Keep Those Fires Burning Challenge

This Little Lamp of Mine: A Review of UCO's Collapsible Lantern

Last week we wrapped our candle selection video and I said that we would be reviewing another candle lantern that I purchased this week. This lantern is light, compact, super tough, and the candles themselves are very powerful. I am of course talking about UCO's collapsible candle lantern. This lantern is 6" tall, 4" when collapsed, and there are two main parts to it. There is the candle chamber and the lantern body itself. The lantern's body has a 3" long, 1.5" wide glass globe, the body of the lantern which is just a bit bigger than the globe that has a peep hole in it so you can see how much candle you have left, and the top of the candle which fits into the grooves of the body, a cap to protect against weather, a bell, and a chain. The chain is a bit annoying because it gets caught on everything. When assembling the body of the lantern make sure you line up the fingers of the lid with the grooves of the body and slowly slide it into place. Once it is fully collapsed you want to make sure you get each finger around the glass globe at the bottom. If you go too quickly you could scratch the globe or break one of the fingers of the lid.

Now let's move on to the candle chamber.  This is made up of the candle shell, a spring and a plug. There is also a cover plate for the spring to protect it from melting wax. To assemble, insert the candle into the candle chamber wick first. Then you are going to find the cover plate and insert it concave side first. Next take the spring and the plug and carefully put it behind the candle. You don't want it to spring back on you. Once everything is fit together you will take the candle chamber and insert it into the body of the lantern and twist to lock it. Now, you can light the candle in the candle chamber prior to putting it in the lantern, or, you can slide the globe down, light the candle, and slide the globe back up into place and lock it.

We will be repeating the same tests from last week with this candle. First we will try to light this candle with a spark, with charcloth, and the candle itself. This was the first candle I was ever able to catch with a spark. Let me explain what happened. So I lit the charcloth and had my ember going and I held the candle over the embers and some of the wax melted into the charcloth. When I noticed this I started to blow harder to get the ember to melt that wax and get it to release the gas that keeps the candle burning. Once I got that to happen and it started to create a flame, it was as easy as holding the candle to it and lighting it. Honestly, now that I know what I'm doing I think I could light any candle this way, but I have to give it to the survival candle for being the first.

Next is the illumination test. This candle claims to have 20 lumens, but I am mainly going to see how well it lights up my area and we will take it down to the track and see how well we can read the signs. This lantern is very similar to the electric lantern in its ability to light up my work area. I estimate it to have about a 5 foot area of illumination. I could very easily be doing something at night at my camp with this lantern on hand. On the track I had to get about 1 ft away from the sign to be able to read it, however, I didn't have to be right up on it like I did with the other candles, so I'll give it props for that. I will say that it has done much better than the other candle lanterns I've made, but I do think I can improve them. Since I haven't yet I'll give it to this candle. The only problem I have is that it didn't do as well as I wanted it to on the track, however, UCO makes a cup that looks like it may be for this lantern that covers the back and makes the light more concentrated in one spot. Honestly, I always carry a flashlight with me, but it may be something  you're more interested in for your kit.

Now we will be doing a burnout of this candle. It claims to burn for 9 hours. This candle burned for 13 hours and 40 minutes. I lit the candle at 3 pm and it didn't go out until 4:40 am. It was a long night. This is more than double the time its competitor the squat candle burned.

On to field repair. The only concerns I have are with the glass globe or the fingers of the lantern body. If the globe were to crack, I'm not sure how well this lantern would work. The globe puts pressure on the fingers and the fingers put pressure on the body to hold everything in place. With the globe gone, it's uncertain how well your lantern will actually work. The second thing I worry about are the fingers. If one finger breaks the whole system will be unbalance and will likely not work. Now I don't think they are so flimsy that they will just snap, but I do think you could easily break one if you are being careless while inserting your globe. This lantern is made out of stainless steel and is pretty sturdy. As long as you keep maintenance on it, it should last you a long time. This is another point I want to make. It's not necessarily about field repair, but it is a relevant point. The only candles that will work with your UCO lantern, is a UCO candle. Surprising right? You MIGHT be able to get by with a stick candle, but no other candle will fit.

Now onto our price point. Before telling you the price, I will say that this lantern has been so much fun to work with and use. I highly recommend you get one and try it out if you have the scratch. The lantern itself is about $17 and comes with one candle. I also purchased a set of $3 candles for about $8 so I spent about $25-26 total. There is a combo pack with these items that I've seen for between $21-23 on Amazon (it changes daily). In hindsight I should have done that, but, oh well. For $8 you get 3 candles which equals out to about $2.66 per candle. If you subtract $2.66 from the $17 for the lantern you get the base price for the lantern which is $14.33. For $14.33 I could make 3, maybe 4 of my candle lanterns including the tools I need to make them. This is if you are going for quantity, not quality. You could also make my candle lanterns a lot brighter by adding more holes, I just don't like to do that. Now for $2.66 I could buy 5 squat candle that give me 30 hours of lighting. for a full $8 which will give me 3 UCO candles, I could buy 15-16 squat candles and get 90-96 hours of lighting. Now that is a lot more candles I will have to carry with me. And yes, I understand that the UCO candles are more expensive because they are smaller and more powerful, I'm just playing devil's advocate to show you what options you have.

In the end I don't think I will be packing this in my bush kit, mostly because of the fears I have with field repair. I do think this would be good for an ultra light backpacking kit (which I am going to make eventually), maybe a hunting kit, and definitely an EDC kit. This won't be going into my EDC kit because as you know, mine is filled to the brim and cannot accommodate it. But another point I want to make is that my bush kit is designed around higher quantity and not higher quality. That's just a sacrifice I'm willing to make. But that'll do it for this year. We will have a Christmas special next week, though. You won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Wax & Wick: Choosing A Candle For the Tin Can Lantern

Last week we talked about electric illumination devices and chose one for my pack. This week we're going to be talking about the candle lantern, or specifically the candle inside them.  Now if you want to know the ins and outs of how a candle works, go to YouTube and search "how does a candle work," there is a lot of great information there. I am just going to give you the overview.. A candle is made of a wick and a hydrocarbon wax; that is, hydrogen connecting to carbon. When you light the wick, the wax begins to melt releasing a gas which is what keeps the flame burning. You can prove this by lighting the gas above the candle.

What we have today is a contest between three candles. We have a stick candle, what I call a squat
candle, and a tea candle. They will be competing in four different categories: being lit from a spark, how bright they burn, how long they burn, and overall cost effectiveness.

For the first test we must first char all the wicks of the candles. I then got some ferro rod  shavings on a board and was then going to try to use those shavings to ignite a spark from the candle. The only candle that was able to participate in this test was the stick candle and it did not cast a spark. The next test was to get some charcloth in a char tin and cast a spark. This gave us a nice hot ember to try to light our candles on. This time the stick candle and the squat candle got to participate however both failed. I was able to get an ember on

the squat candle, but was not able to light the wick.

For the second test of illumination, we are going to go back to the same track that we tested out our electronic illumination devices. First up is the tea candle which we have to get right up on the sign to see. The same with the squat candle. The stick candle performed slightly better than these other two due to the fact that it has a larger flame. Now none of these did well in comparison to the electronic devices, but this is what we are working with.

For the third test we are going to take a fresh version of each candle, put it into a lantern and burn them until they go out by themselves. For the stick candle we will be using and open top lantern due to the height of the candle. The tea candle burned for 3 hours and 50 minutes, the stick candle for 4 hours and 6 minutes, and squat candle for 6 hours and 15 minutes. I really thought the stick candle would burn the longest since it appears to have the most wax and there fore the most fuel to burn. However, I think where it was in an open top lantern a lot of the gasses that keep the flame burning simply escaped out of the top. Also the squat and tea candles have a metal base that pulls their wicks down. I think for the stick candle there was a moment where the wax was lighter than the wick and it nose dived.

Now looking at cost effectiveness. The tea candles come in a pack of 50 for about $3-5 so individually they are between five and ten cents. Next is the squat candles which are 50 cents a piece and can be purchased individually. The stick candles are 88 cents a piece and are purchased individually. Two tea candles can burn longer than on squat candle, so if you are looking for over all cost effectiveness, the tea candle is the way to go.

Before we talk about which candle I will be using, let's talk about why each candle got the ranking it did. In third place was the stick candle, which technically got a disqualification simply because it does not fit in the lantern. It's not the candle's fault, it's not the lantern's fault, it's just reality. The tea candle is ranked second because it was always playing second fiddle to either the squat or stick candle. It only really excelled at being cost effective, however, I'm not just looking for a cheap candle, I'm looking for a powerful one. The clear winner to me is the squat candle. I almost lit it with a spark, it was only average in illumination, but it burned for an entire 6 hours. Plus, to me there isn't much of a difference in 5 cents and 50 cents.

You may be wondering why we put so much into working with these candles. Next week we will be reviewing a candle and candle lantern that can supposedly burn for 9 hours and I wanted the best candle I could find to contend with it. This will also be the last blog of the year aside from our Christmas special so you definitely don't want to miss it. As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

I Will Survive: Comparing the Survival Water Bottle to My EDC Kit

Last week we finished building our EDC Kit and we talked about the three characteristics we want our gear to have: familiarity, compactibility, and re-usability. We packed away all of our stuff into a fanny pack as well. We valued this kit to be about $57, however I only spent $10 on my kit for the fanny pack. The rest of my gear I already had lying around the house. I did not buy gear for this kit. This week we are doing the review. That’s right, this week we will be comparing the survival water bottle to my EDC kit.

First let’s get into the survival water bottle and see what we are getting for $20. The water bottle itself is a 1000 ml. plastic water bottle with a red carabiner attached to it. I have some black 550 paracord at the top of the water bottle, one bandage (the card says there were supposed to be three),

an aluminum carabiner with a compass and an LED flashlight. It also comes with a tiny pocket knife with a tiny nail file. The next item I remove is an orange safety whistle, and a floating compass with a container that stores matches, however, no matches were provided. The last few items are a survival blanket that reflects up to 90% body heat, an emergency poncho which I can see from the package is very thin and will not last long, (I may be able to fly it like a tarp), and an emergency sewing kit with a button and a latch pin. I am not satisfied with what I have for $20. I do not feel that it meets the criteria of 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. My final note is that repacking the bottle was extremely difficult and all of my gear was crammed back inside.

I am going to be testing the survival water bottle in the same location where I had my 3 Day Camp. I

am going to attempt to set up my shelter, start a fire, and boil water. Now, I am not going to spend all day out here trying to accomplish these tasks with this kit. If I hit a road block that I cannot overcome or at least overcome quickly, I am going to say the test is done. I am going to follow this same practice with my EDC kit as well. One flaw I am going to point out with the survival water bottle right away is that I had to dig a box of matches out of my car to add to the kit, because the kit itself did not provide them.

The first thing I did was use the paracord to suspend the plastic water bottle over the site where I am going to build my fire. I tied the paracord off to a tree, threw the length over a limb, tied a loop in it, and clipped the water bottle to the loop with the red carabiner. The goal is to get my water to boil by controlling my fire. Normally I would use a tripod to boil water, however  I do not believe I could cut down or carve one with the tools provided by this kit. This attempt failed

I used my matches to start my fire. If I had not supplied the matches I would have had absolutely no way to make fire. I could have added a lighter instead, however, the kit was designed to use matches. While setting up, the branch above me became over encumbered and fell out so I had to improvise and suspend the water bottle from a much less distance. I filled it up with 16.9 oz. of water so that it will be boiling the same amount as my EDC kit.

Unfortunately I was not able to get the water to boil. While trying to control my fire the water bottle began to melt and warp. Also the tripod type branch I was using was dry enough that it started to catch as well. I probably could have waited a little longer, but I was not satisfied with how things were going. If you don’t know how to boil water in a plastic bottle pre-emergency, you are not going to know how to do it in the actual survival situation. I’m ranking the bottle a D, not an F, because you cannot purify water in it, but it can hold a significant amount of water and that’s worth something.

For the shelter I decided to use the poncho as a moisture barrier and I used the survival blanket to wrap up in. It is very noisy and if I were to sleep like this I would definitely wake up any time I moved. Other than that it was kind of nice. I rank the shelter a C. If rain were to come I would be left completely out in the open. If I had a fire to sit next to it would be even better, however the blanket says to keep away from fire. I may even consider getting one of these for my EDC kit.

Now that we have finished testing out the survival water bottle, it is time to test out my EDC kit. Right away you will notice that there are things I can do with this kit that I couldn’t do with the other kit, and actually there is one thing that I could have done with the survival water bottle kit that I could have done, but chose not to. We will talk about why a little later.

I will be testing my EDC kit the same way I tested the survival water bottle according to the rule three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. My first order of business is to make a shelter. What I did was lash a branch horizontally to a tree with my bank line. Next I found some small rocks and folded them into the corners of my poncho, tied off the corner to keep them in place, and then tied the corners to the lashed branch. I took a long stick that was smaller in diameter to the one I lashed to the tree and used my 11-in-1 card to saw it in half. The stick was mostly greenwood so the 11-in-1 card had some difficulty getting the job done, but it did get the job done. Next I used my Camillus Seize to carve the two half pieces into tent stakes. I repeated the process with the stones in the bottom to corners of my poncho, attached them to the stakes, and then staked them into the ground. This results in my poncho being set up like I would my tarp.

The reason I did not do this with a survival blanket is because I was having so much trouble with the

survival water bottle kit, I just wanted to get any kind of shelter together. I absolutely think that the survival blanket could do this, and it is roughly the same size as my poncho so I think it would do it well. The only problem being with that kit, if I chose to make the survival blanket into a shelter, I would have nothing to cover up with at night. If you have a extra survival blanket in your kit I highly recommend that you try to do this. Unfortunately with the survival water bottle kit, I just don’t think it’s worth it.

With the assistance of my lovely wife, we did a weather test on the poncho. I sat underneath it with my moisture barrier, the black contractor bag I included in my kit and she prepared the water hose to spray down my shelter.  Now the water from the garden hose was a lot heavier than any rain I would typically experience, but it held up well and no water got in. The hood of the poncho faced downward and while it did move and buck with the water hitting it, it did not open up to let the water in.

Now I am going to test the abilities of the second contractor bag that I packed in my EDC kit. First I

can get into it and use it like a sleeping bag if needed. While standing the bag comes up to my arm pits, but lying down I can hunker down into it and it will retain my body heat fairly well. The next thing I am going to test is how well it holds water. I filled the bag up just enough for me to be able to lift it and also so it did not rip out the bottom of the bag. It held up well, I have plenty of contractor bag left to tie it off and store it, and all I have to do is untie it to get more water.

Speaking of water, now it is time for our boiling test. I am going to use the same amount of water as well as the same type of bottled water as I used in my previous boiling test to be fair in judging which boils better. I used my lighter in my combustion kit to light my tinder and get my fire started. After that it was just a matter of placing the metal water bottle into the fire without the plastic lid on top and waiting for it to boil.

Another thing that I want to show you my kit can do is make char cloth. The Altoids tin that is also

the container for my combustion kit can also be used to make char cloth in. Now I didn’t have any cloth packed in my EDC kit so what I did was cut a strip out of the bottom of my T-shirt, placed it in the Altoids tin, closed it, and put it in the fire. It’s as simple as that. Now I can make char cloth while I am waiting for my water to boil, which it did! To remove it safely from the fire, I used my bank line and a small stick to make a toggle, carefully slid the stick into the bottle, and lifted it gently out of the fire to cool. The char cloth actually turned out very nice as well. It blackened well and there were no white spots. Unfortunately the inside of the Altoids tin charred up pretty badly as well so I can no longer use it as a signaling device.

For my final thought, I like to think it is pretty obvious which kit is the winner, but we will still go ahead and break it down. Overall I was very pleased with the fanny pack, more so than I thought I would be. Everything I needed was at my hip and was easy to retrieve. The water bottle just did not have what you needed to survive in my opinion. I ranked the combustion kit in the survival water with a D, because I had to provide my own matches and in that kit that was the one and only way provided to make fire. For cover I ranked it a C because of the survival blanket, but I think there could have been more options in the way of cover. I gave the container a D, because I could not boil or purify water in it. It's saving grace was that I could hold a large amount of water in it. I gave the cutting tool an F, as it was pitiful. It isn't the smallest knife I have ever had, but it was definitely the worst knife I have ever had. I gave the cordage a C. It did it's job, however, I had 33ft. of  550 paracord in the bottle, yet in my kit I had 60 ft. of bank line that was much more compact. Moving on to my kit, I felt it performed above and beyond. My poncho worked very well as a cover, and I was even concerned it would rip but didn't. The contractor bags served their purpose as a moisture barrier and even held up to the task of having extra jobs, so to my cover I give an A+. My combustion kit had a rocky start, but I did have multiple ways of making fire and even created a fourth way to make fire while testing the kit so I give it an A. My container did it's job boiling water and my cordage did a fantastic job setting up my camp. I even had plenty left over. The Camillus Seize performed well in the field. I used it to clean up branches and carve stakes with ease. The 11-in-1 card had a rough start, but it did its job in the end. The final results are the Survival Water Bottle overall is ranked D, and the Fanny Pack EDC Kit is ranked A, at the lowest, maybe a B.

Next week we will be picking up where we left off two series ago. David Canterbury first started off with the 5 C's of Survivability, later he added an additional 5, which in total became the 10 C's of Survivability. We will be beginning next week with Compass. It will also be our first on location video. Make sure you don't miss out! As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Every Day I'm Carryin': Building EDC Kits and Choosing Cutting and Combustion Options

Last week we highlighted and briefly talked about five blogs that I thought would help prepare for the next series we are going into: EDC kits. If you aren’t sure what EDC stands for, it is an acronym for Every Day Carry. This is a collection or group of items, equipment and gear that when working together can improve survivability in an emergency situation.

EDC kits range from very small to very complex. The smaller kits can be as simple as containing one item such as a knife, lighter, emergency poncho, or a gun. The problem with these simple kits is that they often don’t contain enough tools to improve survivability in an emergency situation. On the flip side, complex kits which are much larger and are filled up with anything and everything from take down bows, full fishing tackle, pop up tents, and a dozen or so MREs. The downside to this type of kit is that they are often too large and too bulky to be conveniently carried around every day. I believe your EDC should be right there in the middle. It should contain just enough tools to improve your survivability in an emergency situation and it should be light and compact enough that you will be willing to take it with you everywhere you go every day.

While putting together my own EDC kit, I came up with three qualities all of the items in your kit should have. The first of these three is Familiarity.  This is something we outdoorsmen are not new to. We are familiar with our bug out bags, our fishing gear, our kayak gear, and the firearms we take into the field, and so on. For the same reason, you should be familiar with your EDC kit.

Being familiar with your gear is going to give you two distinct advantages. The first advantage is that you are going to know the capabilities and limitations of your gear. For example, if you have a knife that you know you cannot baton with, you are not going to waste energy and resources trying to baton with that knife. You also minimize the risk of injury if something were to happen and the knife breaks while you are batoning and comes back on you. You become familiar with these items during what Dave Canterbury calls “dirt time” which is the time you spend out in the field actually working with your gear. I recommend that anything you pack in your EDC kit is as trusted as your best friend.

The second advantage you will have is knowing how to manipulate your gear into getting the desired result. For example you will know where to strike the ferro rod on your knife, what angle to hold it at when you want a deep or shallow cut, and how much wood and force to use when batoning. A person who carves spoons and bowls out of wood with nothing but a pocket knife has used that knife enough through dirt time that they know how to manipulate to achieve the results they want. It’s not all the knife and it is not all the skill of the person holding the knife, it is a combination of both. This is the familiarity you want with your EDC gear.

Now we can get into actually building our EDC kit. When starting off, it is important to have a framework in mind of what you expect from your gear. You can look for other ideas online, but I am going to base mine around the five C’s of survivability. First up is cutting tool. I have my Camillus Seize which I know can strike a ferro rod, and carve. My second option is the UST 11-in-1 card. It has a knife blade, flathead screwdriver, can opener, bottle opener, saw blade, 4cm ruler, different sized hex wrenches, and a butterfly wrench. It also has a feature called a directional ancillary indicator which I’ll do more on later. I like this tool for its saw blade which allows me to cut notches without having to carve with my knife, as well as it has various 90 degree angles to strike a ferro rod on.

Next up is our Combustion kit. In my kit I have a lighter, a micro ferro rod, and a magnifying glass like what you would see someone reading a restaurant menu with. Each of these tools has a purpose to make a specific type of fire. First, with a flick of the Bic, we have sure fire. This allows me to easily light my tinder and get my fire started. Next is the ferro rod which is not as good as sure fire but does cast better sparks than flint and steel. Both the lighter and ferro rod are non-renewable resources. Lighting the lighter uses butane and striking the ferro rod chips away material. The magnifying glass is a renewable resource because I can always use it to enhance the sun’s rays and start a fire. All items except my cutting tool are stored in an Altoids tin. It is cheap and convenient and can also be used for sewing and fishing kits. These tins are great because you can make them water tight by wrapping the opening with two overlapping pieces of electrical tape. It can be used as a signaling device with the polished metal inside the tin. Lastly there are enough holes in the back of the tin that you can actually char in it.

Now let’s talk price. The knife was the most expensive item, which I spent $30 on, however I have seen it sell for as cheap as $10. The 11-in-1 card was $2 but I got it on sale for $1. If the Seize happened to be on sale you would likely get both of these items for $20. The Altoids tin candy and all cost about $3. The magnifying glass and ferro rod come in a pack of 10 for $10 which translates to $1 each and the lighter also come in a pack of eight and is roughly $1 individually. Altogether we have spent about $25 on our EDC kit. The ones you find in store already put together run for about $20 so you are spending more, however, if you are using gear you are familiar with, these items should already be accessible to you and you really aren’t spending anything at all.

As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Homeward Bound: Day 3 of the 3 Day Camp and Review

At last we have arrived at Day 3 of the 3 Day camp. Last week we talked about basic camp hygiene and we packed up as much as we possibly could on Day 2 so when it was time to go in, the only thing we really needed to pack up was the bedroll. After breakfast, that will be the plan to pack up and go in, but the day doesn’t end there. Once we get inside we will need to do some maintenance on our gear to keep it from becoming ruined. Let’s get into it.

Packing up our bedroll is as simple as packing everything up the way we took it out. First I lay my tarp out flat, layer in my wool blanket, garbage bags, and inflatables, and roll it up into a bedroll and secure it with paracord. Easy. Now all I have to do is pick up my pack which should already be ready to go and head inside. The first order of business is to take a well-deserved shower and check for ticks.

The first gear item I am going to turn my attention to is my

mess kit. I used my garden hose to wash out as much as I could but there are still some problem spots on the inside. I am just going to wash them in the sink with a sponge, soap and water. After cleaning them up they are not sparkling and shiny new, but there is a big improvement. Overall I am happy with how they cleaned up and I anticipate being able to get many more uses out of this mess kit.

It is important to note that you should deal with these items 24-48 hours after your camp. With that being said I am now going to work on my bedroll. It did rain during the camp so I know that at least my tarp is wet. My wool blanket being a cloth item could mildew if any moisture gets into it so what I did was drape it over my bathroom door and let it air dry. It didn’t appear to be wet when I got it out of the bedroll, but I hung it up as a precaution. The trash bags that I had used a moisture barrier were wet, but they are also easily replaceable so I chose to toss the ones I had used. The large inflatable that was supposed to serve as my mattress was a failure on this trip so I decided to dispose of it as well. Now to dry my tarp. What I decided to do was stake my tarp out over the large bush in my yard. A quick note, one of my tent stakes became bent during the camp and will need to be replaced. I actually had planned on replacing the whole set, but for the time being this is what I have. All I did was drape the tarp over the bush and used the stakes to pull it tight. This allows it to air dry in the sun. An alternative method to drying the tarp would be to wipe it down with some clean, dry towels, but I chose this method because I didn’t have to fool with it any more once it was staked out.

Now I would like to take this time to review the camp itself. I think overall it was a success. I also learned a lot from my experience during the camp and we are going to talk about some of those things now. I’m going to talk about my gear that falls under the category of the 5 C’s. My cutting tools did their job and did it well. I was impressed by how they maintained their edge throughout the camp. When I inspected them after coming in I found that none of them needed sharpened which was nice. My combustion kit worked the way it was supposed to as well and I know I will need to replace the charcloth I used for the next time I go out. However, I know this is an expendable resource that I will need to continuously replace. I never needed the cordage that I packed, however I did have some there if I needed it. I would like to add another container to my pack. The purpose of this being that I can have water boiling on the fire and water that I have already boiled cooling down to drink. This gives me more purified water to work with during my camp.

I would like to talk about my cover more in depth since this item did the most work and took the most hits throughout the camp. The tarp did its job well, the only issue I had was from a failure in one of my tent stakes. I do want to replace my metal stakes with plastic stakes because I think they will be more robust, so that will be something to look for in the future. The wool blanket was also very helpful. I don’t think I could have stood it out there as long as I did without it so I will definitely be using that item again. I was really surprised by how well the contractor garbage bags worked out in my camp and I think next time I will pack four instead of two. My inflatable mattress as I stated earlier was thrown away. The next camp I am going to try and use a yoga mat as my cushion between myself and the ground. The downside to this is that it may make my bedroll bulkier, but it is much more reliable than the inflatable. Speaking of inflatable I had much success with the smaller floaties in the pillow case and I will definitely be using those again as well.

Now for the personal items. The insect repellent spray easily earns the MVP for the camp. Without it I would not have made it. The mosquitoes were absolutely awful when they would hit, but spraying that spray got them off my case. I was very happy I chose to bring my washcloths along, they helped when it came to cleaning my gear and myself. The medicine kit helped out a lot too. Every time I have been camping I have always slept in a tent. This was actually the first time I have slept on the ground in a Bushcraft setting so the sleeping pills were very helpful in getting me to fall asleep and getting a good night’s rest. Another thing that I never would have thought would help me get a good night’s rest were my boots. By using them as a place to rest my head, I was much more comfortable and well rested the next day. That just leaves my food items. Overall the items I chose to pack with me were very good for the setting I was in. The bread was even good, however I did not have a good enough control over my fire to get it to cook properly so I will definitely need to work more with that. I packed enough food to have 6 meals, two per day, one for one afternoon, and one at night, plus my Slim-Jims. Next time I think I am going to pack enough food for four meals per day plus an extra day’s worth of food because frankly, I was still hungry. This could be attributed to a few things, but it is definitely something to change about my pack in the future.

I hope you have enjoyed this camping adventure as much as I have. I would like to add that next week there will not be a blog or a video, I will be taking a week’s break, but I will be back the week after with a whole new series. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Settling In and Cooking Out: Day 1 of the 3 Day Camp

Last week I showed you all of the gear items that I have chosen for this camp, some of them we had talked about, but some were personal items I had chosen that we had not previously discussed. I showed you how I packed my pack, and now we are ready for the 3 day camp. This week we will be talking about the first day of camp from the time I walked out the front door, to the time I went to bed for the night. Let’s get started.

For the first night I need to accomplish a few things. The first and most important thing is setting up my camp. Next I will need to collect some firewood and some water. Then I can build a fire at my camp site that I can use to boil my water and cook my food for the night and some for the next day as well. I need to try and get all of these tasks accomplished before it gets too dark that I cannot see to work, or that I will be too tired to do anything else.

For my camp I will be using my bedroll to assemble the wedge, or plow point tarp set up that we had talked about in a previous blog. I have chosen this set up because there is a possibility it could rain during the three days I am out here and it will provide the most space and cover. Another bonus is that it is the fastest to set up and also to tear down. After getting my tarp set up, the next thing I am going to do is place the industrial size garbage bags in my bedroll on the ground to provide a moisture barrier not only for myself, but for my gear to rest on while I go gather firewood and water.

I collected my water from the nearest source which was my garden hose and stored it in the canteen that I packed in my pack. This water may not be unsafe, but according to the rules of my camp, I will be treating it as an unsafe source and will boil it over my fire later on in the camp before I drink it.

Now for gathering firewood. Tinder and kindling are easy enough to process as they can be broken up by hand. The fuel is much thicker so I will be using my hatchet to process it. To do this I take the wood I will be processing and place it on another piece of wood so there is space between the ground and the branch. This protect my blade from hitting the ground and damaging it. 

To get my fire started I lay some fuel branches on the ground, placed some tinder on top and placed a piece of charcloth in the tinder. I could cast sparks with a ferro rod but for this instance I just chose to use my Bic lighter. Once the charcloth was alight I layered in tinder, kindling, and then fuel until the fire had taken off on its own. 

At this point I am ready to start cooking. The first order of business is to get my water boiling. I can boil it in the canteen itself by placing it close to, almost in the fire. Next I am going to take out my mess kit. I used the larger bowl to pour my soup in and used my tripod to get the bowl into the fire enough to begin warming the soup. I used the smaller bowl in my kit as a mixing bowl and started making pancake batter for my lunch on day 2. I used a couple of spoonfuls of flour, a few pinches of sugar, a bit of salt, a scoop of shortening and some of the water I had purified to make the batter. I also used some shortening in the flat pan in my mess kit to grease it as the plan was to use it as a griddle. In the end my bread did stick to the pan. It wasn’t pretty, but it was edible. After dinner I needed to get my mess kit cleaned up for the next day. I simply took the pieces of it over to the garden hose and sprayed out the contents.

Now it is time for bed. The first thing I need to do is inflate my inflatables. First is the mattress which is a large pool float. Next I have four arm floaties that I inflated and stuffed into a pillow case that I used for a pillow. To keep them from shifting around I pack them in the way I want them and then tie off the excess length of the pillowcase to keep them in place. Lastly I have my wool blanket that I will cover up with. After my fire is out, I am ready for bed.

I hope you have enjoyed this first day of camp. Tomorrow is a new day with a new set of goals and new challenges to face. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

All Packed Up and Ready to Go: Packing For the 3 Day Camp

We’ve spent the past few months talking about all different types of gear that fall under the category of David Canterbury’s 5 C’s of survivability, why they are important, what options you have, and comparing and contrasting those options. This week I am going to pack a backpack full of some of that gear we’ve discussed and go out on a 3 day camp using only the items I’ve packed. 

Now I have set up some rules for this camp and they are as follows: 

1. Once I have left the house I am not allowed to go back inside for any reason whatsoever. (No going back for forgotten or broken gear, restroom needs are an exception to the rule.) 
2. I will be treating all of my water which I will obtain from a garden hose as if it is an unsafe source and follow all of the necessary steps for purifying it. 
3. I will only be using gear that we have talked about in the last six months of blogs with the exception of one item.

Now, let’s get into what is actually going into the backpack. First I want to talk about food items. I have packed with me canned goods such as soup, which I can heat over my fire in my mess kit or in the can itself, and fruit cocktail which is quick and easy for breakfast and does not need to be cooked. Both of these canned items have a pull tab on top for convenience. I also have with me a flour kit with flour, sugar, salt, and coffee, which I can use to bake bread over my fire. Lastly I have brought some Slim-Jims along as a snack or to be paired with my other meals.

I have chosen these items because if I work strategically I can get most of my cooking done over one fire and that is less work for me. For example, once I have set up camp and started a campfire, I can boil my water, cook my soup for dinner, and bake some bread for lunch the next day. In the morning I will have my fruit, lunch will be premade, and I will have no further need for a fire until dinner time the next day. This way I get the most out of my resources.

The next personal item I will be talking about is a medicine kit that I have put together. I purchased a medicine organizer and sorted out allergy medication, ibuprofen, multivitamins, and sleeping pills. I chose these as I figured they would be what I would most likely need outside. Honestly, the sleeping pills will likely be the most useful to me on this trip as I will likely have trouble falling asleep on the ground so I anticipate needing them at least for the first night.

The last two personal items I will be taking are some simple dish cloths and some insect repellent. The cloths will be used for cleaning or drying out my mess kit, cleaning my gear, other hygiene needs, and maybe even to wrap my bread in to keep bugs out. The insect repellent is for the mosquitos which are awful this time of year. I purchased the sportsman max and have been left completely alone by these little pests after using it.

Now that we’ve gotten the personal items out of the way, we will talk about the gear I have chosen to take with me, starting with my backpack. I have chosen the Arrowhead bucket pack from Outdoor products. It has two side compartments, a compartment in the front, a larger and smaller compartment on top and the inside is one large compartment large enough for a bucket which I have inside. I chose this pack for the simplicity and how easy it is to pack, which I will show you how to do now.

First is the bucket in the main compartment. Truthfully this is more useful for an extended stay in the bush with such uses as a seat, latrine, or washing bucket, but for my purposes it will just make my pack sturdier.

Now a good rule of thumb for packing a bucket pack is to place the items you will need sooner than later on the top. My food items I won’t need until after camp has been set up and I have a campfire going so it will go on the bottom. This includes my canned goods, flour kit, and Slim-Jims. Next I will add my medicine kit and dish towels.

These next items which will be closer to the top of my pack fall under the category of the 5 C’s. I have chosen the mess kit that I put together myself that we talked about in a previous blog as well as a water bottle that I can boil water in. The mess kit consists of two large bowls, one with a rounded bottom and one with a flat bottom that can be used for frying. There is also a smaller bowl that I can use as either a cup or a mixing bowl. I also have included a tripod to cook over my campfire, a vice grip for taking my bowls on and off the fire without burning myself, and lastly, a fork and a spoon to eat with.

Next is my cordage. I have about 10’ of 555 paracord and a large roll of 36

bank line. Now, I have other cordage with specific purposes spread throughout my kit. This is more for backup in case I have forgotten something or something goes wrong. If needed I could use either of these items to set up my tarp or for my tent stakes.

I have several options in the way of cutting tools. I have my hatchet for processing wood, the Camillus Bushcrafter which I have as my fixed blade knife, a folding saw, and the Camillus Trench for my pocket knife. Now typically these items would go on my belt and they will in the field, but for now they can be stored in the pack. The folding saw is used for processing wood with a larger diameter down to a manageable size to be split with my hatchet. The Trench has various uses such as a can opener in case the pull tabs on my canned goods fail, or any fine carving tasks such as making feather sticks. Finally the Bushcrafter will fill in for any equipment for tasks such as splitting or carving.

I want to take a second to talk about the combustion kit I will be taking with me as well. The container for my fire-starting items is a chocolate covered pretzel can that I have spray painted and drilled a hole in so I can make charcloth. Its content are a piece of flint, some charcloth, a ferro rod, two bic lighters, and a magnifying glass. The magnifying glass comes with a simple cover with cloth on the inside so you are wiping away debris when you put it away.

Lastly is my bedroll which we made in a previous blog. This will serve as my cover. It consists of an 8x8 tarp that we had made, a wool blanket, and other essentials. I will be placing my bug repellant in the top of the pack so when I step outside I can spray myself down and I will be ready to get started. I hope you are as excited as I am to see what these items can do over a three day span. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Time to Get A Little Knotty: Important Camping Knots and How to Tie Them.

Last week we went over the different types of cordage you should take into the field. Cordage just like any other tool is useless unless you work with it. Just like with your knife, you practice carving; with cordage you practice knots. There are as many knots in this world as there are people that annoy you so there is no point in trying to show you them all. Some are great for hiking, some are great for climbing, some are great for fishing, and some are just fun to do. What I’m going to do is show you the ones that I think are best for a simple camp. Warning: failure to complete a knot successfully or using the wrong knot in a situation can lead to serious injury or death. DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE KNOTS WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF AN EXPERT. And with that, let’s get into the blog.

Now this may not come as a shock to most of you, because of the aforementioned warning, but I am not the best knot person in the world. Shocked, I know. Personally, I think I’m an amateur at best. However, I have used these knots, and I know that they work. So, I feel comfortable enough in giving you my own opinion. Another reason I consider myself an amateur is because I am not very good with the terminology. But, for this blog I have put together the most common terminology when dealing with these knots. You won’t pass any classes, you might sound foolish, but you’ll understand me. So, really, no upside.

The working end of the rope is where the knot is being made. This will come in handy later on because certain knots require the working end to be on one side of an object. The next is the bight (pronounced “bite”). This is when you take a section of the rope and turn it into the “U” shape as demonstrated in the picture. The loop is when you place one part of the cord on top of another, forming a circle. You can have overhanded and underhanded loops, but for this we are just going to be worried about loops in general. After that you have the standing part. This is basically just cordage that is not being used in the knot making process, which leads into what I have seen called the running end or the static end. Basically, the other end of your rope that isn’t doing anything.

Improved Clench Knot

Now with that very basic terminology, we should be able to talk to each other. And since we can talk to each other, let’s talk knots. For the first knot I am going to start off super easy with just a fishing knot.\ It’s widely popular and famous for its seven turns. To perform this knot, you will need a fish hook with an eye, the metal circle at the top of a hook, and fishing line. To begin, feed the working end of your fishing line through the eye of the hook. Once you have two inches of the working end through the eye of the hook, twist seven times. This will form a loop in the line on top of the eye of the hook. Run the working end through this loop. This will then make a second loop back where your working end just came from. Feed the working end through this second loop and pull the working end until the knot clenches down on itself. Always when working with fishing line, wet the line to ensure you have a tight knot. Trim off any extra if you want to.

 The next two knots I want to introduce you to are going to help you with your ridge line. A ridge line consists of a piece of cordage suspended tautly between two points. Your ridge line must be taut even with weight placed upon it. Again in my own terms, I call these holding knots, again, probably not the correct term. The reason I call these holding knots is because it holds on to whatever it’s being tied to. Some other knots that we’ll talk about later can be tightened down and can be tied off when you are happy with it. For these knots to work right you must apply tension to them at all times, or the knot will not function as it is supposed to.

Timber hitch

Now let’s move on to where knots really come in handy and that is your ridge line. The first knot we are going to look at is the timber hitch. It gets its name from its use in lumber. To tie the timber hitch we’re going to have our working end in our right hand and our static end in our left hand. We’re going to place the cordage on the back side of the tree, forming a U. Wrap the working end over the static end, and under the static end again. Take the working end and wrap it a total of five times around the working end that is coming from around the tree. Once you have done this, pull on the static end until the knot is cinched tightly around the tree. To undo this knot, simply release tension from static line which will loosen the working end enough that you can unwrap and pull it apart.

Siberian Hitch

Next we’re going to talk about the Siberian hitch knot, or as I have also heard it called, the Siberian witch knot. To perform this knot, take the static end in your right hand and the working end in your left. Take both the static and working end into your left palm and wrap the working end around your hand so that there are three strands over your hand. With your hand palm side up, twist under the static line and then over again with your palm side down over top of it. Use your thumb and forefinger to go through the closest loop on your hand and grab the working end. Pull the working end up through the loop and create another loop with the working end. Dress the knot so that the loop is cinched in place and adjust it so that it is tight on the tree. To undo this knot, simply pull the loose working end and the knot will fall apart. This knot can be used the same way as a Timber Hitch.

These next knots are the other end of your ridge line. These knots apply tension to your cord and keep it ridged. I call these tightening knots. It’s like a second grader’s vocabulary. These are just as important as the first knot. Maybe even more. Because these have to keep the tension on the other knot and it must keep the ridge line taut enough to perform its other duties. You will notice with these that they will often have places that you can tie off to set your tension, and that instead of tightening around the object like the other knots, they tighten around the cordage itself.

Trucker’s hitch

Make a U shape around the tree with the working end in your right hand and the static end in your left. Make an overhand loop on the static end of the line. Reach through the top of the loop and pull the static line from the bottom to create a bight. Cinch the bight in place. Now place the working end through the bight on the static line and pull towards the tree to tight the knot to the desired tautness. Lay a bight on the back part of the back part of the knot and pull another bight through it, creating a slip so that the knot can be undone quickly. To undo the knot, pull the working end to undo the slip, then pick the top of the static knot enough to pull the working end out. Pull apart in different directions to completely release the knot.

Taut Line Hitch

To perform this knot, make a U shape around the tree with the working end in your left hand and the static end in your right hand. Cross the working end under the static end and wrap two times around the inside of the loop on the static side above the working end. Next, cross the working line over the static line BELOW the working line and make a loop. Pull the working end through the loop and dress the knot. Pull taut. To undo this knot, push the working end down until it releases the last loop you made, then simply pull the knot apart.

Overhand knot

I want to join these two end of the rope so I have one continuous loop. I could tie a fisherman’s knot, however, to make it easier, I’m going to just tie an overhand knot using both ends of the cordage. This may not be as strong as the fisherman’s knot, however it will suit my purposes for the next knot, the Prusik knot.

Prusik Knot

With the Prusik knot, its most powerfully used when in conjunction with mountain climbing, due to its ability to slide up and down on a piece of cordage as long as there is not a tremendous amount of tension placed on it.  While used in rock climbing it can help prevent someone from falling because applying the climber’s weight to the knot will stop it from sliding down the line. However, it can still be useful besides being life-saving. In a camping situation you can use this knot along with your ridge line to tighten your tarp corners when you’re using it in conjunction with your hammock. You can also use them to hang equipment such as lights and then move them out of the way when you wanted to. To do the Prusik knot, after you have made your cordage into a continuous loop, you want to find as close to the middle of the cordage as you can find and take a bight. Hang the bight over the ridge line, leaving the rest on the back side. You then want to pull the cordage through the bight which will create loops on your ridge line. Pull the bight out and wrap it around the back of the ridge line and over the top, once again pulling the bottom of the cord through, creating two more loops on your ridge line. Repeat this once more to have a total of six loops on the ridge line and pull taut. This creates the Prusik knot.

Bowline knot

To do the bowline you want to start off by taking the working end in your right hand and the static line in your left. On your static line you want to make an overhand loop. Place the working hand through the loop, around the static line, and back down through the loop. People remember this by saying “the rabbit comes out of the hole, runs around a tree, and goes back in to his hole.” This knot can be very useful because it will know cinch down like other knots. You can tie this knot around your body without worrying about constricting yourself when being pulled out of a tight space.

I hope you get the chance to try out these knots. You could go out into the woods and tie between two trees, or you could just tie them between parts of your porch and deck. Hell, I often practice knots on my foot. But the key word there is practice. The more you do these, the easier they’ll become, the more they’ll make sense, and the better you’ll look as a woodsman. I have been getting a lot of views lately and I want to thank you all. I had 1000 views last month alone. For this blog, I want to end it a little different. There is a picture of a knot to the left of this paragraph. If you want, you can comment what you think the next topic will be about, and your only clue is that it will involve this knot. Whoever gets it correct first, will get a shoutout in the next blog and on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever they would like. The deadline for this will be 11:00pm Sunday July 9^th  (est).

As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.