddy field for the privilege of watching their favorite bands and having a drink with their mates. Yes, it’s music festival time again and we’ve put together a quick festival camping survival guide to let you know what to expect.

First, get rid of any ideas that this will be like normal leisure camping. It’s busy, it’s noisy, and unfortunately it can be pretty smelly too. In fact apart from the presence of a tent and a sleeping bag it bears almost no similarity to conventional camping. The first thing to consider when you arrive is where to pitch up. Look for some kind of landmark you can use to navigate towards your tent later, there are thousands of similar tents at these events and after a few beers it can be pretty tough to tell them apart. Identifying your tent should obviously be a huge priority and many people bring flags, pinwheels or paint symbols on their tent to help make it easier to identify when they’re stumbling back in the dark.

It’s always a good idea to talk to those in the adjacent tents, not only will it enhance your experience by giving you additional people to hang out with, they should keep an eye on your tent for you if you’re not around. On the subject of security, while it may seem tempting to lock your tent with a padlock it’s really not the best of ideas. Besides providing minimal actual security it highlights to would-be thieves that there’s something in your tent worth stealing, and if they’re smart enough to find their way through a millimeter of canvas you could lose whatever it was you were trying to protect.

Hygiene wise it’s really a personal choice. If you’re looking to stay spotless you’ll need to prepare to queue for a while for the showers and pray it doesn’t rain. Most people however just accept that they’re not going to be too fresh for a couple of days and just take a toothbrush and baby wipes to keep up with the basics. And, unfortunately, the toilets are everything you’ve heard and more so be prepared for the worst or be prepared to hold it for a few days!

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