Oh great Phil, this thread already cost me $160 in the first 2 minutes for 2 bug shirts, Your going to cost us all a lot of money, just like those other two expensive threads.

denalipilot wrote:...You might even want to check out "the Original Bugshirt"

Zzz wrote:... +1 this is critical for maintaining sanity. I got 100% DEET on my lip and it felt funny for a few hours.

akavidflyer wrote:...Phil get the bug shirts, you wont go wrong with them, especially for some of the fly out fishing places!

Ordering. Thanks!

blackrock wrote:Oh great Phil, this thread already cost me $160 in the first 2 minutes for 2 bug shirts, Your going to cost us all a lot of money, just like those other two expensive threads.

LMAO!

Man look at all that fancy gear! I like what you got going with all your rigging. Mike is right this is going to cost us!

Great thread

x3 on getting ready to order stuff as we talk about it.

I also have a STRONG vote to include bug shirts. I know you're already ordering Phil, but for any others that are thinking about spending some time outdoors in Alaska in the spring/summer/fall, they're wonderful.

Barnstormer: What/which plane are you collecting this stuff for? Curious Chris

Hi Phil,
Interesting (and potentially costly) thread. Can you elaborate on your winch system?

Trimtab wrote:Barnstormer: What/which plane are you collecting this stuff for? Curious Chris

The SQ2.

dontlookdown wrote:Hi Phil,
Interesting (and potentially costly) thread. Can you elaborate on your winch system?

After getting stuck on a sand island, and having stuff I needed to extricate myself air dropped, I decided I needed to carry equipment so I could self rescue. A come-a-long is too big, cumbersome and heavy to keep in the plane so I searched around the web and found a rig called a Hitchmaster made by a guy in Australia. Small, lightweight, fit the bill, I just needed to add rope. I was having a conversation with Ravi (aka Hammer) one day and told him about the Hitchmaster. He set about coming up with a far superior rig (less friction, smaller rope-much smaller, and much greater lifting/pulling capacity). Here is what he came up with. (note: a single anchor point can be used for the blue and gray lines but that doubles the force on the anchor.)

Hammer calls this “the 1,600 pound micro-pulley system”, I call it the Ravi Winch in homage to his genius.

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Great set of kits Phil. Thank you for posting.

There is a lot of controversy on ice screw placement. I try to keep up on them, as I regularly ice climb each winter. Here are the links to research articles that show positive angle (i.e. using the threads, rather than the screw) placement is slightly stronger:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4315

http://hmga.gr/storehouse/word-acrobat/ ... everly.pdf
(this 2nd article is much better IMHO, pg 7 "Orientation").

Another: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics- ... ennett.pdf

I've repelled countless times off of Abalakov (v-thread) anchors. Petzl makes a V-thread tool ( http://www.mountaingear.com/webstore/Ge ... 25800P.htm ) but you can make your own out of a bent coat hangar using a file to sharpen a point on the hook end.

Suggestion: Last year I bought one of these large-capacity bike pumps especially made for fat tire bikes. I've used it to pump up my 35" Bushwheels from 4 psi to 9psi in just a few minutes. MUCH better and far more efficient than a regular bike tire pump. Highly recommended.

Topeak JoeBlow Fat Floor Pump

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q3I ... 15&sr=8-15

Is anyone planing a trip to Alaska this year? Would love some advise on flying my Husky in June.

The definitive reference for anchors (and mountaineering in general) is this book:

https://www.rei.com/product/811865/mountaineering-the-freedom-of-the-hills-8th-edition

Ice screws are nice - but will only do you good if you are parked over frozen "water" ice. You will not encounter that regularly on glaciated terrain. The above book will teach you about teh construction of deadmen and bollard anchors. A deadman anchor in consolidated snow would be very very strong. You might consider a couple or 3 pickets but they will need to be rigged carefully for the expected direction of pull.

https://www.rei.com/product/881081/msr-snow-picket

Thanks for the winch explanation Phil. The photo illustrates the concept well.

RE Bear Fence:
At the ranch in New Mexico, we have a difficult time using electric fence; the charge doesn't carry well in the sandy-loam soil conditions. I have the same concerns for the plane there with cattle, bear and elk in the area. Although it works to hold our horses (they respect it because of how well it works in Texas in clay soil), I can hold it with my hand and the sensation is mild enough that my fingers merely twitch. This makes me wonder how well it could work to stop bear, etc. Does it depend on joule output?

DeltaRomeo wrote:RE Bear Fence:
At the ranch in New Mexico, we have a difficult time using electric fence; the charge doesn't carry well in the sandy-loam soil conditions. I have the same concerns for the plane there with cattle, bear and elk in the area. Although it works to hold our horses (they respect it because of how well it works in Texas in clay soil), I can hold it with my hand and the sensation is mild enough that my fingers merely twitch. This makes me wonder how well it could work to stop bear, etc. Does it depend on joule output?

I'm sure MTV can speak to this with some authority, but based on my research one needs a minimum of .7 J to keep a bear at bay. From what I can tell an energizer capable of that output would need a car/airplane battery (an EarthX might be great here) as a power source. The one I have is A LOT weaker then that in order to come in at an acceptable weight, and the prevailing feeling is that since a bear is unlikely to have ever experienced an electric shock before, that putting its nose on, or biting at, the wire would be enough to deter it, assuming I've done my job of not giving it any "incentive" to come into my camp/airplane.

If not and I get eaten, well everyone will know to use something stronger.

Keeping horses/cattle away I'm counting on the fact that both have had experiences with electric fences and that neither can tell if mine is even real.

I live in an arid climate too (on the electric fence subject). If you want it to work to its very best, the solution is pretty simple. Run two parrellel wires about 6 inches apart with the "hot" wire connected to the top one and the ground wire connected to the bottom one. Guaranteed results to any man or beast that completes the circuit.

Oh, keep it up I'm enjoying this thread, lots of good ideas here.
Mike

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Don't know much about bears and electric fences, but Newfies are close . We had 3 "escape artist" Newfies, so instead of having to respond to various calls that the dogs had gotten out again, I decided to install an electric fence around their dog run. They all watched with great interest as I installed insulators on the fence posts and strung the wires--very curious dogs.

Then here was the proof that in spite of their sort of dopey expressions, they are very, very smart. After I put power to the fence, the "leader" pup, the one who always led the escapes, started at one end, and tested each segment with his nose. He would let out a little yelp, then go on to the next segment, wash, rinse, repeat. At first I thought, "You dummy!" But then I realized that he was just making sure that all segments were hot, because if one was cold, that was the escape route. Of course, he didn't understand that the whole thing was either hot or cold. After his testing, he went over to where the other two dogs (his Momma and his brother) and somehow "told" them. We had no more escapes.

At first, when the battery ran down, I replaced it. But the next time it ran down, I just left it. I took the chance that they'd been convinced, and I was right. As I said, no more escapes.

How all that translates to keeping out bears, I haven't any idea.

Cary

Cary wrote:Don't know much about bears and electric fences, but Newfies are close

We're talking about dogs, right?

Don't ask - it's a Canadian inside joke!