Archives for posts with tag: fire

CBDT, Part 7: Obviously Not Bigfoot

February 17, 2013 //
CBDT 763
Photo: Gregory McDonald

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Our last morning out on the CBDT found us patting ourselves on the back for finding such a great campsite. I made us a special breakfast of fresh crepes and hot Masala chai, and we soaked up the sun and the view.

While we were eating we heard some yelling from the road but thought it was hunters. Then, a few moments later, we saw a man walking through the woods towards our camp. He was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and, when he got closer, we could see he was Latino. We called out, “Hello? Hello?” and got no response. We were a little on edge when he walked out of the woods, into our small clearing and stopped. Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Difficulty: 1 of 10, - Difficulty: 2 of 10, - Pictures, - Trips: The Western US, - United States, FEATURES, MEDIA, North America, PLACES, TRAIL RATINGS, VEHICLES, — California, — Trip: CBDT

CBDT, Part 6: Best Campsite Ever

February 10, 2013 //
IMG_3467
Back on the CBDT on Forest Road 23. Photo: Nik Schulz

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After a little target shooting and a bit of breakfast we got back on Forest Road 23 and continued up the California Backcountry Discovery Trail. We weren’t sure where we would stop for the night but since we were passing by Ruth Lake again, only this time at much higher elevation on the ridge above the lake, we thought we’d find something there.

I don’t know if it had anything to do with my totem pants — a pair of white jeans I painted in the style of Pacific Northwest native art and which seem to convey good fortune on many a situation 🙂 — but we were blown away by the beautiful spot we found.

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Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Difficulty: 1 of 10, - Difficulty: 2 of 10, - Pictures, - Trips: The Western US, - United States, - Videos, FEATURES, North America, PLACES, TRAIL RATINGS, VEHICLES, — California, — Trip: CBDT

A Day in the Life of a Fire Lookout

November 9, 2012 //

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Having visited a couple of fire lookouts this year, I found them to be pretty fascinating places. In this age of electronically monitored everything, rangers and volunteers still head to the tops of mountains to scout for forest fires with nothing more than simply surveying gear. Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories - United States, - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, North America, PLACES, — California

Fire Skills: Egg Carton Fire Starters

July 28, 2012 //

Natalie found this on Pinterest. They’re homemade, egg carton fire starters. Fill each cup in the carton with dryer lint and cover with melted wax. When the wax is dry, tear off a cup, place it under the kindling in your campfire-to-be, and light the corner.

Update 2/15/2015:

We’ve been using these the last couple of camp seasons and they work well. We tear off one or two sections of the egg crate, put them into wherever we’re going to light are campfire, and with a single match, the fire is lit.

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Categories - Pictures, FEATURES, GEAR, MEDIA, SKILLS

Camp Gear: Kelly Kettle

March 5, 2012 //

I just discovered this double-walled camping kettle. It’s called the Kelly Kettle. You build a fire in the base and the flames rise up and out of the hollow interior. The double wall holds a pint of water. (There are larger size up to 1.5l) The water boils in 3 to 5 minutes. The fact that it looks like a blow torch once you light it is an added bonus.

Here’s a review on Cool Tools.

Here’s the company’s site.

And here it is on Amazon.

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Categories - Videos, GEAR, MEDIA

Fire Skills: The Long Fire

February 23, 2012 //

On the subject of campfires, here’s another good one: the long fire. It’s reportedly great for both warming, and cooking if you flatten the logs at one end.

In this YouTube video, iawoodsman shows us great set-up and prep for getting the fire going quickly. For example, I like the way he uses two pieces of kindling as a cross brace to support the remaining kindling over the tinder.

Here are links to the tools he mentions, the Wetterlings axe, the Trail Blazer folding buck saw, and the UCO storm-proof matches. In another excellent video, below, in which he sets up a firewood cut station, it looks like he’s using the Wetterlings 26″ Forest Axe.

These are great videos—very informative.
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Categories - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, SKILLS

Fire Skills: Swedish Torch

February 21, 2012 //

I came across an interesting method for making a simple fire/cooking stove. It’s called a ”Swedish Torch.”

The idea is to take a short, thick log, split it into fourths, set the resulting sections slightly apart, and fill center with tinder and kindling. Once it’s lit, the gaps between the sections facilitate the flow of air and, if the top of the log is flat, you can cook on it. A single log reportedly burns 2—3 hours.

The lower video demonstrates an alternative version, if a big log and an axe aren’t available. Both are very clever solutions.

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Categories - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, SKILLS