survival

There has been a lot of interested in our DIY neck cooler article. We’re leaving the directions here: DIY Neck Cooler, but but were wondering if anyone would be interested in purchasing ready made ones for a fair price? Please leave your comments below with suggestions of a fair price and I’ll see what we can do!

I keep going to outdoors stores looking for a nice frying pan. I come up with the same problem, they’re too small or they’re big and too heavy to justify for that one fish you might catch. Every now and then I find on the internet a frying pan of reasonable weight, but they carry a price tag that I don’t want to pay. Tinfoil is reliable, but you need to pack out waste. Again I’ve taken a lesson from times gone by: cooking with a rock.

Yup, with a small fire and a nice slab of rock you can fry up a whole variety of food. Some of the tastiest pizzas are cooked on a hot stone and it is now a novelty to roast steak and seafood over a cooking stone. They’re just reinventions of an old concept that predated the cast iron frying pan.

Are you tired of the 10 essential things to take backpacking? Yes we know we need a shelter, a sleeping bag, stove, etc., but we’ve all started a hike or almost left home without a less glorious item that wasn’t THAT important until you got to camp and realized that you forgot it.

For all of those toilet paperless hikers and annoyed hikers who though their friend brought the lighter, this list is for you:

Camping equipment and gear from EMS.com

What piece of gear have you embarrassingly, regretfully or just plain funnily forgotten on a backwoods adventure?

As many have read, I have a standing request for ideas, gear and articles for the blog. This was brought to my attention by Stephania Andrade of Flank Marketing (they produced this infographic for Eastern Mountain Sports).

My kids love learning about animals and the outdoors. We thought we’d teach them a bit about bear safety via books, DVDs and answering their questions. This is what they remembered:

A few weeks ago we looked at what to do when encountering bears on the trail. Now we want to look at keeping a safe, bear free (or bear resistant) campsite. Most of this has to do with food.

The biggest attractant of bears is the smell of food/belongings and they can smell it from miles away (some parks suggest 3 miles away others just say “miles”). Bears have been known to rip cars open to find it… how much more your tent?

NEVER KEEP FOOD IN YOUR TENT/TENT TRAILER
Not even that snack / bottle of wine /can of pop you were saving for 3 AM.

TOOTHPASTE IS FOOD
That’s right, we forget that to a bear anything odoriferous can be food. Stow your deodorant, toothpaste, juicy fruit, body spray, perfume, lotion, etc. together in a safe place away from your tent.

WHAT’S A SAFE PLACE?
Three recommendations are food lockers, bear canisters and hanging your food. However, due to negligence and human presence bears are getting more and more clever and some of these practices are not recommended in specific areas. Check with your park rangers for their recommendations.

Some parks provide bear proof vaults (food lockers) where food can be stored. These are great as the bears can’t get into them at all. Definitely your best choice.

Food hanging is a back country tradition. Hang your food at least 10 feet off the ground and away from the trunk of the tree (don’t forget, bears can climb). If you are using a rope to prevent the food from falling, make sure that the rope isn’t in a place where the bear can bite through it easily. A great option is to counter balance the goods with another bag on the other side of a branch in a way that you have to use a long stick to get it back down. (if that’s confusing leave a comment and I’ll explain it further).

In some parks bear cannisters are required and food hanging is illegal (Yosemite). Nevertheless, in the Adirondacks there is at least one bear who has learned the secret of bear canisters (New York Times). Your best bet is to check your park website and see what they recommend.

DON’T COOK CLOSE TO CAMP
Obviously the most smells will be produced where you cook the food and where you prep it. That is where the bears will be looking for their midnight snack. To lower your chances of being that snack, make sure everything is done well away from your sleeping area. Any food preparation / fish cleaning should be done at a safe distance from your tent/hammock. If your clothes smell like food (especially fish) then dump them with your food stuffs. Any leftover food /guts should be packed up with food or burned in the fire. Obviously don’t put plastic or tinfoil in the fire.

Have fun and stay responsible!

The Native Americans weren’t the typical wasters that the disposable society of today has created. They knew easy efficient ways of harvesting, preparing and cooking wild foods. A good example of this is how some groups used to fillet and cook trout. It’s a really simple technique that doesn’t rely on tinfoil or a cooking pot. You end up with more meat than a typical fillet and no bones… None at all.

Take a look at this video (excuse the background noise and laugh with the kids) of us preparing a trout and roasting it over a fire with sticks. Sorry we couldn’t save some for you!

Is this to complicated? Would you like to cook food on a rock? Take a look at this link

We’ve all heard the stories, Foreign tourists getting up close for a picture with Mr. Smokey or attracting them with food. The fortunate get away with a scare and the others make headlines. For those of us who frequent the trails we know not to do anything THAT crazy. However, it is always good to have a reminder on what to do to keep yourself safe with bears.

The most important thing is to demonstrate awareness and respect. Bears are instinctive creatures. They don’t want to hurt you, but they don’t want to be hurt either. Here’s a couple tips on how to minimize danger in bear country. Remember, these are tips are for minimizing danger not eliminating it. They have been gathered from experts around NA.

Keep an Eye Open for Signs

Has that rock been turned over recently? Are there scratches on that tree? Hey, why was that stump torn open? What did I just step in? There are plenty of signs out there in bear country. Your job is to look for them and see how fresh they are… and then avoid them.


Make Noise
Walking stealthily down the trail may be fun, but could send you face to face with Yogi’s grumpy uncle. Chat, make noise, whatever it takes. Some suggest bear bells and/or whistles, but their effect is debated. Just make noise regularly so that any nearby bears know you’re coming.

Never Get Between A Sow and its Cub
A surefire way to get a mum angry is to make her feel like her cubs are threatened. Be Aware. If you see sow, look for a cub. If you see a cub, stop. Look around and find the mum (make noise of course) and slowly back away.

Never Run
Running from a bear will often trigger a chase response. They can run as fast as race horses. Even if the bear is charging you, remain calm. Most charges are false. They will usually stop 20 feet away if you don’t do anything.

Make Yourself Look Intimidating
Nobody wants to get hurt. If we see someone larger and stronger than us we will usually back down. Bears are the same. If you are being charged, shout at the top of your voice, raise your arms and look as big as you can.


Travel Together in Groups
Following the previous point about intimidation, you can understand how group travel helps. Watch for your kids. Keep them close. They want to race, but who do you want to run into the bear first? 

Distract Them
Yes, it’s a new backpack, but this is your life on the line! Throw that pack! Bears will often examine foreign objects like packs, clothes, etc. It can give you a chance to back away and get to safety.

DON’T Climb that Tree
Bears can climb… well. It won’t keep you safe, so don’t bother.

Bear Spray

Bear Spray is your last resort. It is only good for short range, but can send a bear packing. Just remember that you quite possibly will end up inhaling some of the chemicals and could end up packing yourself so save it for when you wont miss!

Know Your Bears
If a black bear is already attacking, you need to fight back. Aim for the nose and eyes. Grizzlies will sometimes loose interest if you play dead, but that’s not a guarantee.

BC Parks Bear Safety
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/misc/bears/bearsaf.html
US Parks Bear Safety
http://usparks.about.com/od/backcountry/a/Bear-Safety.htm
Alaska Parks Bear Safety
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/safety/bears.htm

If you’ve always wanted to build your own log cabin and then appease your more destructive instincts, or maybe are just frustrated at wasting matches, take a look at this video where I start a fire with my favourite method: the Log Cabin.

Disclaimer: As always, be careful and know what you’re doing. Make sure you practice before going into the field.

3 reasons I love ferrocerium rods (and cotton balls)

Take a look at this video to see 3 easy ways to light a fire in an emergency:

Almost everyone carries one of those LED head lamps. They last forever and, as you may have seen, have an added benefit. They make fire. That’s if you have a bit of steel wool or other fine wire.

The principle is simple and will work with most electronics (including a cell phone battery). Inside your LED lamp you will have a cartridge which should contain 3 AAA batteries. On one side there will be two contacts which connect to the lamp itself. In your cell phone, you have a Lithium Ion battery. You take your steel wool and you place one end on one contact and one on the other.  All you’re doing is completing a circuit. Because the wire is so fine, you will actually overheat the wires and they will glow red.

Just put your steel wool in your tinder bundle and blow it with a sustained current of air and voila! You might not spend the night cold.

I’ve had success with this using the battery from a cellphone and a headlamp, but it is much easier with a headlamp battery cartridge.

Do you carry tinder? What do you use?

You knew when camping season had started when Dad came home with new outdoor gear to try out and use on our trip. From survival saws to camp stoves to waterproof matches we saw it all. What struck me the most (excuse the pun) were the fire starting gear. Particularly the “metal match” Ferrocerium rods. This is an update on the old school flint and steel.

This is what you find in lighters, the fire starters used for lighting gas torches and of course flint rods sold for survival. For the alchemist or really hard core DIYer, they are a mixture of: Iron (19%), Cerium (38%), Lanthanum (22%), Neodymium (4%), Praseodymium (4%), Magnesium (4%) source. It was designed to create a hotter, longer burning spark for igniting things. A LOT simpler than a rock and a piece of steel.


I still have the same “metal match” that my dad bought around 20 years ago (don’t tell him!). I don’t use it much, but I keep it on hand for emergencies. It’s Coghlan’s Magnesium Fire Starter, which includes an added benefit: Magnesium.

The magnesium is that added benefit for wet weather. You start by shaving off the magnesium with a sharp edge to create a small pile on your tinder. Then you strike the flint into the pile of shavings and ignite the magnesium. Magnesium can burn hotter than 3000 degrees C (> 5500 F), so you can imagine how much of a difference it will make.  I like it because it gives you an extra few seconds over the spark alone to get your tinder burning. Its a very simple process that much to the chagrin of my wife left a burn mark in her dining room table. Don’t worry, after half an hour of sanding and varnish  you can’t even see it anymore.

Surprisingly, the price is very low. $6 more or less and as I’ve said, I’ve had it for 20 years or so. At 20 years the flint detached from the magnesium, but a little epoxy and its good to go.

When I finish the video of a pot stand of the penny alcohol stove I’m hoping to put together a video of different emergency fire starters in action.

So, Have you used this “magnesium fire starter” or something similar? What is your experience?

P.S. Check out Coghlan’s new “Green Packaging Initiative”. Although a little step, its another reason to buy from them.