Archive for December, 2009

Safety for Outdoor Sports and Adventure Holidays in the UK

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Andy Burrows asked:

Now UK residents and overseas visitors can take advantage of the geographical, topographical, climatic and social variations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with peace of mind. For adventurers, these differences mean a vast range of outdoor activities. Tailored Adventure Holiday Insurance With everything from winter skiing in Scottish Highlands to surfing in the coastal areas of Wales, the UK offers the gamut of adventure sports and activities.

Land, air and water sports are extremely popular in the UK and enjoyed by a large number of organisations including private clubs and local groups as well as larger facilitators. These groups can help you in the pursuit of outdoor activities, with tailor-made trips to suit your needs.

Travel companies specialising in holidays based around outdoor and adventure sports are commonly found, making it easy for complete novices to try their hand at something new or for those already initiated to appreciate an entire vacation dedicated to their favourite pastime.

Among the activities you could expect to find available on a typical organized adventure holiday are mountaineering, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, abseiling, mountain biking and fell walking. Adventure holiday companies provide both equipment and the necessary knowledge and experience to make sure trips run smoothly and without incident.

Alongside those activities that are considered staples of the outdoor activity scene in the UK are some new additions. These new sports tend to attract a younger crowd and are often organised for social functions such as stag and hen parties as well as company get-togethers. Paint-balling is one of the most popular in this category with pursuits such as go-karting and bungee jumping also ranking highly.

Danger is an inherent aspect of many outdoor sports and activities. Insurance for Extreme Sports Enthusiasts While some people pursue adventure sports for this very reason, other participants do their best to minimise their exposure to any risks. Independent precautions should be taken, as should precautions by the outdoor sport company you are using.

Despite some of the tightest safety standards in the world, certain aspects of outdoor sports can cause accidents and individuals can be left injured and in need of medical attention. Whether pursuing an outdoor sport independently or under the expertise of a certified company, it’s a sensible course of action to arrange comprehensive insurance cover prior to beginning any sporting activity.

A good travel insurance policy will reimburse you for any expenses incurred for medical treatment as well as for the replacement of any lost or damaged pieces of equipment.

If you’ve previously dismissed taking out travel insurance on the basis that it is too expensive, we recommend you take a look at www.travel-insurance-discounts.com/adventure_travel_insurance.htm, where you’ll get a good idea of just how cheaply and easily you can protect yourself with complete coverage against incidents resulting from outdoor pursuits.

Alternatively, www.vayago.com offers similar policies with an emphasis on adventure holidaymakers. With policies offering as little as a day’s cover right up to year-long protection, you’ll see it makes good sense to provide yourself with this essential safety net.

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Adventure Travel Basics

Monday, December 14th, 2009
Dr John Anne asked:

 

Adventure Travel Basics will help you define your personal adventure travel style and it also offers suggestions about the types of trips that might fit your dream list. Following are tips for planning your vacation and packing for a trip and where to find companies that offer the trips you dream about taking.

Traveling another country

When traveling to another country, visitors need to think of things like electrical outlets. Make sure you have the adaptors you need for items requiring electricity. Personal items the traveler will need should be thought of ahead of time. You must have prescriptions filled and take extra medications. Carry first aid kits, sun block, and even things like shampoo might need with you. Often, adventure travel means going to remote places so you need to be thorough, but light.

For some, adventure travel equates to grabbing the whitewater kayak and heading down to the river or securing a bungee cord to your ankle and jumping off the bridge.

Trip to desert

Make sure you have the proper clothing when heading out for adventure. If you are going to be going on a desert safari in Egypt be prepared for the heat. Take water, wear protective clothing and bring sunscreen with you. Traveling through areas such as Montana where the weather can be sunny and bright at midday, but possible snowy at nightfall, presents a challenge. Be aware of the extremes wherever you are going to be traveling.

Prague is an ideal place for all the music devotees for they can relish the classical concerts at the Sate Opera and at the Rudolfinum or the Municipal House. The Prague Autumn Festival is a big music event that offers lots of classical concerts and music. The Prague Spring festival is famous all over Europe.

If adventure travel is up your alley than consider a trip to Patagonia, Argentina’s southernmost region filled with towering mountains and enormous glaciers. There are several national parks of interest, and cruises to Antarctica are available from Puenta Arenas and Ushuaia. If you’re planning to fly from Buenos Aires, consider landing in El Calafate, near the Pietro Moreno glacier or Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego.

Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System – Makes Travel A Treat!

Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Beth Howard asked:

Ask any new parent about traveling with a baby and they will tell you what a hassle it can be. Even a quick trip to the nearby store can seem like you’re packing for a three-month vacation! Not only do you have to have the baby’s diapers and other accessories handy, you also need to pack up the stroller and get the car seat ready. The Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System does away with all this and more by combining two of the bulkiest aspects of baby travel – the stroller and the baby seat.

 

Multi Features

 

The Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System has a wide range of special features that are sure to please both the adults and the little ones. It can easily be folded or set up using just one hand. The seat itself also comes with a number of reclining options including a full-recline position. It also comes with a five point harness system as well as a three-section canopy and a covered window. There is a snack tray for the little one, complete with extra-large cup holder. Parents aren’t ignored in this aspect either- there is also a parent tray that is built into the handle of the stroller. This accommodates two drinks and has covered storage space as well.

 

In terms of safety, the Travel System has a self-locking feature as well as front comfort ride shocks. The wheels on the stroller are both sturdy and safe, with the front wheels having a width of 8.5″ while the back tires are 9.5″. Full body infant insert can be used with both the stroller as well as the car seat. The Travel System can be used for infants as well as toddlers.

 

A Long Lasting Option

 

The Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System is not a short-term product- in fact; many customers have found it to be going strong even after four years of hard use. It is the ideal accessory to take along on picnics, outings or car drives. The entire Travel System is also lightweight, despite the fact that it has so many special features. This is especially helpful, since lugging around heavy baby equipment can tire anyone really fast! Apart from that, the apparatus is also easy to clean and fold away when it’s not in use.

 

The Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System is also the perfect gift item for people who would like to give new parents a gift they can really use. A lot of new parents might not have the resources to invest in a Travel System themselves – you can be sure that this will be one gift they will really appreciate! Since the car seat has different height adjustments, it can literally grow along with the baby! Not only is it durable and convenient, they won’t have to invest in a separate stroller or car seat. If they like to travel, they can take the little one along without having to worry about lugging around lots of heavy baby equipment. The Eddie Bauer Adventurer Travel System makes travel with the baby, a safe and pleasant experience.

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For Adventure Travel, This Works Like Crazy

Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Randy Swanston asked:

For some people, the perfect vacation is to find a five star hotel or beach where you can every whim catered to and every indulgence fulfilled. Others may seek a more family style excursion with amusement parks and theme parks. And yet others may opt for a cruise or other entertainment vacation. However there are those who desire to go “where no man has gone before”. There are those who enjoy walking on the wild side. For these people, there exists adventure travel.

Adventure travel may take you kayaking in Glacier Bay, Alaska. You may choose to go canoeing and camping in the boundary waters of Northern Minnesota. You may choose to travel the world always seeking the path less traveled. You may travel to the rainforests of the Amazon or the Sahara Desert. You may go on an African Safari or mountain climbing in Tibet.

Beginners can get started in adventure travel easily. Many places offer guided and equipped tours into adventure areas. Experienced outfitters can provide you with all the equipment and the guide you need to start in adventure travel. More experienced adventures may plan their own trips and use their own equipment.

Adventure travel may also include ecotravel or travel with a purpose. Perhaps your adventure travel vacation could include a visit to an African refugee camp or helping to feed the hungry in a third world nation.

Perhaps your adventure travel will take to you to South America visiting ruins of the ancient Aztec civilization. Maybe your adventure travel will take you to the pyramids of Egypt.

Adventure travel is about discovering something new. Perhaps the adventure is the sport and the activity such as kayaking, canoeing, camping, mountain climbing, hiking and more. But adventure travel is not limited to sport. Adventure travel includes adventures in science visiting the Antarctic or the Amazon rainforest. Adventure travel includes discovering history in the Middle East or South America. Adventure travel can take you into the depths of winter or into the heat of summer.

No matter where you go or what you do, adventure travel is all about traveling on the road less traveled, learning about the world, learning about other people and other cultures. Adventure travel can take you to the extremes. You can go to the most extreme and remote parts of the world. You can engage in extreme sports. You can visit extreme history.

There are many travel agents available to help you plan your next adventure travel vacation.

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The Secret of Indiana Jones’ Hat

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Tony Rush asked:

It’s ok.

Really. You’re not alone. There are thousands more people like you. And me.

You want Indiana Jones’ hat.

You don’t have any reason except…well, you want one. If you lived 75 years ago, it wouldn’t even be a question: of course you’d own a hat. And you’d feel naked if you left the house without it.

After all, just look at it! The sharp brim. The distinctive shape. The flavor of class and dignity that comes with that 1930s style.

Ah, the fedora!

But, in an age of superstores, low prices and lower quality, where does one acquire such a thing of beauty?

For me, the answer was obvious: why not contact the man who made Harrison Ford’s hat? Marc Kitter, along with his partner Steve Delk, hand-made all the fedoras used in the latest Indiana Jones film, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”.

Bernie Pollack, costume designer for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” contacted Kitter. “He’d been told that that Steve and I had specialized ourselves on the Indy fedora and wanted to know if we could answer some questions. After quizzing us on brim widths, crown heights, ribbon width, fur quality and many other details, Pollack asked us for some samples. We sent in several sample hats and could do nothing but wait.”

According to Pollack, Spielberg had been worried. “Ah, I’m so relieved he [Spielberg] said. I lost sleep wondering if you would be able to come up with the perfect hat.”

Kitter said, “But, after a test shooting with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg, the dream came true and we got the order. My wife went on vacation and we started making hats up to 18 hours a day.”

Eighteen hours a day? If that sounds like a lot, it helps to know what goes into making a real Indiana Jones fedora. The best fedoras are made from fur-felt, never wool. In fact, the highest quality fedora is made from beaver.

It’s a long and difficult process. The fur is manipulated, treated and transformed into actual “felt”, arguably the toughest fabric known to man. (The fibers are interlocked and arranged in every possible direction making it almost impossible to tear.)

“The pure beaver felt used on my hats are specially made to my specs from a traditional manufacturer. This is the highest density felt I’ve ever worked with; and that adds to the durability of the final hat. We even add water-repellant to the felt during the manufacturing process.”

From there, the best fedoras are hand-crafted over a wooden block. “Wooden hat blocks have the advantage of letting the felt “breath” while it dries on them. This is one of the many details that isn’t always visible but prove valuable in the long haul.”

Ironically, one of the most important pieces of a high-quality fedora might be something that you rarely see: the sweatband. Since this is the only part of the hat that actually touches the wearer’s head, having the right material ensures comfort and durability.

Kitter’s hats use exclusive sweatbands made from kangeroo hide; the hides are traditionally tanned by a family-owned company in Australia. From there, they’re cut and turned into the most shrink resistant leather sweatbands available, known and loved by customers all over the world.

The finishing touch is the lining of the hat made from the highest quality bridal satin. “It looks and feels like silk but it’s more resistant to dust and sweat.”

The whole process can take more than 14 hours by hand and it shows.

So…what makes the Indiana Jones hat so unique?

“The Indy Fedora is a classic brown snap brim Fedora with a contrasting dark brown ribbon, but the — as is always the case with quality — the devil is in the details,” said Kitter.

“The blockshape used for the Indy Fedora is very uncommon nowadays. Today most classic hats have a tapered crown and are made from lightweight felt, mainly pure rabbit or rabbit beaver blends.

But, even if you never have to worry about wearing your fedora through the jungles of South America or racing the Russians for an ancient artifact, you still deserve a hat that will survive normal living.

“A high-quality fedora should be able to protect you from the elements, not the other way around. The hat should withstand heavy downpours, hot and humid summer days, snow….but it should do it with style. So, you’ll be able to wear the same hat to the restaurant at night,” Kitter says.

In other words, an authentic Indy fedora will get you positive feedback on a luxury cruise due to its velvet-like silky surface…but it’s just as appropriate with jeans and work-boots.

So, whether you’re looking for that final touch of class to go with a great suit and tie or you’re excavating the garden to make room for the begonias, the classic Indiana Jones fedora is the perfect addition to your wardrobe.

And yes, mine’s on the way.