New La Piovra Air Frame Is Here!

This frame has all the beautiful attributes our custom La Piovra alloy frame is renowned for.
Top grade alloy, fluted seat tube, tight rear wheel clearance, angled top tube, smooth welds & of course high quality
workmanship and finish.
This beauty is now available as a standard stock item at a fantastic price!
Features:
• Aluminium 7005 T6
• 27.2mm seat post
• 1″41°x 45° integrated headset*
• Smooth welding
• CNC rear drop out
• High polish & clear coat painting
• Hydraulic formed seat tube
• Stainless steel drop out protector
• Weight: 1390g to 1510g
New La Piovra Air is available in two finishes: Black Chrome (£395.00) and Charcoal Black (£355.00).

http://www.cyclingsworld.com/new-la-piovra-air-frame/

How to Clean the Sleeping Bag

If you want to have a good sleep outdoors, a comfortable and practical sleeping bag is a necessity. However, whether the sleeping bag is comfortable or not does not only depend on its quality but also relies on how the user cleans, tends and protects it. Therefore, if you want to maximize the service life of the sleeping bag, cleaning it is quite necessary.

The primary step to clean your sleeping bag is to keep it clean as far as possible. The sweat, the body grease and the dirt will weaken the air permeability and cleanliness of the sleeping bag. When you have a rest in the sleeping bag, you should change your dirty clothes with the clean and try wearing the longer underclothes. If you feel it is too hot wearing the long underclothes, you can buy a inner lining of the sleeping bag. By doing so , you can not only keep the sleeping bag tidy and clean, but also keep yourself warm multiply, which is very convenient.

You should dry the sleeping bag in the air after using each time, which is another way of tending and protecting the sleeping bag. Drying the sleeping bag by baking properly can lengthen the service life of the sleeping bag. You should avoid the sleeping bag’s long-time exposure to the sun ray directly because the ultraviolet ray will degenerate the materials of the sleeping bag.

It would be best to clean the sleeping bag once a year. And it is best to clean part of the sleeping bag. You can brush the head, collar and leg parts of the sleeping bag that can get dirty easily by soft brush with diluted detergent.
If you want to clean your sleeping bag at home, I suggest that you should use professional detergent. Put your sleeping bag into the roller washing machine and then adjust to the low speed and wash it with cold water. If you choose to wash your sleeping bag by hand, soak the sleeping bag in warm water and detergent for about 15 minutes and then scrub it softly until the detergent and the soap bubbles have been washed away.

The last step is to fold your sleeping bag and then put it away in a large and air-permeable storage bag and keep it fluffy. Don’t put it into the original compression bag. If it is in the compression bag for a long time, it won’t be so fluffy.

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Article Source:http://www.outdoorwikis.com/how-to-clean-the-sleeping-bag/

Do it yourself Pickup truck Mattress Tent

Owning your own van bed furniture tent lets you cut back time searching for a traditionally offered or dry component of flour when camping out. Producing your personal van mattress tent also simply leaves you less to weight on the rear to the van for your adventures, helping you save time and probably anxiety. With a few items, you may currently have been accessible. You'll have the capacity to convert your bed of your own pickup truck into a vehicle bed furniture tent in under a half-hour.

Choose a level place of floor and safely park your car your pickup truck. Unload your items briefly from your pickup truck. Shut the tail gate if you accomplish.

Seize both tent poles and twisty ties and climb up into the back in your truck. Placed one particular tent pole collectively, end-to-conclusion.

Stay in one spot on the back of your pickup truck your bed facing the leading in the van. Position the straightened pole into a corner that may be opposite and diagonal from where you stand. Bend the pole around type and place and arc the other stop to the part that you stand so the pole is driving versus the two sides in the pickup truck bed.

Do this again with another pole putting it within the complete opposite sides? This may type an "By" within the shape of an arc previously mentioned your van bed. Twisty-fasten both poles with each other in the middle of the "By" to keep them from sliding close to.

Position the 10-feet by the 8-foot tarp within the complete framework. Delicately pulled either side down until finally it the tarp overlaps the away from the truck and tailgate. Straps every single corner in the tarp to the under the part framework of the pickup truck with a bungee power cord in each area.

Use Cutting Tools Safely

When using cutting tools it’s all too easy for accidents to happen. Make sure you think ahead and carefully consider whether what you’re doing is safe. Here are a few tips from bitter experience.

Always think about where the sharp bit will end up if you slip, the wood splits quicker than you’d expected or whatever.

Always keep a safe distance from other people. I’m constantly amazed by people who walk within inches of someone who’s quietly sitting and carving, expecting them to notice and not stick them with the knife! I’m also constantly amazed at the reverse – people who cheerily come and set up a foot away from you while they’re swinging an axe or using a knife. This makes me very nervous. I’d urge you to get nervous about this too!

For all cutting tools a strong well-fitting sheath is a must. Leaving tools unsheathed or even stuck in a chopping block unattended is inviting an accident. Whenever not in use the blade should be sheathed. A great example of why this is important: last summer I was shaping a bow. I put the drawknife down on the table – unsheathed of course “as I was only putting it down for a second” (sound familiar?!). Then I knocked over a cup of coffee, instinctively went to grab it and ran my thumb along the unsheathed, and very sharp, drawknife blade. OUCH!
In my experience the moment you think “this is a bit of a stupid thing to do” is most often a second or two before you do something that hurts. You’ve been warned…

Have fun and if you’re in doubt find someone who knows what their doing and get some instruction.

http://www.outdoorwikis.com/use-cutting-tools-safely/

Ten Steps to Fire Lighting Without Failure

Fire lighting is like everything else in bushcraft – it takes time to get it right. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on the way to failure-free fire lighting.

Practice Your Fire Lighting. This can’t be stressed enough. Like so many other skills used in bushcraft, practice makes perfect. To confidently start fires in all conditions you need to practice in all conditions. Like some guy once said “If it ain’t raining it ain’t training”.

Use the right tool for the job. If you’re fire lighting for some bushcraft practice then use that hand drill you’ve only tried once before. When you really need a fire increase the odds of success by using firelighting methods you’re used to and know will work. Keep it simple. Like some other guy once said “don’t turn up to a gun fight with a knife”.

When you practice your fire lighting split the task down into the smallest steps and be confident with each one. From nothing to ignition. From ignition source to tinder to flame. From flame to fire.

Preparation. This is the second thing that can’t be stressed enough and just like the first time, applies across the board in bushcraft. Never take shortcuts when you really need that fire or you’ll pay for it later. Time and time again I’ve seen experienced people (including myself I must add) take short cuts and end up with a smouldering pile of wood, not a fire. At best it takes more effort to light your fire. At worst you die of hypothermia.

Fuel selection. Don’t pick up any old crappy wood that happens to be nearby. The ideal is dry, standing, dead wood. If you can’t find this then compromise or improvise but don’t start off this way. Don’t forget that dry, dead wood can be collected anytime, not just when you need to light a fire.

Tinder selection. Again, tinder can and should be collected whenever you get the chance, not just when you’re in firelighting mode. Collect and dry it out in a pocket or shelter before use.

It takes some discipline to put in the time and do it properly but that’s life. If you want to take your bushcraft to the next level this is part of the journey.
Try the classic fire lighting exercise – make a one match fire and repeat. Once you get good at this try splitting the match in half and try again.

Don’t forget the preparation or the practice!

If you’re in a situation where fire lighting is really important for morale know your limits and when to not even try. If you have the choice leave the fire until conditions are better.

http://www.outdoorwikis.com/ten-steps-fire-lighting-without-failure/