Saturday, May 27, 2017

Gear Review: The Most Rugged Matches for Camping Trips

I’ve camped in all sorts of conditions, including in snowdrifts in the winter with gale-force winds. And, one of my biggest problems -- aside from staying warm -- is lighting my camp stove. Every match just kept fizzling out. Now I carry mega matches that are four-inches long, burn for up to 25 seconds and, even when they’re submerged in water, they’ll relight. These are meaty matches manufactured by UCO. The Titan Stormproof Match Kit packs a dozen of these matches in a floatable, waterproof case. The floatable spec could come in handy: Once when camping in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (The UP), I woke in the middle of the night to find every small item in my tent floating past my head as a vicious storm rolled through. Sadly, I didn't have the UCO matches.



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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Gear Review: Flashlight Turned Lantern

Whenever I go camping I find that my flashlight may be great when I’m trying to navigate to the restroom in the middle of the night but not so great when I am cooking or setting up my tent in the dark. Sure, I could also bring a lantern for those purposes but I’d rather not since, after all, I’m all about going ultra light. That’s why I like this product made by UCO: the Leschi LED Lantern.

It’s a flashlight that telescopes into a lightweight -- it barely weighs 2 ounces -- lantern. And, because it has a shock cord, I can hang it just about anywhere, whether a tent pole, tree branch, or strap. It’s super bright: 110 Lumens and projects its light almost 110 feet . And it’ll last for four hours -- all on one AA battery -- allowing plenty of time to set up the tent, cook, wash the dishes and read.  But it’s also got a strobe mode just in case I need to send Morse Code in an emergency. (Joking.)



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Saturday, May 13, 2017

Buenos Aires in Pictures

Buenos Aires is a multi-faceted city, where luxe hotels like the Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt displays contemporary art on the wall of an underground gallery, and where the rough-around-the edges La Boca barrio shows off its surprising street art with sculptures hanging from the colorful facades. Where the city that bustles with non-stop traffic also is home to the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve where the only sounds are the twittering of birds.  Where neighborhoods are peppered with small art galleries showcasing the myriad works of Argentinian painters as well as museums highlighting the country's vast art heritage. Where one moment you can be dining in a fine sushi restaurant and the next, strolling a verdant Japanese garden -- the biggest outside of Japan -- with venues aplenty that are ideal for meditation. This short YouTube video slideshow provides a window into the Buenos Aires I experienced.



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