Isobutane

(1) Methylpropane or 2-methylpropane. That's what some people call it anyway. You can call it Fred if you like. There are those who will think you're clever.

So hey, this stuff is an isomer (chemical variant) of CH₄H₁₀ that's found in natural gas. No — the natural gas that comes out of the ground, not that other kind that you make at home.

Isobutane as we're talking about it is used as a propellant in aerosol sprays such as hair spray and cooking sprays. It also replaced Freon in refrigeration systems. True. Get a hot stove burner and then shoot flammable gas all over the stove, or gas your hair while smoking or even being in the general vicinity of a spark (FIREBALL!!!). Replace Freon, a fire-suppressing chemical with flammable gas. (GREAT idea!!! Let's do it NOW!!!)

And, of course, this stuff is also sold in pressurized canisters as fuel for backpacking and camping stoves. (Almost makes you want to yawn, right?)

(2) A fuel used in canister stoves. An isomer of butane with a lower boiling point that provides an almost constant level of pressure even if a canister is nearly empty.

(3) A fuel used in canister stoves. (Heard this one before?)

It is an isomer of butane (The simplest alkane with a tertiary carbon!) with a lower boiling point than butane's, which provides a more constant level of pressure even if a canister is nearly empty.

Isobutane is also used as a more environmentally-benign refrigerant than chlorofluorocarbons or hydrofluorocarbons, which eat ozone, and as a propellant for the products inside aerosol cans, such as hair spray.

So there you are... You already have the hair spray, and if you have a comb too, and a bear grabs you by the leg, you can bargain your way out by offering an impromptu perm job. Maybe. If the bear isn't that hungry. And doesn't really have time to properly kill you. And you can run really fast when it finds out that its new 'do will only stay put for around sixteen minutes, max, because it just doesn't hold on greasy fur, and tastes only half as good as bug poison when you try to lick yourself clean.

Example: "Ike sold isobutane down by the icy shore. And burned it too to make soup and stew."

 

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Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Never touch the stuff. My hair's good as-is.

 

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

Hazard Tree

Image stolen from the National Park Service.

 

1) A tree or limb that is either dead, or has some structural fault, that is hanging over, or leaning toward a trail or sites where people congregate.

2) What a widowmaker used to be, before it went to work for the government.

Formerly untamed, wild-haired, restless, and unpredictable, it might have killed randomly, raining death from on high, but no longer.

Now it stands upright, in place, a shamed tree, wearing a sign, surrounded by yellow caution tape, waiting. Its only goal in life has become, as with all government employees, simply to live long enough to retire.

Any mishaps (let alone unfortunate deaths) that it may cause will ruin its chances. Will, in fact, result in its condemnation, followed shortly by the arrival of a work crew bearing chain saws and towing a chipper on wheels, and they will reduce it to flakes of nothingness known as beauty bark which will then be spread anonymously across an "interpretive trail", to be endlessly tramped on by clueless boofers.

 

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Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Still sniffing hamsters. It's fun!

 

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

Ground Cover

(1) Plants.

(2) Boring plants.

(3) Boring plants whose leaves and stems hide the ground, so it isn't even more boring.

(4) Usually plants, boring or otherwise, grown to keep the soil from eroding. In other words, plants who are willing to take a bullet for the sake of dirt. Gotta respect that. Most of these plants are low-lying, inconspicuous things. Maybe grasses and some ferns, sure, but also low shrubs and so on, like juniper, ivy, heather. The area covered by the living, above-ground parts of plants. And then leaf litter, tree bits, mulch, and chopped bark too — some of that hardy macho-type stuff. All this keeps the land around your trails looking good.

(5) You. Stretched out, unconscious, snoring.

 

"No," said Sally. "Sleeping until noon does not qualify you as ground cover. Unless we mulch you. Now get up and hike."

 

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Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? So guess what I'm like. Just try.

 

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

Full-Grain Leather

Critter skin without the hair.

This kind of leather also may be referred to as "full top grain".

It may be the full thickness of the original hide or only the top or outer side, but don't fear, it has been carefully de-fuzzed before processing.

Blemishes? OK, you may get some of those.

The original grain surface of the skin? Yep, you get that also.

Hair? No. No hair.

Surface debris? No. None of that either. No surface debris.

Full-grain leather used to be common in boots, but these days even boots aren't that common, so hey.

Likely you won't see any residual tattoos either, but if you do, you get to carry around that warm, fully authentic feeling, that knowledge that something with a heart and soul has died for your feet.

Full-grain leather then is the stuff that has a smooth finish, unlike "rough-out", suede, or "nubuck" types of leather.

So full-grain leather will therefore show scuffs and cuts, needs at least a minimal amount of care, and can take a polishing, if you're that sort of person, and it is exactly that sort of leather that works this way, though not all full-grain leather can handle polish.

Some is oil tanned (too greasy).

Some, especially the softer stuff as used in gloves, wouldn't relate well to polish either.

Leather is tanned in various ways, and some versions really only need to be wiped clean, brushed, and buffed a bit to keep them looking fine, without polish.

If given the slightest chance though, leather does absorb water (from the outside), sweat (from the inside), and takes forever to dry once any of that happens. And fungus just loves it, does fungus.

So while leather is tough and durable, even the best leather degrades in time. No matter what you do it will get old and brittle and crumbly and no longer be good for anything, just as you will.

Have a nice day. While you still can.

 

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Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@nullabigmail.com
Me? Call me Scuffy, mate! Arrrr!

 

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