Farmer Diddley's World — Outdoor Skills, Gear, and Adventures

Wrapping Bricks for my GoRuck GR1

by Farmer Diddley on April 6, 2013

If you’ve been reading my blog or have been subscribed to my YouTube channel, I’m sure you are aware that I’m a big fan of my GoRuck GR1 rucksack. I use it as my EDC bag, as well as my day-hike pack. This spring I plan on doing a lot of day hikes on a local rail trail to help me get back into shape and get ready for the upcoming hiking and trail running season. Since the local rail trail is very flat I’ve decided to add a bunch of weight to my GR1 to make my training hikes and trail runs more challenging. I will be adding weight to my pack by carrying six bricks in the same way that the GoRuck Challenge requires bricks to be carried. The GoRuck Challenge is an endurance event conducted by the fine folks at GoRuck. At this point in time I’m not planning on doing a GoRuck Challenge, I’m just trying to get myself back into shape… but you never know… maybe I’ll get up the courage to try a GoRuck Challenge someday.

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Thinking About Survival Kits

by Farmer Diddley on March 25, 2013

One of my favorite parts of my annual ritual of getting ready for spring to arrive, is going through all of my hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking, sailing, and fishing equipment. Last week while going through my hiking gear, I came across the homemade survival kit that I carry in my day-pack. Seeing and opening the kit got me to thinking about survival kits, the reasoning behind carrying them, and the theories involved in what should be carried in such a kit. Even though I’ve made and carried survival kits for well over 30 years, I decided it was time to do some serious, organized thinking about the purpose of survival kits and what they should contain. Click here to continue reading...

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Farmer Diddley’s Favorites – Mar 24, 2013

by Farmer Diddley on March 24, 2013

Here’s this week’s collection of my favorite outdoor-related websites, blogs, blog posts, YouTube videos, gear, etc. Enjoy.

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Video – How To Make a Pocket Knife Lanyard

by Farmer Diddley on March 20, 2013

Here is a video that I’ve created showing how to make a quick and simple paracord lanyard for a pocket knife. The lanyard can also be used on a multi-tool, flashlight, etc. The knife used in the video is my Bear Grylls Grandfather Knife.

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Farmer Diddley’s Favorites – Mar 17, 2013

by Farmer Diddley on March 17, 2013

Here’s this week’s collection of my favorite outdoor-related websites, blogs, blog posts, YouTube videos, gear, etc. Enjoy.

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Bear Grylls Grandfather Knife Review

by Farmer Diddley on March 16, 2013

OK, I’ll admit it… the Bear Grylls knives from Gerber are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. In general I’m not a fan of Gerber knives but I really like the Bear Grylls’ knives. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about them that I like. I just find them very appealing for some reason. I recently bought (won) a Bear Grylls Grandfather Knife in an eBay auction. In this article, I’m going to do a review of this very interesting little knife.

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Time To Get Back In Shape!

by Farmer Diddley on March 12, 2013

It’s been a long, difficult winter where I live in Vermont, but springtime is just around the corner. I’m really excited to get out and enjoy the outdoors. I had planned on doing a lot of snowshoeing this winter, but I was extremely sick for about four weeks from the end of January through most of February. During that time I could hardly get out of bed, let alone leave the house and go outside and do something fun. Unfortunately I ended up going snowshoeing only a handful of times.

I’m happy to say that the illness is long behind me and I have felt great for the past few weeks. But between the holidays and being sick I have really gotten out of shape. I’ve gained a lot of weight and my cardio has been reduced to almost nil. I had a hard time running for even just 10 minutes on my treadmill. It’s time to get back in shape!

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Day Hiking Checklist

by Farmer Diddley on March 11, 2013

Recently, I saw an interesting Infographic on the Trail Sherpa blog that was called The Badass Dayhiker’s Checklist. After reading the Infographic, I had two thoughts:

1) It’s an excellent start at a checklist for day hikers, and
2) Everyone should have their own personalized list.

While it’s great to get suggestions and ideas from a wide variety of sources (including Trail Sherpa and FarmerDiddley.com ) you should really create a list that incorporates your own needs, preferences, and style.

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Farmer Diddley’s Favorites – Mar 10, 2013

by Farmer Diddley on March 10, 2013

This is going to be the first in a series of weekly blog posts in which I share links to my favorite outdoor-related websites, blogs, blog posts, YouTube videos, gear, etc.

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Epic Hike Becomes Epic Fail

by Farmer Diddley on March 5, 2013

As I discussed in my previous post Preparing for a Long Distance Hike, the preparations that my son and I completed for our planned thru-hike of the Vermont Long Trail in the summer of 2012 went extremely well. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the hike itself.

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