Pelican Flyer | Adventure
Adventure
The Best Camera Cases for Photographers
Camera bodies, lenses and other photography gear can be extremely expensive, particularly for high-end equipment. Naturally, because of their price point and fragility, many photographers go to great lengths to take care of these items. Thus, procuring the best camera case one can afford is a wise investment. However, there are a cornucopia of different kinds of camera cases on the market, ranging from soft sling bags to tough-as-nails camera hard cases and everything in between. That said, where protection is concerned, camera hard cases are second to none. To help photographers figure out the best camera case for their needs, today, we will explore some of the best hard cases for protecting photography equipment from knocks, bumps, dust and unfavorable weather conditions and inhospitable climates. Let’s get started.
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Adventure
Can You Bring a Drone on a Plane? Three Drone Packing Tips
No matter if for recreational or professional purposes, the need to bring a drone on a plane can occasionally arise. But can you bring a drone on a plane? The fact is that there exists a long list of items that cannot be brought on an airplane. Therefore, it is expected that someone who wants or needs to bring their drone with them to wherever they are flying might face such a restriction. To cut right to the heart of the matter, you can indeed bring your drone on an airplane. However, there are a variety of guidelines and restrictions by which one must abide in order to bring their drone along for the flight. Shop Top-of-the-Line Travel Cases to Protect Your Valuable Equipment That said, let’s go ahead and take a look at some official guidelines, as well as some other tips you should know about bringing your drone on a plane. How to Bring Your Drone on a Plane Can you bring a drone on a plane? Yes, you can, but there are some rather large caveats to that answer. First, when referencing the TSA website’s rules regarding drones, it states: “Drones are allowed through the checkpoint. Please check with your airline prior to traveling for their policy… The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.” While discretion on the matter being left in the hands of TSA agents might invoke worry, this is pretty much the protocol for lots of different items.
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Adventure
The Best Ways to Store Guns Without a Safe
Keeping firearms secure around the house is vital for your family’s safety. It prevents unauthorized people from accessing guns and keeps them out of the hands of those who are unqualified to operate the weapon. So how do you store firearms safely in the home? While many gun owners choose to keep guns in a safe, it isn’t always ideal for some living situations. For example, some gun owners prefer quick access for home defense, which makes safes inconvenient. For competitors, a dedicated gun safe isn’t transportable either. So what can you do to keep your weapon secure? Here are some of the best ways to store guns without a safe, from trigger locks to lockable gun cases. Trigger Locks Trigger locks are a practical replacement for a gun safe. Affordable with a simple design, a trigger lock or cable lock can prevent a gun from being loaded or fired by unfamiliar hands or an unauthorized user. You can often find trigger locks provided by the gun manufacturer or gun dealer. When you purchase a new firearm, it will most likely already be accompanied by the trigger lock. However, there are different types of trigger locks: Trigger Shoe You can choose a trigger shoe that clamps down around the firearm’s trigger or trigger housing, preventing it from being tampered with. Cable Locks Cable locks are designed to block a firearm’s action, preventing it from being closed. Using a cable lock on a semi-automatic pistol prevents the magazine from being loaded into the grip. And when a cable lock is used on a revolver, the cable lock is looped through the barrel to prevent the cylinder from closing. Padlocks Another basic trigger lock is a simple padlock system. This comes in handy when your gun manufacturer doesn't have a specialized trigger lock that comes with the firearm purchase or you have an older gun. All you have to do is slip the lock’s hasp between the backside of the trigger and the trigger guard to prevent it from cycling. When options are limited, an inexpensive padlock can prevent unintentional discharge. One thing to keep in mind: Because these types of locks come into contact with the trigger, you must never use them on a loaded gun. If you own a firearm for home defense, a trigger lock may not be the best option. In addition, they do not protect against theft. Furthermore, these kinds of trigger locks and cable locks were found to be insufficient, especially when it comes to child safety. In 2001, the NSSF recalled 400,000 cable locks that could be accessed without using a key, defeating the purpose of the lock. Shop Gun Cases to Secure Your Weapon Gun Cases
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Adventure
What to Bring Backpacking
Heading out in the wilderness with only what you can carry offers a certain sense of adventure. Everything you need fits all in a backpack, plus a few lashes along the side. But with a pack that can only hold so much, you also have to consider what is absolutely necessary to your survival outdoors.
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Adventure
7 Essential Boating Safety Tips
Ready to buy a boat or rent a charter and head out on the water? Before you go packing your personal cooler, fishing tackle and water toys, it’s important to understand basic boating safety. From the proper gear and equipment to just generally being aware of your surroundings and following navigational rules of the waterways, here are seven boating safety tips that all boaters should know.
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Adventure
What Is Spelunking?
Spelunking, also known as caving, is not for the timid. This increasingly popular sport often asks you to walk, climb or crawl blindly into the darkness with only a headlamp and spiders and bats for company. Sometimes, it even requires the use of a zip line, sending you into the abyss fast and without a second thought as to what lies ahead. Other times, spelunking requires you to dive into a black hole underwater. Either way, the challenge does come with its rewards.
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Adventure
Trad vs. Sport Climbing
Did you know there is a variety of rock climbing styles? From mountaineering to bouldering, climbers have a wide range of options when it comes to gaining higher ground. But out of the several rock climbing types, there are two that are often mistaken for one another: trad climbing and sport climbing.
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Adventure
The 6 Best Places to Stargaze
Ready to photograph the stars? Whether it’s to capture the North or Southern hemisphere’s constellations, Milky Ways and Magellanic clouds, you’ll need to seek out a dark, remote spot, away from light pollution where the stars can truly shine. And if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to photograph stars, you will need some practice, too.
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Adventure
6 Night Hike Tips and Essentials
Compared to hiking during the day, a night hike offers many advantages. For starters, it provides cooler temps, relieving you from a blistering hot summer day. And second, night hiking gives you a new perspective of the skies, allowing you to see stars, constellations and even the Milky Way galaxy.
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Adventure
How to Snag a Hard-to-Get Backcountry Permit
When you need to get away from cramped campsite parks with hordes of people and into the wilderness where you’re alone with your thoughts, a backcountry trip will do the trick. Still, while you don’t have to book a site through a reservation system, you can’t just strap on your boots and head out. You will need a permit. And while it may be a bit of a challenge, it’s well worth the effort! Here are seven tips on how to snag a backcountry permit and get away from the crowds.
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Adventure
How to Plan a Camping Scavenger Hunt for Kids
Looking for a fun activity to entertain the kids while camping? Try a scavenger hunt! Whether you look for items as you go hiking with the kids or to keep them occupied at the site while you cook dinner, use these handy tips and ideas to make your scavenger hunt a fun outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy.
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Adventure
8 Nature Documentaries to Make You Want to Get Outside
Want to learn more about Earth or explore exotic terrains from the comfort of home? Or do you need to pass the time on a rainy spring day until you can get outside again? Here are eight nature documentaries to make you want to get outside and protect the wildlife and Earth we all inhabit. These stunning films will have you grabbing your camera hard case and setting out to photograph butterflies, exotic wildlife, chimpanzees and more.
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Adventure
6 Bushcraft Skills You Should Know
Getting lost in the wilderness – even if it’s on purpose to escape the crowds or hunt for wildlife – requires specific survival skills. And it’s vital for any backcountry hiker or avid hunter to sharpen these skills, whether it’s foraging for food to creating a shelter using only the materials and elements around you.
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Adventure
What is Thru Hiking?
So, you hike all the time. You have hundreds of weekend backpacking trips under your belt and know a thing or two about surviving in the wilderness. Now, you’re itching for a new hiking challenge. You want to immerse yourself in the wilderness and take your backpacking skills up a notch.
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Adventure
How to Break in Hiking Boots
The road to successful hiking is often paved with many innocent mistakes. Unfortunately, there is one mistake in particular that can be a painful lesson in footwear for new hikers. We are, of course, talking about not knowing how to break in hiking boots.
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Adventure
8 Outdoor Skills You Should Know
Itching to get out and explore the great outdoors? We’re not surprised! Even the most urban-loving people experience the desire to temporarily escape city living and spend time in nature. But if you’re new to the outdoors or haven’t been camping since you were a little kid, getting out there can also be a little scary. To help you feel more at ease in the wilderness, we’ve rounded up a few basic outdoor skills that are worth learning before your next big adventure.
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Adventure
All About Climbing Grades and Bouldering Ratings
Rock climbing is a thrilling outdoor activity that can be highly rewarding. It offers stellar views of the surrounding landscapes and a real physical challenge, to say the least. But if you’re just getting into this outdoor sport, you might be taken off guard by the vocabulary and jargon that goes along with it. When you hear someone mention a cluster of numbers or a scale of this or that, you will have no idea what it means.
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Adventure
7 Wilderness Survival Tips You Need to Know
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. That should be the motto of every outdoor enthusiast. Faced off against nature, many things can go wrong. You can stumble upon a bear, get carried down a river and even get trapped by an avalanche. Needless to say, you might even find yourself miles from home with a dead cell phone. And when you are stranded in the great wild wilderness, preparedness can even save your life!
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Adventure
What is Mountaineering?
When we hear the word “mountaineering,” many things might come to mind. Some assume this merely means climbing mountains; others think of rugged Mt. Everest explorers from days past. The truth is, mountaineering is much more than that and is still being done. While there might be little left to explore, mountaineering is one heck of a rugged, adventurous activity.
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Adventure
How Long Does It Take to Adjust to Altitude?
You typically begin to reach areas considered high altitude at around 8,000 feet. But, for some of us who reside closer to sea level, altitude sickness may rear its ugly head even lower, closer to 5,000 feet. While most people can adjust, the effects of high altitude — even lighter side effects — do take time.
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Adventure
The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding
We get it! You’ve grown bored of waiting for lift lines and want to get out in nature more. With untracked and uncarved banks of freshly fallen snow, the beautiful backcountry landscape is calling to you to come and play. But you can’t merely go on a backcountry skiing or snowboarding trip without knowing precisely what you’re doing. It helps to understand how to travel responsibly in the backcountry (and even avoid the very real threat of avalanches).
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Adventure
How to Start Hiking - The Basics
Looking for a hobby that’s rewarding, inspiring and good for you to boot? Hiking is a mighty fine option! Seriously, few recreational activities tick as many boxes as this one. Studies show that hiking has a calming effect and can stimulate better mental focus and feelings of happiness. Of course, combining the benefits of outdoor enjoyment with exercise is pretty powerful, so it’s no surprise that hiking can contribute to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis and anxiety. Sign us up!
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Adventure
Foraging for Food for Beginners
Did you know that there’s a whole wide world of appetizing food growing right outside your door, free for the taking? And it’s not all blackberries and dandelions (though, don’t get us wrong, those are yummy, too). Indeed, some of the most expensive and sought-after foodstuffs are foraged. For example, the European white truffle — foraged exclusively with the help of highly trained truffle-sniffing dogs — sells for over $3,600 a pound! A 3.3-pound white truffle from Tuscany once sold for $330,000!
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Adventure
Orienteering 101: What You Need to Know
If you already love the outdoors, you’ll get hooked on orienteering. Created by the Swedish military in the late 1800s as a way for members to compete and show off their navigational skills, orienteering is an extremely popular activity today, appreciated the world over.
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Adventure
71 Hiking Terms
Do you know the terms for your natural environment, such as ford, glissade, monorail, scree and talus? Additionally, what is thru-hiking and peak bagging? Most activities develop their own unique culture, full of jargon and lingo that only the truest diehards understand, and hiking is no different! So instead of looking like a complete newbie as you gear up at the outdoor rec store or even out there on the trail, study up so you can keep up!
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Adventure
11 Gift Ideas for Hikers
Do you have a special someone in your life who’s an avid hiker and are completely stumped on a gift? Pelican has you covered! Here are some of the best gift ideas for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, from gear to clothing and extra gadgets to help along the trail.
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Adventure
What is Bouldering?
In general, bouldering is a lot like rock climbing, but without all the ropes, harnesses and hardware. Also, instead of scaling a high craggy rock face, you are climbing large rocks. Bouldering has also grown in popularity due to its relatively affordable equipment (or lack thereof).
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Adventure
Trail Running vs. Road Running
When some consider trail running, a broken ankle first comes to mind. After all, road running offers an easy-to-follow, flat and usually straight path, so why would you ever choose its rugged, branch-dodging counterpart? Well, the truth is that both trail running and road running offer their advantages.
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Adventure
How to Start Trail Running
Trail running has gained popularity over the years, primarily due to the recent pandemic and society’s insatiable desire to spend more time outdoors. And it’s not hard to see why. Real trail junkies enjoy it for the adrenaline rush and primal experience it offers, running wild like our ancestors. It’s dirty and gritty and people love it!
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Adventure
The 10 Essentials for Hiking
Whether you’re hiking with kids, a large group or by yourself, it’s important to stay safe. And from backcountry trails to day hikes, there is a collection of 10 essential items you should try to carry for emergency purposes. While these items may not seem necessary on such a short outing, if you take on an injury or experience bad weather, they are valuable and possibly even critical for survival.
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Adventure
What to Wear Hiking in Winter
Winter is a beautiful time to go for a hike. The crisp air in your lungs and the view of land with freshly fallen snow–there’s nothing quite like it! But to make hiking in winter more enjoyable, it helps to know how to stay warm. Here are tips on what to wear hiking in winter, from selecting moisture-wicking fabrics to dressing in layers from head to toe. Plus, we list what extra gear and winter survival equipment you need to stay ultra-warm in emergencies.
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Adventure
11 Gifts for Outdoor Lovers
Stuck on gift ideas for your outdoorsy friend or family member? Pelican has you covered! Whatever holiday or milestone is on the horizon, find the perfect gift for your outdoor-loving recipient. Whether seeking the perfect gift for gun enthusiasts or world travelers, here are 11 clever and practical gifts for outdoor lovers.
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Adventure
5 Winter Survival Skills to Know
Winter activities like backcountry skiing, snowmobiling and camping make wonderfully fun trips. But should a life-threatening injury occur or you accidentally lose your path, it truly pays to know certain winter survival skills. In dire situations, you may even save a life.
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Adventure
What is Overlanding?
If you enjoy camping as well as the occasional off-road adventure, then allow us to introduce you to your new favorite hobby: overlanding. A century-old activity originating in the Australian Outback, overlanding is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, and one that has been steadily growing in popularity over the last decade or so.
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Adventure
What to Do on a Road Trip
Ah, the classic road trip. Is there anything more American than hitting the open road with the people you love? Road trips can take you across the most beautiful landscapes and introduce you to some truly fascinating people. But that’s only if you don’t die of boredom along the way.
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Adventure
How to Train for Hiking
Knowing how to train for hiking can be useful for a number of reasons. First, not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy mild, “hike-friendly” weather year-round. Training for hikes at home often helps experienced hikers maintain their fitness levels through winter so they can be ready to hit the trail come spring.
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Adventure
How to Plan a Road Trip
We’ve all seen those movies—the ones where the main characters all pile into a car and hit the open road with little, if any, planning. Sure, it might have worked out well enough in a fictional movie. But in real life, getting into your car and driving wherever the wind takes you isn’t the best idea. What if your car breaks down? What if you get lost or run into some unforeseen trouble?
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Adventure
6 Tips for Hiking With Kids: How to Properly Plan Ahead
If you’re an outdoor lover, we probably don’t have to tell you why hitting the trail with your little ones is an amazing activity, but let us provide a quick rundown anyway. Studies show that fresh air is the ultimate medicine, providing benefits ranging from improved concentration to better physical health. Throw in some hands-on learning, family bonding and a break from the screens, and you’ve got yourself an all-around positive family activity!
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Adventure
How to Live Off the Grid
With the pace of city life getting faster, the planet getting warmer and the cost of living getting higher, it’s not hard to see why so many people are charmed by the idea of off-grid living. This way of life involves living off the power grid, with no access to public utilities that supply electricity, gas or water. But there’s a lot more to off-grid living than that. In this guide, we review a few important basics on how to live off the grid. Hopefully, it will help you decide if it’s something you might want to seriously consider.
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Adventure
How to Read a Topographic Map
Knowing how to read a map is as basic to survival as knowing how to make a fire or how to build an emergency shelter, and that’s because it could be lifesaving in perilous scenarios. Maps and compasses keep us on the right track while helping us determine distance, time and the nature of the journey. One of the most useful tools for this is the topographic (topo) map.
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Adventure
Geocaching 101
Want to go on a real-life treasure hunt while getting exercise and sharpening your navigation skills? Try geocaching! This exploratory hobby — nicknamed “the world’s largest treasure hunt” — involves heading outside and finding treasures (“caches”) hidden by a vast network of finders and hiders. Geocachers use traditional navigation tools coupled with the Geocaching app, which employs GPS on your phone to identify and locate treasures. There are over 3 million of these caches out in the world just waiting to be discovered!
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The 5 Most Scenic Drives in America
The United States boasts an incredible 4 million miles of public roads and the biggest total road network in the world, so it’s not hard to see why the road trip is such a cherished American tradition. There is so much to discover along those 4 million miles, from the breathtaking sea-cliff views of the Pacific coast to the tree-lined mountains of North Carolina. The best way to see everything, of course, is by car. So pack your camera backpack and load up the snacks, because we’re going for a drive!
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Adventure
What To Take On a Hike To Stay Safe
There’s no denying the healing power of nature. A long, meandering walk through the woods or mountains can leave you feeling happier, more energized and more focused, all while connecting you with the natural world. But taking a hike can quickly turn from restorative to scary, and even downright dangerous in the wrong situation. Inclement weather, rough terrain, threatening wildlife — it’s all par for the trail when you’re bonding with Mother Nature.
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Adventure
Bright as Day - What is a Tactical Flashlight
Tactical situations are no joke, and they call for heavy-duty, rugged gear that can handle anything. Today, we’re shining a light on one of the most all-around practical pieces of tactical gear in your pack — the tactical flashlight. These ultra-durable, ultra-bright flashlights can provide lifesaving protection and essential illumination when the scenario demands it.
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Adventure
20 Gifts for a Dad Who Wants Nothing
Got a dad who insists he needs nothing and has everything? We don’t want to make any assumptions, but we’re willing to bet that there are a few things he could in fact use, even if he won’t admit it. Sure, a six-pack or a nice cigar would do, but nothing beats giving your dad a gift he’ll rely on well into the future. Think: a rugged tactical flashlight or a hard cooler that will last for the next dozen seasons of tailgating.
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Adventure
Emergency Kits: Expert Guide to Preparing for Any Disaster
Here at Pelican, we’re all about taking a page out of the Boy Scouts manual, and we always want to be prepared. But with all the fearmongering and misinformation floating around out there, it’s a fair question: Do you really need an emergency kit? The answer is yes, and here’s why: large-scale disasters can limit our ability to access essential resources, including food, water, shelter and healthcare. In an ideal world, you’ll never have to crack open your emergency kit, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
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Adventure
Ultimate Travel Checklist
They say the journey is the destination, and that starts with packing. Creating and following a well-considered travel checklist is truly the secret to an enjoyable, worry-free vacation free of any snafus. It ensures that you have everything you need in the right place at all times, eliminating those small stressors from the sometimes-hectic travel experience. Before you head out for any kind of journey — whether it be a week by the sea or a quick trip to the countryside — be sure to reference our ultimate travel checklist to ensure that you’ve thought of everything before you walk out the door.
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