How I Have Combat Cold

美利奴羊毛 Merino Wool

2016 Jan, Taiwan has not seen an extreme cold spells for 40 years throughout the island. As a tropical boy having lived 40 years near the equator, I have never experience such cold weather condition.  

Now I am living in Kaohsiung where the temperature did go as low as 6 degrees and some part of Taiwan saw minus, the rest of the northern low land went down as far as 3 degrees.

The lowest temperature I have encountered was in North East China with wind factor, the temperature was 1 deg. In Taiwan at HeHuanShan it was 3 degrees with snow. From both these experiences I have learnt my cloth layering was all wrong. Having thick clothing did not warm me at all.

Last year summer I have decided to renew my wardrobe, had spent around US100 for Merino Wool clothing because of the hot weather and the wardrobe was almost 2 decades old. My Giodano cotton shirts were fading colours and outdated for Taiwan weather, they were meant for tropical climate. 

After many purchase on wicking odor less wear which I have spend the $$, it still did not work out. When I was under Cambodia hot climate, these wear stinks right down to my feet. 

Back to the topic how did I combat cold?

Base Layer

1. Merino Wool sock with Wool Socks

2. Merino Wool T-Shirts with Giodano G-Warmer Long Sleeves

3. Merino Wool boxer with Giodano G-Warmer Long John 

Steripen Traveler Handheld UV Water Purifier

Just saw on the News about fresh water from Fresh Water Station. The News team had tested 3 different stations and after laboratory test, they found in the water there were high dosage of 大腸桿菌 Escherichia coli is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms in all 3 Fresh Water Stations. All other test results were good except this. 

Insect Repellent

黑金剛 photos from National Science Council of Taiwan

Summer is here and almost over, so when you were outdoor, what was the worst insect you encountered in Taiwan... Mosquitoes? Flies? Hornets?....No...No, our worst encounter was 小黑蚊 (xiao hei wen) aka 黑金剛 (hei jin gang) up in Nantou County. These insects will sting you but you will only notice after they done so, you might feel the itch for weeks or even months and later a scar. So far I have not encountered any in Southern part of Taiwan. Now back to the topic, what is the best insect repellent?

Personal Road Safety Awareness

As an ex-safety instructor, I am now tired of educating people on safety matters. People simply finds it too hard to digest this education. Living elsewhere or in Taiwan, my philosophy is simple, I rather bang the tree myself and not someone kissing my ass. At least I knew what was coming. Many casualties on the road were due to lack of awareness, reading the signs of trouble or personal safety awareness.   

Around our city Kaohsiung, we inherited a 50cc Scooter from my partner's late father. We hardly ride the scooter but if we did, I followed my principle of road traffic education. I will try as much to avoid riding on pedestrian pavement and definitely not against the traffic. No right turn even the traffic sign is RED.

My personal protection, I deliberately bought a helmet to suit my requirement. This is not the safest helmet but I have instructed how I wanted. My helmet is a semi full face comes with a visor sun shade and visor for rain. The helmet was sent back to the factory because I did not want a clip-on chin strap. I have instructed that I wanted a D-Ring chin strap.  I am a Thinker...so my head is worth more than this helmet. 

Another eduction I tried to teach my partner is to turn ON the headlamp when riding even in the day time, as a rider we are small, by switching on the headlamp in the day time, you will provide awareness to others and safety to ourself. 

As a 2 wheelers since birth, I have dared and I have challenged my faith, riding at 260km/h and flying in the air. Today I am done, around the city I do not even ride above 50km/h. Why...I am simply not well protected. You choose your faith but what I have said hope you understood.

Sunglasses

Sight is one of our most important senses, without sight our world will be in darkness. So proper eye protection is very important during outdoor. It helps you to protect from dust, objects hitting your eye and most important is the UV rays from the Sun. Did you know in Australia almost 90% of the people wears a sunglasses when they are outdoor. However in Taiwan very few people have it on. 

Toiletry Kit

Many of us over packed our toiletry kit, bring alot of unnecessary stuff and carrying alot of oversize items. 

After investing in many different kind of toiletry bags, our best option is to use a sandwich Ziploc bag. The clear bag helps to see the items clearly  making much easier to remove the content needed. I have decided to repacked my toiletry kit into 3 days and 7 days kit for all kinds of camping.

550 Paracord The Guts

Inside the 550 Paracord there are 7x1mm nylon yarns aka "the guts" and each yarn there is another smaller 3 ply yarns which provide strength to the Paracord. Some survivalist would suggest taking a 30ft (9.1mtrs) or 100ft (30.48mtrs) of  Paracord with you for survival or camping. I never had a chance of fully utilising the 550 Paracord, so one day I decided to simulate a condition where I need to access the Paracord inner strands from a 10mtrs 550 Paracord. 

First Aid Kit

This is one kit many campers or outdoor hikers choose to ignore. Being a first aider trained by the Red Cross twice, I am not able to make this kit to my requirement. This is once kit I will not forget.... The First Aid Kit.

Shemagh

Shemagh also known as Keffiyeh is a head gear originated from Middle East. It is a piece of cloth usually made of cotton that is large enough to wrap around your head to protect you from the Sun, Sand, Dust and Cold. It works far better than any neck warmer and can be used in many configuration.

Besides protecting you from the elements, you can double it as a bath towel or a triangle bandage for First Aid usage, thus making this a great outdoor gear to have in your kit.

Survival Kit

What is a Survival Kit? It is basically a kit that can help you around in times of trouble. To many of us felt that this kit is not necessary as they hardly venture into the wilderness. My thoughts about survival kit was back in 1986 when I owned the SAS Survival Book. Inside this book, it gave me a certain view how one should actually have it prepared rather than there is none when you need it.

My Survival Kit is with me all the time, everywhere I go from travelling abroad, mountain biking or hiking etc. To be honest, I never really have the chance to use all the items.

I was in a foreign city, the compass did come in handy. In India we had a blackout, the candle and headlamp was useful.