Just before dawn in January 2018, 27 barges were floating like a net along the banks of the Ohio River, downstream of the city of Pittsburgh. Instead of fish, the fleet caught chunks of ice that broke off in the warming, fast-moving waters as it waited for a tow through the nearby Emsworth Locks and Dams.

The area had experienced record rainfall, and the river rose more than 12 feet in about 30 hours. The barges, some loaded with coal and cement, were lashed together with steel cables in a grid-like pattern, then secured to pilings equipped with large metal mooring rings.

Crews had worked through the night to monitor the cable tension as ice and rising waters caused the lines to tighten. At 6:15 a.m., a towing vessel captain saw sparks.

His vessel and all of the 27 barges began drifting downstream, propelled by the fast current and extreme weight of ice. Unable to control the barges, the towing vessels saved two and let the rest go.

Aerial photo of barges against the Emsworth Locks and Dam after the breakaway on Jan. 13, 2018. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard)

Location of the Emsworth Locks and Dam. (Map from NTSB accident report)

Barges after striking the Emsworth Dam. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard)

In the first light of day, they reached the Locks and Dams and met their fate. Seven flowed through the open lock gate. Three hit the dams and sank, taking their cargo with them. The rest grounded on the banks of the river or lodged themselves between the dams and the raging river.

As is typical with marine accidents, no single factor can be blamed. But federal investigators determined the problem that pushed everything over the edge was the weather. The same day, just south of Wheeling, West Virginia, another 27 barges set loose on the Ohio River due to increased rainfall and ice buildup.

Extreme weather has been cited more and more frequently as a contributing cause in serious marine accidents.

Over the past decade in the Ohio watershed, which encompasses 15 states from southwestern New York to the northeast corner of Mississippi, extreme weather has been cited more and more frequently as a contributing cause in serious marine accidents. At the same time, a KyCIR analysis found that shipping of hazardous materials like crude oil and kerosene are rising.

Ohio Watershed (Map by Blue Raster)

These issues have ramifications all along the Ohio River, but particularly in Louisville, home to one of the most difficult passages to navigate. As the conditions on the Ohio and its cargo become more hazardous, key regulatory organizations struggle to keep up with the growing demands of this water highway.

Inland marine accidents dont attract as much publicity as accidents on the oceans. Generally, inland vessels are much smaller, and fewer deaths result from single incidents.

But navigating inland waterways can still be a treacherous endeavour, made more hazardous when the river is high. A 2017 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report estimates that up to 50% more water could be coursing through the Ohio River watershed within this century due to climate change.

The rivers rise obscures river banks and changes river beds. It creates currents that can pull vessels off course, or throw debris into mariners paths.

KyCIR analyzed federal data from 2010 to 2018 on serious marine accidents, which the U.S. Coast Guard defines as incidents involving death or serious injury, excessive property damage or a discharge of hazardous materials.

Nearly 3,400 marine incidents occurred in a nine-year period in the Ohio watershed. In 2010, about 8% were serious. By 2018, serious incidents accounted for 12%.Incidents citing high waters as a contributing factor are on the rise, data show.

Coast Guard serious incident reports from 2010 to 2015 occasionally cited high waters or fast-moving currents as contributing factors to the accidents. But these terms began to show up more frequently in accident descriptions starting in 2016, data show.

In one 2018 incident near Louisville, barges loaded with crude oil condensate got stuck on the river bank. The pilot struggled to avoid being overtaken by strong currents.

Liam LaRue, chief of investigations for the Office of Marine Safety at the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB], said the agency has noticed more and more accidents tied to high rivers.

Wed get a few accidents a week, and they were all just high-water related, LaRue said. Thats definitely something that weve seen a lot of.

NTSB only investigates major marine accidents, which involves six or more fatalities, $500,000 of damage or the total loss of a vessel.

LaRue has been with NTSB for 14 years, and he said their normal annual workload is between 30 and 40 major cases nationwide. Last year was a record year for his team, he said: they investigated 52 major marine accidents. Most happened on oceanic routes or at coastal shipping ports. But inland accidents like the Emsworth barge breakaway outside of Pittsburgh make the list because of the costly property damage they leave in their wake.

And these accidents are not uncommon in the Ohio watershed, in part because the Ohio River is so difficult to navigate.

Louisvilles section of the Ohio River is one of only 12 places in the country with a Vessel Traffic Service essentially an escort system to help vessels navigate dangerous or congested stretches of river. It is the only inland traffic service and the only one that operates solely during times of high water.

Louisvilles service was established in 1973 after a series of accidents, such as the February 1972 incident when a barge carrying chlorine gas became lodged in the McAlpine dam, threatening lives and requiring the evacuation of the nearby Portland neighborhood.

Between 2012 and 2016, Louisvilles traffic service was activated for an average of 59 days a year. In the last two years, it was active for 151 days and 130 days, respectively.

More than 180 million tons of cargo travel up and down the rivers of the Ohio watershed each year, according to a KyCIR analysis of commodities data from the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The river carries shipments of food, alcohol, fuel, construction supplies and even rocket parts.

More and more, those cargo vessels are carrying non-solid fuels.

Kerosene shipments increased 1,372% in 2017 when compared to data from 2000. Crude petroleum shipments increased 675%. By contrast, coal and lignite shipments decreased 35%.

This trend follows the decline of coal and the increase in natural gas production in this region. Less coal is being mined as more companies go bankrupt and coal becomes harder to extract. Power plants are retiring coal generators in favor of natural gas units, which are not only cheaper but cleaner.

But the non-solid materials taking their place are more hazardous to ship. When a coal barge sinks, it generally stays in one place, said Sam Dinkins, a technical programs manager at the Ohio River Valley Water and Sanitation Commission, an interstate water quality agency known as ORSANCO. But when an oil or liquid hazardous material spills, things get messier, faster.

Containment of that release becomes problematic because its going to flow with the river downstream, Dinkins said. And so it spreads out, along with the river flow.

In many cases, the liquid can change the composition and quality of the water water that residents in the watershed ultimately drink.

The Louisville water supply faced a potential disaster in December 2017. A barge holding more than 300,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer broke in half just south of Cincinnati, Ohio, threatening the citys water supply downstream.

This particular spill wasnt due to high water, but it illustrates the potential for danger. As thousands of gallons of urea ammonium nitrate drifted downriver toward Louisville, the citys water authority took action.

This spill was unique because it wasnt like an oil spill where you could see it on the river, Louisville Water Company spokeswoman Kelley Dearing Smith told WFPL in 2017. The chemical was soluble, so our scientists really had to track the spill to understand how this plume was moving.

In this case, rain diluted the contamination, and helped it move swiftly through the city. But less than a month later, the rain would cause the barge breakaways near Pittsburgh and in West Virginia.

These inland spills may seem less catastrophic than ocean spills, but theyre more likely to cause harm to the surrounding area, said Lt. Cmdr. Takila Powell, U.S. Coast Guard marine investigations supervisor for the district that includes most of the Ohio watershed.

When you have an oil spill on an inland river, Powell said, water is more shallow and the currents are different than on the ocean. It takes a lot less oil to pose a big threat.

And plus, theres a higher chance of impact to the shoreline because youre on a river and theres two banks on either side, Powell said. So at least one could potentially be impacted.

Along the Ohio River, Past Accidents Have Led to Stronger Protections for Drinking Water

Government agencies and regulatory bodies say they are working together to improve safety and mitigate harm after accidents occur. But change is slow to come.

For example, Congress passed legislation in 2004 that established mandatory inspections for towing vessels. But mandatory inspections didnt actually begin until 2018, nearly 14 years later.

But as each year brings more volatile weather than the year before, the agencies say theyre trying to be proactive, rather than reactive.

Only recently did the NTSB begin documenting its accident investigations with an internal database. LaRue said the effort will help provide a better idea about trending and things like that, and hopefully spot safety issues.

Such a database, when implemented, could help NTSB create a recommendation report on how to avoid weather-related incidents in the future, but the NTSB still lacks enforcement power. Even if its investigators identify safety protocols that could help mariners deal with extreme weather, it would be up to the Coast Guard to implement them.

Currently, the Coast Guard maintains and operates regional plans that help mariners respond to hazards such as high water or inclement weather on specific stretches of river.

Powell said that during times of high water, the Coast Guard subsectors hold conference calls to discuss river levels, vessel restrictions and weather and river forecasts.

Those forecasts are available for mariners from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association [NOAA], which uses various data points about rainfall and terrain to predict how waterways will react to extreme weather up to 10 days ahead of time.

That gives them the opportunity to make decisions that are going to help them navigate the rivers safely if the water is coming up quickly, said Trent Schade, hydrologist in charge of NOAAs Ohio River Forecast Center. They have an opportunity to move their boat into a safe harbor.

But these forecasts give only a short lead on the future of the river. Both the Coast Guard and NOAA say they arent focused right now on climate changes long-term impacts on river safety. When it comes to next year or the next 10 years, the state of the water is much murkier.

Alexandra Kanik is the data reporter for Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting which is part of Louisville Public Media. She can be reached at akanik@louisvillepublicmedia.org

Caitlin McGlade contributed to this report.

Top photo: The Ohio River, during high water level, upstream of downtown Louisville on Feb. 15, 2018. (Photo by Alexandra Kanik/KyCIR)

Good River: Stories of the Ohio is a series about the environment, economy, and culture of the Ohio River watershed, produced by seven nonprofit newsrooms. To see more, please visit ohiowatershed.org.

See the rest here:
High Waters, Hazardous Cargo: The Complicated Job of Keeping Waterways Safe in the Ohio Watershed - alleghenyfront.org

If you're a coffee aficionado, you'd probably agree that there's nothing better than getting a tasty cup of joe for a good deal. According to new findings on ScienceDaily, researchers just discovered the secret to the very-best shot of espresso. In a study initially shared in the journal Matter, experts revealed that using less, more coarsely ground coffee beans when brewing espresso can give you the same strong coffee taste you love at a more affordable cost. Even better, this method delivers more consistent flavor with every shot of espresso.

Getty / Inti St Clair

Christopher Hendon, the co-senior author for the study and computational chemist at the University of Oregon, mentioned that leaders in the coffee business making minor changes in their coffee-creation process could make all the difference for the average consumer. "Most people in the coffee industry are using fine-grind settings and lots of coffee beans to get a mix of bitterness and sour acidity that is unpredictable and irreproducible," he said. "It sounds counterintuitive, but experiments and modeling suggest that efficient, reproducible shots can be accessed by simply using less coffee and grinding it more coarsely."

Related: This Is How Much Coffee You Can Safely Drink Each Day, According to New Research

The study's researchers, which included experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Switzerland, found that using a mathematical equation would determine how to make the best shot of espresso. They first analyzed the typical process of brewing a shot of espresso, which includes grinding a great deal of coffee beans to a fine consistency, then the brewing liquid dissolves the ground coffee in the drink.

After the team of experts conducted tests for themselves, they found that this technique from the coffee industry ended up clogging the coffee bed, limited the amount of coffee that could be extracted, and wasted more coffee beans. This method also made each shot of espresso taste different since some cups didn't have the same amount of coffee grounds. The researchers' mathematical solution found that, "one way to optimize extraction and achieve reproducibility is to grind coarser and use a little less water, while another is to simply reduce the mass of coffee," Hendon noted.

More here:
Researchers Just Discovered the Secret to Making the Perfect Espresso Shotand It Requires Fewer Coffee Beans - Yahoo Lifestyle

Why cant we put people on Mars? Sarthak, aged 13, Delhi, India

While we havent yet put people on Mars, we may be able to in the future. As with any major human exploration, whether its climbing Mount Everest or travelling to the deepest point of the oceans, there will be a number of obstacles to overcome when we send people to Mars (and bring them back home again).

Firstly, building a spacecraft that can take a crew to Mars safely will be a challenge. Astronauts staying on the International Space Station (ISS) can receive supplies of food, water and other provisions because it is close to the Earth. But a journey to Mars will last six to nine months, depending on the relative positions of the planets to each other. The spacecraft will need to be self-sufficient, which means it will have to carry all the necessary supplies required for the trip or be able to produce them on board.

Curious Kids is a series by The Conversation, which gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.com. We wont be able to answer every question, but well do our very best.

The spacecraft will also need to provide protection for the crew. On Earth we are shielded from the sun by a magnetic field, but in space we can be exposed to solar and cosmic radiation, which damages cells and increases the risk of cancer.

One of the biggest challenges of a human Mars mission will be keeping the crew fit and healthy. Being in space for a long time can make a lot of strange things happen to the human body. When we enter the microgravity environment of space (when astronauts can float) the first thing that happens is that body fluids, which on Earth are pulled to the feet, are reduced and move towards the head and chest. This causes astronauts to experience something called puffy head, chicken legs.

Other serious effects include changes to bone and muscle. In space, bone density reduces at a rate of 1% and muscle mass at a rate of 3% per month. This is similar to the levels lost in an entire year during the ageing process for older people on Earth.

Losing these amounts of bone and muscle may not seem to be much of a problem in space. The weightless conditions mean humans can perform apparent feats of superhuman strength, such as an astronaut moving a satellite into position by themselves. However, when re-entering a gravity environment, muscle and bone loss reduces physical performance and greatly increases the chance of a fracture.

At present the best solution we have to counteract these effects is exercise. Astronauts on the ISS exercise for about 2.5 hours per day, doing a mixture of cardiovascular (cycling, running) and resistance or weight training. However, even with this amount of exercise, astronauts fitness goes down by 25% in just six months, so it is likely that crews will arrive on Mars in a weak and fragile condition.

Once on the surface of Mars, crews will be exposed to gravity again. But the gravity on Mars is only 0.38g (about one-third that of Earths). This means that moving around on the planets surface will be much easier than on Earth even though any visitors would have to wear protective spacesuits but crew members may not be able to replace the muscle and bone lost during the journey. The concern is that if they are unable to replace this muscle and bone when on the surface of Mars (probably for about a year) then they may not be able to come home.

So scientists are looking at lots of ways to keep astronauts healthy during long-term space exploration, including a mission to Mars. They are trying to create artificial gravity devices so astronauts can take part of Earths environment with them. Another possibility is vibration platforms like those used currently on Earth to help regenerate bones and muscles during ageing.

Hopefully, this will mean crews can endure the two-year round trip to Mars and ensure that our first journey to another planet isnt a one-way trip.

Curious Kids is a series by The Conversation, which gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. When sending in questions, make sure you include the askers first name, age and town or city. You can:

Here are some more Curious Kids articles, written by academic experts:

See the original post here:
Curious Kids: why can't we put people on Mars? - The Conversation UK

Just before dawn in January 2018, 27 barges were floating like a net along the banks of the Ohio River, downstream of the city of Pittsburgh.

Instead of fish, the fleet caught chunks of ice that broke off in the warming, fast-moving waters as it waited for a tow through the nearby Emsworth Locks and Dams.

The area had experienced record rainfall, and the river rose more than 12 feet in about 30 hours. The barges, some loaded with coal and cement, were lashed together with steel cables in a grid-like pattern, then secured to pilings equipped with large metal mooring rings.

Crews had worked through the night to monitor the cable tension as ice and rising waters caused the lines to tighten. At 6:15 a.m., a towing vessel captain saw sparks.

His vessel and all of the 27 barges began drifting downstream, propelled by the fast current and extreme weight of ice. Unable to control the barges, the towing vessels saved two and let the rest go.

In the first light of day, they reached the Locks and Dams and met their fate. Seven flowed through the open lock gate. Three hit the dams and sank, taking their cargo with them. The rest grounded on the banks of the river or lodged themselves between the dams and the raging river.

As is typical with marine accidents, no single factor can be blamed. But federal investigators determined the problem that pushed everything over the edge was the weather. The same day, just south of Wheeling, West Virginia, another 27 barges set loose on the Ohio River due to increased rainfall and ice buildup.

Over the past decade in the Ohio watershed, which encompasses 15 states from southwestern New York to the northeast corner of Mississippi, extreme weather has been cited more and more frequently as a contributing cause in serious marine accidents. At the same time, a KyCIR analysis found that shipping of hazardous materials like crude oil and kerosene are rising.

These issues have ramifications all along the Ohio River, but particularly in Louisville, home to one of the most difficult passages to navigate. As the conditions on the Ohio and its cargo become more hazardous, key regulatory organizations struggle to keep up with the growing demands of this water highway.

More serious marine accidents

Inland marine accidents dont attract as much publicity as accidents on the oceans. Generally, inland vessels are much smaller, and fewer deaths result from single incidents.

But navigating inland waterways can still be a treacherous endeavour, made more hazardous when the river is high. A 2017 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report estimates that up to 50% more water could be coursing through the Ohio River watershed within this century due to climate change.

The rivers rise obscures river banks and changes river beds. It creates currents that can pull vessels off course, or throw debris into mariners paths.

KyCIR analyzed federal data from 2010 to 2018 on serious marine accidents, which the U.S. Coast Guard defines as incidents involving death or serious injury, excessive property damage or a discharge of hazardous materials.

Nearly 3,400 marine incidents occurred in a nine-year period in the Ohio watershed. In 2010, about 8% were serious. By 2018, serious incidents accounted for 12%.

Incidents citing high waters as a contributing factor are on the rise, data show.

Coast Guard serious incident reports from 2010 to 2015 occasionally cited high waters or fast-moving currents as contributing factors to the accidents. But these terms began to show up more frequently in accident descriptions starting in 2016, data show.

In one 2018 incident near Louisville, barges loaded with crude oil condensate got stuck on the river bank. The pilot struggled to avoid being overtaken by strong currents.

Liam LaRue, chief of investigations for the Office of Marine Safety at the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB], said the agency has noticed more and more accidents tied to high rivers.

We'd get a few accidents a week, and they were all just high-water related, LaRue said. That's definitely something that we've seen a lot of.

NTSB only investigates major marine accidents, which involves six or more fatalities, $500,000 of damage or the total loss of a vessel.

LaRue has been with NTSB for 14 years, and he said their normal annual workload is between 30 and 40 major cases nationwide. Last year was a record year for his team, he said: they investigated 52 major marine accidents. Most happened on oceanic routes or at coastal shipping ports. But inland accidents like the Emsworth barge breakaway outside of Pittsburgh make the list because of the costly property damage they leave in their wake.

And these accidents are not uncommon in the Ohio watershed, in part because the Ohio River is so difficult to navigate.

Louisvilles section of the Ohio River is one of only 12 places in the country with a Vessel Traffic Service essentially an escort system to help vessels navigate dangerous or congested stretches of river. It is the only inland traffic service and the only one that operates solely during times of high water.

Louisvilles service was established in 1973 after a series of accidents, such as the February 1972 incident when a barge carrying chlorine gas became lodged in the McAlpine dam, threatening lives and requiring the evacuation of the nearby Portland neighborhood.

Between 2012 and 2016, Louisvilles traffic service was activated for an average of 59 days a year. In the last two years, it was active for 151 days and 130 days, respectively.

More hazardous cargo

More than 180 million tons of cargo travel up and down the rivers of the Ohio watershed each year, according to a KyCIR analysis of commodities data from the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The river carries shipments of food, alcohol, fuel, construction supplies and even rocket parts.

More and more, those cargo vessels are carrying non-solid fuels.

Kerosene shipments increased 1,372% in 2017 when compared to data from 2000. Crude petroleum shipments increased 675%. By contrast, coal and lignite shipments decreased 35%.

This trend follows the decline of coal and the increase in natural gas production in this region. Less coal is being mined as more companies go bankrupt and coal becomes harder to extract. Power plants are retiring coal generators in favor of natural gas units, which are not only cheaper but cleaner.

But the non-solid materials taking their place are more hazardous to ship. When a coal barge sinks, it generally stays in one place, said Sam Dinkins, a technical programs manager at the Ohio River Valley Water and Sanitation Commission, an interstate water quality agency known as ORSANCO. But when an oil or liquid hazardous material spills, things get messier, faster.

Containment of that release becomes problematic because it's going to flow with the river downstream, Dinkins said. And so it spreads out, along with the river flow.

In many cases, the liquid can change the composition and quality of the water water that residents in the watershed ultimately drink.

The Louisville water supply faced a potential disaster in December 2017. A barge holding more than 300,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer broke in half just south of Cincinnati, Ohio, threatening the citys water supply downstream.

This particular spill wasnt due to high water, but it illustrates the potential for danger. As thousands of gallons of urea ammonium nitrate drifted downriver toward Louisville, the citys water authority took action.

This spill was unique because it wasnt like an oil spill where you could see it on the river, Louisville Water Company spokeswoman Kelley Dearing Smith told WFPL in 2017. The chemical was soluble, so our scientists really had to track the spill ... to understand how this plume was moving.

In this case, rain diluted the contamination, and helped it move swiftly through the city. But less than a month later, the rain would cause the barge breakaways near Pittsburgh and in West Virginia.

These inland spills may seem less catastrophic than ocean spills, but theyre more likely to cause harm to the surrounding area, said Lt. Cmdr. Takila Powell, U.S. Coast Guard marine investigations supervisor for the district that includes most of the Ohio watershed.

When you have an oil spill on an inland river, Powell said, water is more shallow and the currents are different than on the ocean. It takes a lot less oil to pose a big threat.

And plus, there's a higher chance of impact to the shoreline because you're on a river and there's two banks on either side, Powell said. So at least one could potentially be impacted.

Whats being done

Government agencies and regulatory bodies say they are working together to improve safety and mitigate harm after accidents occur. But change is slow to come.

For example, Congress passed legislation in 2004 that established mandatory inspections for towing vessels. But mandatory inspections didnt actually begin until 2018, nearly 14 years later.

But as each year brings more volatile weather than the year before, the agencies say theyre trying to be proactive, rather than reactive.

Only recently did the NTSB begin documenting its accident investigations with an internal database. LaRue said the effort will help provide a better idea about trending and things like that, and hopefully spot safety issues.

Such a database, when implemented, could help NTSB create a recommendation report on how to avoid weather-related incidents in the future, but the NTSB still lacks enforcement power. Even if its investigators identify safety protocols that could help mariners deal with extreme weather, it would be up to the Coast Guard to implement them.

Currently, the Coast Guard maintains and operates regional plans that help mariners respond to hazards such as high water or inclement weather on specific stretches of river.

Powell said that during times of high water, the Coast Guard subsectors hold conference calls to discuss river levels, vessel restrictions and weather and river forecasts.

Those forecasts are available for mariners from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association [NOAA], which uses various data points about rainfall and terrain to predict how waterways will react to extreme weather up to 10 days ahead of time.

That gives them the opportunity to make decisions that are going to help them navigate the rivers safely if the water is coming up quickly, said Trent Schade, hydrologist in charge of NOAAs Ohio River Forecast Center. They have an opportunity to move their boat into a safe harbor.

But these forecasts give only a short lead on the future of the river. Both the Coast Guard and NOAA say they arent focused right now on climate changes long-term impacts on river safety. When it comes to next year or the next 10 years, the state of the water is much murkier.

Alexandra Kanik is the data reporter for Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting which is part of Louisville Public Media. She can be reached at akanik@louisvillepublicmedia.org

Caitlin McGlade contributed to this report.

Good River: Stories of the Ohio is a series about the environment, economy, and culture of the Ohio River watershed, produced by seven nonprofit newsrooms. To see more, please visit ohiowatershed.org.

Visit link:
In Ohio Watershed, Higher Water Lines And More Hazardous Cargo - WKMS

When the urge to explore arises, few drivers ever find their way off pavement. And really, they dont have to; most popular U.S. campsites, landmarks, and panoramas can be accessed via roadway. But to access more original vistas and tell more compelling stories, youll need to go off-road.

Thankfully, doing so is easier than ever. No longer do you need to sink years of effort into modifying your rig; several automakers will happily sell you a brand-new vehicle with more off-road goodies than youll likely ever need. And if you still prefer to do your own modifications, the aftermarket community is packed with options at all price levels.

In this article, well cover the basics of off-roading, because whether you have a crossover or a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, you can explore far more than a fire road with the right equipment and fundamentals.

Whether your vehicle is old, new, or two- or four-wheel drive, here are some essentials to equip yourself with before you hit the trails:

Just like some people believe all-wheel drive will magically cure wheel slip in the snow, others imagine a transfer case or locking differential will overcome any tire inefficiencies off-road. Unfortunately, if you attempt to drive across mud, rocks, or sand in summer tires (or worse, balding or cracked ones), youre asking for trouble. Different tires are specifically developed to handle different environments.

A mud terrain (M/T) tire will make some noise on the road, but it will also eject mud, snow, or sand quickly to help you coast through the mucky, loose stuff.

An all-terrain (not to be confused with all-season) tire is a good choice for those who expect to encounter a wide variety of surfaces, but likely arent planning to do anything too hardcore. Size your tire according to what fits and turns easily in your vehicles wheel wells. Larger tires provide more ground clearance and a bigger contact patch, but if you go too big, youll need to re-gear your axles or transmission to avoid power loss and poor fuel economy.

A good set of tires will help keep you out of trouble, but if you get stuck, youll be thankful for recovery gear. Among the must-haves are MaxTrax traction pads to help you extract and plough through loose terrain, snatch straps to attach to another vehicles recovery points and pull you from a snag, a high-lift jack and base to elevate your rig and change a tire on any terrain, a patch kit to cover a tear in your tire temporarily, a shovel to, uh, dig yourself out of trouble, work gloves to save your fingers and palms, a headlamp or other light source to illuminate the issue (which often happens during the inconvenience of night), and a jump starter to overcome a dead or faulty battery. You can get fancy with equipment like winches, but keep in mind that these carry a hefty weight penalty (not to mention expense) and arent necessary for the average off-roader.

Weve all seen the weekend warriors with about thirty LED, halogen, and HID lights pointing in all directions. That doesnt need to be you (and unless you have a very specific use-case, it shouldnt be you). Really, all you need is a good set of driving lights that cast a wide enough beam far enough into the night. If your stock headlights arent cutting it, an easy solution is to attach a set of auxiliary driving lights to your front bumper with a switch wired somewhere on your dashboard. If you want to go the extra mile, consider a set of spot/search lights that can be mounted near your door mirrors to illuminate the left and right side of a path ahead. Yes, LED light bars look cool and can be useful, but they can also create problems if incorrectly mounted (think intense glare off your hood), so be sure thats what you want.

The tires didnt keep you out of trouble and the recovery gear couldnt free you from it now what? Plan and prepare for these emergency situations before the fact. If youre overlanding or headed to a campsite, chances are that you packed sufficient food and water for a couple days, but if not, youll always want some rations and water stashed on board. Bundled with these essentials should also be a set of warm, waterproof clothes (yes, even if the weather report is favorable). In the event of a rollover or similarly dangerous predicament, youll want a seatbelt cutter or glass breaker somewhere on your person or easily accessible. Of course, a first-aid kit is a must. And if youd rather not wait until youre found, its a good idea to buy a long-distance radio with a spare battery to alert anyone nearby.

Depending on your vehicle, the drivers seat can give you access to a vast array of switches, buttons, and levers, inviting the question: What do you activate, and when?

Whether you have two-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, or four-wheel drive, if your vehicle was made in the last decade, it probably has some form of traction control. The most basic iteration of this is a simple on/off setting, but vehicles designed to tackle various climates and terrain will come equipped with multiple configurations that adjust throttle mapping, braking, and/or power distribution to limit wheel slip and therefore overcome obstacles. If you have an on/off switch, your best bet is to keep the system off when youre off-road this will prohibit the vehicle from applying the brakes at the first hint of traction loss. If your system has multiple settings, do a bit of homework via YouTube videos, forums, or your user manual to see what setting is best in which conditions.

If you do have a 4WD vehicle with a two-speed transfer case (4WD Hi and 4WD Lo), youll need to know how and when to move between these settings. For most vehicles, the transition happens via an additional lever somewhere in the center console area, but for some, its a knob mounted on the dash. If your vehicle has permanent 4WD (and therefore doesnt have a 2WD setting), youll want to keep it in 4WD Hi to drive on the highway or tackle terrain where youll need to maintain momentum (i.e. mud, sand, or snow). 4WD Lo, meanwhile is used when youll need as much torque as possible at low speeds (i.e. rock crawling). Once youre in the 4 Lo setting, youll also want to use the right gear; the lower the gear, the more torque available.

A two-speed transfer case (4WD) system will take you much further than an all-wheel drive or two-wheel drive setup, but if you really want to move through just about anything, youll want locking differentials. With an open (not locked) differential, each wheel on an axle spins independently, meaning if one tire doesnt have any traction and is therefore spinning helplessly, you simply lose all the power that would otherwise go to that wheel. By locking a differential (typically via a button or switch somewhere on the dashboard), you forcibly link the two wheels, so if one gets loose, that power is distributed to the wheel with traction. Power + traction = progress.

These arent absolute essentials to basic off-roading, but are useful extras for Off-Roading 101: What you should know before you go for more serious wheelin.

After airing down for improved traction off-road, this tool restores your tires to standard psi (a number youll find in your manual or on the tires themselves). It can also be used after a puncture to inflate a tire before applying a patch. These systems come in all shapes, sizes, and price segments. More expensive compressors will have higher CFM (cubic feet per minute) ratings, meaning they funnel more air into each tire in a given minute. Lower CFM compressors will take some time to refill air, but are often lighter and cheaper. Even if you dont personally own an air compressor, if youre planning to tackle off-road terrain that will require an air down, make sure you travel with someone who has one.

A large segment of the aftermarket is dedicated to the combination of shock and spring that settle between your vehicle and its wheels. Consider that a good suspension is intended to support the weight of your vehicle with the right spring rate and shock valving. Too low a setting for either will mean bottoming out over every bump; too high a setting will create a punishingly stiff ride for all vehicle occupants. When deciding which suspension is right for you, speak with the manufacturer. Specialists will tailor their advice based on your tire size, weight-adding equipment, and intended use-case.

A snorkel is a way of re-routing your air intake from engine height to a position much higher on your vehicle. The only purpose for this system is to give you an off-roader image no, not really. Routing your air intake higher on your vehicle can serve two purposes: in situations where you are fording water at or above your grille level, a standard intake would suck that water into your engine. Instead, the snorkel takes fresh air from above the surface. Alternatively, if you spend a lot of time in loosely packed dirt, you may clog your air filter with the cloud of dust that hovers at window height (especially so if you are following other vehicles). In this case, a snorkel will pull cleaner air from above the dust cloud.

On one end of the spectrum are people who assume that because they dont have 4WD, they dont belong off pavement, while on the other end are folks who attempt to rock crawl in a Toyota Prius (dont roll your eyes Ive seen it). There is a happy medium, though. Even if you bought the two wheel-drive version of a vehicle with a good ground clearance, proper off-roading techniques and equipment (see above) will get you pretty far. On the other hand, if youre rocking a Prius, you should probably just find a friend with a truck.

These are two separate pieces of advice, but linked together, they are the most important words of wisdom we can impart. First, remember that if you exceed your limits and do damage to your vehicle or yourself, you wont have an opportunity to get back off-road for a while. Even if youve made the trek down a trail, only to find an obstacle you arent comfortable with, its better to turn around than to wind up in a dangerous and/or expensive predicament. This is also where your buddy comes in. While you can make a bad call alone, youre less likely to do so with someone else (smart) weighing in. If you both decide to go for it, your buddy can also serve as a spotter to safely guide you over or through an obstacle. And, if this buddy has his or her their own vehicle, they can either pull yours out of trouble, or pull you out of an overturned or otherwise damaged rig (which is harder to accomplish when theyre strapped into the seat next to you).

If your stock vehicle is set up to go off-road, or if youve invested in a good set of AT or MT tires, youll likely notice that theres tread not only where youd expect it, but also on the sidewalls of each tire (called biting edges). It isnt there for show. Before you get into the thick of off-roading, you can optimize traction by airing down each of your tires to between 20-25 psi. This will put more of your tread (including the biting edges) in contact with the ground. More tread means more grip, and without as much air in the tire, its shape can change based on the surface. This allows the tire to dig into rocks or mud, pulling the vehicle forward. Used a different way, airing down on deep mud or snow improves your float, letting your vehicle cruise over the top of the ground rather than sinking into it. And when the off-roading fun is over, dont forget to air your tires back up with a compressor so you dont kill your fuel economy on the highway or worse unseat the tire from its rim.

Even if youve gone to the trouble of fitting a snorkel to your vehicle, that doesnt mean you can magically make it across any body of water. If you wander too deep, or into a fast enough moving current, you run the risk of flooding your car or being carried down river (potentially upside down). Do yourself a favor and check the waters depth at the deepest point to make sure you arent heading into a disaster.

If youve spent time daily driving your vehicle, you understand some of its characteristics like turning radius and fuel economy, but off-roading requires a deeper knowledge. Approach, departure, and breakover angle deal with the level of clearance you have beneath your front and rear bumpers, and the space between axles. Off-road, retaining a mental picture of the space beneath each of these sections of your vehicle will help you avoid getting stuck on rocks, inclines, or ruts that you should have taken at an angle (or skipped entirely).

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Off-Roading 101: What You Should Need and Know Before You Go - The Manual