The Best Method for Boiling Water

One thing that I've been needing in my camping equipment is a quality water filter, but ya know. poor college student, I can't really afford one right now, so Ive been borrowing a few from friends and neighbores when I go on my adventures.

The first on that I've tried out is just the regular pump filter. I like them, they work really well (as far as I can tell, I haven't gotten sick yet), they do weigh a bit more than I'd like and they're kinda large, but hey when it comes to purifying water, I'm not sure how cheap you want to go. some bad water in a bad situation could very well be the death of you. it's a pretty simple setup. One hose goes into the stream or wherever you're bringing the water from, and the other hose goes over the top of your waterbottle. and all you have to do is pump. all in all, i'm pretty pleased with the pump filters. I've tried a few different brands. they're all pretty much the same, and easy to use.

The next type of filter is one that I can actually afford, and it's the straw filter. these are really nice because they are super small and super lightweight. the concept is basically a simple straw that sticks into a small filtering device (see image) and than you basically just suck on it, and it filters it as it goes into your mouth. The one that I use is called a Frontier Emergency Water Filter System. there is enough filter on it to purify thirty gallons of water. I was a bit leery at first about using this because it was so small, but I trusted it, and have drank from some pretty questionable water, and I'm still around to tell the tale. All in all, it's a great little product, and only about 8 bucks at your local sportsmans store. lightweight, small, and simple to use.

Another method that I just discovered the Steripen. This little guy is actually quite amazing. it purifies water with UV rays. I did a whole bunch of research on them, and went to the local sportsman’s store and took a look at all of the different filters, and one of the workers came up and started talking to me, and I asked him about them. He had tried a number of different water filters and really liked the Steripen, the only bad thing about it was that it took batteries, and since it gives out UV rays, it drains batteries pretty quickly. That is a downside, but I also saw that they make carrying cases for the pen that is also a solar power charger. Man I covet this so bad. I've been looking for something like this, and it will continue to work for as long as I have sunlight. I haven't been able to try one out myself yet, but someday I'll get one. If any of you that are reading this have had experience with using one of these, please post a comment and let me know what you think about it. I'd love to know.

Other methods include Iodine or chlorine tablets. These are great little pills to put in the water that makes it safer than ever to drink, they're extremely light weight, and take up almost no space, the only thing is that it gives the water a bad taste. If you use this method, I would recomend also bringing some sort of powdered drink mix. This way, it'll take away that bitter flavor. it doesn't have to be a ton, just enough to mask the taste of the pills. This isn't my favorite method, just because of that. I like drinking water. not water that's been treated and a hint of lemonade has been dropped in.

By far the most timeless and foolproof method of purifying water is boiling. it will kill all of the bacteria in any water, thus making it drinkable. the downsides of boiling your water is that once it's purified, it's too hot to drink, and you have to wait for it to cool before drinking, and you need some way of boiling it. A source of heat, and something to boil it in. Recently there has been a lot of contravercy over how long you need to boil your water before it's purified. Some people say two minutes, some say five, ten, even twenty. But according to the Wilderness medical society, it only needs to be at a boil for zero minutes. once it's reached the point of boiling, all of the bad stuff has been killed off. If you don't believe me, I urge you to research the topic out, and get back to me.

source information for boiling water:http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml

Methods for making Camp Fire

Matches:

Matches are great. They’ve saved me many times; I carry around a book of them in my wallet with me just for emergencies. They're easy to use. You just strike and then light what you’re trying to start your fire with. The only bad thing is that you’re limited to the amount of matches that you have, and with most matches, if they get wet, they're completely useless. You can solve this problem by buying the waterproof matches, which in my opinion really aren't that great. Another option is to melt some wax, and dip the match heads in the wax, and then they will be water proofed, and ready for the trail.

Lighter:

Lighters are probably the most effective method for lighting fires. With a simple 50 cent lighter, you can light hundreds of fires, they will work when wet, they will hold a flame for more than 5 seconds unlike a match, my only problem is remembering to take one with me. I think the only downside is that they do eventually run out of fuel. And with some lighters, you can't see how much fuel is left in them, but for the most part. They’re fantastic.

Flint and Steel:

This method was used for thousands of years to light fires. Very effective, but it does take some practice. The way to start a fire is to get a piece of flint; a glassy type rock and strike it with a piece of steel creating sparks. You do need a good nest of tinder to catch and nurture your spark. I've found that cattail is my favorite tinder. You pull apart one of the corn dog parts of the cattail, and make that into a nest to catch the spark. That is one of the best tinder’s that you can use. It lights extremely easy. Flint and steel is a great method because flint can be found most everywhere and I usually don't have a problem getting a piece of steel either. You just need to practice the art.

Steel Wool:

Steel wool is probably more fun to play with than anything, but when used properly is a very effective way of starting a fire. it requires a bit of steel wool, and a nine volt battery. All you simply do is touch the steel wool to the battery, and it lights the wool. You will need to have some tinder in order to keep it going, because the wool will burn out quickly. It’s not going to create a flame until you put some tinder to it, but that is very easily done. And then you have fire. The issue with this is, that you need to have both the battery and the wool

Firesteel:

I discovered firesteel a while ago, and was intrigued, so I ordered some off the internet, and keep a bar of it on my keychain. These things are great. you strike it with any piece of steel (preferably a knife) you get a shower of sparks which is prime for lighting your tinder. This stuff is dirt cheap. Here is a link to where you can buy some

Friction Fires:

I believe that everyone should have a few friction fire methods under their belt that they know how to do. In my opinion, the bow drill is the easiest of the friction fires. The reason I think everyone should know, is you may at some point in your life find yourself in a situation that you don't have the supplies that you are needing, and a lighter, or matches aren't available. But no matter where you are stranded in the world you're going to be able to find the materials needed for starting a fire using friction. You just need to know how to use them. The only problem with these is they take a bit of preparation, and they take practice. You don't just grab to sticks and rub them together and get fire in ten seconds. It takes some time to get it down, but it's so worth it. you will never be unprepared, no matter where you're at.

Magnifying Glass:

This is a simple yet effective method. I think almost everyone as a kid has played with a magnifying glass burning stuff as a kid. At least I did. But it's a really great way of starting a fire. Focusing the suns energy through a lens to create a point of intense heat that will burn just about anything. The only downside is that it requires sunlight. So a cloudy day will not do, and you cannot light one at night, but a pretty good method none the less

Ice:

This is an interesting method. Although it is possible, kind of hard to get it to work. I've never been successful trying this out, but I haven’t given it a ton of error. they did prove it works on myth busters. you just have to get a block of ice, and shape it into a lens. at this point, it's basically a large magnifying glass. So find a focal point, and use the sun, and you should be able to start a fire. The only thing is that you need a very perfect chunk of ice. Can’t have any cracks in it, or those weird lines that ice has so many times. But it should work. if you've tried this out let me know of your success/failure.

Soda can:

Another method that is proven to be successful (thank you myth busters), but not super effective. Basically what you do is take the bottom of a soda/beer can, and you also need a chocolate bar (toothpaste will work as well) but basically using the chocolate, rub it on the bottom of the can with a rag or towel. It will take some time, but eventually it will polish the bottom of the can to the point where you can see your reflection in it. This method works by light reflecting off all the different sides of the concave polished metal, and when you find a focal point for it, it will light whatever you have to light it with.

Make a Campfire Burn as long as you want it to without ever touching it

No adding wood continuously

Have you ever been camping and had a really rough time starting a fire, and once you finally get it lit, you don't want it to go out overnight? I know I have, and especially when it's freezing cold, and wet, and the coals don't last all night. I just discovered a way to keep the fire going all night long. Well, I can't really take credit, I was browsing different survival websites and stumbled upon this little bit of information, but don't remember where I was.

So when most people make a fire, they throw logs on as needed. And if you have a fire, and throw a ton of logs and sticks on, it'll make a large fire that produces a ton of heat, and then dies fairly quickly. However, there is a much better way to conserve your fuel. This is an especially handy bit of knowhow when there is little fuel to be found.

To start off with, collect all of the fuel that you will need. it is probably a good idea to do this a few times to get an idea of how much wood you need for how much time that you want it to stay burning for. The Next step is to put all of the larger sticks/logs on the bottom of the pile right next to each other, so they're all side by side. Next, put the next layer of equal or slightly smaller sticks on top of your fist layer perpendicular to the first layer. So you’re basically cross stacking all of your branches. Now depending on how high and big you build your pile is how long your fire will burn. As your pile gets larger the sticks will get smaller, and when you’re all done with the pile, start your fire on top of it all. it will not burn huge, but it will burn hot and slow. As the fire burns, it will burn down the pile, and fire takes much longer to burn down than it does to burn up. That is why this method works so well for a slow burn. It will burn for hours on end and you will never even have to touch it.

Why the Mountains are a must

So the weather here has been really crappy lately and with work and school I haven’t been able to get out into the mountains as much as I like, and the last week and a half has been super cold and crappy. it's been raining like crazy here in the Valley, and at this time of year when it rains in the valley it's snowing in the mountains. Usually not a bad thing, but I’m just so sick of the snow this year. it just makes things muddy and cold up there.

Yesterday the weather actually turned pretty nice, and so after work it was just far too nice to stay inside, so I decided to go on a good trail run on one of my favorite local trails. I didn't quite realize how out of shape I am. A few hundred yards after starting my run up the mountain I was forced to a fast hike. Still a pretty good pace, but dang.

So I went a few miles, and I could not go any further, so I hung my hammock between two trees, and fell asleep listening to the sounds of the mountain. It was very relaxing. I work technical support for an online company, and it can get pretty frustrating, and I can get wound pretty tight sometimes, but just a simple disappearance into the mountains for even an afternoon make everything better. It's like my alcohol. my escape from reality.

Unfortunately, it was kind of cold, because there was still snow at the point that I went up, so eventually I had to run down. All in all, a great day.

Homemade Potato Flakes

So recently, I've been on a backpacking kick. I have all my supplies, I've altered my small backpack with all sorts of straps on the outside to hold all my gear, and finally got me a backpacking stove. One of those tiny ones that fold up into a little bag. that's nice, because before this, I've had to borrow one. I got a pretty good deal on a Burton, Raptor stove. I love it. I tried it out. it's a high quality little stove.

Anyway, that’s not where I was going with the blog. So now I've been working on good recipes that I can take backpacking with me. So my lovely wife got me a super nice dehydrator for my birthday recently, and so I’ve been using that pretty much nonstop since I got it. So I've been working on perfecting dehydrated recipes that all you have do is add hot water to it and you have a great meal.

So the first meal that I was trying to figure out was steak and mashed potatoes. The steak was easy, you just slice it into cubes and make sure you cut off all the fat (fat doesn't dehydrate well at all) and stick it in the machine until it's good and dry. done. the mashed potatoes took a little bit more thinking although I don't know why. so I wanted to basically make those potato flakes that you can buy in those packages, and I tried just slicing the potato raw and drying it, I tried boiling the slices and then drying them (came out with the same result---> doesn't work). Finally after all these stupid attempts, I got the Idea to make the mashed potatoes first and then dehydrate them. Bingo. that was the golden ticket. it's really simple, and I have no idea why it took my so long to figure that out. They dried nice and evenly and I just put it all in the blender to chop it up into little pieces, and then Bam! your done. that simple.

Now All I have to do is add some hot water, let it sit for a few minutes, and you've got steak and potatoes on your backpacking trip and they weigh virtually nothing. they're also great for food storage as well.

Now the question "why don't you just go buy potato flakes?" The answer, because I'm a tightwad, and I like to do things myself. Why buy it if I can do it myself? Plus they'll taste better. I promise you that.

Hammocks vs. Tents:
I've been using tents all my life, and lately have been using a hammock and I must say I love it. I have a Grand Trunk type of hammock, and I love it. It weighs about a pound and is fantastic for backpacking. so Here's the good and bad things about it.

The Good: They're oh so comfortable. I love the feel of the hammock. I especially the motion. I sleep real well when in them. They're lightweight, don't take up much space in your pack, great for just an afternoon hike, you can take it with you, set it up in about 30 seconds for a quick rest.

The Bad thing about Hammocks is that your not protected by the weather, so you have to have a tarp to drape over you incase of a storm. they generally are colder, because you have airflow all around your body, this can be solved by using your camping mat at the bottom of your hammock. and if you are a restless sleeper, moving around, and rolling over it is a bit difficult. They're extremely strong, the only time I ever ripped one is when I accidently blew up the fire, and melted a whole in the hammock, and next time I sat in it it ripped, but that wasn't poor quality material. that was my stupid.

So what I do to get the best of both worlds, I've actually managed to shove my hammock into my tent bag, that way it doesn't take up any extra space inside my backpack, I just strap it all onto the side. then I can use the tent or the hammock. which ever one best suits the situation.

The Miracle of Fire

Last summer was hiking Kings Peak, the tallest peak in Utah. The entire hike takes three days to complete, and is about 30 miles total. The first day, you hike from the drop point to base camp. Day two you hike to the summit and back to camp, and on the third day you hike out.
The first day went great with no problems. That night we rested for the longest leg of the trip the next day, we made our way up to the summit without any problems as well. We left most of our supplies down at base camp because this was just a day hike. All I personally had with me was my backpack, some lunch, and a long sleeve shirt if it got cold. And it did. Boy did it. On the way back, a massive thunderstorm rolled in bringing loads of rain. We got caught in it and trudged about four miles through the rain, mud, and small rivers that were cutting their way across and down the trails. It was freezing cold, and we were all soaked to the bone. It took longer to get back than it should have because we had to keep hunkering down whenever the lightning got really bad. Bottom line by the time we got back to our camp, there was nothing left on us that was dry, and despite our efforts to waterproof all our gear at base, it was more or less completely soaked. We were all extremely cold, and I myself was in the beginning stages of hypothermia shivering uncontrollably.
We all knew that we needed a fire do dry some of our gear and warm up. It was extremely difficult to start a fire because there was no dry wood anywhere, and after countless attempts at starting one, I was finally able to keep one going after using a small backpacking stove to get it lit. Oh how it raised our spirits. We were a pretty sad looking bunch until we got that fire started. We got all our things dry, and started to get nice and warm when the rangers came by and made us put out the fire because we were within the 1000 foot radius of the lake. We proceeded to tell them why we had the fire going and about the storm that we got caught in, but they just lectured us on how we really don’t need fires and a good sleeping bag will do the trick.
To an extent I agree with the rangers. Too many of us these days abuse fire, we have made an association between camping and fire that they have to go together. Which isn’t true. But the state that we were in, the fire was just the thing to get us out of the predicament that we were in.
It is an old Native American idea that the gods make good things and the devils give evil purposes to the good things that the gods give us. I totally agree. Fire can give us heat, light, comfort, gook food for us, cleanse. But on the other hand, if fire is misused it can destroy, engulf and kill. We just need to learn to use it in a correct way.