Technology in the back country

While some purest would say that one of the most important and attractive allures of the great out doors is the fact that you can disconnect from the ever enslavement of the digital age. From my experience, I have seen that there is a great advantage to being a tech savvy outdoorsman.

there are however some rule to live by when carrying tech into the wilderness, you must never bring anything you cannot live without, always waterproof your gear, and pad pad pad. I would recommend that before taking any tech out that you back up data to a stationary device at your home base.
now that we have gotten past the nitty, gritty, rules and such lets move on to the fun stuff.

Ipads!!

yes your loving enduring tablet of awesomeness that makes all things fun and large screened. the Ipad a has some useful features.
One of the best features of the Ipad is the fact that the touch screen is so large that it can be utilized with mapping programs like the Green trails maps app, which is the best app i have ever used for topographic maps, with highlighted trails. You can purchase digital copies for a fraction of the hard copies. Also, I am personally in love with road mapping functions of the Ipad.

I would highly recommend that that you get yourself a LifeProof case, without one your pretty much sacrificing your precious Apple tablet; I for one love my Ipad and I want to keep it around for as long as possible!


Solar charger 

Solar chargers are an essential for longer trecks in the backcountry. this is really self explanatory process, sun plus charger equals happiness.


















DSLR cameras

In my Previous post I pretty much raved about my Nikon D90. I you are going into the backcountry you might consider bring in your DSLR with you to make a take some killer shots.you could even make some extra money, take a moment to read my How to make money with photography article. 

One problem with taking you DSLR is that they're a little bit heavy for back packing but I find it absolutely worth it.  

Heated jackets 

Heated jackets have become recently become a reality. I have yet to test this product but once I have raised enough funds for the next product testing adventure, I will eagerly be trying out this product line! My hope is that this will solve the problem that our cold feet partners struggling with for quite some time :) 

I will keep expanding this blog post as long I am a exploring and adventuring. Hopefully my testing will be of some use to you. :)

Cameras!

Hey, friends What is your favorite camera? what do you like about it? and while you're at it post a link for me! :)

Mine is currently the Nikon D90, it's cheap, batteries last a long time, and it's got some cool features.
You can find it on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2CBQla4

Using Airbnb for the adventuring

For adventures on of the biggest expenses for travel is hotel prices, I recently discovered a solution! the story goes like this. with Valentine's day around the corner, I wanted to do something special for that wonderful woman in my life, I was struggling with the planning part when by chance my friends at work who were traveling nurses had told me about Airbnb.

Airbnb is a form of online booking for people homes and properties that act like hotels, sorta how Uber replaced taxi driving.  I was skeptical at first. Staying in another person's home seemed sketchy to me but with Valentine's Day coming up, I took a chance and decided to give it a try. 

For Valentine's Day I surprised my gal with a trip to Bellingham, for years she has been talking about moving to Bellingham and going to school up there. 

I went to the website, typed in the location I wanted and started to play around with the filters. I discovered that it was very similar to a hotel, I could choose how may guest I brought and my price range. I also discovered that you could rent a room or the "entire place". 

The "entire place" option seemed like the safest choice, given my gals anxiety and my lack of confidence in the use of this new resource. 

I was presented with a decently large selection of Airbnb's in the area for under $50. I was able to book one walking distance to town. 

On the day of the trip, I received directions to the cozy apartment near town and instructions for gaining access to the building. We packed our bags and set off. After 2 hours of driving, we arrived at the apartment. We followed the directions given to us and found the keys right where to message said that they were hidden. 

Once we gained access to the apartment we were pleasantly greater by a mini reception guest with a picture frame with instructions, house rules, wifi password, and lender phone chargers! These people even left us a guest book to sign in too! 

Next, we ventured inside, we were pleasantly surprised with comfy couches and a tv with chrome cast (perfect for us Netflix people), blankets, and space heaters. 

The kitchen was super nice. It had a cozy tea timetable that was perfect for her and I. I was so appreciative of the simplicity and elegance of that kitchen. They even left some snacks for us! 

The bedroom was large enough for a queen size bed and plenty of walking space, there was his and hers closets and a storage space for luggage. 

They gave us access to their laundry room and provided detergent! 

What really impressed me was the bathroom, so often when you look at houses and hotel room they don't show the bathroom, this one was stellar!

For 2 nights in Bellingham on Valentine's Day, I paid $100. Needless to say, I will be using this service again! 

The home we stayed at:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21009335


My use my affiliate link and get $40 credit for your next trip!

https://abnb.me/e/L0fDQmj5EK

Written from my iPhone.

How to Make Money with Photography

There hasn't been a single college student who wasn't tempted by the allure of a career in photography. Sadly the educational endeavor has been hailed as a foolish quest of flowery hippies that will lead to poverty by parents, counselors, and teachers alike.

Despite the cultural stigma, the profession has been rated to make 20-60K yearly or an average of  $17 an hour. truth be told, this is just scratching the surface of what a skilled photographer can make with just a little effort and creativity. Here are are some of the methods that a photographer utilize to make a decent living.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has always been shrouded in mystery. It's actually quite a simple concept, you sign up for an affiliate program like Amazon, find a product, buy the product, photograph it, and promote it on social media or something like that. For a photographer, this can be an extremely lucrative way to establish an income that may become passive if given enough following and proper marketing. The pay is commission based and requires a few computer skills.

Weddings
First of all, everyone loves weddings and they are an honor to be a part of. For a photographer, wedding are our cash cow. With the uncountable amount of weddings in the summer, a photographer can make a year's wage. The difficult part of is that weddings are an acute event that usually does not reoccur in a person's lifetime, hopefully. With weddings, your primary method of marketing yourself is word of mouth.

Crime scene Investigation

Poshmark Pictures
www.poshmark.com is a used clothes resale website. The method of poshmark is simple, you gather old clothes, model them, resale them for a good sum of money. Poshmark even allows you to start your own boutique to sell wholesale items for a profit. With the best method of selling something on poshmark a good photographer can benefit greatly. You can either get into reselling or offer your services to others who are in need of high-quality photos for their closet.   
If you end up setting up a poshmark account please do me a favor and use my code NOAHHETZ to give me a boost.

Private photoshoots 
I don't know why but for some reason there has been a rise of personal photoshoot and instagram models who would love nothing more than to get together with anyone with a camera and are willing to pay top dollar for it. 

Patreon

Eureka solitaire

Once upon a time, I had found a magical tent within the depts of my favorite thrift store, some unfortunate soul had foolishly relinquished a glorious Eureka Solitaire to the hands of the good people at Island Thrift. I was fortunate enough to score this beauty and put her to work. This tent was awesome, It endured heavy rains, harsh winds, and the stumbling of children! This $17 was more then I could ever dream of and I would highly recommend it to any adventure. Sadly mine retired after I broke a pole during a Youth Adventures trip.
The going price is $80 and I have posted a nice affiliate link below for you.

Weight:
The average tent weighs about 6.3 pounds whereas the Solitaire weighs  2.9 LBS, Making it the lightest tent that you can fit in your pack.

Uses:
It's perfect for the solo adventurer or ultralight Backpacker. If you a member of search and rescue (SAR), You are required to carry some form of shelter with you in your pack; this is a great addition to your Ready to GO Bag (RGB).

Season:3

Size
The solitaire is marketed as a 2 person tent, with it being 8ft in length 2.8 in width, It's not well suited for 2 people unless you like to cuddle.

Price:
$75-80  


Buy here!

(By using this link, you help support this blog. Help me, help you)!

Buying you own jump bag.

The jump bag of firefighters 
I recommend that you keep a fully stocked "jump bag" in your personal vehicle if you your groups "back country medic". your group will depend, no expect to have all of the proper materials to treat your crew in advent of an incident. this particular "Jump bag" Comers from amazon and cost's 349.99 and is the exact same one that I use when I work at the fire department, wither I am riding an ambulance  or fire engines. Here is the sad truth, majority of the time we rarely use anything in the ambulance, most of what we need to keep a person alive is already in this bag, the ambulance is usually just a high paid taxi. Everything you need to treat a patient is already in this bag, with the exception of a oxygen container, you need to see a doctor to get a prescription for that.

Become a Backcountry Medic

How to become a back country medic

The Need:

Just like in D&D every group of Adventures needs it medic. Someone who has some medical experience to handle situations. If you are reading this, that means it’s you.

The truth of the matter is most of the time as the group "medic" you will be stuck mending to blisters, scrapes, and the occasional dehydration but every once in a while, you get something serious. I am writing this so when everyone and their mother is freaking out, you will know what to do and lead your team to victory. 

The problem with outdoor recreation is that when something bad happens, more times then not, you are in a rural environment, Far from any help and on top of that, your environment it self will contribute to the escalation of a situation. 

  If you have spent any amount of time in the back country, you know that injuries are bound to happen, it’s just a matter of time. The big question is, “when it happens will you know what to do”? that is why I am writing this.

Read some books:

The thing about wilderness medicine is this... out there when lives are on the line, it doesn't what certification someone does or doesn't hold, what really matters is who has the skills and knowlege to get someone out alive. That being said, the best thing you can for yourself and your friends is to read some good books and practice some of the tecniques that might save your lives one day.

Here is my recommend reading list and links where you can buy them:

(my personal reading list) 

The field guide of wilderness & Rescue Medicine:

A carry-on to bring with you on backpacking, for reference

       Nols wilderness first aid:

       an inexpensive basic first aid book

      Outward bound wilderness first-aid handbook:

      Wilderness medical associates texboot for their WFA course 

     Prehospital Emergency care (10^th):
     The best EMT-B text book out there! :)

Take a class:

I would highly recommend taking a class or to gain some medical skills. Wilderness medical associates international hold a number of courses as well as you local collages:

WFA - Wilderness first aid:

-Everything you need for blister care and simple bandaging

WAFA - WIlderness Advance first Aid

-blood control and minor medications

EMT - Emergency medical tecnition (you can find anywhere)

-What ambulance worker have

WEMT- wilderness EMT

-EMTwith a wilderness specialty

ALS - Paramedic

-The highest level of pre-hospital care

WALS - Wilderness Paramedic

-Paramedic with wilderness skills

Buy your own jump bag:

 I highly recommend that you keep a fully stocked "jump bag" in your personal vehicle if you your groups "back country medic". your group will depend, no expect to have all of the proper materials to treat your crew in advent of an incident. this partuclare "Jump bag" cost's 349.99 and is the exact same one that I use when I work at the fire department, wither I am riding an ambulance  or fire engines. Here is the sad truth, majority of the time we rarely use anything in the ambulance, most of what we need to keep a person alive is already in this bag, the ambulance is usually just a high paid taxi. Everything you need to treat a patient is already in this bag, with the exception of a oxygen container, you need to see a doctor to get a prescription for that. 

Turn you primary care doctor into you Medical director:

Next time that you go see you doctor, share with him about your outdoor recreation and your role as the group medic. If the conversation goes well, see if he will authorize you to use medications that you are trained to use, like oxygen and epinephran. He might be willing to even write you a prescription for all the drugs, vaccinations, and supplies you need.  

Disclaimer

I do not own any right to materials, brands, or content other that that in which I have created. All borrowed knowledge and resources belong to their prospective owners and will be treated with respect and given proper credit .  

Almost all of my content contain affiliate links which serve to help both you and I. The affiliation links allow me to fund my writing and quickly link you to products and services that you might need or find useful in your adventures.

If there is any offensive content, know that is not my intent; for that I anthologize before hand. That being said, I don’t really care. PS: I am having fun. :)