Night Vision Devices -- The Ultimate in BackCountry ToysWritten by Chuck Fitzgerald
Many nights in backcountry are far from dark. A bright moon and a sky full of stars can throw off enough light to allow for reading a book, but add cloud cover, mountains or trees and it gets dark awfully fast. When you need to see in dark, you have two choices - you either turn on a light, or use one of many available night vision devices (NVD). The NVD could be ultimate backcountry toy.Like choosing many other types of technology, choosing correct NVD is all about how you are going to use it. When most people think of night vision capabilities, they think about spy movies, military or law enforcement - applications where it is vital for good guys to see without being seen by bad guys. A drop in pricing over past few years has made a NVD affordable for campers, hunters, hikers and a wide variety of other outdoor enthusiasts. However, high-end devices used for specialized purposes remain quite expensive. There are two broad categories of NVD. Image Enhancement devices collect small amounts of light and amplify them to point where human eye can observe object. Thermal Imaging devices capture high end of infrared light spectrum which is emitted as heat by objects. Image Enhancement devices will provide a much crisper image with detail while Thermal Imaging devices show regions of heat. Currently, five Generations of NVD exist. Generations 0 and 1 are less expensive and typically produce a poor image quality. Generations 2, 3 and 4 have increasingly better image quality and an equally increasing price to match.
| | What is snowkiting?Written by Jakob Jelling
As if snowboarding and kitesurfing actually meshed into one single sport it would be Snowkiting. Imagine taking a lift high atop a beautiful mountain, you set your kite in motion and get your feet firmly planted you start your run down a long white hill. As you snowboard down mountain your kite helps you gain speed and with a good gust of wind you too can be 10 – 15 feet in air. With this much gravity you too can be implementing same moves as kitesurfer does including jibing and crossing over. Snowkiting is another example of popular extreme sport series as there are many hazards that circle this sport as well as kitesurfing. Snowkiters take their board to mountain and ride winds down fast and furious. Moguls and ramps can help you gain more air than you bargained for if you are a beginner. Starting slow and learning how to keep your kite in air is basic fundamental. Once you have mastered techniques you will be flying in no time at all. It doesn’t matter if its natural snow or powder, you too can get up to 50 – 70 mph with aid of your kite. Although premise is still same between two sports, it takes a lot less wind to move you across snow then it does across water. Jumps and flips are easier and depending on how you land softer. Once your kite is launched and you begin your descent it is far easier to keep yourself on snowboard.
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