Reusable In Reusable Out: A Quick Look At Some Reusable Items

It is time now for the second installment of our recycling series: Reuse. Last week we featured Reduce where I went to my local park and cleaned up a good deal of trash there. This week I am going to be showing you some items that you would take with you that you could easily replace with reusable items. That is how I will be honoring the reuse segment of this series.




The first item on the list which I see a lot come April due to all the rain, are those nasty disposable ponchos. Please, please, please do not buy disposable ponchos. I myself have a reusable poncho, however, I do keep disposable ponchos in my pack in case of an absolute emergency, such as myself or someone I may be hiking with does not have one. Yankee from Yankee's Outdoor Adventure will tell you the same thing. I urge you not to use these in case it is an emergency. My poncho is reusable, has draw strings so I can adjust the hood so it fits over my head (and my hat) and actually protects me more in an emergency situation.

The next item on the list is something that campers all tend to use. Not just us bushcrafters, but everyone who enjoys going outdoors from time to time with their families. And I'm not against that at all, I support everyone who wants to go outside, I just want you to do it the right way. I know when we go camping we think "disposable" because we think it's easy to clean up. When you bring plastic cups and, it's not as bad, but paper towels, you're not as likely to clean it up. I've known so many people, and even I myself have done this, taken a pop bottle into the woods and set it down thinking "Oh, I'll pick that up when I leave." Here's the thing, if it's not important to you, you're not as likely to remember it. Then someone else will end up cleaning up after you. I have made my own reusable paper towels by taking a flour sack towel (I know I'm forever talking about these things, but they're awesome) and cut it into 8 pieces. You can use it as a napkin, wash it, and reuse it. No trash. As far as cups you can take a Coleman plastic mug, or if you're completely against plastic, you can take the Coleman enameled metal cup. Fantastic choices, either one.

The next item is the hard pill for everyone to swallow. Plastic water bottles that everyone takes with them for hiking and camping. The one in the picture to the right is not the exact same thing, but you can pretend it's whatever crap you use: get rid of it. Those things will cause you more harm than good. I take a metal, single-wall, stainless steel water bottle. I have a black coating on it so it doesn't reflect and it's easier to clean the soot off of when I boil in it. You can fill it up with water or pop, heck this could be your replacement pop bottle. If you're in the woods and you finish your pop, or your plastic water bottle breaks, it's now garbage. And if it's garbage it's no longer important to you and you're likely to forget about it. It's going to take a lot for this metal water bottle to be damaged to the point that it can't hold water. This may cost you a little bit more money, but considering all of the plastic water bottles you are going to go through in the long run, you can save up and buy you a new one.

If you guys have a better reusable item than what I've suggest or if you have an item that I've missed, leave a comment and let me know some of your ideas. Next week we will be talking about different ways to recycle items and you know you 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.

It Was My Last Resort: Cover Option and EDC Kit Packed Away

Last week we talked about the second characteristic of a good EDC kit, as well as added a 17 oz. stainless steel water bottle and 60 ft. of bank line. If you would rather use paracord, I added two other options for paracord, so definitely check out last week’s blog to learn more about those. Our EDC kit is currently valued at about $40. This week we will be talking about the last characteristic as well as adding cover to our kit and packing it away. Lastly we will do a grand total value of our kit and I’ll tell you what I actually spent on it.

The third and final characteristic is re-usability. Re-usability is important for any piece of gear in your EDC kit as well anything you use and like the other two characteristics, gives you two distinct advantages. The first is that reusable items are going to be cost effective. In a world where we have emergency tents and disposable ponchos that are great when you need them and have them, once they are used that piece of gear is gone and has to be replaced. I would rather have a good, higher quality item that I pay more money for and be able to reuse it, This does not just apply to cover options. Matches are one and done while lighters can be reused over and over again. Sure, a single match costs less than a penny, but lighters are a onetime purchase, are compact, and even after they run out of fuel you can still cast sparks off of it. The magnifying glass is easily the most cost effective item in my kit because I use the power of the sun to start a fire.

The second distinct advantage is that these items can be used outside of an emergency. I know this goes against what I said. This is an emergency kit, not a camping kit, however, if you’re going to have this kit on you all day you would be foolish not to use it in your daily routine. I usually have some sort of situation every day that involves a knife. You may use your lighter to light a cigarette for a friend, use you magnifying glass to read a restaurant menu, use your 11-in-1 Card to open bottles or cans, or even use your bottle to provide your own drinking glass at a friend’s house.

Now for our cover option. This item like everything else was chosen because it is familiar to me, it is compact, and it is reusable. My cover option is going to be a reusable poncho that I’ve had for about a year. It has stood up to a lot of rain and a lot of football games, but still has a lot of life left in it. The poncho covers most of my body and I like that the sides unbutton turning it into a serape. Having my ends open leads me to believe that I can them off and fly the poncho like a tarp. On the other hand I can wear it with the sides buttoned up and bring my arms in. The poncho will keep out the rain and cold and help me to retain body heat. If it gets too bad, I can draw string the hood and cover my face more.

The poncho alone is not enough for me in the way of cover, I still need some kind of moisture barrier. I am also going to add some black contractor bags to my kit. You may remember them from my three day camp. I actually chose to pack two. The second can be used as a spare, but can also serves several other purposes. I can fill it with water which will save energy from going back and forth to collect water for my water bottle. I can fill it with leaves to make a bed, I can use it like a sleeping bag, and I can even cut the sides and fly it like a tarp if my poncho were to fail. We also talked about re-usability outside of an emergency situation. The poncho is obvious, but with some careful cutting the contractor bags can be come two more ponchos for two more friends.

Now where will we be storing this gear? I considered using a backpack, but it was too bulky. I thought a haversack might be nice, but I couldn’t get my hands on one. So after looking for an option I found a water-resistant, neutral colored, low key pack to store my EDC kit. I chose…a fanny pack.

 Now, it’s not my favorite option, but it does everything I need it to. It easily stores all of my gear and even has a pouch in the front so I can get to the gear I need the fastest. I have considered using something more military that would appear more like a tactical fanny pack that would cost between $20-$40. However I was trying to be cheap. Once I set up camp I will even have room in the fanny pack to carry my tinder or anything else I collect.

Now it’s time to value out the kit. The poncho cost me $5. The garbage bags came in a pack of 10 for $10. With two in my pack that adds another $2 making our cover value a total of $7. The fanny pack cost $10 and was the only item I actually purchased for my EDC kit. All other items I had or was already using. This brings our total value up to $57. Again the only item I purchased was the fanny pack so its more accurately $10 spent and $47 collected.

Next week we will be testing the EDC kit I put together against the store bought EDC kit. I know I’m excited and you won’t want to miss it! 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.