My Minimalist Cook Kit

Alright, so the title is not exactly correct. There are much more minimalistic cook kits than the one I am going to show here. However, it is as minimal as I would want to go.

The reason I am writing this post is that when I discussed the weight reductions I had made to my cook kit earlier, people asked me why I didn't just switch to an alcohol stove set up to save more weight. The answer is that I like to use the same set up year round, and an alcohol stove and cup just wouldn't cut it when I had to melt snow for water during winter trips. That being said, I did actually make a kit based on an alcohol stove. It is something I would carry if I am traveling with very minimal gear. So, here it is:

The kit has a number of components, which all nest inside the cup.

The components and their weights are as follows:

Item	Weight
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Cup	3.1 oz
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Lid	0.6 oz
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Stuff Sack	0.4 oz
Modified Brasslite Turbo I-D	1.4 oz
Pot Stand	survival gear width="270">0.7 oz
3 oz Fuel Bottle	0.5 oz
Aluminum Foil Windscreen	0.0 oz (does not register on scale)
Mountain House Empty Bag	0.4 oz
Total Weight	7.5 oz

The first item of my kit is the cup-the Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle. The Stoic Kettle is a 700 ml titanium cup. In the above table I have divided the weights of the different components, but they come together as a set-cup, lid, and stuff sack. camping gear I have been using the cup for a year now, by nesting my Nalgene bottle in it. I have been very happy with it, so when I was making the kit, there was no question in my mind that this is the cup I would use.

The next component is the stove. There are many design out there, and many of them are lighter than the one I use here. The reason I settled on this modified version of the Brasslite Turbo I-D is that I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what stove I want to make. I decided that I would just make a miniature version of the Tuna Can Stove which has been my favorite alcohol stove. As I was shopping for parts however, I realized that the current Brasslite Turbo stoves use the exact same design. I decided to save myself the work and just get one. The reason I chose the I-D instead of the larger II-D is that I don't expect to do any serious cooking with this set up. It is going to be a boil and mix affair. This model does the job well.

However, I never liked the integrated pot stand used by the Brasslite Turbo stoves. I removed it from mine, and I also removed the simmer ring. Like I mentioned above, I will be using it just to boil water, so a simmering function is not needed. I ended up making my own pot stand. I used three jumbo paperclips, which I bent into shape and held two of the ends with wire. That way the design can fold, but offers very good support.

The remaining components are an aluminum foil windscreen, a 3 oz fuel bottle, which gives me sufficient fuel for a weekend trip, and a Mountain House meal empty bag. The last item might seem strange, but I have found it very useful. A big part of boil and mix foods is that you need something in which to mix them. The Stoic cup is a bit too small for the task. What I do is boil the water in the cup, and then pour it into the Mountain House bag along with the food (mashed potatoes, instant rice, etc). The bag also serves as a cozy for the rehydration process. The bags are designed to retain enough heat to rehydrate the Mountain House meals. I find that to be more than enough to rehydrate the foods that I ordinarily cook.

This cook kit makes for a very compact, and relatively lightweight package. It is entirely self contained, and stores enough fuel for a weekend trip. I have contemplated switching to it a number of times, but the cold weather performance issues have kept me from doing so.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-minimalist-cook-kit.html

Trip Report: Storm King Mountain Squirrel Hunt 9/29/13

In order to make up for our last canceled squirrel hunt, my friend Rich and I decided to go out for a day trip this past Sunday and give it another try. Our friend Earl also joined us.

The location we picked for the hunt was Storm King State Park. The park includes Storm King Mountain and the surrounding area. There is very little information on this area. It seems to be the land the state forgot. There are no controls on hunting here other than what the state regulations provide. 

The last trip report where you saw me squirrel hunting, I was deep in the woods, and I had little worry about seeing another person let alone accidentally being shot. This forest however is fairly close to a populated area, and even though we were bushwhacking the entire trip, we decided to pull out the blaze orange. It is not idea for squirrel hunting, but it beats getting shot.

I had a very hard time finding a decent blaze orange vest. For some reason all of the stores near me only stock vests in huge sizes. Ultimately, I had to make my own vest from a kid's size vest that I found. It packs up very small, so it is easy to store in the pack when not in use.

We cut through the woods, and made it some distance inside camping gear before we started to actively hunt.

The are seemed good for squirrel hunting. There was nice tree cover, and most importantly, there were acorns everywhere.

The are was also good for deer and turkey. There was surprisingly little scat to indicate that, but shortly after entering the forest, we saw clear signs that a buck was in the area.

We split up for the initial part of the hunt, traveling in the same direction but a few hundred yards apart. We moved very slowly, stopping regularly to look and listen for activity. I had my squirrel call with me, so I gave it a try.

After a few hours, none of us were having any luck. We joined back up and headed for a nearby lake.

The squirrel hunt did not go well. None of us had spotted any sign of squirrel. There were no husked acorns, no nests, no chatter, and we didn't see a single squirrel scurrying away. The only shot fired the whole day was by Rich, who shot in order to scare away a bear that was getting too close.

As a consolation prize, we passed through some dried up stream beds that served as a print trap.

Deer, raccoon, turkey, it was all there. Then, when we got tot he lake, what looked to be some bear prints.

We stopped for a bit by the lake, and ate lunch.

On our way back we ran across another buck scrape. It was fresh, and you could clearly smell it.

On the return trip, we also decided to see if we cold find the gear Rich had lost earlier during the day. You see, while we were separated, Rich had discovered an abandoned tree stand, which was just left on the ground. He went to investigate, and was promptly attacked by a swarm of wasps. He ran, he fell, and lost a bunch of the things he had in his pockets. Well, after some searching, we found the spot.

Approaching with caution, Earl eventually found Rich's gear.

Speaking of gear, I had with me my day gear. It was comprised of my hunting tools, a squirrel call, the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x25 binoculars, and my Savage 93R17 rifle. I also had with me, aside from my pocket carry, a Nalgene bottle with a nesting Stoic Ti cup, a Platypus water bladder, food, my rain jacket, and my fleece layer. It was all contained in my new day pack, the Osprey Manta 36. The pack is actually a hydration bladder, but I removed the bladder. It is a good size for a day pack. It has a number of pockets, which bring the volume up to 36L, but I just used the main compartment on this trip. The pack is actually grey, even though it looks kind of blue in the picture.

That's it for the trip. Not a single squirrel. We'll have to try a different area the next time, although with pheasant season starting today, it may have to wait camping gear for a while.

Here are the GPS maps for anyone who is interested. I am still working on trying to get the elevation profile from the GPS.

 

Stormy King Mountain is a nice forest, and I'm sure I will be back here again.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/10/trip-report-storm-king-mountain.html

Trip Report: Storm King Mountain Squirrel Hunt 9/29/13

In order to make up for our last canceled squirrel hunt, my friend Rich and I decided to go out for a day trip this past Sunday and give it another try. Our friend Earl also joined us.

The location we picked for the hunt was Storm King State Park. The park includes Storm King Mountain and the surrounding area. There is very little information on this area. It seems to be the land the state forgot. There are no controls on hunting here other than what the state regulations provide. 

The last trip report where you saw me squirrel hunting, I was deep in the woods, and I had little worry about seeing another person let alone accidentally being shot. This forest however is fairly close to a populated area, and even though we were bushwhacking the entire trip, we decided to pull out the blaze orange. It is not idea for squirrel hunting, but it beats getting shot.

I had a very hard time finding a decent blaze orange vest. For some reason all of the stores near me only stock vests in huge sizes. Ultimately, I had to make my own vest from a kid's size vest that I found. It packs up very small, so it is easy to store in the pack when not in use.

We cut through the woods, and made it some distance inside before we started to actively hunt.

The are seemed good for squirrel hunting. There was nice tree cover, and most importantly, there were acorns everywhere.

The are was also good for deer and turkey. There was surprisingly little scat to indicate that, but shortly after entering the forest, we saw clear signs that a buck was in the area.

We split up for the initial part of the hunt, traveling in the same direction but survival kits a few hundred yards apart. We moved very slowly, stopping regularly to look and listen for activity. I had my squirrel call with me, so I gave it a try.

After a few hours, none of us were having any luck. We joined back up and headed for a nearby lake.

The squirrel hunt did not go well. None of us had spotted any sign of squirrel. There were no husked acorns, no nests, no chatter, and we didn't see a single squirrel scurrying away. The only shot fired the whole day was by Rich, who shot in order to scare away a bear that was getting too close.

As a consolation prize, we passed through some dried up stream beds that served as a print trap.

Deer, raccoon, turkey, it was all there. Then, when we got tot he lake, what looked to be some bear prints.

We stopped for a bit by the lake, and ate lunch.

On our way back we ran across another buck scrape. It was fresh, and you could clearly smell it.

On the return trip, we also decided to see if we cold find the gear Rich had lost earlier during the day. You see, while we were separated, Rich had discovered an abandoned tree stand, which was just left on the ground. He went to investigate, and was promptly attacked by a swarm of wasps. He ran, he fell, and lost a bunch of the things he had in his pockets. Well, after some searching, we found the spot.

Approaching with caution, Earl eventually found Rich's gear.

Speaking of gear, I had with me my day gear. It was comprised of my hunting tools, a squirrel call, the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x25 binoculars, and my Savage 93R17 rifle. I also had with me, aside from my pocket carry, a Nalgene bottle with a nesting Stoic Ti cup, a Platypus water bladder, food, my rain jacket, and my fleece layer. It was all contained in my new day pack, the Osprey Manta 36. The pack is actually a hydration bladder, but I removed the bladder. It is a good size for a day pack. It has a number of pockets, which bring the volume up to 36L, but I just used the main compartment on this trip. The pack is actually grey, even though it looks kind of blue in the picture.

That's it for the trip. Not a single squirrel. We'll have to try a different area the next time, although with pheasant season starting today, it may have to wait for a while.

Here are the GPS maps for anyone who is interested. I am still working on trying to get the elevation profile from the GPS.

 

Stormy King Mountain is a nice forest, and I'm sure I will be back here again.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/10/trip-report-storm-king-mountain.html

Igloo Building Photograph, 1924

The photograph was taken in 1924 and shows an Eskimo family building an Igloo.

survival gear width="584" height="388">

It is amazing to think that 1924 wasn't all that long survival gear ago. I'm not sure how much of those skills survive today.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/11/igloo-building-photograph-1924.html

The Scott Expedition – Retracing The Steps Of A Legend

Most of us are well familiar with the ill fated expedition lead by the British Captain, Robert Falcon Scott. In 1911-1912, Scott and his men made a journey to the South Pole, only to perish on the return trip, freezing to death, short of food and fuel, only miles away from their storage depot. While Roald Amundsen managed survival gear to claim the South Pole for Norway only weeks before Scott managed to reach it, using a different route and dog pulled sledges, Scott gained significant fame, in large survival kits part due to the tragic end of his expedition.

This year, a two man team is attempting to retrace Scott's steps. British adventurers Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere are setting out on an expedition to Antarctica, attempting to follow the route to the South pole taken by Scott and his men. They will attempt to do it unsupported. Their journey began several days ago, and seems to be progressing. You can follow the team here.

It appears that the plan is to retrace the actual Scott expedition to the South Pole and back. Just like Scott, they will depot food on their way to the pole, and then retrieve it on their way back. Unlike Scott, they will be using modern equipment, and will have only a two man team, unlike Scott's expedition style approach. They will also lack horses and motorized sleds which Scott used in the early stages of the expedition.  

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-scott-expedition-retracing-steps-of.html

How Chris Mccandless Died: A Tragic Hero Or An Unprepared Fool

Many of you are familiar with the name Chris McCandless from the book, and subsequent movie, Into The Wild. The story is a true-ish account of the travels of Chris McCandless, who in 1990, after graduating from college, severed all contact with his family, and started traveling around the country. Eventually, in 1992 he made his way up to Alaska, where he traveled about 20 miles into the woods to an old bus which had been set up there as a shelter for hunters. He stayed at the bus for about 100 days, attempting to survive, until finally dying sometime in August of that year. His body was found soon after by hunters.

The author of the book, Jon Krakauer, has insisted since the writing of the book, that Chris McCandless did not simply die from starvation as the coroner's findings indicated, but that he was the unfortunate victim of poisoning. It is not clear on what he bases that instance, but it has certainly made for a better story than him dying because he didn't bring enough food.

Over the years Jon Krakauer has put forward several theories for this poisoning, each being scientifically disproven. Recently he published an article in the New Yorker, giving his theory yet another try. You can read the article here.

When I read the article myself, it raised a number of questions for me. Krakauer's conclusions, as conclusive as they were, seemed based on almost no evidence, and the rest of the evidence outright contradicted his conclusions. As a summary, Krakauer believes McCandless was poisoned from eating the seeds of wild potato. He bases that on a note in the journal of Chris McCandless, stating that on day 94 he ate potato seeds, and he was too weak to walk as a result. He combines this note with research done by the Nazis in a concentration camp during WWII, showing that prolonged consumption of such potato seeds over a period of a few months can lead to a debilitating crippling, making it difficult and then eventually impossible for people to use their legs.

Krakauer's conclusions struck me as odd for several reasons. For starters, there is no mention of prolonged consumption of these potato seeds, and if the consumption was in fact prolonged over the 94 days prior to McCandless' mention of the seeds on day 94, how could he have possibly linked them to this condition caused by accumulation of an amino acid. The dilemma continued for me because the condition is supposed to be continuous, progressive, and irreversible. Yet, there is no mention of symptoms prior to day 94, and his journal indicates that he was walking and hunting for at least 10 days after the note on day 94. In the last picture he takes of himself prior to his death, he is standing up with out any aiding device.

Anyway, as I was trying to write a list of all the things that struck me as odd about Krakauer's article, Craig Medred published an article in the Alaska Dispatch titled Krakauer Goes Further 'Into the Wild' Over McCandless Starving to Death in Alaska. You can see the full article here. He does an excellent job describing the issues that struck me as odd. I think it is well worth a read.

I think people are way too invested in this story, and I think it is for reasons largely unrelated to the wilderness or the way McCandless died. People seem to search for meaning in what he did, and as a survival gear consequence they want the death to fit the story of his life that each person perceives. I personally don't care about his life, and have little interest in figuring out the spiritual pursuits of some kid. As it related to the wilderness, for me it is very simple. He went into the woods unprepared, and he died. Whether he died due to lack of food, or because he was not familiar enough with wild plants to avoid the poisonous ones, the result is the same-he was not prepared, and he died. I don't say that to necessarily impart fault on him. Much of what we do as woodsmen is designed to test us and push our boundaries. I bet many of us have been in situations where the outcome might have been very similar. Granted, McCandless was an example of someone who camping gear was recklessly unprepared for the wilderness, but still, the risk of death is something that we must accept about going into the wild.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-chris-mccandless-died-tragic-hero.html