Cowboy Coffee

Ok, this was my first try at cowboy coffee. I wanted to be able to have coffee in the field with out having to carry out filter packs or...shudder...drinking instant.

Cowboy coffee is nothing new so finding tons of different preparation methods on the web was no problem at all. I read and u-tubed a bunch of different styles and basically picked the one I liked best. I ignored any that wanted egg shell to sink the grounds.


My recipe:

2/3 crusader canteen cup of water

Tablespoon and a half (ish) ground coffee

Fire

5 minutes


It is, as you would think, pretty simple; bring the water to a rolling boil, dump in coffee, stir, cover the cup and wait 5 minutes, the grounds sink to the bottom.


That's it! Drink!


I have to admitt that the coffee was pretty damn good, even for a first effort. Way better than instant AND the crappy little filter packs. Just remember that you can't drink "to the last drop" unless you want to chew your coffee.


The details and errors:

This whole precession is so simple that I only made one real mistake and it was recoverable.

I wanted to go as basic as possible so I wrapped up whole coffee beans in a bandana and used the poll of my gransfors bruks mini hatchet to bash them into grounds. It worked ok but as you would expect there were a bunch of beans that ended up chunks instead of grounds. Here is he deal. After the 5 minute wait the grounds all sink, the chunks do not. I had to skim them from the top. Like I said, not a real big deal.

I am doing an overnight soon and plan on trying the coffee in the field. What will I do different?

I am bringing the coffee pre-ground so I don't have to worry about floaters. Down the road I will try whole beans again and just be real careful with the bean bashing.

Cowboy Coffee

Ok, this was my first try at cowboy coffee. I wanted to be able to have coffee in the field with out having to carry out filter packs or...shudder...drinking instant.

Cowboy coffee is nothing new so finding tons of different preparation methods on the web was no problem at all. I read and u-tubed a bunch of different styles and basically picked the one I liked best. I ignored any that wanted egg shell to sink the grounds.


My recipe:

2/3 crusader canteen cup of water

Tablespoon and a half (ish) ground coffee

Fire

5 minutes


It is, as you would think, pretty simple; bring the water to a rolling boil, dump in coffee, stir, cover the cup and wait 5 minutes, the grounds sink to the bottom.


That's it! Drink!


I have to admitt that the coffee was pretty damn good, even for a first effort. Way better than instant AND the crappy little filter packs. Just remember that you can't drink "to the last drop" unless you want to chew your coffee.


The details and errors:

This whole precession is so simple that I only made one real mistake and it was recoverable.

I wanted to go as basic as possible so I wrapped up whole coffee beans in a bandana and used the poll of my gransfors bruks mini hatchet to bash them into grounds. It worked ok but as you would expect there were a bunch of beans that ended up chunks instead of grounds. Here is he deal. After the 5 minute wait the grounds all sink, the chunks do not. I had to skim them from the top. Like I said, not a real big deal.

I am doing an overnight soon and plan on trying the coffee in the field. What will I do different?

I am bringing the coffee pre-ground so I don't have to worry about floaters. Down the road I will try whole beans again and just be real careful with the bean bashing.


I will post some pics of the process after the overnight so stay tuned!

My Review of Men’s/Women’s Danner Light II Hiking Boots

Originally submitted at Danner.com

Men’s/Women’s Danner Light II Hiking Boots

Men’s/Women’s Danner Light II Hiking Boots

Best Boot EVER!

By Todd from Boston area MA on 1/4/2012

 

5out of 5

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Arch Type: High Arch

Pros: Warm, Good Arch Support, Ankle Support, Water Resistant, Comfortable, Great Traction

Best Uses: Light Loads, Long-Distance Hiking, Heavy Loads, Day Hiking, Wet Conditions, Harsh Terrain

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

Was this a gift?: Yes

Simply the best boots I have every owned. I have very narrow feet and since I was able to get these in narrow ir was a no brainer. The fit and finish could not be better. I just took them out for a real pounding through snow, ice, slush and mud (got to love new england) and I could not have asked for better performance. I also love the fact that I can have these boots rebuilt when the time comes instead of having to replace them.

(legalese)

Canteen Cup Hanger

I just figured out a great way to hang a canteen cup over a fire. I used "ball-chain" to make a really simple hanger that when taken off the cup can live in a pocket taking up virtually no space and weighing an ounce or so  

for those of you on the last outing it is basically like the hanger I made from pine roots....but reusable and with less chance of starting on fire:)

Zippo Emergency Fire Starter

OK, I will be honest here. I bought this little baby more for the cool factor than anything else. When my wife and I visited the Zippo/Case factory and museum in Bradford, PA. This was my souvenir. The Zippo Fire Starter.
I really thought that this would be nothing more than a cute toy, something that I would put in a case with my zippo lighters and forget about. But...
I started playing with it and have decided that I love this little thing. I am sure most of you are familiar with the Spark-Lite fire starter, it has been a standard of the military and survival folks for one hand fire starters since the 80`s. Well, the Zippo Fire Starter owes homage there. Instead of the familiar plastic box with several tinder-quick tabs and a separate one handed sparker you get a piece of solid zippo construction that begs to find a home in you pocket.

Encased in the body of a Zippo Blue lighter is a great one hand sparker and 4 easy light waxed tinder strips that are are very reminiscent of Tinder-Quick tabs but are longer and narrower.
I have found that these can be used almost like a match. Start them burning, get your tinder pile going then put out the tinder strip. Cut off the burnt end and you can easily reuse the remainder.
All this in a nice little package that was made for pocket carry. Its size and feel make it a natural to drop into your pocket when ever you head into the field.
Just to make it even sweeter you get that awesome and unmistakable zippo " click!" when you open it:)

Tinder Box

I have been thinking about Tinder Boxes lately.It seems that when ever you read a story, fiction or non-fiction, that takes place in a nonindustrial age the one prime piece of kit that seems important to everyone is a Tinder Box.
Whether its the angst ridden protagonist searching for treasure in a fantasy novel or Lewis and Clark searching for the northwest passage a tinder box is the one thing they either steal or buy before heading out on their adventure.
From what I can gather this tinder box usually contains; flint, steel, charred cloth, and maybe other natural fiber tinder
Pretty simple really but when out in the wild its probably the single most important piece of kit, well except maybe a knife and neither of the the a fore mentioned folks would leave the house with out a blade right?
These days the tinder box has been replaced with matches or a lighter, not bad really but I think its shortsighted. What if the lighter fails? the matches are wet or you just use them up too fast?  Having dry tinder and maybe something to generate a spark to hand  is not a bad thing.
I decided to put together my modern take on a tinder box. Its a mix of old technology and new but I can start a fire with it as long as I can fine wood to burn.

Thoughts and suggestions any one?

My Modern Tinder Box

1. Small Otter Box
2. Some fat wood
3. Steel Wool
4. Cotton wadding
5. Spark Lite tinder
6. Several feet of juts cord
7. Patch of leather to stop rattling and to move a coal from one place to another
8. Very small fire steel*
9. Very small knife*

* These are not my primary ignition source. I carry them in this box strictly for emergency use. My primary ignition source is a Swedish fire steel that lives in my pocket and my knife.

Chemical Fire starting

I finally got to play with Potassium permanganate and Glycerine as a fire starter. This is an old trick, Potassium permanganate used to be used as a water purifier in survival and travel kits and Glycerine was used as a anti dihedral.
You put some pf the Potassium permanganate grains at the base of your tinder and pour the Glycerine on top...wait for it...Woosh! Its like a flare!
As fun as this is I cant see myself giving up my standard water purification tabs and Swiss firesteel.

It was fun as a learning experience though