Changing a flat

For a step by step guide on how to change a flat tire on your vehicle, check your vehicle's owner's manual or consult the manufacturer. The following hints will earn you style points.

Before you set out on a voyage, you should make sure you actually have a spare tire with air in it, a jack, jack handle, and an appropriate wrench. Depending on your roadtrip, you may want to upgrade from a "donut" to a full size spare. Consider TireRack.com. When you notice a problem with your vehicle, maintain a firm grip on the steering wheel. As soon as traffic will allow, you want to pull completely off the road and as far to the right as possible. Use slow, gentle control inputs - attempting to swerve or brake suddenly is not recommended if indeed a tire is flat. If you are confronted with a narrow shoulder, heavy traffic, barriers on the right side which prevent easy access to your tire, or other hazards which may put you in danger while changing the tire, DO NOT change the tire. Instead, call for help! Far better to wait for help and possibly spend a little money than to become roadkill. Make sure your car in on level ground. Do not attempt to change your tire when the car is on a hill. Place a rock or other object against the tire diagonally opposite from the tire to be changed, so as to prevent the car from rolling. The car will tend to roll towards the end which is not being jacked. Remember, on most vehicles, the emergency brake only acts on the rear wheels. You will also want to put manual transmission cars in gear... with the engine turned off. In winter, before you do anything else, bundle up - including hat and gloves. If it's raining, put on your rain gear. Smart, not macho. Work gloves are always a good bet. Loosen the lug nuts before you jack up the wheel. If you try to do it in mid air, not only will the wheel tend to spin instead of the nut, but you risk knocking the car off the jack. You will forget to do this, guaranteed. Likewise, the final tightening of the nuts should be done once the vehicle has been lowered. A liberal dose of WD-40, allowed to sink in for a few minutes will make reluctant lugnuts compliant. Put the lug nuts in a container... such as the hubcap, your pocket... or they will disappear. Tighten lug nuts in a "star" pattern, not a circle, so as to seat the wheel evenly against the hub. Time yourself. NASCAR has some openings.

Making a campfire

Before making a fire, make sure that you are aware of the current wildfire danger and that there are NO fire restrictions in place for your camping location. When creating a fire, make sure it is contained in a pit. To create your pit, dig down to a hard surface (3-6 inches) and surround your pit with rocks. Gather ONLY fallen wood, so as to not damage the local environment. DO NOT cut down trees, break branches, etc. Dry, dead wood is the ideal, but even damp wood will catch when sufficient tinder is available. The principle in starting a fire is that you can't light a log on fire with a match. Sure, you can use newspaper, or even gasoline, but that's unsportsmanlike. For a good "one match" fire, you want to find tinder and kindling. Tinder is any fine, fibrous, flammable substance. Extra-small tinder is required if you're using a spark or friction method to start a fire. Belly-button lint is a good source. If no one in your party is blessed with a navel of the appropriate depth, you must seek out other sources of lint and similar material. If you can find a mouse or bird nest, it will often contain good small tinder. If you are using a match, you can get away with larger tinder. Birch bark, dry pine needles, tiny twigs, or minuscule shavings of wood make good larger tinder. Or, yeah, you could use newspaper. Kindling will consist of increasingly larger twigs and branches, from coffee-stirrer size up to the diameter of your thumb or slightly larger. Arrange the kindling in a teepee or log-cabin structure around a good pile of tinder, to allow plenty of air into the pile. Light the tinder with your match or other source. The tinder should burn rapidly, and catch the small kindling on fire. The small kindling should catch the larger kindling. Once the largest (thumb-sized and up) kindling is burning well, only then shall you add a log. Don't just dump the biggest log you can find on top of the fire - start with something small, and prop it up so it is suspended in the flame. Be sure your fire stays contained within your pit as you do not want to be responsible for starting a forest fire. Smokey will send you a bill, and tanker drops ain't cheap. Before leaving your campsite, make sure the fire is "cold out"! This means you must soak the fire with water and/or mix with dirt and stir until you can feel through the ashes with your bare hand.

How to Use a Map

MAP CONTENTS Scale:The scale is device on a map needed because to fit details from the real world onto a paper sized, hand held map. Typical scales look something like this: There are three different ways to get the same information off of this scale: 1:2,535,000 This is a "direct equivalence." Think of it like this: 1 inch on the map equals 2,535,000 inches in the real world. For instance, if you take your map and "blow it up" (enlarge it) on a photo copy machine by a factor of 2,535,000, you will have "created" a real world sized map (probably useless as it is no smaller or larger than the planet itself). Visual Scale Bar The image bar is probably the simplest way to gain information from the scale. It shows you the specific length on the map and its equivalence to a real world distance. The scale bar contains two bars, one for kilometers, especially useful in Canada and Mexico and the other in miles. A useful way to utilize the scale bar is to cut a small piece of paper to size and use that on your map. For instance, on the above bar, you could trip some paper until one of its edges is equivalent to the length of 20 miles. You can then use that piece of paper on your actual map to determine real distances. One inch = The straight forward way of looking at scale tells you that a map inch is equal to in this case 40 miles in the real world. Legend: The legend is the part of the map which explains all the little symbols. All maps' legend symbols are different, but most are "run of the mill," common sense type symbols. In particular, publishers tend to stick with the same symbols on all maps they produce, so it may be helpful and easy to purchase all your maps from one publisher to help mitigate any chances of confusion. Knowing the details of your legend will be extremely helpful when you are trying to find those hidden places. Index: The index is specifically helpful when you are trying to find a single location on map. If multiple states are contained on one map, the index is normally broken into states and then contains city listings in alphabetical order. Indexes may also contain parks, attractions, natural features, skiing locations and much much more depending on the detail on your map. Make sure to check out the index as it can be a useful tool when you are trying to identify specific target locations on your map. Driving Distances: Some maps contain aids to assist you in determining driving times and distances. These tools usually come in the following two forms Dot Maps Some maps contain driving distance "dot" maps. These miniature versions connect locations on the map with straight lines, telling both the driving time and distance between these two locations. These distances and times are determined using the most direct route between the two locations (Interstate, Primary Highway, etc.). It should be noted that the listed times are determined using the posted speed limits. Grids This common tool also helps determine driving distances in times. Some maps contain time grids while others contain distance grids. To use these grids, find your starting location on the vertical bar and then draw across the grid in the horizontal direction to the location underneath your destination on the horizontal bar. The number in that specific box is the distance on direct roads between your two locations. Dot maps may also display travel times. HELPFUL TIPS Make sure to check the date when your map was published. Roads are in a constant state of changing as construction is inescapable. You want to make sure you have most up to date map available, as that will make your trip all the much easier and pleasant. It is safe to assume that a map that is 3 years or older has mistakes and may even be completely obsolete. Make sure all your maps are current. Most maps list distances on the map as miles in the United States and as kilometers in other countries. It is important to know that 1 mile is equal to 1.6 kilometers in case you need to perform conversions.

Navigating with the Sun

The Sun ALWAYS rises in the east and sets in the west. Let me repeat that again, no matter where you are in the world, the Sun ALWAYS rises in the east and sets in the west. When standing on the ground the sun always moves in a CLOCKWISE direction, from east to south to west. The sun is NEVER in the north part of the sky. NAVIGATION - A step by step guide Determine the time If you have a watch, this should be real easy to do, just look at your watch. This step gets a little more complicated if you don't have a watch. You will have to determine the time from the sun. There is no "easy" way to do so. Instead, use the following hints and questions to help you out. Remember though, this is NOT an exact science, and your goal to figure out the correct "range" of time. Approximately how long has it been since you woke up? When was your last meal? What was it? What season is it? How long are the days normally? Classification Once you have determined the time of day, then you can classify it into one of the following ranges: Morning: The sun can be found in the east after rising in the east. Midday: The sun can be found in the south. Evening: The sun can be found in the west and will ultimately set in the west. Now you know the relative direction of the sun you can figure a lot of stuff out. The sun's location is only approximate, however, it can still be helpful in many ways, especially when determining your relative direction of travel. For instance, if you turn onto a road and are unsure if you are headed north or south, but you know it is noon and the sun is blazing right into your windshield, you now know you are going south! It should be noted that the moon does NOT follow these type of strict rules and so is therefore, not as useful for navigational purposes. Here's a site that explains the weirdness of the moon, for those who may care.