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Hiking Sticks 101

April 30, 2012 DIY, gear 2

Jessica Stark contacting me about writing a guest post on hiking sticks. While modern, collapsible trekking poles are popular, there’s still a lot to be said for a good, solid walking stick that you’ve tailored to your own tastes.

Hiking Sticks 101

by Jessica Stark

If you’ve been hiking, you’ve probably noticed people using hiking sticks. These hiking sticks, also known as walking sticks or trekking poles, may look funny, but they actually offer much assistance to even the most seasoned hiker. If you are considering becoming more of an avid hiker, check out how a hiking stick might be the exact tool you’ll need!

Hiking Uses

Hiking sticks are a great when exploring any outdoor setting. On uneven terrainand rocky surfaces, they can help maintain balance. Leaning on a walking stick will help to prevent you from tripping or twisting an ankle. While you many think only older hikers would need a hiking stick, they enable people of all ages and fitness levels to walk long distances by giving support when you begin to tire or through long uphill stretches.

Hiking sticks definitley come in handy for crossing streams or testing out potentially unstable grounds. Your hiking stick can be used to uncover surfaces or test whether an unusual looking spot is slippery or unable to hold weight. Additionally, they allow you to measure how deep a stream is and where drop offs might occur. Examining surfaces and water with your hiking stick can prevent serious injuries.

Types of Hiking Sticks

Several types of hiking sticks exist, but the two main categories are metal and wood. Many people even make their own walking stick customized to their height and style. Walking sticks are available in most pharmacies, discount department stores, medical supply companies and even online; however, I recommend making your own wooden stick rather than purchasing one. By making your own, you will truly be able to ensure the proper height, weight and feel.

Customized Hiking Sticks

By far, the best hiking sticks are handmade. Wood is pliable and easy to work with, making it a great choice for hiking sticks. Because wood is easier to work with than metal, you can ensure that your custom hiking stick will be the exact height and weight that you need it to be.

Make your own trekking pole:

1. Select a thick limb or piece of lumber that is just over shoulder height but is still easily carried. Avoid knotted wood as the knots may result in weaker wood.

2. If your wood is already stick-shaped, shave layers away until it’s the right height (just below shoulder height) using a hunting knife or hand saw. Power toolscan be used to achieve the ideal shape if you are using a lumber board.

3. Remove the bark so that the stick may be dried out. The bark can be easily removed with a box cutter. Make sure you allow the wood to thoroughly dry before proceeding.

4. Next, sanding can begin. Be sure to wear a sanding mask. Using a large piece of sanding paper that wraps around the stick, a sanding block or a palm sander, smooth the surface of the wood. Clear the sawdust away when you finish sanding.

5. Once this step is completed, it should be wiped down with tung oil followed by minor sanding, reapplying the oil and then sanding one more time. Drying the stick between each process is mandatory. A final coating of floor wax and additional drying time is necessary.

With a bit of patience, you will have a custom hiking stick that can give you years of hiking aid. A well-made wooden hiking stick can provide you with support on the most rigorous of trails, so the next time you think a hiker looks funny with his stick, remember how these tools can be life-savers when you are deep on the trail.

Jessica is interested in camping and DIY projects. She enjoys spending time outdoors, exploring her surroundings and blogging on behalf of Sears and other brands she trusts.

Explorer Box DIY – by Compact Camping Concepts

April 25, 2012 DIY, review 4

How often has it been the case that a start of a weekend camping trip is the long, drawn out ordeal of fitting a few days of food, clothing, shelter and accessories the trunk of a midsize car? The scenario is no doubt familiar. Pack… repack… unload…reload… all in the quest of maximizing the amount of stuff we can fit in the trunk while still being able to both close the trunk and fit people inside the car too.

In times like those I have often bantered about the question of a trailer. Like a giant trunk that gets pulled behind the car, and able to store camping gear so that we can all get on the road that much sooner. Or, the occasional thought of the tent trailer, all the storage we need plus shelter all in one! The trouble of course (besides learning how to back up with a trailer attached) is that trailers are terribly expensive, and the more you would like the trailer to do, the quicker the price seems to rise. Besides cost, trailers can present an additional challenge to the DIYer because buying a trailer takes the fun out of doing it yourself and no matter how you go about it, the concept of building a trailer from scratch and have it roadworthy (the first time!) is a complex and daunting task.

So what is a DIYer to do?

If buying a complete trailer is simply too far out of your price range, if the joy of seeing a job completed with your own hands is worth the time, and if you’ve got the basic woodworking equipment and skills, then an Explorer Box may be for you. The Explorer Box – DIY is an instruction manual put together by Compact Camping Concepts ( http://www.compactcampingconcepts.com/) and serves a DIYer’s guide on building you very own rolling camp box ready for any outdoor adventure.

The Explorer box is effectively a camp box that you can attach to a trailer and take with you. It contains storage, organization and allows a bit of space so that you can have a miniature galley if needed. The key of course, is that it is only the instructions; the building part is up to you. The instructions are detailed enough that even if you only do basic woodworking, you can assemble the whole thing by following the step by step guide. At the same time, the basic building principles are laid out such that if you see a need to modify or change the configuration of the box, it would be fairly straightforward to do so. As an extra attraction, the Explorer Box is sufficiently small and light that even a smaller vehicle can pull it around.

I am not a particularly great woodworker, but when reading the instructions I could readily follow the instructions provided and was left without much doubt about what would be required to make this box a reality. Scattered throughout the book are useful tips on materials that cut down weight, glue technique as well as advice on paint and finishers. It really drives home that this box is an investment. I appreciated the section on on how to maintain your finished trailer so that it lasts as long as possible as with any project that we invest time and money it, it has to be worth the effort in the long term!

Emphasized in the book is the fact that no matter what, this box is not something to be built using spare parts found on the side of the road. It is a huge investment in time and while less than buying an assembled trailer, is still going to cost enough money that you don’t want to make mistakes. The book is outlined with the goal in mind of making sure you will only have to build it once. The beginning of the book lays out the tools that you need in order of Basic tools (translation: required kit), nice additions (translation: not required, but will make it easier) and miscellaneous items that may be needed depending on what you choose to do. As some parts are harder to find than others, Compact Camping Concepts maintains an online store to fill in those gaps. The manual has helpful tips on choosing out woods, latches, and hinges that are needed to build the box as well as the finishes that you will need to make your box ready for the outdoor weather.

Once the materials are laid out, the instructions turn to ‘repeatable’ items that will be performed over and over again. Finally, the assembly begins from the floor up until, at the end you have your assembled box. The last pieces deal with optional add-ons such as mounting a tent to the top of the trailer and the wiring of the trailer itself. Throughout the book are multitudes of pictures and diagrams to that you can feel confident that you are following the steps correctly.

When going through this manual, it was very clear to me that you must read the whole manual before getting started. The primary reason is that the instructions are outlined according to a 4’ x 6’ trailer frame. If you are working with larger or smaller trailer, or if you have to buy or assemble a trailer, you might have to make changes. Also, if you were thinking about putting a tent on the box (as shown on their site), you must factor in how you are going to do it as this area is also not covered in the manual. These are all mentioned in the introduction, which highlights the importance of reading the whole manual.

Conclusions

The Explorer Box manual is an excellent way providing a DIYer a solid framework to bring the task of building a durable, useful trailer to a level that anyone with basic woodworking ability can feel like this is well within the realm of possibility. Even I, with my barely basic skills and lacking a couple of the required tools feel like I could successfully put this together. The instructions are detailed, with pictures, diagrams, and tips that will help make it a successful one time job. The instructions are specific enough that if you build it to exactly the manual’s instructions you will be successful, and at the same time the instructions are intuitive enough that you can modify them according to your needs. Reading the manual carefully and practicing the repeated instructions will make sure you are successful in building. As the book says, “Measure twice, cut once.”

Don’t worry if you’re not a DIYer, Compact Camping Concepts has pre-made options to take care of your camping needs!

Are you a DIYer? Does this type of project appeal to you?

by Graeme A.

The Outdoor Adventure

Manual provided to us by Compact Camping Concepts

Axe deoderant backpacking alcohol stove

February 27, 2012 cooking, DIY 3

I was staring at an empty AXE deodorant container and wondering what to do with it. Will it be a mug? No, I don’t like drinking from boiling hot aluminum cups. What else can it be? a stove. My apologies to all of my readers who have seen too many articles on stove making. It’s probably a mix of my fire-loving, DIY doing and recycle-mindedness that motivates me. Oh… and you can throw in a bit of money saving as well.

I don’t recommend you go out and by something just to make a stove, but we all have habits and customs and at the end of the week/month we have empty aluminum and metal cans that we can recycle. If you use AXE deodorant this could be for you. The graduated diameter of the can makes it perfect for a double walled stove.

What you’ll need:

Hack-saw or other metal cutting blade,
permanent marker for marking cut and drill lines,
3 books to use to mark lines around the diameter,
Drill and small drill bit (better of smaller than 1/8th”)
pliers
sand paper or file to smooth out cuts and drill holes.

Steps:

Discharge all remaining propellant from the can.
Remove the top seal with pliers.
Mark a line, all around the diameter at 6.5 cm form the bottom.
Using the hack-saw, saw 90% through the surface of the can, rotating the can as you go.
Finish cutting through the can with hack saw
1. Once you get half way through the can, it should be possible to “open” the can by applying pressure to the seam.
About 1 cm from the top of the bottom half, draw another line around the diameter.
Spaced about 1.5 cm apart, draw marks along the line made in step 6.
Drill through the outer can at the marked spots along the line.
Clean up the cuts and drill marks using a file or sand paper.
Invert the top half of the can and place it inside the bottom half.
On a flat surface, press the two cans together until they slide into each otherand a seal is formed.
Lock and load!

Here’s a video showing how to do this:

What should you put in your survival kit?

February 20, 2012 DIY, survival 16

First of all, a survival kit is designed to help you survive… for short periods of time. The idea is that in an emergency, your survival kit should keep you safe, providing for your needs until rescuers can find you or you can make your way out on your own. The reality is that we’re not likely to ever need most of the things in it, but they’re there for the JIC (Just in case) situations. I’ve already made a survival kit for my daughter that was suited to her ability, but in an effort to make my own kit, I’ve done some research on what other people recommend.

Today, I thought I’d present 3 sets of recommendations that I’ve come across. Please comment and tell me what your thoughts are and where these kits could be improved. A question: Is weight and size worth the sacrifice of some of these items? Can some dual purpose items be substituted?

JOHN WISEMAN’S KIT

First off, Let’s look at What is recommended by John “Lofty” Wiseman in his book the SAS survival handbook. It’s probably the biggest and at 2 parts is probably meant to last you more than 72 hours.

Matches (waterproof)
Candle
Flint
Magnifying glass
Needles and thread
Fish hooks and line
Compass (button)
Beta light (tritium illumination)
Snare wire
Flexible saw (chain saw)
Medical kit – Analgesic, immodium, antibiotic, antihistamine, water purification, anti-malaria, potassium permanganate
Surgical blades (for scalpels)
Butterfly sutures
Plasters (band-aids)
Condom (for water storage – holds up to 1 liter)

He also recommends a separate survival pouch to keep on your person containing:

Mess tin (cooking utensil)
Fuel (solid fuel tablets)
Flashlight (pencil style)
Flares (signaling)
Marker Panel (fluorescent 0.3×2 meters for signalling)
Matches (in a waterproof container)
Brew Kit (tea, milk and sugar)
Food (high in fat, long lasting, with salt)
Survival bag (large plastic/polythene bag)
Log book

LES STROUD’S KIT

I can’t remember where I pulled this list from, but this is what he recommended as a minimum. This is considered to be lightweight and seasonal.

Tin for boiling water in which goes:
1. garbage bag
2. snare wire
3. saw
4. candle
5. rope / cordage
6. flare
7. whistle
8. razor blade
9. mirror
10. nails / pins
11. lures / line (for fishing)
12. fire starting
13. compass
14. flashlight
15. tablets (medicine)
16. repellant (bugs)
17. repair kit
18. laces

CODY LUNDIN’S KIT

This list was taken from the September 1999 Backpacker Magazine.

1 gallon zipper-lock bag
Tincture of iodine (disinfecting water)
Plastic drinking tube (3 feet)
2 condoms (canteens)
Orange flagging tape
Dental floss (100 feet)
Duct tape (3 feet)
Mini flashlight w/ spare bulb
Extra flashlight batteries
Magnesium block with striking insert
Cigarette lighter
Strike-anywhere matches dipped in paraffin
Firestarters – cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly
Magnifying glass (signalling and fire starting)
Glass signal mirror with sighting hole
whistle
Light space blanket
Heavy duty space blanket
3 heavy duty plastic bags (type used for gathering leaves)
Paracord (50 feet)
Extra knife (fixed blade, high carbon steel)
Bandana (brightly colored)
Basic first-aid kit (wound dressing, moleskin, antibiotic ointment, and more)
Topographical map and compass

So, what do you think? Overkill or underkill? What would you change, add or remove?

DIY: Make that sleeping bag lighter

January 30, 2012 DIY, gear 4

A few days ago I tried to make a brief case for backpacking quilts. The idea is this: any insulation that you lie on doesn’t insulate very well. If it doesn’t insulate it’s wasted space and weight in your pack. Of course if you wiggle around in your sleep you’ll need to have that insulation, in case you roll over. If not, I’ve got a cool project.

bag with all seams removed
on the bottom

I picked up a sleeping bag using points collected from a store that although a “technical” bag, was a bit bulky for my tastes. It’s a 0 C (32 f) bag, but because it uses cheaper hollow fiber insulation it is heavy. Over 3 lbs. I decided to use it as a practice project on saving weight by removing all insulation on the bottom of the bag and replace it with a pocket for a custom cut closed cell foam pad. My future plan is to take a down bag and shift all the bottom insulation to the top to not save weight, but make it warmer.

I cut right above the shoulders
to be able to slip the pad in.

In the end, I cut off 5 ounces from the bag and 1 ounce from the sleeping pad. This was in a bag that already only had half the insulation on the bottom (as a technical bag, the maker understood the waste of insulation on the bottom.) In a normal bag you could probably save double that.

My suggestion is to start by weighing the bag and pad and measuring how large it is in a compression sack so you can tell how much you saved.

Here’s what I needed to do that:

sleeping bag (mummy)
closed cell foam pad.
scissors – to cut open the bottom of the bag to get access to the insulation and to cut the sleeping pad.
seam ripper – to remove horizontal seams and separate the insulation from the fabric.
marker – to trace the shape of the bottom of the bag onto the sleeping pad.

Here’s how I did it (Instructions below the video)

On the bottom of the bag there should be two layers of fabric (inner and outer). Cut a horizontal line from one side to the other of the inner fabric just above shoulder height.
Remove the horizontal seams from the bottom of the bag (ONLY the ones that hold the insulation in place).
Carefully cut the insulation out from between the layers , leaving the bottom 10-12 inches of insulation in place to provide a foot box to keep your feet warmer.
Place the bag on top of your foam pad.
Trace the bottom seams of the bag on the foam pad. Make sure it will be snug along the bottom so as not to let air in the pad.
Cut the foam pad along the lines.
Slide the pad into the bottom of the bag.
Weigh the final results and note the size. Oh and post below with how it went!

2.9 lbs, Compressed: 8″x10″

A case for backpacking quilts

January 23, 2012 DIY, gear 0

This one is for all you out there that sleep like a log. A log that doesn’t roll around.

In the pursuit of lightening the pack load and saving my back while carrying my kids’ backpacking gear I’ve been doing a lot of reading on backpacking quilts. They’re lighter and smaller, but just as warm. And here’s why.

Insulation

We’ve all heard talk of loft. We’ve all seen the puffy Michelin man jackets and there’s some logic to it all. A lot in fact. It’s trapped air and loft that prevents your warmth escaping and prevents the cold from entering. The more loft you have, the warmer you stay… in theory.

Think about all that insulation in your roof. You go into your attic or loft and find lots of the stuff lying around. The thicker it is, the less money you spend on heating in winter. They try to sell you more expensive insulation that you need less of because it insulates better. That’s the same thing that happens with sleeping bags.

Your cheap sleeping bags do a good job as they use tons of cheap insulation. They also weigh a ton. Or at least 4 or 5 pounds for a good winter bag. Your expensive bags use less, but higher quality insulation and that saves you weight, allowing for a lot of weight savings. To give you an idea, I have a cheap 40 degree bag that has a list weight of 3.7 lbs. I have a down bag with the same listed temperature that has a weight of 1 lb 6 oz. The down bag is also about a third of the size when uncompressed.

If weight and space is an issue for you parents or you UL backpackers it may be worth forking out a bit more to buy a good down bag. There’ll be less grumbling at a sore back and more time to enjoy the scenery.

How to effectively use insulation

Vaude’s down bag design

But how can you save more weight? As has been shown, insulation insulates when it has loft. When you lie on it, it looses most of its insulating properties. That means, that all that weight of insulation that you’re lying on is practically useless; especially if you use a sleeping pad that will do that job for you.

That’s why people have been turning to quilts. They save you that weight by not having a zipper or the extra fabric and insulation that you would normally lie on. It allows you to shave off weight and save space for other stuff in your pack.

To give you an example, Golite has been making quilts and sleeping bags for a while now. Comparing their Adrenaline 800+ goose down bag with their Ultralight 800+ goose down quilt shows a significant difference in weight.

Golite ultralight down (800+) quilt – rating 20°F / -7°C Weight: 1 lb. 8 oz.
Golite Adrenaline down (800+) mummy bag – rating 20°F / -7°C Weight: 2 lbs. 3 oz.

By cutting down on materials and insulation, the weight drops over half a pound on an already very light sleeping bag.

Do It Yourself

Making my own sleeping bag scares me. I’m not a stranger to a sewing machine, but making a down quilt seems like a big project. However, converting a sleeping bag into a quilt doesn’t scare me, just my wife. It’s doable. I’m working on a project now that copies the Big Agnes idea of replacing the bottom insulation of a sleeping bag with a sleeping pad. I’ve cut out a couple hundred grams and a bunch of space.

The other benefit, especially for down bags is that you can take all that bottom insulation and put it on the top to make a warm weather bag take you further into the winter season.

If you’re looking to do some DIY, why not check out the following links for some ideas?

Purebound.com’s mummy bag to quilt conversion
Thru-hiker’s down quilt project (for the brave (or bold) seamster/stress

Reader Post: Homemade Marshmallows – a first time for everything!

January 18, 2012 cooking, DIY, guest 1

So one of our friends and followers Rich Kolb mentioned a successful attempt at making Marshmallows on twitter and I was intrigued. He agreed to write about his experience and share how it went. Now that snow is falling around a lot of the USA and Canada, this could be a great family project to prevent cabin fever!

Marshmallows
by Rich Kolb

I was looking for gift ideas for my wife for Christmas. You see, shopping for my wife is rather hard. We’re both rather frugal and we’re pretty well set in what we like. The problem that arises with that is that our wish lists are pretty specific and if one of us is out and about and sees something off that list at a good price it’s not unheard of for us to buy it, hand it to the other one when we get home and say something along the lines of ‘Here, I bought this for you to give me for Christmas.’

So there I was, looking for a gift idea to give my wife, I was hoping to find something handmade and unique. I wasn’t having much luck and then I stumbled upon a random website with gift ideas, and one of them was homemade marshmallows. This worked out great, my wife is a huge smores fan, and they can only get better with homemade marshmallows.

I started searching the internet, and found several recipes, but the one that stuck out the most was this one:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/candy/homemade-marshmallows/, from Better Homes and Gardens. The BHG New Cook Book has been a staple in my house for as long as I can remember. I found that I had most of the ingredients already, I only had to buy some gelatin and a candy thermometer. I’ve talked to a few people about using a candy thermometer, and a lot of people are intimidated by them, but I found there really is nothing to it.

I read the recipe several times, I always like to have a pretty good idea of what the next step will be. I didn’t follow it exactly, I decided that I would use real egg whites instead of an egg white product. That had more to do with my lack of ability to find anything suitable a week before Christmas then anything else. Plus, I figured we’ve been eating eggs for centuries and we’re all still alive. My only recommendation is that if you use real eggs you separate them into a different bowl to make sure that they’re good before you
contaminate more ingredients.

On to the cooking. I found that it was pretty simple to follow the directions, the only gotcha I had was on step 3, where it said 12-15 minutes total. Either I have a super stove, or they meant that entire step took that long. At least I was keeping a close eye on things and it didn’t cause me any problems. After I had chilled them I used a paring knife to cut them into small pieces. One of the things that I liked was that I could make various sizes, which has been handy for us as we’ve used them in smores, hot chocolate, and just for random
snacking.

All in all, I’m glad I took the risk and made them. My observations have been that homemade marshmallows are much more flavorful than anything I’ve found in the store. They are sweeter than any brands I’ve found, and I’ve decided that I could easily adapt the recipe to make other flavors, like coconut or almond, which is something I hope to try soon. The melt faster, so far we’ve only microwaved them and put them in the over for smores, I expect they’ll melt over a campfire faster than store bought ones too.

If you decide to make something like this yourself I would offer the following tips, read the recipe a few times, it’s nice to not be surprised by things, keep a close eye on what’s on the stove, boiling sugar could turn into a disaster quick, and it’s pretty dang hot, and one thing I’m glad I did first, test fit the thermometer on your pan. With the way it was setup out of the package it wouldn’t have worked and the window I had to get it set was barely long enough. If I hadn’t test fit it I would have ended up getting the thermometer in the pan right when it was due to come off the stove.

—
Richard Kolb II

DIY: 9 gram mini side burner alcohol stove

December 22, 2011 DIY, video 0

The bane of many a solo-hiker that buys his snowpeak 600 or 700 is that most alcohol stoves no longer work well with such a small pot! Never fear, you can now save more grams and more money with this DIY… WARNING: It may leave you slightly more caffeinated!

It’s a mini side burner stove made from 2 mini energy drink cans. Hurray, another excuse to buy energy drinks! It’s made out of the narrow energy drink cans and that makes it incredibly light (9 grams) and also really efficient for narrow pots that solo hikers tend to use.

I put together a video with instructions on how to make it and tried to be as thorough as possibly (while frustrating the viewer with a bit of off center, out of focus videography!

Watch the DIY and feel free to leave comments and feedback. I know that a couple times I go off screen, Sorry!

DIY: Winter Projects – Helle Knives

November 28, 2011 DIY, gear, review 2

Well it’s winter time and it’s getting dark early. It’s time to retire to the shop/work bench and get busy on those projects that you’ve been wanting to try. In spring I posted an article about working with Helle knife blanks and it’s about time for a follow up.

I always wanted to make a forge and start hammering away at high carbon steel until I could produce my very own knife. Although it is still on my list of to dos, I know that it won’t happen for some time. Never fear, with my limited skills and tools I was able to get a hold of Helle’s high quality blade blanks (just the metal blade and tine) and work away on nice hardwoods and other materials to produce a completed product that while not completely original is still completely unique.

Since that article I’ve completed 3 knives and have a couple more in the works. I thought I’d show what I’ve gotten done with only a power drill and a couple hand tools.

Knife 1: Helle Triple Laminate, stainless steel Harding Blade. A combination of Ecuadorian hardwood that I salvaged from a piece of hardwood flooring, Ecuadorian leather and Ecuadorian Tagua (Vegetable Ivory).

All the pieces prepped for gluing.

Glued and ready for sanding

Sanded, oiled with linseed oil and next to the hand stitched sheath that I made.

Knife 2: Triple Laminate high carbon Helle Tollekniv Blade with Peruvian Olive wood, leather and Tagua.

Sanded, oiled and next to a WIP sheath that I’m making.

Nice and snug in its sheath.

Knife 3: Helle Triple Laminate, stainless steel Harding Blade. Oversized handle of Peruvian Olive wood, tagua and leather.

This is a special WIP project that I hope to explain in more detain in the future.

The work so far is average, but one thing I’m really satisfied with is how the grain travels through each piece of olive wood. Quite beautiful.

So, what do I use?

2 ton, 2 part epoxy.
Helle blade blanks
Hardwood
Leather
Tagua
Power drill
Hand saw
sand paper
Sanding wheel
Vice

It’s a pretty straightforward project, but wrap the blade while working with it so you don’t damage it or yourself. The blades come extremely sharp and hold and edge pretty well so personal injury is possible.

How do I feel about the Helle blades? The laminated blades make them harder to break, but also mean that the outside is softer and easier to damage by scratching or scraping. The downside of the softer outer shell is that it makes it nigh impossible to spark a ferrocerium rod without using the sharp edge. They hold a very good edge; Enough to shave the hair off my arm, although I try not to make a habit of it. The blades are also thicker. The harding is a good 1/8th of an inch (3 mm) and the Tollekniv is 4mm. I’m happy with them, but am still looking for a solid high carbon blade blank so that I can spark a ferrocerium rod with it, but that is a minor benefit.

DIY stoves: Speed tests

November 20, 2011 DIY, video 1

I know this will appeal to a small subsection of my readership, but I’ve been meaning to sit down and do some altitude speed runs of some alcohol stoves (10500 feet up). In the below video I start the stove and immediately put the pot on to boil 2 cups of water. It’s marginally more exciting than watching paint dry so I condensed the speed down so the whole process lasts around 4 minutes or so. The results are surprising.

Anyhow, take a look if you’re into that sort of thing and let me know if you want a tutorial on one of the two stoves that I haven’t shown yet on the blog.

DIY resource: Make your own Snowshoes

November 16, 2011 DIY, gear 4

Ok, the snow has started falling and the outdoorist in you has probably already started thinking about various modes of winter travel. Because a dogsled team probably is out of your reach and you’re not expecting anyone to buy you what you really want, why not put together a pair of snowshoes? The concept is straightforward although time consuming. It is a great project for cold evenings in the garage (or the kitchen table if the household permits ;)).

The best resource I’ve come across is a reposting of what looks like scouts book articles on the subject. Ben hunt has several different options on his blog to get you going and see what you want.

I won’t be able to complete one of these projects before next year, but I have decided to test the concept by making a scaled down sized pair for a lark. I’ve started soaking and bending 35 cm (1 foot +) pieces of wood in frames and will next start building braces and binding them.

It’s got my kids excited to have their own pair and I can’t wait to take them out on some winter hikes.

If you’re new to winter hiking like I am, stop by Ray Anderson’s blog where he’s started a series of articles on the subject:
Winter Hiking part 1
Winter Hiking part 2

Are you a snowshoer? What’s your favourite part?

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Other Resources:
Gil Gilpatrick Snowshoe making maestro
Easy PVC Snowshoes

On a budget: The Backpacking Cookset

November 10, 2011 DIY, gear 0

My first cook setup

Ok, I’m going to start with something that has bothered me. In the forums there are at least a handful of people that, on the subject of backpacking gear say things like, “well you’re prepared to spend XXX on YYY so why aren’t you prepared to spend XXXX on backpacking gear.” Quite frankly I don’t have XXX to spend on YYY and if I had it It’d probably get allotted to my kids’ education or their feet or some other expense that came up. I can sometimes spend X, on rare occasions XX and maybe for my birthday 1XX every couple years. Apart from people without financial responsibilities and Yuppies (young urban professionals) with cash to burn, the majority want to enjoy nature and do so within their budget.

That’s why I’m a DIYer and always keeping my eye out for a bargain. I just finished reading “The Outdoor Survival Handbook” by Ray Mears and on the topic of gear he says you should always buy the best you can within your budget. I definitely agree. Just because you can’t afford a sub 2 pound goose down sleeping bag for $350, that shouldn’t stop you from getting outdoors and enjoying yourself. The outdoors is not exclusively for the rich, neither should they be limited to those who choose to carry less than 10 pounds of gear. We can all share them and enjoy and do so within our own budgets.

What I want to consider today on this topic is cooking systems. Frankly, cooking isn’t essential on backpacking trips and there is many a post that looks at cold food for the trail, but for those times when you want something hot to drink or a nice cup of soup you might want to turn to a cook system. You can drop a lot of Xs on an expensive system like Jet boil, the MSR reactor, or other similar setups and frankly you’d probably be happy. But if you’re not ready to do that yet, let’s say you’re experimenting to see if backpacking is for you or maybe you’ve just got a budget of X or XX then never fear here are some ideas.

The stove. Your best option is going to be to make your own. With just a few used cans, tin snips and push pins you can set yourself up for success with an alcohol stove /use yellow HEET brand gas line antifreeze). Feel free to check the growing DIY section for idea or take a look at one of the videos below. There are a multitude of different ideas, zenstoves.net is a good site to check out. Once you understand the concept of how these stoves work you can start designing your own.

A Couple links:

DIY Tomato taste can stove

Backpacking wood stove

DIY Pot stand for your stove

Penny Alcohol stove

Not a DIYer? Don’t worry there are a number of premade options that will work just fine, like esbit style solid fuel tablets, military surplus stoves and the good old trangia. None of these should break your budget.

The pot. How many of us have seen the titanium pot and spoon, like the snowpeak line? They’re pretty slick, but even on steep and cheap dot com you rarely see the pot by itself for less than $20. There are other options out there. Lots of people will dumpster dive for or simply buy a large 24 oz foster’s or Heineken beer can and use that for their cook pot. It’s simple and recyclable. With a simple can opener you can pop the top off and with sand paper smooth out the sharp edges.

Not up for DIYing? Check out the IMUSA aluminum grease pots. They’re light, aluminum and sturdy. If you go traveling in South America, look in the markets (watch your pockets). I’ve scored a couple sub $5 deals on aluminum pots and lids in sizes from my 2 cup coffee maker (with aluminum filter) to a 1 liter pot to a 2.5 liter pot.

The point is this: You get creative. For many a year people have used bean cans to boil water over a fire without spending a penny on costs. It wasn’t pretty but that wasn’t the point. If we go backpacking in the woods just to stare at our shiny new titanium spork then we’re missing the point. Gear is a means to an end. If we can do that on a budget and enjoy ourselves outdoors then I think we’ve accomplished what we’ve set out to do.

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