Category Archives: Guest Post

Portable Fridges – Outside And In

A portable fridge is a very popular appliance with many consumers.  Their main appeal is that they allow the ability to refrigerate away from the kitchen and out on the road.

There are several different kinds of portable fridge: the 12V car fridge; the 3-way camping fridge; and a generic compact fridge intended for household use – such as a dorm fridge.

For those in the market for a car fridge, one of the best buys is probably a 12V Engel fridge freezer.  These units are very expensive – in the $800 dollar range – but provide a very energy efficient, highly rugged and reliable solution for buyers looking for a 12V car fridge freezer.

Unlike cheaper and less efficient competitors they can freeze reliably, and can be ran from a vehicle’s car battery for quite some time without draining it to a dangerous level.  Be sure to look specifically for a compressor type 12v refrigerator, in preference to the inferior absorption technology models.

12V fridge freezers are very popular amongst off-grid types who crave energy independence.  Their high efficiency makes them a good choice for those attempting to power their refrigerator from alternate energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.

Portable camping fridges are usually of the 3-way type.  Three way fridges have the flexibility of being powered by three potential power sources.  Dometic and Waeco are well regarded brands. House current, used at home or when tapped into the grid is the most reliable option.  LPG (propane gas) can be used in remote locations such as hunting cabins, or within RVs, and can provide extended refrigeration for weeks on an average size tank.  Finally they can also draw power from a 12v DC system, though admittedly this is not their strong point.

For remote locations that do not have grid power available these are a good solution for portable refrigeration provided that a ready source of propane – and refills – is available.

The final common type of portable fridge is the type frequently found around the home.  These are normal refrigerators or fridge freezers – they use house power – but are simply compact versions.

Regular portable fridges are very popular for use as second refrigerators.  Small fridges are frequently used as mini bar fridges in home entertainment areas or media rooms.  Mini fridges like these are also very popular choices for use as college dorm fridges.

A grid powered small fridge like this is also often found in workplace break rooms and can also make a great beverage fridge for your home office or study.

Clearly, when purchasing a portable fridge, you must carefully consider how you will be utilizing the appliance – and then buy the appropriate model of portable refrigerator from the wide selection that is available.

As with most major purchases you will get what you pay for.  So plan to spend a little extra and purchase a quality model.  This could potentially save you a lot of the heartache – and in the long term money – that can result from choosing the cheapest options.

Tent Rentals for Smarter Camping

Camping remains a very attractive entertainment for many, yet can seem on the expensive side in order to be able to purchase most of the gear necessary. However, this does not have to be the case at all. You can find most of the gear needed right at home, and you can borrow or lease the rest. A good example of this approach is with tent rentals.

Quality outdoor supply and camping stores offer quite an array of gear that is available for rent, and this makes sense for several good reasons. For the beginner, they have the opportunity to discover if this is something that they want to pursue without investing in supplies that they may not be using in the future.

For the experienced camper, this gives them the opportunity to test out new, or different, models that they are interested in without purchasing them outright. The option to rent a tent as opposed to buying one makes even more sense when considering how many designs, sizes, and models are available.

Whether 1, 2, or 3 man tents, or even larger sizes, these numbers are relative when considering real world application. What may work for one pair of campers will not be suitable for another, and what one family considers cozy another may consider intolerable. Renting first can teach consumers these differences.

While out camping and backpacking one becomes very attached to one’s equipment, and at times they are truly a matter of survival, so getting the right gear is of vital importance. Shopping on impulse and emotion will never do in such cases. It would be wise to try before you buy, as the saying goes, and knowing what will be best for your needs.

Tent rentals can only serve to create smarter consumers. Again, this can be extremely important when out in the wilds and while on the trail. Camping is great fun, indeed, but does have an element of danger arising out of necessity. Getting the proper gear will increase both pleasure and safety.

Related Posts:
Considerations for the best camping tents

The History of Weathervanes

As weathervanes become increasingly nothing more than collector’s items – auctioned to the highest bidder both online and off – it’s easy to forget that once upon a time these were essential weather instruments. They were highly practical and no farm or village cared to be without one.

If you earned a living by working out doors – think farmers, think loggers, think gardeners – then you needed to know what the weather was likely to bring. For most of human history, you didn’t simply switch to the weather channel or flip open the paper to read the latest meteorological update. You had your own weather eye and weather sense.

A century ago, you couldn’t find a barn anywhere in the United States that didn’t have at least a rough vane atop the roof – a rooster maybe, whose beak would indicate from which direction the weather was likely to come. Or perhaps a trotting horse. Heck, there were even racing pigs!

But plenty of weathervanes were little more than arrows that were set up to swivel on a simple rod. They were made by people who were too busy working to worry too much about the décor of their rural landscape. And they needed to know what was going on with the weather. Could you hay tomorrow? Plant another bed of spinach? Make a weathervane and figure it out!

In truth, if you exclude rain gauges, when it came to reading the skies and making predictions, the weathervane was your best guide. And this was true from the days of ancient Greece – when many archaeologists believe the earliest weathervanes were made and used regularly – to colonial America.

If your a collector of these lovely and elegant instruments, you can take some pride in the fact that you are helping to preserve a critical piece of history. It’s well and good that we have far more complicated tools for figuring out in tomorrow we’ll need our umbrellas. But once upon a time we could do it with a lot less. Weathervanes – regardless of whether they are on display in our homes or still atop bars – keep us in touch with those old days.

Pest Control For Ants

If ants have taken over your home and you want to get them out, there are a few things that you can do. In order to begin the process of extracting the ants you will want to identify the type of ants that you are dealing with. There are different methods that are used to make ants go away depending on which type they are. Once you have identified the type that you are dealing with there are a few things that you can do.

The preferred pest control to use when trying to get rid of ants is sweet bait. You will be able to find different types of sweet baits that are made by different companies. One company that makes a good one is Terro. What you want to do once you have obtained some sweet bait is place it in the areas where there are the most ants. When they see the bait they will attack it and it will kill them. You will want to place as much bait out as it takes to get rid of all the ants in your home.

Another option is to us a bait from the company DuPont. It is called Advion Ant bait gel and it has a specially formulated active ingredient that just knocks ants out. The bait matrix is also composed of highly attractive foods that ants just eat up. The best way to use this bait, and any other for that matter, is to place it out in small pea size amounts along the foraging trail. The foraging trail is the path the ants are using to find food and bring it back to the colony. When you put the bait out right in the foraging trail the ants will find it and eat it up. This is a slow acting poison so it may take a week before you don’t see any more ants from that colony.

When you are using this method of pest control o get rid of the ants that have invaded your home it might take a few days to rid yourself of all of them. As you know, ants travel in colonies, so there could be thousands of them that you will have to get rid of. Make sure that you find some good sweet bait that you can use in order to trap the ants and kill them. If you ever have the same problem again then use the same solution to make the problem go away.

Please use chemical pesticides responsibly, and make sure any baits are away from areas that pets and children can access them.

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How To Restore Antique Maps

As any collector of old world maps will tell you, the biggest problem with the hobby is the condition of the actual maps. Most of them were actually used in the field – whether they are global maps or simply a map of the mountains behind your home. And unless it’s probably cared for, any type of paper bears the mark of time as it passes.

How can you restore and protect your antique map?

You might start by working an actual map conservator. Finding someone whose mission in life is to preserve old maps and other antique paper work can be difficult, but it’s often well worth the effort. Even if you don’t hire the individual to do the restoration work on their own, they will often agree to consult and advise you as you do the work yourself.

Remember, now that you have gone and spent all that money getting the map in the first place, you don’t want to skimp on the investment now. Even a single meeting with a professional conservator can provide a lot of helpful information.

Of course, you might want to do the work on your own. Plenty of collectors believe that a hands on approach is a great way to learn more about maps. It’s also relaxing work, if you don’t mind the rigorous attention to detail.

First, flatten the map on a level surface. Use books with dust covers to anchor it. Then, using soft but thorough strokes, go over the entire map with a soft-bristle hair brush. Your goal at this stage is to remove any grime or debris that is clinging to the map’s surface. Don’t work too hard – you can easily tear the map. Remember, this is the first step, not the whole process.

Patience is essential to this process. You have to pay attention to what you’re doing and you have to focus. If your mind drifts, you might find yourself brushing far too hard and doing damage to your old map.

If your map has any glue or adhesive reside, you can get if off by using a spatula. Plastic ones work best because they don’t pose any risk to the material. Just be sure that you aren’t using a spatula that actually sees any real kitchen action. The last thing you want to do is soak the map with even a drop of grease.

If the map needs to be flattened, you can get the process started with a natural sponge. Gently brush the map’s surface with a moist sponge until it is thoroughly damp. Then place it between a pair of blotters. These will help facilitate the drying process. Remember, less is more in this instance. Too much water can cause real damage. And you can always repeat the process if you feel that the map isn’t responding to your efforts.

Be sure that as you work on the map, you always move it with both of your hands. In other words, apply pressure to each side of the map. If you don’t, then you run the risk of tearing the map. Remember that the paper – even if it feels relatively sturdy – is not. Act as if you are holding the most fragile piece of paper on earth and you’ll probably be fine.

Don’t be afraid to bring in a professional if you find yourself facing a particularly large problem – a tear, a whole, a large blemish. Again, even if all you do is hire them as  a consultant, the payoff can be very significant.