Trail Building
Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 116
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
Trail building best practices
Say you need to lay a new bike trail in the hills, or you have a piece of property that could use a footpath down to the creek, or you volunteer one weekend to repair some trails for a local wildlife organization but none of the other volunteers know what to do. You need this fabulous manual. It will instruct you in the better ways to build and maintain footpaths with sensitivity, and how to deal with the three primary enemies of all roads: water, water, and water. I’ve made some trails and I sure wish I had this book long ago. It’s the best of a few alternatives. The insights are hard-earned and not commonplace, and will make a huge difference in how often you’ll have to come back to fix what you thought you already fixed. I’ve spent enough of my life living on trails to really appreciate a well-made one. Here’s how to make great trails. — KK
- Measuring Distances by Pacing
In ancient times, distances were often determined by the length of a person’s stride. Knowing how to pace is a valuable skill in our day, too, since it allows a trail worker to estimate distances simply by walking.Developing an accurate measuring pace is a learned skill. Use a tape measure or measuring wheel to mark off a 100-foot distance on flat ground. Beginning at one end, walk to the other with a normal stride, counting your steps as you go, then divide 100 by the number of steps.Early forestry manuals make the distinction between a step (count every time either foot strikes ground) and a /pace/ (two steps–count only when the left foot strikes ground). Some strides are easier to calculate in paces, others in steps. - Stump Removal
The tribulations of stump removal will try your patience as do few other tasks in trail work. When you match your intelligence to that of a stump, though, chances are better than even that you will be at a slight advantage. Granted, the stump has nothing to think about except how to stay firmly situated in the center of your trail, but a bit of cleverness on your part may persuade even the most tenacious root ball to ease its grip and go away.
- Advantages of Building Downhill
Because of the nature of switchback design, the likelihood of accurate treat placement is much greater when you build down through the turn than if you try to go the other way. If the general direction of trail construction has been uphill, stop the upward excavation about 100 feet from a proposed switchback. Move up the stake line 50 feet beyond the turn and build the track back down to the switchback location. Construct the switchback itself, and then continue downhill construction, fine-turning the location until you link up with the tread that has already been completed.
Professional, scientific outdoor supplies
If you measure value in decades and don’t care about appearances then industrial supplies are always the way to go. The McMaster-Carr Online Catalog (see p 15) is the granddaddy of all industrially-minded geeks, but their focus is on tooling and indoor industrial items. If I’m considering anything for the outdoors, Ben Meadows is the first catalog I pick up and the only other paper catalog on my shelf I use regularly.
Its categories span the spectrum of possible industries: loggers, farmers, ecosystem scientists, surveyors, animal control & management, spelunkers, cable locators, miners, hydrologists, oilfield workers — and dozens of other areas. It’s a weird and wonderful combination of both rugged equipment for burly log-throwing types as well as instruments, equipment, and books that the more scientific-minded person would be interested in. This is the place where pros (or their purchasing departments) come to find the best gear, and I suspect much of it is worth the cost and slight delay even for an amateur.
The inventory of the Ben Meadows catalog is impressive: Six pages of pH meters! Seven pages of measuring tapes! Five pages of arborist ropes! Portable lightning detectors, safety equipment of all types, windsocks, night vision gear, throw nets, waders, fire jumper supplies, forestry cruising equipment — there is no way I could do justice to the huge variety. I’ve been getting the catalog for 10 years, and every year find a new person who has never seen it and been just as excited with all the stuff they have never known where to get (“So THIS is where I can get bright green non-toxic water dyes!”). Keeping this catalog handy is a dangerous thing. You’ll almost certainly find that tool that makes you think: “If only I knew this existed last summer when I needed it!” And then you’ll go order whatever it is so next summer’s job is much easier.
The descriptions of certain tools give quick insight into how things are done by the professionals. It’s like seeing a shadowy, partial image of an instruction set of how to perform certain tasks. For instance, there is a “Plant Tissues Color Chart” book which allows comparative color examinations of certain plant leaves to determine soil nutrient or toxicity makeup. Well, there’s something I didn’t know you could do, and now I know how to get more information. Looking through the field test kits, I was surprised to see how many possible test elements there are for groundwater; maybe now I’ll test the spring in my backyard to see what kinds of mineral content it has. I would be very surprised if you couldn’t find a significant portion of previously-reviewed Cool Tools in this catalog. — John Todd
