Most of us have experienced a winter that brought on warmer temperatures than expected. I for one can’t say I minded it, and above average temps certainly make the rain here much more bearable. With all of that in mind though, the water temperatures have still fallen to reasonably chilly levels.

Most of us divers have to consider that unless you are diving in the tropics along the equator, you need some sort of exposure protection. So let’s take a look at a few methods for protecting your body from the brutal cold underwater by examining some fun facts about temperatures and the difference between wetsuits and drysuits.

The human body loses heat approximately 26 times faster in water than in air of the same temperature. For this reason, when diving in water temperature less than about 90°F (32°C), you must have some means to keep your body warm to prevent hypothermia. The most popular candidate for this task amongst divers across the spectrum is the wetsuit.

Wetsuit Function

If you’ve ever been diving, you have more than likely had to don a wetsuit. My instructors used to tell me, “Remember that there are two kinds of divers: The ones that pee in their wetsuits, and the ones that lie about peeing in their wetsuits.” This adage works on the old school thought that wetsuits use a thin layer of water between the skin and the neoprene material the suit is made of to keep the body warm. The seal in the wetsuit sleeves and neck are supposed to keep new water from seeping in and chilling the body. This fun little tidbit is actually FALSE!

The wetsuit keeps your body warm by heating the air bubbles in the neoprene itself. As a result, the more water that gets into your suit, the less effective it is. So it is not uncommon to see products like Skin Seals being sewn into suits in attempt to keep cold water from getting in.

Wetsuit Fit and Myths

There’s been a strange debate as to how a wetsuit is supposed to fit. A lot of this debate has been fueled from the incorrect assumptions of the “thin layer of water principle” as well as another common myth that suits either shrink or grow over time. So let’s dispel any wetsuit myths now.

First and foremost, the whole fitting issue is simple. Based on how a wetsuit traps heat, you want to select one that fits as close to the body as possible without giving you the body squeezes. This is a simple problem to avoid. A suit should be relatively easy to get onto your body with the neck and sleeves being increasingly difficult to slide over your hands.

It was said in the old days to get a suit that fit larger but this is caused by the lack of availability of quality fabrics in the diving industry. Suits were less flexible and thus tended to squeeze in certain areas more so than today’s higher quality demand.

“Some wetsuits shrink and some wetsuits grow.” Well, if you say so. These claims are both false. The bottom line is that quality suits will not shrink or grow, but rather they will remain the same relative size for years and years. Unfortunately you can’t blame the dryer if your suit has shrunk (most suits can be machine washed). If your suit is fitting a bit snug after the holidays, a running regimen can help your suit fit a little better, I know I need it.

Now if you remember the gas laws article we put up here some time ago, then you may be familiar with Boyle’s Law. Boyle’s Law states that “given a constant temperature, the volume of a gas varies inversely as the absolute pressure.” Then you may be asking, what if I go deeper and those little gas bubbles we talked about decrease in size? You know the answer to that based on logic, the suit becomes less effective and that is why most technical divers turn to the drysuit.

Drysuits

Drysuits are a wonderful tool for those that want to take on a more adventurous or complex style of diving. Regardless of the quality of your wetsuit, eventually they simply cannot hang on to your expectations when you decide to go deeper, colder, or longer. Drysuits are much more complicated to dive with and require an actual training session to be comfortable, but the end result is a more enjoyable dive and some gawking from the other guys on the cattle boat. Let’s talk about how the drysuit works.

Plain and simple, the drysuit keeps you warm based on the clothing you decide to wear underneath it. The suit itself provides no real insulation property, but rather provides the users with a dry climate so that the user can choose appropriate garments to wear inside and a thin pocket of air between the skin and material. I’m not referencing all of the other fancy items out there like the neoprene drysuit, or the semi dry suit, I am talking about the fabric suit that you layer over cold weather garments to protect you from the elements.

This suit is generally fitted for the wearer, slightly oversized to accommodate more layers of clothing underneath. The suit consists of fabric and rubber to produce a watertight barrier with tight rubber seals at the ankles, wrists and neck as well as a waterproof zipper either across the chest or down the back. Rear entry suits require the aid of another diver to be properly donned. Once inside however, the diver is just about ready to hit the water.

Remember earlier when we referenced Boyle’s Law? This Law is a nuisance to the drysuit diver because as the gases between your body and the wall of the suit contract, they will try to suck water in through the seals. Drysuits have little plastic circles on the arms and chest that act as inflators and purge valves. This allows the diver to connect an inflator hose to his suit and force air in to keep the pressure ambient and to act as a buoyancy compensator. Upon ascent, the diver simply purges the air from the suit using any of the purge valves installed and continues a slow and steady climb to the surface.

Dive Skin

When diving in waters that are warm enough to not require a suit, some divers opt for a dive skin. A skin is the diver version of what those of us in the industry refer to as under armor or base layer. It is a thin polyester material that helps reduce the likelihood of scratches, cuts, and rashes from sea life such as fish or coral. These tend to be flattering on the wearer unless you’re Daniel Craig, and provide virtually no insulating properties.

Disclaimer

ITS Tactical cannot be held responsible for any attempts at any form of diving without first seeking professional training and advice. The following article is not intended as a replacement for proper training and equipment used in any water sport activity. Diving is inherently dangerous, and introduces a unique set of risks not typically present in everyday life. We urge you to seek proper instruction from a qualified, and certified agency before attempting any sport requiring a life support system, namely: SCUBA. It is likewise very important that you contact your health care provider before attempting any training classes to ensure you are in good physical condition. Those with pre-existing medical conditions may be at a higher risk for certain complications that may become present while SCUBA Diving.

We’ll soon be hitting the open road on a 1,000 mile journey that will take us from Texas to just south of Flagstaff, Arizona for the 2013 Overland Expo.

Running from May 17th – May 19th, the expo is one of the world’s largest events for DIY adventure travel enthusiasts with classes for overlanding, demonstrations, food, music and over 140 vendors of adventure equipment and services.

This is our first year to attend the Overland Expo and I couldn’t be more excited about participating in all the different workshops. From recovery techniques, vehicle marshaling, 4WD maintenance, cooking and overland driving skills, the expo is packed full of awesome!

What is Overlanding?

You may be wondering what the term overlanding refers to. I’ll first say that it’s right up the alley of most of the readers on ITS and that overlanding utilizes principles and skill-sets we advocate and write about here on ITS Tactical all the time. Overlanding by definition to me is all about the journey and the experience.

It’s about getting into off-road capable transportation, whether that’s a 4WD truck, a Motorcycle or even a bicycle and heading to a remote destination where you’ll rely on self-reliance during your extended trip. It’s also a great opportunity to test your preparedness to handle anything life throws at you and sleep under the stars. Just a few things that I’m very fond of in my life.

The Overland Expo

While the expo is just days away, I wanted to put out some information for those that might still be either considering visiting this year, or even making plans for next year. The Overland Expo is divided into two ways to experience the event.

The Overland Experience Package is the attendance package that includes the option for signing up for specific workshops, demos and driving classes. It’s also the all-inclusive package that features unlimited attendance, dry camping, drink tickets for Friday and Saturday night happy hour and even a BBQ banquet on Sunday afternoon.

Day passes are the second attendance package and are a pay-by-the-day option for unlimited attendance on that specific day. While day passes still get you into the exposition to check out all the gear, vehicles and camping equipment, it doesn’t include the option to sign up for driving/riding classes or workshops. You can still attend films, slide shows, roundtables, demos and test drives/rides and camping is available for a fee.

The Overland Experience Package runs $265 for a single person/vehicle/motorcycle and $480 for two people/one vehicle/one motorcycle. Kids under 16 are free. The day passes for a single adult run $15 for a single day, $25 for two days and $35 for three days. One family day passes, which equals one household, run $30 for one day, $50 for two days and $65 for three days.

At gate pricing is available as well, which may be your only option for 2013, as the Overland Experience and Day Passes seem to be sold out. Admission at the gate will run $20 or $40 for a family per day. $35/$65 for two days and $45/$75 for three days.

The Rig

I’ll be driving out to the expo with my FJ Cruiser and look forward to getting in some hard usage. I’ve slowly been adding on to it since it’s purchase a few years back. While I plan on detailing the upgrades I’ve made in a future ITS article, I’m certain it can handle what I plan to throw at it this week.

The basic rundown is a 3″ Lift, Nitto Trail Grappler Tires, Pro Comp Wheels, Baja Rack Roof Rack, Baja Rack Ladder, Baja Rack Accessory Brackets for a Shovel, Axe, Hi-Lift Jack and (4) NATO 5 Gallon Jerry Cans. Plus a few extras in the interior like MPAC Racks and Recovery Equipment.

We’ll be camping out at OE, so if you see my FJ Cruiser, be sure to come by and say hi. The open road and adventure awaits!

Having a break-down on the side of the road flat-out sucks. Maybe you’re driving your lady home, honing your driving skills, or even overseas, the simple truth is that a little bit of car preparation can go a very long ways toward keeping the wheels turning and getting you where you need to go.

You don’t have to be a trained mechanic to ruggedize your vehicle, all it takes is a little bit of time, basic tools and materials that you can find just about anywhere to turn a normal production vehicle into a high speed workhorse ready to tackle your driving adventures.

Battery

Your battery needs to be tied down very securely if you plan on operating at high speeds, over rough terrain, or both. A loose battery will arc its terminals on sheet metal, flex and break its connections, or shift from its location and interfere with other moving parts. Batteries can be tied down with ratchet straps, bungees, paracord, etc.

Take care not to bridge the terminals with metal or any other conductive material, even touching the terminals together with a tool tool can let the smoke out of the wires or ECU. Cover the battery or at least the hot terminal with scrap rubber or plastic, even wrapping with tape will help prevent a catastrophe.

Tires

Standard equipment tires found on most sedans across the world are fairly thin, weak units. The sidewalls of the tires are especially prone to puncture, as the steel belts and other plies are typically found only in the tread section of the tire.

Over-inflating tires to 35-40 PSI will help to keep the sidewalls away from the terrain that you’re driving over, this will also keep a better seal between the tire and the wheel. Do not slide the car overly sideways on rough terrain, as this exposes your sidewalls to rocks and debris.

Specific rally-racing tires are available in a variety of sizes to fit most vehicles, these tires are designed and reinforced to handle very abrasive surfaces and rough terrain. Whenever possible, carry a full size spare and tools. Secure all of these as well.

Lights

Standard white lights found on most cars leave much to be desired. Replace bulbs with higher wattage units when possible. Also, it is important to understand that your headlights were aimed at the factory with other driver’s feelings in mind. In the States, left side headlights are aimed further inboard and down as a courtesy to other motorists, and headlights are in general aimed further down than is practical for expedient driving.

Find a level surface to align your lights against a large wall or even a deserted stretch of road. Rain-X not only works well on windshields but it keeps headlights clean too. Be sure to adjust your following distances on muddy roads.

Underbody

There are many vulnerable parts on the underside of your vehicle that will stop your trip in a hurry if they are compromised. Your radiator and oil pan typically sit fairly low, as well as fuel tanks, pumps and brake lines. With time and materials, you can do an excellent job of protecting these items, but we all know that there’s often no time for this. Scrap metal, thick rubber, plastic or even a road sign can make an adequate skid plate underneath the engine or fuel tank. I have a Finnish friend that once cut a piece from the wing of an old military aircraft in Estonia to fashion a skid plate in a hurry.

Slice small diameter rubber hose lengthwise and use it to wrap fuel and brake lines then finish it off by affixing with hose clamps or flex ties. Secure the exhaust system firmly to the body with mechanics wire or hose clamps at all mounting points.

Drive Time

These few precautions should dramatically prolong the life of a standard vehicle. The more time that you have available, obviously the better you can prepare your vehicle for rough terrain, heavy loads or aggressive driving. Simply by going through these checks, you also make yourself more familiar with the vehicle and aware of its weak points, which will allow you to change your driving style and decisions accordingly. Good luck out there and keep it on the road.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Wyatt Knox as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Wyatt was the 2011 2-Wheel Drive US Rally Champion, former lead instructor at the Team O’Neil Rally School and is now racing internationally as well as doing private instruction and coaching.

One of my personal goals for 2012 was to learn tubular lock picking and become proficient enough to share my knowledge with everyone here on ITS Tactical. It took me a few more months than I would have liked, but today I’ll be walking you through how to pick tubular locks.

Tubular locks are commonly found on small gun safes, vending machines, computer locks, etc. In fact, what prompted me to get into tubular lock picking, other than for Locksport purposes, was when my son lost his key to a small handgun safe he was using for his Airsoft pistol.

Commonly thought to be more secure and more resistant to picking than standard pin and tumbler locks, I’ve found that with the help of a tubular lock pick, they’re much easier and faster to pick.

Tubular Locks

If you’re familiar with past discussions we’ve had on ITS, you’ll hopefully know what I mean when I refer to pin and tumbler locks, the kind you commonly find on your front door. Tubular locks are very similar to pin and tumbler locks and are actually a tubular pin-tumbler lock. Also known as Ace locks, axial pin-tumbler locks and radial locks.

All the features of a standard pin-tumbler lock are still there, just configured in a circular pattern rather than inline as standard pin-tumbler lock is. In fact, while the purpose of this post is to explain tubular lock picks, specifically built for picking tubular locks, they can also be picked with common single-pin picking. Only with a lot more effort.

As you’ll notice in the photo of the tubular lock pick trainer above, you have the spring, key pins (red) and driver pins (gold). This is also represented in the diagrams below as (red) key pins and (blue) driver pins.

Each complete pin stack is pushed with help from it’s spring towards the front of the lock. This binds the shear line and prevents the plug from turning (colored yellow in the diagrams.) The difference with a tubular key and a standard key is that instead of the cuts of a key, a tubular key has half-cylinder indentations with map to the height of the pin stack. It also means that duplicating a tubular key requires different machinery.

The top center of the interior of a tubular key features a raised protrusion that aligns the key in it’s proper configuration to map to each pin-tumbler stack. When the key is inserted, those mapped heights align, causing the shear line to separate and allow the plug to turn from the outer shell (green in the diagram below.)

Tubular Lock Picks

Standard configurations for tubular lock picks are 7 pin, 8 pin and the less common 10 pin. Some tubular locks are even six pins and while I haven’t personally tried it, the 7 pin tubular lock pick should work on the 6 pin lock. I suspect this is the case, as I’ve used an 8 pin tubular lock pick to pick “some” 7 pin tubular locks.

The parts of a tubular lock pick include independent needles that correspond with each independent pin stack. These needles are held under tension with the use of the rotating collar.

Below the needles, but before the handle, there’s a washer that facilitates resetting the tubular lock pick. This brings us to the first step in using a tubular lock pick.

1. Ensure the needles are free and can move independently and loosen the collar to the point where it’s just barely finger tight to apply light tension to the needles.
2. Extend all the needles by pressing the washer to move them beyond the end of the pick.
3. Press the complete pick against a hard surface to reset the needles to their baseline height.
4. Insert the pick into the lock slowly, allowing the picking needles to map to the corresponding pin stacks.
5. Slowly apply left to right turning torque to the pick and the lock should pop open.
6. Once the lock is picked, remove the tubular lock pick and tighten the collar.
7. *See the YouTube Video embedded above for a walkthrough of these steps.*

Now comes the amazing part. With the collar tightened down, you now hold a key in your hand that will open the tubular lock over and over again. With a tubular lock decoder you can actually measure the height of each pin as is corresponds in a clockwise pattern around the tubular lock pick. With that “code” you can have a locksmith create a duplicate key. That, or you can take your now decrypted tubular lock pick to a locksmith and have them reproduce a key.

It’s actually scary how easy it is to not only open tubular locks, but to continue to open them over and over again. To me, these are less secure than household pin and tumbler locks, due to the ease of creating a new key. There are of course ways of impressioning a key blank on a standard pin-tumbler lock, but take much more effort than the tubular lock pick does.

There’s even more to tubular locks that I’ll save for a future discussion, but if you’re interested in jumping ahead, google how to pick a tubular lock with a ballpoint pen.

As always, our goal with providing locking picking information is to continually break down the illusion of security you may depend on to keep your family and personal effects safe. Through gaining more knowledge of this skill-set, you can make more informed decisions when it comes to protecting your valuables.

Remember, locks and security in general is only to buy you time. They’re there to keep honest people honest.

ITS Tactical Editor-in-Chief’s note: This post was written by Brett McKay and originally ran on The Art of Manliness.

In the quest to streamline your camping trips, foil packet meals can be one of your greatest allies. It’s cooking at its simple best; you take some ingredients, wrap them up in a foil parcel, and place the pouch in a campfire’s coals to cook. You can prepare these foil packets before you head out into Mother Nature, and they require no pots and pans, no plates, and no clean up. All you need is a fork and some fire. And, if you know what you’re doing, they can be incredibly tasty and satisfying. So today we’re going to cover the basics of foil packet cooking and provide you with some delicious recipes to try the next time you venture into the great outdoors.

Foil Packet Cooking Tips

• Use heavy duty foil. You don’t want the foil to rip and have ashes get in and your dinner leak out. If you use regular foil, double up on the sheets. If your food is heavy, and/or if you plan to eat directly from the pack, it’s a good idea to double up even on the heavy duty sheets.
• Spray the side of the foil on which you’re going to place the food with cooking spray before you add your ingredients and seal it up.
• When placing your ingredients on the sheet of foil, always put the meat on the bottom as it takes the longest to cook.
• Cook your foil packet on the fire’s coals, not in the fire itself. Ideally, you want to place the packet on a bed of coals about 2 inches thick.
• Hard, raw vegetables like carrots and potatoes take a long time to cook. If you don’t want to wait, use the canned variety.
• When cooking meat, throw in some high-moisture veggies like tomatoes and onions. This will keep the meat from drying out.
• Cooking times will depend on how hot the fire is and the kind of food in the packet. I generally err on the side of cooking it too long-this is the kind of food that you don’t need to be overly delicate with. Flip the packets over a few times during cooking, and open and check on how the food is progressing from time to time.
• When it’s finished cooking, open your foil packet carefully, as it’s full of hot steam!

Making Your Foil Packs

Making a good foil pack is essential to foil dinner cooking success. There are a couple of different kinds of foil packs you can make depending on what you’re cooking.

The Flat Pack

The flat pack is best for foods like meat where you’re looking for more browning than steaming.

1. Place the food in the middle of the sheet of foil. If you needed to mix the ingredients up, do so in a separate bowl before transferring it to the foil.

2. Tear off a sheet of heavy-duty foil that is about twice as long as the food you’ll be wrapping. It’s better to overestimate the length than place your food on it, start wrapping it up, and realize you don’t have enough foil to keep everything in and make your folds.

3. Bring the long sides together in the center and crease them together, making tight folds until the foil is flat next to the food.

4. Tightly roll up the shorter sides until they meet the food.

The Tent Pack

The tent pack provides a pocket of air that allows for greater steaming. Thus, it’s best for foods you want steamed more than browned like fruits, vegetables, and meat/vegetable combos.

1. Tear off a sheet of foil just as you would for the flat pack.

2. Place the food in the middle of the foil.

3. Bring the long sides together in the center and tightly fold them together towards the food. This time, stop folding a few inches before you get to the food, leaving a pocket of space and creating a “tent.”

4. Tightly roll up the shorter sides, again leaving an inch or so of space between the end of the fold and the food.

9 Easy and Delicious Foil Packet Recipes

You don’t have to limit foil packet cooking to camping. All of these recipes are also good when cooked on the grill. It’s an easy way to grill veggies. Above, I took some squash and zucchini and mixed it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Very nice.

I’ve tried to give somewhat exact measurements here, but honestly I just eyeball it, and I recommend doing likewise. Foil packet cooking is not an exact science. And these recipes represent just the basics-you can add all sorts of variations to them. The foil is your camping canvas and you can do whatever you’d like with it. All servings are for a single person unless otherwise indicated. Just double or triple the measurements according to your needs.

The Classic: Hamburger and Vegg-All

This is my go-to foil dinner recipe.

• ½ lb ground hamburger meat
• ½ can of Veg-all or other mixed vegetables
• ½ can can of cream of mushroom soup
• spices and seasonings

Mix together the above ingredients with spices and condiments to your heart’s content. Place the mixture on the center of a sheet of foil, wrap in a tent pack, and place on hot coals for 25 minutes.

Sausage and Eggs

• 1 frozen hash brown patty
• 2 eggs, scrambled, uncooked
• 2 frozen sausage patties
• spices and seasonings
• Cheese (optional)

Crimp the sides of your sheet of foil so that the eggs won’t go anywhere when you add them. First place your hash brown patty on the foil. Then place the eggs on top of the hash brown patty. Then place the sausage patties on top. Season with spices and condiments and wrap up in a tent pack.

Place on hot coals and cook for 15 minutes. Add the cheese when it’s ready (it turns out better than cooking it in the pack).

Muffins in an Orange Shell

Making muffins this way isn’t actually easier than baking them up at home, but it is infinitely cooler.

• 6 oranges
• 1 package of just add water muffin mix

Mix up the muffin mix as instructed. Cut off the quarter top of the oranges. Carefully scoop out the pulp; do not break the skin. Pour the muffin mix into the oranges. Wrap the oranges in foil, crimping the foil around the hole at top of the shell, but leaving it open.

Place the oranges upright in a stable position on hot coals and cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Makes six servings. Well, if you’re someone who can stop at one muffin.

Note: You can also cook eggs this way, but you’ll want to cover the whole orange shell with foil.

Chicken Casserole

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 cup of broccoli
• 1/2 cup of prepared rice
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• ranch dressing
• cheddar cheese
• spices

Pound the chicken thinly as chicken can take awhile to cook.

Mix together the broccoli, soup, and cheese. Add spices and condiments. Place the chicken breast on the center of the foil. Top with the soup mix and then rice. Seal in a tent pack.

Cook on hot coals for about 25 minutes (The thicker your chicken breast, the longer it will take).

Catch of the Day

• Fish that you caught with your own manly hands and filleted
• ¼ cup of onions
• 1 tablespoon of butter, melted
• lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• parsley
• dill weed
• paprika

Mix the melted butter with a dash of lemon juice and the above spices to taste (with the exception of the paprika). Place the onions on the foil sheet. Place the fish on top and sprinkle with paprika. Wrap the foil in a flat pack.

Place on hot coals and scoop some hot coals on top of the packet. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops

• 1 boneless pork chop
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ package frozen stir-fry vegetables
• garlic powder, salt, pepper

Mix together the apricot preserves, the soy sauce, and any seasoning you’d like to add. Place the pork chop in the center of the sheet of foil. Spread half of the apricot sauce on top. Put the veggies on top/around the pork chop. Pour the rest of the sauce over the whole thing. Wrap in a tent pack. Place on hot coals and cook for 20 minutes.

Thanksgiving Dinner

• 1 turkey cutlet
• 1 cup of prepared stuffing
• ½ cup of turkey gravy
• ½ cup of green beans
• ¼ dried cranberries
• salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram

Place turkey cutlet on sheet of foil. Put the stuffing on top and the green beans around the cutlet. Pour gravy over everything and sprinkle with the dried cranberries and seasonings. Wrap in a tent pack and place on hot coals for 20 minutes.

Corn on the Cob

• 4 ears of shucked corn
• ¼ cup butter or olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
• salt and pepper
• 4 ice cubes

Place the ears of corn on a large sheet of foil. Spread the butter on top. Sprinkle with the seasonings and Parmesan cheese. Put the ice cubes on top. Wrap up into a tent pack. Place on hot coals and cook for 20 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Pineapple Upside Donut Cake

Every delicious foil dinner deserves a delicious foil dessert. This is an awesome one.

• 1 ring of pineapple
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cake donut

Place donut on sheet of foil. Mix the softened butter and brown sugar together and spread it over the donut. Place the pineapple ring on top. Wrap the donut in a tight flat pack. Place on hot coals and cook for 5-7 minutes.

What are your favorite foil packet meals? Share your tips and recipes with us in the comments!

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: The Art of Manliness is a fantastic Website dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man. It features articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men. Check them out and be sure to subscribe!

My good friend Jack from The Survival Podcast has just launched a new Website called 13skills.com, where you can sign up to track your personal skills goals.

As the Website title states, the “goal” is to come up with 13 achievable skills that you can set for yourself in 2013 and then work to accomplish them. The key is not to list things you already know about, but to really dig deep and find those things you need improvement on and what you’d like to eventually achieve.

I’m currently busy deciding what I want my 13 goals to be in 2013, but initially I know that one thing I’d like to do is finally complete my “A” License for Skydiving. I really like the premise of 13 Skills being a public way to hold yourself accountable.

Simply listing “Finish A License for Skydiving” is great, but there’s many smaller goals that go into that overall goal being marked as accomplished. I liken this to one of my favorite anally-retentive authors, David Allen, who developed the Getting Things Done (GTD) method. Allen states that an overall goal is achieved with action items, or smaller more easily achievable goals to make up the overall accomplishment.

For instance, the first thing I need to do to accomplish my goal of finishing my A License is to contact the Skydiving location near me and get some pricing. This way I can see how best to budget the expense. Followed next by talking to Kelly and convincing her that I NEED to be jumping out of perfectly good airplanes!

Jack’s got big plans for 13 Skills and it’s currently in beta before the big official launch on January 1st. That means that there may be some issues that are still getting worked out, so keep that in mind when registering. I’m looking forward to where the site goes and continuing to support Jack’s awesome idea!

What are you waiting for? Head on over and challenge yourself!