The WildeBeat

Thu, Sep 11, 2008

Primal Grooming

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program presents primitive skills for personal grooming. This is the fourth in a series featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. Other shows in this series are edition 141, First Skills, the edition 146, Starting with Fire, and edition 150, Ancient Firemaking.

Using primitive tools and natural materials, naturalist Sue Labiste demonstrates how to soap up, perform dental hygiene, and give yourself a manicure.

The Primitive Ways website has many articles on primitive health care and grooming. Another source of information on primitive skills is the Society of Primitive Technologies.

• Show number 155 [MP3 format; length 9:52; 2,371,564 bytes]
• Show number 155, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 9:52; 9,483,147 bytes]
• Show number 155 script
• Photo Album of demonstration

Thu, Sep 04, 2008

Sharing Wilderness

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program presents the Leave No Trace principle of Be Considerate of Other Visitors. This is the fourth and final edition in a series featuring the Leave No Trace traveling trainers.

We hear J.D. and Emily in several situations where someone didn't consider this seventh principle of Leave No Trace. J.D. and Emily summit a peak, encounter a cyclist on the trail, and try to get some sleep in a campsite.

Emily and J.D., along with the other Leave No Trace traveling trainers, maintain the Traveling Trainers Blog.

The music from the party in the adjacent campsite is Why don't you tell me by the band One Day Remains, available from the PodSafe Music Network.

• Show number 154 [MP3 format; length 9:43; 2,336,246 bytes]
• Show number 154, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 10:12; 9,804,557 bytes]
• Show number 154 script

Thu, Aug 28, 2008

Getting Oriented, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program is part two of a look at the sport of orienteering. You'll win this race by getting lost the least often, because it's all about your navigation skills. Participating in orienteering events can significantly improve your backcountry navigation skills. (Part one is here.)

Steve attends an orienteering meet organized by the Bay Area Orienteering Club at California's China Camp State Park. Long-time club member Terri Ferrah explains the e-punch system used to track progress on an orienteering course. Tyler Atherton and his fellow Boy Scouts take off on a beginner (white-level) course. We hear from Mikkel Conradi, who designed the course and the map using O-CAD software. Erin Majors from Roseville, California, and Dana Koontz from Larkspur, California, talk about their experiences orienteering. Gary Kraght, a past president of the United States Orienteering Federation, sums up orienteering's wide appeal.

If you really want to master map and compass navigation in the wilderness, then orienteering is one of the best ways to learn. You can find a local club through the United States Orienteering Federation.

WildeBeat members can download a compete recording of Scott's 12-minute beginner's clinic from our WildeBeat Insider web pages.

• Edition number 153 [MP3 format; length 10:33; 2,385,571 bytes]
• Combined edition numbers 152 & 153, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 20:25; 19,609,458 bytes]
• Transcript of edition 153
• Transcript of combined editions 152 & 153 combined script
• Photo album

Wed, Aug 27, 2008

Announcement: Renewed Relationship for Gear Reviews

Posted at 21:00

/blog/gear [link ]

The WildeBeat and BackpackGearTest (BGT) are redefining and strengthening our relationship in order to provide you more impartial gear reviews. This new relationship gives BGT more editorial control over our gear review editions.

Until now, the WildeBeat selected topics and BGT reviews for each gear review edition, grouping reviews of similar products. In future gear review editions, we'll present reviews of an assortment of products selected by BGT's moderators. The moderators will base these choices on the quality of the reviewers' testing and reporting, not necessarily on the qualities of the product.

Since the the WildeBeat was launched in 2005, gear reviews have been an important category of our programs. Steve wanted to provide listeners with impartial reviews. Independent from sponsors and advertisers, BGT could provide that impartiality, and could also benefit from the exposure the WildeBeat provides. So an understanding was arrived at that allowed Steve to regularly interview BGT testers. Steve's goal was to provide a wide range of opinions on a wide range of products.

BGT was created by Utah hiker Jerry Goller. Goller, according to About BackpackGearTest, "saw a need for impartial reviews in a world where most people got their information from publications that accepted money from the same manufacturers whose gear they were testing." He started a Yahoo group of hikers and backpackers willing to test and review gear. After successfully recruiting skilled reviewers and diverse manufacturers interested in receiving independent feedback about their products, the independent Web site, BackpackGearTest.org, was launched in August of 2002.

We plan to present the first of our new gear review editions at the end of September, with two shows each season. The new shows will typically feature fewer products that will be reviewed in more detail.

If you want to contribute gear reviews to the WildeBeat, you can do so by joining BGT. BGT is looking for qualified testers. To get qualified, you start out by writing reviews of gear you already own. After that, you could be offered free gear to review. Read: how to become a tester to find out more.

Thu, Aug 21, 2008

Getting Oriented, part 1

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program is part one of a look at the sport of orienteering. You'll win this race by getting lost the least often, because it's all about your navigation skills. Participating in orienteering events can significantly improve your backcountry navigation skills.

Steve attends an orienteering meet organized by the Bay Area Orienteering Club at California's China Camp State Park. Gary Kraght, the vice president for club services of the United States Orienteering Federation explains what orienteering is, and its history. Scott Aster presents a beginner's clinic for first-time orienteers.

Next time, in part 2, we'll listen-in on the experience of orienteering.

WildeBeat members can download a compete recording of Scott's 12-minute beginner's clinic from our WildeBeat Insider web pages.

• Show number 152 [MP3 format; length 10:41; 2,566,756 bytes]
• Show number 152 script

Thu, Aug 14, 2008

Summer OR 2008

Posted at 09:00

/shows/gear [link ]

This gear program is a report on the 2008 Outdoor Retailer's Summer Market. What gear will BackpackGearTest be reviewing for next summer?

Volunteers Rick Allnutt, Christopher Nicolai, and Ken Bigelow report on the most interesting gear they hope to test for BackpackGearTest.ORG. They comment on products by: GoMotion, Ultimate Survival Technologies, Gerber, Bushnell, Sigg, Insect Shield, and the Therm-a-Rest division of Cascade Designs.

If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the volunteers at BGT can keep up with. By becoming a tester, you can help your fellow wilderness travelers find out what gear will work for them.

WildeBeat Members can download the entire reports from the BGT testers from our WildeBeat Insider web pages.

• Edition 151 [MP3 format; length 9:55; 2,384,412 bytes]
• Edition 151 transcript

Thu, Aug 07, 2008

Ancient Firemaking

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program presents advanced skills for making fire without modern tools. This is the third in a series of shows featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. (The first show is number 141, First Skills, and the second is show number 146, Starting with Fire.)

Naturalist Dino Labiste talks about the three methods prehistoric humans used to make fire. He demonstrates creating fire by friction using a hand drill. He talks about two other methods, fire by percussion, and fire by compression. He explains what would be the best of these techniques for you to use if you had no modern choices.

The Primitive Ways website has many articles on primitive fire skills. Another source of information on primitive skills is the Society of Primitive Technologies.

WildeBeat Members can download a recording of Dino Labiste's complete firemaking demonstration from our WildeBeat Insider web pages.

• Show number 150 [MP3 format; length 10:26; 2,506,773 bytes]
• Show number 150, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 12:06; 11,611,395 bytes]
• Show number 150 script
• Photo Album of firemaking demonstration

Thu, Jul 31, 2008

Waste Training

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program presents a training talk and demonstration on disposing of waste properly in the backcountry. This is the third in a series of editions featuring the Leave No Trace traveling trainers.

Steve recorded J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler giving their regular presentation of the third principle of Leave No Trace, Dispose of Waste Properly. This is an important skill that most people get, but fewer people seem to get right.

Emily and J.D., along with the other Leave No Trace traveling trainers, maintain the Traveling Trainers Blog.

• Show number 149 [MP3 format; length 9:51; 2,368,637 bytes]
• Show number 146, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 10:39; 10,237,548 bytes]
• Show number 149 script

Thu, Jul 24, 2008

Bagging Wild Sounds, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program is part two of a report on a trip to record nature sounds. You've got to be totally quiet; stand like a statue. And then, if you're in the right place at the right time, you'll capture your sound. (Part one is here.)

Our assistant producer Kate Taylor reports on her visit to the annual field recording workshop of the Nature Sounds Society. She tells her story with the help of:

• Alton Byrd, a nature sounds hobbyist from Berkeley, California.
• Martyn Stewart, a professional nature sounds recordist for the BBC.
• Chris Bell, a museum curator from Sydney, Australia.
• Hundreds of birds, amphibians, and a few domesticated mammals.
• Gina Farr, a multimedia producer from Marin Country, California.

You can get tips from Dan Dugan on recording nature sounds by listening to our edition number 90, Listening to Parks.

WildeBeat Members can download an extended interview with Martyn Stewart and additional extended wild sound recordings from WildeBeat Insider web pages.

• Show number 148 [MP3 format; length 10:33; 2,356,042 bytes]
• Combined show numbers 147 & 148, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 17:40; 16,966,708 bytes]
• Show number 148 script
• Show numbers 147 & 148 combined script
• Photo album

Thu, Jul 17, 2008

Bagging Wild Sounds, part 1

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program is part one of a report on a trip to record nature sounds. You've got to be totally quiet; stand like a statue. And then, if you're in the right place at the right time, you'll capture your sound.

Our assistant producer Kate Taylor reports on her visit to the annual field recording workshop of the Nature Sounds Society. She tells her story with the help of:

• Dan Dugan, technical advisor to the Nature Sounds Society.
• Gina Farr, a multimedia producer from Marin Country, California.
• Hundreds of birds, amphibians, and a few domesticated mammals.
• Chris Bell, a museum curator from Sydney, Australia.
• Martyn Stewart, a professional nature sounds recordist for the BBC.

Next week, in part two, we'll hear more nature sounds, and find out why it's important to our guests to record and preserve them.

You can get tips from Dan Dugan on recording nature sounds by listening to our edition number 90, Listening to Parks.

• Show number 147 [MP3 format; length 9:48; 2,356,947 bytes]
• Show number 147 script

Thu, Jul 10, 2008

Starting With Fire

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program presents the basic skill of fire building. This is the second in a series of shows featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. (The first show is number 141, First Skills.)

Naturalist Dino Labiste explains and demonstrates the fundamental skill of fire building. Our ancestors depended on fire as a basic survival tool as far back as a million years ago, and yet today, among many people it's becoming a lost art.

Ben Lawhon, the education director for the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics talks about minimum impact skills for making and using fires. The fifth Leave No Trace principle is Minimize Campfire Impacts.

The Primitive Ways website has many articles on primitive fire skills. Another source of information on primitive skills in the Society of Primitive Technologies.

• Show number 146 [MP3 format; length 9:55; 2,383,583 bytes]
• Show number 146, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 10:28; 10,057,426 bytes]
• Show number 146 script

Thu, Jul 03, 2008

Stealth Gear

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program explains the gear you can carry to tread lightly on your favorite wild places. This is the second in a series of presentations by the Leave No Trace traveling trainers.

J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler talk about the gear you can bring along to make it easier to Leave No Trace. They talk about shoes and shelter, bags and trowels, cameras and sketch pads, lights and blankets, cans and binoculars, and radios and headphones. All of this gear, and more, can help you leave the wild places you visit as good or better than you found them.

Specifically, Emily mentions Restop, WAG bags, and poop tubes. J.D. mentions bear cans, which we discussed in detail in our previous edition, Bear Cans Revisited.

We'll hear more from Emily Ressler and J.D. Tanner in a future edition. The series will continue several weeks from now when J.D and Emily explain more details about a specific Leave No Trace principle.

• Show number 145 [MP3 format; length 9:47; 2,352,439 bytes]
• Show number 145, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 9:47; 9,406,657 bytes]
• Show number 145 script

Thu, Jun 26, 2008

Bear Cans Revisited, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/wild_places [link ]

This wild places program is part two of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. (Part one is here.) Who makes these things, and how do we know they work?

Steve tells the story with the help of:

• Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.
• Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest.
• Allen DeForrest of Wild Ideas, manufacturer of the Bearikade.
• Tom Cohen of Ursack
• Jamie Hogan of Bear Vault.
• Josh Leavitt of Wilderness Solutions.

Harold Werner and Calder Reid are members of the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG), the standards-setting body for bear management in the major Sierra Nevada wilderness areas. Their group also performs the tests that lead to the approval of canisters for use in Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, and the Inyo National Forest. Several other jurisdictions also require canisters from the SIBBG approved list.

This edition was originally presented on August 31, 2006.

Photo credit: Calder Reid, Inyo National Forest

• Show number 144 [MP3 format; length 10:50; 2,603,437 bytes]
• Combined show numbers 143 & 144, exntended version [MP3 format; length 21:13; 10,189,501 bytes]
• Show number 143 script
• Combined show numbers 143 & 144 script

Tue, Jun 24, 2008

Introducing Kate Taylor

Posted at 16:10

/blog/news [link ]

We'd like to welcome Kate Taylor to the WildeBeat project as our new Assistant Producer. In addition to producing entire editions by herself, she'll also help Steve and Jean research and edit other stories in progress.

You can look forward to hearing Kate's voice and creative work in future editions of the show.

Thu, Jun 19, 2008

Bear Cans Revisited, part 1

Posted at 09:01

/shows/wild_places [link ]

This wild places program is part one of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. Why were they invented, who invented them, and how did that happen?

Steve tells the story with the help of:

• Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.
• Tori Seher, a wildlife biologist from Yosemite National Park.
• Richard Garcia, the president of Garcia Machine, manufacturer of the Backpacker's Cache.
• Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest.

Harold Werner, Calder Reid, and Tori Seher are members of the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG), the standards-setting body for bear management in the major Sierra Nevada wilderness areas.

Next week, we'll give you updates about how the industry grew from these beginnings, and the effect all of this has had on parks, forests, bears, and wilderness visitors. This edition was originally presented on August 24, 2006.

• Show number 143 [MP3 format; length 10:40; 2,561,641 bytes]
• Show number 143 script

Sat, Jun 14, 2008

Women of Color 4-Day Backpack

Posted at 11:00

/blog/outings [link ]

Chelsea Griffie wrote to tell us about an outing she's leading for the Balanced Rock Foundation. Chelsea is the program director for Bay Area Wilderness Training. Chelsea appeared in our editions 91 and 92, Bay Area Wilderness Training, part 1 and part 2.

Chelsea writes:

Announcing our Women of Color backpacking trip from the evening of July 16 through July 20. If you are a woman of color, please join us! This trip is a super fun way to recharge your batteries.

Event: Women of Color Backpacking Trip
"The only one in the country!"
What: Camping Trip
Host: Chelsea Griffie / the Balanced Rock Foundation
When: Wednesday, July 16 at 6:00pm
Where: Yosemite National Park

Official information for this trip, as well as the registration form is on the Backpack Trips page of the Balanced Rock Foundation.

Thu, Jun 12, 2008

Modern Rain gear

Posted at 09:00

/shows/gear [link ]

This gear program presents reviews of two rain jackets and a poncho. An important part of keeping warm is keeping dry, and the first part you want to protect is your torso.

Steve Nelson reviews the Antigravitygear Poncho Villa. Gail Staisil reviews the Outdoor Research Celestial Jacket. Jim Sabiston reviews the Integral Designs eVENT Cruiser Jacket.

If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the volunteers at BGT can keep up with. By becoming a tester, you can help your fellow wilderness travelers find out what gear will work for them.

• Show number 142 [MP3 format; length 9:57; 2,389,850 bytes]
• Show number 142, extended version [MP3 format; length 12:22; 5,939,060 bytes]
• Show number 142 script

Tue, Jun 10, 2008

Vox WildeBeat for June 10, 2008

Posted at 11:58

/vox [link ]

Listener Adam Fox called to report on his experiences as organizer of the West Coast Tracker Roundup, an event dedicated to learning and practicing primitive survival skills.

• Vox WildeBeat 16 [MP3 format; length 9:56; 2,387,564 bytes]

Thu, Jun 05, 2008

First Skills

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program introduces our series on primitive technologies. You always see cavemen portrayed as stupid and comical. But what do you suppose they knew that you don't?

We hear from Norm Kidder. He's the vice president of the Society of Primitive Technologies. He talks about the society's goal to re-learn, study, and teach stone age skills. Norm explains that using cutting edges and fire were the first technological skills developed by the earliest humans.

In addition to the Society of Primitive Technologies, another source of primitive skills education is the Northern California group, Primitive Ways.

We'll hear more from Norm Kidder in a future edition. The series will continue several weeks from now when we learn the specifics of several primitive skills.

• Show number 141 [MP3 format; length 11:04; 2,636,230 bytes]
• Show number 141 script

Thu, May 29, 2008

A Trace of Training

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program introduces the Leave No Trace traveling trainers. This couple spreads the word of Leave No Trace, but then they seem to leave a lasting impression.

The Leave no trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches skills to help you keep your parks and wilderness areas in their best possible condition. You can minimize your impacts on these place so that others can enjoy them more, and you can enjoy them in the future.

J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler are this year's senior traveling trainers for Leave No Trace. They'll spend the year touring the country, attending festivals, and presenting classes on Leave No Trace principles to all kinds of people, from grade school students to professional mountain guides.

We'll hear more from J.D and Emily in several future editions.

• Show number 140 [MP3 format; length 11:04; 2,661,110 bytes]
• Show number 140 script

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. (Details)