Keeping cool

With the hot summer sun beating down, it is worth keeping as cool as you can.

All you need to do is take a hat, or buff soak in cool water for a few minutes and then wring out until all the excessive moisture is out.

Then place on your head, did this last night while walking our dog in his Cool Coat Blue and his Cool coat
worked a treat.

We both returned from our walk around the park feeling no ill effects of the beating sun.

Sporting my cap on Skiddaw with Blue in 2011

How to stop wood spliting when nailing.

How many times have you gone to nail a piece of timber onto something and it splits the grain.

There is a simple practical solution, which requires no more than the nail you are using and the hammer in your hand.

Turn the nail over so the head is against the timber, and point facing up. Place it on the timber where the nail is to be fixed, strike the nail with the hammer. This does two things, it forms a depression in the timber fibres and blunts the point of the nail.

Now turn the nail over, place the point in the depression just made and drive the nail in, this tip has worked well for me over the years.

Figure of eight knot

This is one of the most popular and easier of knots available.

It gets its name from the shape formed by the knotted rope, it is especially practical as a stopper knot.

With the rope end, take it back along itself and under itself, then wrap over, thus forming a loop,pass the end through the loop and dress the knot pulling the end to tighten the knot.

A slight variation is a figure of eight loop or bight, carried out in the same way, form a loop and tie in the same way as above, go back on itself, pass under, then over and then through the loop and dress the knot. This will form a bight, loop, for attaching things to. Such as rings, tools or karabinas etc.

I often use both of the above especially the figure of eight loop, especially when tying things onto my trailer or roof rack of the car.

The "truckers hitch" is a good knot to learn also, which can be explained another day, but the two examples above are by far the easiest to learn.