In association with Hikercentral.com
and Goingoutside.com
In association with Hikercentral.com
and Goingoutside.com
Having been a backcountry canoer for quite a few years it is with great pleasure that I present the world with this website.
Items to bring to the backcountry.
| CAMPING STOVE Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to bring fuel for your stove. Well I don't, I have a Trailstove that runs on wood, I just pick up some twigs at my camp site and cook away. I would never consider going back to a gas stove. | ||
| TENT I don't know why people are so obsessed with tents. If you are going during a cold time of the year then it's good to have one but in the summer time there's no need for one. Just bring a small tarp that you can suspend over yourself in case it rains. | ||
| FISHING NET A small fish net is a great thing to have in the bottom of your pack in case things don't go as planned and you run out of food. | ||
| RUBBING ALCOHOL I'm not a great proponent of chemicals but rubbing alcohol is an exception. It's very important to have some handy. | ||
| TOOL Back in the old days I used to carry a Swiss army knife where ever I went, then the Leatherman tools came, now I carry one of each. If I had to pick one I would probably pick the Leatherman tool just for the pliers, but there are lots of tasks where the Swiss army knife still has the upper hand. |
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CAMP FIRE
1. COLLECT WOOD. You should have about 20 to 30 very thin twigs, and 10 to 15 small sticks to get the fire started and as many larger pieces you need to keep the fire going for as long as you need it.
2. BOTTOM BRANCHES. If the ground is covered with snow you can break dry branches off the bottom of a tree.
3. STARTER MATERIAL. You will need some material that ignites very easily to start the fire. There are a number of things you can use for this. Dry leaves, dry grass, bark, or chips from a dry semi-decomposed dead tree. Paper works fine too if you have some with you.
4. FIRE RING. Find a good location for your fire, there should be nothing nearby that could catch fire such as dry vegetation. Make a ring on the ground with rocks.
5. STARTER MATERIAL. Place the starter material in the center of the fire ring. Make sure there's plenty of air around each piece of material.
6. TWIGS. Make a teepee around the starter material using the thin twigs you collected earlier.
7. STICKS. Put the larger sticks around your twig teepee. Finish off with some more massive pieces.
8. LIGHT. Light the starter material.
9. WAIT. In about a minute the starter material has started to ignite the small twigs.
10. FIRE. After a few minutes your fire will be in full flame. Soon the
teepee will collapse into a shapeless collection of burning wood, don't worry
this is all normal and good. By now you fire is stable and will keep burning for
as long as you feed it wood.
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