(1) A German word that ecologists apply to small organisms found on the surfaces of aquatic vegetation in freshwater habitats.
As if we needed a word for that, but aufwuchs is probably as good as any.
At least they don't bark all night.
(2) Glop.
(3) Slimy buildup.
(4) Algae, cyanobacteria, microbes, creepoids, tiny wiggly nameless swallowable things that gloop and munge around on aquatic plants and wet rocks.
(5) A phenomenon also known as "periphyton".
(6) The original German unimaginatively translates as "surface growth" or "overgrowth". But it's all just scum in the yuckpot.
(7) Anything you eat that subsequently makes you barfulent.
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? I never touch the stuff myself.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction definitions: outdoor terms fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals
(1) A sleeping pad made by Therm-a-Rest, now sold under the name "Original Z Lite Sleeping Pad".
It is made of closed cell polyethylene foam, and is reasonably lightweight (14oz/410g).
It folds into a sort of long whippy brick, which makes it easy to pack, or to strap on the outside of one's pack, by some accounts, or results in an awkward accordion of non-compliant plastic foam that has one and only one shape.
Being closed cell foam, this pad cannot accidentally puncture and deflate on you, but then again you can't purposely deflate it and store it more compactly. And if you are a side sleeper, well good luck with that because there really isn't that much cushioning, being only .75 in/2 cm thick.
The R-value, a measure of how well it insulates, is 1.7, which is not a lot, but probably enough most of the time if you sleep on your back and have a decent layer of sleeping bag under you. Since the pad is 72"/183 cm long, there is enough of it to fold into a double thickness and still have your torso taken care of, using your pack or whatnot under your legs, and spare clothing under your head.
(2) Ze rest is what you get if you sleep on ze plastique sheet crinkled like ze corrugated egg crate. Otherwise, and speaking frankly now, this is yet another closed cell sleeping pad, except that this one has a unique surface, and is designed to fold into a long, narrow (but light) brick instead of rolling up.
OK. Sweet dreams then.
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Still asleep at the wheedle.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction definitions: outdoor terms fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals
A "blaze" is a mark, originally a light-colored splotch of fur on the face of a horse or a cow, and such-like critters.
From way back when, the mostest-oldest version of this word meant "to shine, to flash, to burn", which kind of fits. Doesn't it?
Anyway, from from the 1660s on, American English adapted "blaze" to also mean (aside from fur spots, and references to fire) marks cut on tree trunks to show the way. A "blaze" in this sense is mostly used today to apply to the route of the Appalachian Trail in the eastern U.S., where the route is often marked by swatches of bright paint.
So anyway, blazes show the way.
Unless you get tired of walking, when you might choose to catch a ride and then pretend that the yellow lines whizzing by on the highway are also blazes, which they are, sort of, though generally you can sleep through that movie. "Yellow blaze" is a hiker in-joke about trail markers painted on the highway, because you can tell yourself that the yellow-blazed road is a route that you are still conscientiously traveling down.
"Yellow-blazing" then is what a long-distance hiker does by taking to the road instead of sticking to the trail. Catching a car ride around some portion of the trail and picking up the hike at a different point on the trail after watching all the yellow stripes go by. Hitch-hiking or driving somewhere to cut off part of a longer hike. Can be considered cheating, probably mostly by people who keep saying "Hike Your Own Hike". As long as you do it their way.
Whether yellow-blazing is legitimate or not is up to the person doing it, so mind your own business already.
Example: "Seeing the yellow-blazer at the wedding reception seemed odd. She should have been out hiking. Maybe she got dropped off here by accident, or just showed up for the free food."
(Note: Today's term has nothing to do with The Flaming Urine Phenomenon. In fact, we've never even heard of that one, so forget about it right now.)
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Still have never even heard of flaming urine.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction definitions: outdoor terms fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals
Gasification is a process that converts wood into gases and then burns them at very high temperatures.
The process combusts the wood smoke to a point in a way such that the outputs are only heat and ash.
The process is extremely efficient and gets the most energy out of wood while creating no smoke.
Wood gasification turns wood into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by reacting it at high temperatures with a minimal amount of oxygen.
Without oxygen, the wood doesn't burn but transforms into gas, which then burns.
(2) A simple but clever type of wood-burning stove in which the fuel burns from the top down, so that the heat of the flame generates smoke, which then rises into the flame and is cleanly consumed.
Such a stove can be made simply enough to serve as a lightweight and nearly foolproof backpacking stove.
(3) A stove that burns fumes from wood that's been eating the wrong stuff.
(4) A mythical device created to burn naturally-occurring but elusive gas emanating from forests.
That was based on the "swamp gas stove", which burns naturally-occurring gas emanating from swamps. (Also mythical.)
This in turn was derived from the "spirit burner" a device used by third degree initiates into the secret society of transcendental esoteric ectoplasmic spiritualist chemists, who worked exclusively in the dark, behind heavy, locked, oaken doors draped with thick, sound-deadening curtains. (Also mythical, and so on.)
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Not quite acceptable in polite company any more.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction definitions: outdoor terms fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals
(1) People making the trail better for hikers — a tradition of charity unto others. Sometimes people leave cold drinks and snacks at trail crossing or they'll pick up hikers on the road and take them home for a day or two of rest, food, laundry, and resupply.
(2) That which surrounds a yogi.
(3) Unexpected goodness falling on the heads of thru-hikers, unbidden. Can include being invited home for dinner, being given clothing, shelter, a warm place to shower, a ride, or might be the discovery of a full stash of water, or more, deliberately left trailside for hikers.
(4) Sex in the woods, preferably with someone smart, fun, good looking, and cleaner than you are.
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Not magic yet. Clean though.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction definitions: outdoor terms fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals
