The Daily Brew Cafe

Postage on the Rise

Postage prices through the years

Can you believe that? The U.S. Postal Service is raising the cost to send mail once again starting January 27, 2013. I understand that it is hurting the postal business when people are paying bills via the internet these days, but I can’t help but wonder why when postage keeps rising. Maybe the raise in cost is supposed to help pay the employees. I don’t know, but I think it is ridiculous. When one thing rises in cost, others are sure to follow. Web sites will be dropping the offer for free shipping before too long, so I guess we better shop now!

Save on Postage by Shopping Now

Being that I do a lot of online shopping, I guess I’ll try to make my heavier, more expensive purchases now. I see that for now some online stores offer free shipping on certain products, but I wonder if that will still be in affect after the raise in postage. Either way, businesses will factor in the shipping cost with the purchase cost, thus we will still pay for the shipment. UPS tends to be cheaper that regular mail on heavier items, but not everyone offers UPS shipment as an option.

I was planning on ordering a new TV from Best Buy, which probably won’t offer free shipping. Maybe it will be cheaper for me to have it shipped to the store and the gas to drive the 30 miles to go get it won’t cost as much as the shipping to conveniently have it sent directly home. Convenience. That is a major factor in the mail business in my opinion. It is more convenient to pay bills and shop online from home in my pajamas, coffee in hand. I can pay bills on the due date rather than mailing it 2 weeks early so that it gets paid on time – IF it doesn’t get lost, delayed, stuck in a blizzard or what have you.

Free Shipping?

There are a few places still offering free shipping if you spend so much or on certain products. As previously mentioned, some stores offer free site to store shipping. You still have to go pick up your purchase from the store, but at least you don’t have to pay anything (other than for gas) to go get the stuff. I know Wal-Mart offers free site to store shipping, but to me site to store shipping still defeats the purpose of having whatever you ordered sent to your home versus having to figure out when you can pick it up – or have something big enough to haul your purchase in. I can’t put a 60 inch TV in a Honda.

Some “online only” stores will offer free shipping on light weight items. Usually these items do ship through the post office and are sent First Class, so of course the items are small. I know of one online store that I love shopping at is Country Brook Design. I have three dogs and love to keep up with the Holidays and decorating, so I order my dog’s collars from Country Brook Design almost monthly. They do have free shipping on the dog collars and many other items as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that raising postage costs does help with paying for the labor and shipment of mail. Everyone’s money is tight these days and we all want to save a dollar here and there. Heck, saving pennies these days is becoming more meaningful then  the penny’s worth alone any more. So why not utilize offers with free shipping?

Webbing and Christmas?

Okay so I have to share this with you. I was trying to find ideas on Christmas gifts for a few family members and close friends. My daughter is an artsy child, so I decided to do something crafty. Looking online at different arts and crafts, I came across a website that has all kinds of projects on it for all ages and difficulty using webbing. The neat thing about this website is you can also share your own ideas on the site with other people. The site also has tutorials to help with making these projects. I thought I’d share my experience so that maybe it can help you come up with gift ideas, too!

Webbing and Our Christmas Project

One of our completed easy to make key fobs…

My idea was to make key fobs for everyone. It is something that my daughter and I could make together and be able to customize each one to each person. We have sports fans, flower lovers and country style-like people in our family, so having the ability to make each gift individual as the person receiving the gift is just perfect.

We started by finding the materials we would need to make our key fobs. We wanted to be able to buy in bulk since we are making several key fobs. I came across this awesome website that has everything we will need to purchase to complete our Christmas gifts. I not only found the hardware I was going to need, but I also found 1 inch nylon webbing in a variety of colors and many ribbon designs! 1 inch key fob hardware, 1 inch nylon webbing and 1 inch ribbon is what sizes I chose to create these fabulous gifts.

Completing the Project

My daughter and I completed our projects making 20 key fobs for different members of the family and a few friends. It was pretty simple to do and fun to boot. We learned together how to put the fobs together using ribbon sewn on to nylon for the fobs. The quality of the hardware we received was great! I was hoping to find something that would last a while and the key fobs I purchased on Country Brook Design’s website found here definitely will last. They offered both brass plated and nickel plated key fobs, so I ordered 10 of each. I think I liked the 1 inch brass plated key fob hardware on the darker designs and the 1 inch nickel plated key fob hardware on the lighter designs.

We lucked out in finding the many ribbon designs. We made some really classy looking fobs with the woven ribbon I found. It came in blue, red and silver, which were very stylish and would work great for the guys. There were several different flower designs, so I picked out a few yards and completed the project for the ladies in these designs. All of the fobs seemed to be a success for a simple, easy to make Christmas gift. I think my daughter and I may order more to make for birthdays. Next time I’ll order everything earlier and make key fobs for my daughter’s class mates and teachers for their Christmas gifts next year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?

Mood swings are a part of BPD. Not knowing how to feel from one minute to the next is hard to cope with.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental illness in which people have long-term patterns of mood swings. These inner experiences often cause them to act on  impulse and have bad relationships. Borderline personality disorder makes it very difficult to maintain a stable and healthy lifestyle. Not only is the person with BPD having to cope with the disorder, but everyone around the person as well. Relationships are very difficult with family and friends. Borderline personality disorder can negatively affect intimate relationships, jobs, school, social activities and self-image.

What Causes BPD?

What actually causes borderline personality disorder is not known or fully understood. There isn’t a specific reason a person has BPD, but there are different factors that are linked to people who are diagnosed with BPD. There is belief that genetics and brain chemical abnormalities play roles in affecting BPD. A persons childhood environment can affect them as well such as child abuse and separation or neglect by loved ones. Other risk factors include but are not limited to:

• Sexual abuse
• Dysfunctional family
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Poor communication in the family
• Abandonment during childhood or adolescence

Being Diagnosed with BPD

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a psychologist 13 years ago after having a psychological evaluation. At that time I was 24 years old. I only went to therapy a few times. I felt like nothing was wrong with me. I was in denial even though I knew I had problems. When I was 28, I had my first child. I knew my behaviors would affect her as well, so I began going to a psychiatrist to get help. I didn’t want my problems to affect the relationship with my daughter as it has with everyone else. It wouldn’t be fair to her.

I was prescribed medication to help stabilize my behaviors. I was on 600 mg of Lithium Carbonate, 300 mg of Lamictal, and 300 mg of Wellbutrin per day. I was also prescribed Lunesta for sleep. My racing thoughts caused insomnia at times. The medicine helped a little bit. It takes time for the doctor to set the medication at the right dose so that it is strong enough to get the full benefit. Of course I didn’t go long enough to get things stabilized. I decided to take myself off of my medications because I was wanted to have a second child. The pills I was on could affect the baby since Lithium is a chemical that affects your body’s proteins. Too much of it in your body can kill you. I didn’t want to be on anything that was going to hurt my baby, so I quit taking everything long before trying to get pregnant. It takes months for Lithium to get out of your system. To this day I still have not been back on any medications. Having my daughter settled me down a lot. It kept me in the house. That’s what I needed. I needed to be confined away from the public. Best thing I could have ever done.

About 4 years ago a different doctor said I didn’t have bipolar disorder, but borderline personality disorder. It seems I didn’t have all of the symptoms related to bipolar disorder, but I did for BPD. Bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder have a lot of the same symptoms, making it hard to diagnose and treat. I know I am not always an easy person to get along with. Learning about this really shed some light on why I was behaving in the ways that I was. I was understanding who I was.

I started going to group therapy instead of taking medications. The pills only helped with the depression and mood swings. Group therapy, called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), was a great choice for me. I didn’t attend as long as I would liked to have, but it interfered with my work schedule at that time. I didn’t learn how to control all of my behaviors since I didn’t go for long. I did learn about what they call Mindfulness.  Mindfulness teaches you how to focus on one thought or one thing. This sometimes works for me when I think negatively or if I feel angry. I wish I would have been able to go to therapy. What little bit of time I went, I started to notice a slight change in my behaviors. I was learning how to control them and sometimes did so.

Living with BPD

I have tried to hide my BPD for so long… Ashamed that something was wrong with me.

It is very hard to live with borderline personality disorder. With my issues, I compare my moods and behaviors to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I have only recently became open about having BPD. I’m not on any medications to help because they interfere with raising my child. I have anxieties that I can’t control. I get depressed for no reason. I lash out on people for no reason. I anger easily. I think violently. I’m irritable often. I create situations in my head that aren’t even happening and react to them. I have highs and lows with my moods – never a happy medium. I don’t want to live like this. I didn’t choose to be this way. Why me? I have a big heart and love doing for people. I love working with the public. In the same, I push people away. I don’t like to be bothered. I don’t like my life to be interrupted. I don’t like anything extra thrown in to my life. I like to be alone.

The only way I have good relationships with friends and family is avoidance. I don’t get close to anyone. When I feel like I’m getting close, I push away. I don’t go out in public often. I don’t have many friends. I live over 500 miles away from my nearest family member. The five people I am friends with know about my borderline personality disorder. I don’t think they understand it though. I told them to not be offended if one minute we’re hanging out often and then they don’t hear from me for weeks. As much as I love to be around people, I try not to be so that I don’t hurt them. I tend to say things I don’t mean. I get mad at something then come up with a reason to argue and lash out on someone. Usually that person had nothing to do with why I was mad in the first place.

I think my childhood and life choices are what affected me. I wasn’t sexually abused, but I abused sex. I never abused drugs. My family was very dysfunctional. My parents divorced when I was 11. I was always distant from my parents and sister growing up. I was the black sheep ever since I was able to talk from what I hear my Mama say. There are a lot of factors in my life that I feel affected my mental stability. My childhood, the life I chose for myself throughout my teen years, and the ill relationship between my parents and I had a great impact on my emotions.

Sometimes BPD causes your mind to feel like it’s in 1000 pieces…

I won’t get too far in to detail about my personal life and experiences. Just please know that living with BPD is difficult. If you know someone who has borderline personality disorder and you truly care about them, please learn about BPD as much as you can. I promise that learning and understanding what we go through daily will help your relationship with them. I hate they way that I am. Sometimes I hate who I am. Knowing how to help a person with BPD will benefit both you and the affected person greatly. Just be aware. Talk to the person. Learn what triggers their moods. Knowing this will help you avoid creating an episode. Yes, it is like walking on eggshells.

Getting a New Horse

I have a friend named Lynn who’s eight year old granddaughter, April likes to ride horses. April loves horses so much that she likes to compete in barrel racing. April loves to be on the farm with her Grandmother, tending to the horses, goats, chickens, guineas, donkeys… just a little country girl’s dream! April grew up with her Grandmother’s horses and wanted one of her own. On April’s 8th birthday, to her surprise she was given a horse for her birthday. April was so excited! She couldn’t wait to get a halter and a bridle for her horse, Princess!

A Horse Halter in the Making

Since April was wanting a new horse halter and Bridle for Princess, Lynn decided to make a halter and bridle for Princess. Buying one would be easier, but Lynn wanted to give it as a gift from the heart. Lynn was always good at making home made gifts. I helped Lynn shop around online to try to find a place with the best webbing and hardware to make Princess a matching halter and bridle for April. We also found instructions on how to make a horse halters and horse bridles while we were browsing online. There were so many places to order from, but Lynn wanted to make sure she had the best quality products so Princess’ halter and bridle would last a lifetime.

Princess wearing her pink nylon horse halter

After reading the instructions on making the halter, Lynn decided that the best webbing she could use for the halter and bridle would be 1 inch nylon webbing. Lynn chose nylon webbing instead of polypropylene because of the strength and durability compared to polypropylene. The nylon webbing she found has a tensile strength of 4200 pounds which would be sufficient for Princess and April. There were many websites offering everything Lynn needed to complete this project. We chose Country Brook Design’s nylon webbing since their prices are low, the quality is high and the color selection is great! Their website even had reflective nylon webbing. Reflective nylon webbing would be great to use if you go riding early morning or late in the evening. Lynn said with all of the color choices, she will be making several halter and bridal sets for Princess.

Next we had to find quality hardware to use for making the halter and bridle. We knew we would need three 1 inch O-Rings, two 2-sided halter square rings, and a buckle. We decided to use brass hardware instead of nickel plated because brass is much stronger. Lynn decided to make a matching nylon lead as well, so she also bought a brass snap hook for the lead.

Once Lynn completed the halter, bridle and lead, she prepared Princess for April to see. April was so happy to see Princess wearing her new tack! April gave Lynn a hug, went over to Princess and hugged her. April took her horse in the stable and saddled up to ride and rode for hours. It was great to see a sweet little girl and her horse riding off as the little girl smiled with joy.

Just She and I

Being the only parent your child has does have both its advantages and disadvantages. I enjoy having my daughter to myself. However, I wish for her that she could have had a chance at a good family life with having both parents in the home. I know it is a rarity these days to have both parents at home let alone in a healthy relationship, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t wish that for my child. In selfish ways, I have to admit that I like being the only parent she has. I am the only decision maker for what she can and cannot do. I choose how I want her to be raised without conflict from the other parent. It’s nice.

My daughter is currently eight years old. I have supported her financially by myself since her birth. I do not receive child support as I never filed for it. Her father chose to not have anything to do with her from the moment I told him I was pregnant. Our situation was different. We weren’t in a relationship. We were just good friends. We were able to discuss the way things were going to be in a civil manner. We agreed he wouldn’t be on any documentation in relation to him being my daughter’s father, I would not file for child support, I would raise her alone. My daughter knows all about her father, the situation we were in when I became pregnant and why he has nothing to do with her. I don’t pull the wool  over her eyes. I’m honest with her. My daughter deserves to know the truth about everything in life. Heck, she was raised knowing Santa, the Easter bunny, Tooth Fairy – all the imaginary people parents feel the need to lie to their kids about – are indeed non-existent.

The “Only Parent” Advantages

Single and only parents can raise wonderful children alone.

Being the only parent to raise your child definitely has advantages. To me the greatest advantage is you can choose how you want to raise your child and raise them in that exact manner. You have no one with any conflicting differences to argue with about which way is the “right” way to raise the child. Knowing that having both parents in the same household together these days is a rarity (let alone healthy relationships), another advantage is not having two homes for the child to go in between for visitations. I think children who are raised in split homes have a harder time dealing with rules and tempers. There are two households, two sets of rules, disagreements on what can or can’t happen in the other parent’s home, arguing over Holiday plans… the list goes on. Children coming from broken homes tend to live a harder life. Well, at least I think I did compared to my friends who were raised with both parents all of their lives, so consider it an opinion from experience.

Being the only parent allows me to be the only one to make the plans, say where my daughter can or cannot go, teach her the things I want for her to learn when I want her to learn it. I’m the one responsible for her behavior, how she represents herself to others, and teaching her how to be respectful. But in the same, every child’s behavior comes from what their parent has allowed that child to do, be it good or bad. If you don’t stop them from misbehaving the first time they try it, then that’s your fault as a parent. I don’t care if the child is one. Children are old enough to learn whatever you are patient enough to teach them. So being the only parent is an advantage to prevent bad behaviors in kids because they are the only one the child has to listen to.

The “Only Parent” Disadvantages

There are advantages to being the only parent, but there are definitely disadvantages as well.  Being the only parent is different from being a single parent. As an only parent, I am referring to the parent who is the only one involved in the children’s life constantly. I know there are instances where the father lives just a block away, but never sees their child or even attempt to support them. A single parent is one who has custody of their children, but the absent parent is an active parent. The absent parent pays child support, if possible, spends quality time with the children and most importantly, shows them that they are loved.

In being an only parent, you are the sole provider for your children. It’s up to you and only you to feed them, clothe them, house them, love them. I have eight years of experience in this and I have to say there have been easy times and there have been hard times. Never once had I let my child go without though, no matter what I had to sacrifice for her, because I love her. Financially, we stay afloat, but we could be doing better. I can only do for her what I am willing to do for myself. What I mean by that is I have to be willing to put in the hard work and effort to provide the ways my daughter needs for me to. The one thing I have taught her is that money isn’t the most important thing in our relationship, it’s love. She knows when she has to wait to get the newest thing on the market that it might take some time, but she will get it. She doesn’t expect the best of everything, but she gets what is pretty close to it, without asking.

Even though my independence, strength and survival abilities gets us through, I have to admit it would be helpful if there was a second parent there to help. Having a person you can depend on to be there for your child along with you financially to help provide for the child would definitely be easier than trying to do it alone. Of course a lot of that would depend on the only parent’s occupation. It can be done… alone.

Seeing the advantages and disadvantages of being an only parent might open some eyes. If you are in this situation or you are the absent parent, all I’m asking you both is to give that child LOVE and allow that child to be loved. Both parties are responsible for the child’s existence, both should be responsible enough to bring the child love and a great childhood.

 Becoming a Truck Driver

Being a truck driver is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. Most people who get in to driving as a “career” tend to learn quickly that driving trucks isn’t as fun or easy as it looks. To me, it was fun, but I have a passion for traveling, not being in one place a long time and meeting different people. You learn a lot in trucking like load safety and using nylon straps, what truck stops are best and of course, who has the best food! My theory is why work hard all of my life to travel when I retire, but not be in as good of shape to enjoy my travels when I can travel, get paid to do so and still be young enough to enjoy it!

I hate that I am no longer driving coast to coast, but driving locally kind of filled that void. I remember the very first time I decided I wanted to become a truck driver. When I was 13, my father hauled logs for a private truck owner (Owner-Operator). I rode with my dad a few times in his 1974 Kenworth with the two stick shifts – it was red and silver. The stacks on it were filled with soot from the smoke that came from the exhaust. One day when my Dad and I returned to the owner’s house, my Dad said he wanted to clean up & wash the truck. I was all for it. He washed the body and I climbed on the roof of the truck so that I could get to those old dirty stacks. When I started cleaning one of the stacks, I found underneath that nasty soot was this shiny, chrome stack. It was then that I decided I wanted to become a truck driver. Low and behold at 22, I obtained my Class A CDL!

When I drove over the road going mainly from New Jersey to California and back, I pulled 48 and 53 foot dry and refrigerated trailers. I hauled many types of products such as clothes, Coca-Cola syrup, film and produce.  Put it this way, if you got it, a truck driver brought it. A lot of people don’t have respect for truck drivers because of the reputation brought along with the job. Unfortunately, as with every day car drivers, there are some truck drivers that do drive without using manners, respect for others on the road, or even get to fumbling around with things in the truck causing the driver to swerve. However, I think we should all respect truck drivers because if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have anything that we own, let alone the gas in the car to go get it.

How Nylon Straps Made My Loads Secure

Nylon straps are often used in trucking for securing loads thanks to their strength and durability.

A few years had passed and I became a local truck driver for a major drainage tile company. I have never pulled the kind of trailers this company had – one which I’ve never even seen before in my life! This company had flat bed trailers and what we called steel cage trailers. Pulling flat bed trailers meant I had to rely on something to secure my loads. We used 2 inch nylon webbing for the straps to secure the loads on the flat beds. When I first started using these nylon straps, I was afraid that the nylon would stretch or break from the pressure of the weight, but I can’t say I’ve ever had that happen. The nylon straps kept my loads secure and everyone around me safe from the load spilling out on to the highway.

The first time I took a load of tile out on a caged trailer, I saw nylon webbing once again used as straps to secure the tile. This was in a different way than on the flat bed. Instead of holding the load securely as I traveled, this held the tile in the trailer after I opened the side doors, which opened like barn doors. It was neat how they set up the trailer to release the tile out of the side of the trailer when I was delivering. If one of those nylon straps broke, I would be injured seriously – how serious depending on the size and weight of the tile I was delivering. So, here I am with my first delivery… I opened the “barn doors” on the front half of the trailer to drop half of the load off. When I went to open the second door, the weight of the tile “kicked back” a little bit swinging the door open harder than what I was prepared for.  As the doors opened, the tile had room to try to roll off of the trailer, but the nylon straps kept them secure until I pulled the release lever to release the nylon straps so that the tile can roll off of the trailer.

I have never been more nervous in my life thinking that the nylon straps weren’t going to hold back that tile. I have to say after my experience, nylon straps are definitely strong, dependable and tolerable to all weather conditions. I would definitely recommend anyone to use nylon webbing to make straps for securing weight-bearing items as it does withstand a lot of pressure. Just please be sure to purchase webbing with the tensile strength at about 75% of the weight you are going to use it for. In other words, if you are going to use nylon straps for something with a weight of say 1,500 pounds, I would find webbing with a 2,000 pound tensile strength just to be sure it will withstand the weight bearing on the straps.

On August 21st of 2012, I became the proud parent of a new puppy. Roscoe is a chocolate Labrador who is full of energy. While I love him very much, that energy can sometimes be a challenge to contain. Thus I decided to help train his faster by getting him a Martingale collar.

What is a Martingale Collar?

A Camouflage Martingale Collar from Country Brook Design

Some of you may not be familiar with what a martingale collar is or how it can help you and your pet. Everyone has seen a traditional collar: a simple loop of nylon webbing or leather with a buckle to secure it. Many of these are highly decorated, with everything from charms to designer ribbons, to studs and spikes. As versatile as this collar is, it wasn’t good for one family of dogs: the sight-hound.

Famous sight-hounds include the greyhound and the Whippet. These dogs have necks that are thicker than their heads. This can cause a problem for regular dog collars because a sight-hound can easily slip their head out of the collar! Hence the invention of the Martingale collar.

A Martingale collar is a double looped collar. The double loop is designed to tighten on a dog’s neck when he pulls away from the leash. It doesn’t tighten too much. In fact, it is designed specifically to only tighten up to a point so that it does not choke your dog. By tightening when the dog pulls away from the leash, it keeps the collar on the dogs neck rather than letting it slip off.

A Great Tool For Training

Martingale collars are not just great for sight-hounds. By tightening on a dog’s neck when they pull away, a Martingale collar is an excellent training collar for all kinds of dog. If you have a dog who does not obey you when you go for walks, he’ll soon change his wild ways once a martingale has tightened around his neck a few times.

This is exactly why I bought one for my Chocolate Lab. Before he would sometimes pull against me when we went for walks. Well no more of that. His behavior improved dramatically after we went for our first walk with the new collar. I bought a camouflage collar from Country Brook Design, but they have lots of other designs to choose from.

If you’ve never used a Martingale collar before, you may not be sure of how to correctly fit it to your dog’s neck. Don’t worry! Here is a handy guide on how to properly wear one, including pictures.

While regular collars still have their place, both Roscoe and I are very happy we discovered Martingale collars. It was a great investment and I’ll gladly be buying these wonderful collars from here on out.

I love the autumn months. Crisp, cool air, beautiful colors on all the trees, and a flurry of wildlife activity as mother nature prepares for a blustery winter. This is my favorite time of year to go backpacking. A successful backpacking trip means successful planning, and  that means having the right supplies: food, water, backpack, bedroll, nylon webbing, and fire starting material.

While I’ve explored a number of national forests and wilderness areas over the years, I am very fortunate to have such a lush and beautiful backwoods so close to home: The Sipsey Wilderness area. It’s inside Bankhead National Forest in Alabama. The forest features dozens of miles of trails, cliffs, waterfalls, winding rivers, and the largest poplar tree in the state of Alabama. There is something for every outdoors-man.

Prepping 101: Food, Water, Nylon Webbing, etc.

It’s the perfect place to stay the night with numerous camp sites, but before you go you better be prepared. I use an ALICE rucksack, which was used during the Vietnam war by our soldiers. It is very large with lots of room, and features an external frame to keep the sack off of your back for comfort. Unfortunately I’m a pretty big guy, and the nylon webbing belt strap that it came with just didn’t fit all the way around. Fortunately I found where I could buy some 1 1/2″ nylon webbing and buckles online from Country Brook Design and I was able to sew on my own new belt.

With that problem solved, it was time to stock up for the overnight trip. I always take at least 5 different ways to start a fire. This usually means a couple of lighters, some water proof matches, and one ferrocerium rod and metal striker. Aside from being able to start a fire, you definitely need a sleeping bag and tent. Since I backpack on a budget, instead of a tent I bring a tarp and some nylon webbing and it works out just as well.

Okay, so now shelter is done. What about food and water? I always carry some granola bars and beef jerky as snacks and at least 2-3 dehydrated meals. It may seem like overkill for an overnight trip, but what if you get stuck or lost out there? To me it is always better to plan ahead. I also always carry a few 20oz water bottles, as well as a collapsible 5 gallon water jug.

Beyond the Basics

Despite the weight, I always carry my weather radio. Sometimes I’m in an area without cell phone coverage ( and I wouldn’t have it any other way! ) and I need to keep a link to the outside world. This radio does it all. It is AM/FM/Weather, includes a light, a cell phone charger, and runs off of both AA batteries and has a hand crank!

Finally, make sure you bring a good utility knife, a change of dry clothes ( preferably in a dry bag ), and a roll of toilet paper with the tube taken out. The knife I keep in a holster which is attached to the nylon webbing belt I fashioned earlier.

With these basic preparations, you are much more likely to enjoy your stay in the great outdoors. Of course, there is a lot more you could bring, but you don’t want your pack to get too heavy! Only you know how much weight you can carry on your back though, so experiment with different items. Try walking around the block with your pack a few times to make sure it isn’t too much for you.