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

Urban EDC Bag

“Hi, my name is Todd and I am a bagaholic…”

Words that I am quite sure most of my friends would not be surprised to hear. I have a little, er, problem. Over the years I have amassed a truly stunning collection of; shoulder bags, day packs and messenger bags. Why you ask? I am on a noble quest. Please, hold your applause.

It started with Indian Jones. Indy had this great bag that he used to wear along with his whip and gun. I loved it. Later, much later, I started to carry a daypack while in college. The pack carried what ever I would need during the course of a day. Things like books, pens, sunglasses, soda, smokes. Every thing a proper college dude needed to survive.

Things started to get out of hand after I had been out in the real world for a while. At first I carried the same old battered daypack or other daypacks until I decided that my increasingly self important position required something that was a little more professional. There followed literally dozens of bags of varying sizes shapes, sizes and functions. For some reason I just could not seem to find one that was perfect.

Indy was not the only thing to get me on this kick. In the movies the hero was able to pull just what he/she needed “out of the bag” as it were. As a fan of fantasy novels it got even worse, have you ever heard of a Bag of Holding? No? Well, let me tell you about this wonderful literary creation. The inside of a Bag of Holding is larger than the outside, much larger. So large in fact that when our stalwart hero finds that he needs to leave town in advance of the coming hoard, he simply reaches into his bag and pulls out a horse. See what I mean? Large.

Most people think that it’s easy to find a bag for daily use. I suppose it is, if you just want to schlep a lunch and paperback from house to car to work with no sense of style at all and no flexibility. I say; never friends! I want a Bag of Holding. I want something that will provide safe storage and transport for my lunch, book and DPSG. (Daily Personal Survival Gear) I want something that will do all of the above and still have room for any odd or end that I pick up during my adventures.

I may have actually found it. I recently came across a bag made by Lost Creek Packs located in Indiana. Lost Creek makes a variety of bags, packs, coveralls and other gear specially designed to be used for caving. Now, the thought of caving does not really do much for me. The image of squirming through a body sized hole several hundred feet beneath the earth and, gasp, getting stuck is just a little too vivid for me. However, the gear made for such highly abrasive exploits is very hard to hurt. It is in fact nearly indestructible in daily use. Now that, say I, is interesting.

I chose the Gorilla Pack, one of their standard models. A standard caving back, as I learned, is built to be rubbed continually against cave walls, so it is sturdy. Also it has few or no external pockets to catch on things.  The pack is made of heavy duty ballistic nylon on the outside and a second lining layer inside of slightly lighter material. The inside layer gives the bag a double bottom as well as forming two inside pockets that run almost the entire front and back of the bag. The bag closes very securely via a draw-string top that can then be rolled down and clipped into place with three Fastex buckles. Once this pack is closed it is not only fairly water resistant but nothing, and I mean nothing is going to fall out.

 The very helpful folks at Lost Creek Packs were also willing and able to add three exterior pockets for me as a custom order. I had them add two large pockets on the sides that will each carry a thirty-two ounce water bottle or stuff with ease. I also had them add a zipper pocket to the bottom front for things that I wanted safe and handy. The fine Lost Creekers did all this for a very small fee, I think the whole thing came to twenty dollars over standard cost and only added three or four days to the length of the order.

 The thing about packs designed for caving is the variety of ways you can carry them. My pack came equipped with two straps made of seatbelt material and having sturdy clips at the ends. The pack its self has a series of five D-rings attached to the back that allow you to carry the bag either; slung over a shoulder like a briefcase, cross body like a messenger bag, as a fanny pack or like a standard daypack. All based on how you configure the straps. Now that, friends and neighbors, is versatility.

I have been using my Gorilla Pack for some time now. As far as I can tell, it is ideal. It’s big enough that I can carry all of my daily stuff, add a raincoat or fleece and still have room for things I may acquire on my travels. At the same time the simple but ingenious roll-down-and-buckle closure system means that when the bag rides empty it can be kept small and out of the way. Being able to go from messenger bag carry to full back pack, means that I can give my shoulders and back a break when the load gets heavy. A very important function if, like me, you tend to frequent used book stores.

 It seems that my quest may be over, my addiction in remission. I have what has become for me my Bag of Holding. The Gorilla Pack by Lost Creek Packs…now all I need is a horse...