Magic Cook mug

Ok.. this is pretty cool. It heated the water I put in it up to 180°f . It's a bit heavy, I might take it on a day hike but wouldn't put it in my Bug Out Bag. There is also a meal size heater as well. I didn't have the cash to drop on it but from the looks of how this performed I think it's got to be good as well. The price is the only turn off for me. At $24.00 for the mug and $9.00 for 5 heaters. It could get pricey. The food heater was around $35.00 and $12.00 for 5 heaters. Handy for an emergency but the price I think can be it's turn off. The weight also is a factor for me..  if your an apartment person, I say grab a few and keep them for just in case. Check them out yourself.

cooking fuel test

OK, so I decided to try out all the cooking fuels that I have in my inventory to see what burned the best and how they performed overall. I had several to use. an Swedish alcohol stove, German military issue fuel tablets, Trioxane fuel tablets, Gel alcohol fuel, and Esbit Fuel tablets.

For my first test I used the Swedish stove and the Gel Alcohol Fuel.

I used two Swedish Stoves with equal amounts of water in their pots. With in the first few minutes they both started to get real warm. Within 7 minutes they were both hot. Around the 15 minute mark The magic happened! They both began to hard boil, reaching temps of 210f , but by then the fuel gel was done, its temp quickly dropped to 180f and the Swedish stove kept a good rolling boil.

Around 20 minutes the gel had completely used all its energy, but the Swedish stove kept on cooking. I eventually put it out at about 25 minutes to keep testing going.
  Next was the Trioxane Fuel tablets and the German issue fuel tablets. I used 1 trioxane fuel tablet at first and 4 German tablets as well. The Trioxane was very disappointing. It had consumed all its energy with in 5 minutes. The German tablets were going stong, I quickly added a second trioxane tablet to keep the fire going and was able to achieve a temp of 180f. The German tablets were able to reach 210f but quickly lost their energy after that.

Trioxane and German Fuel tabs.

trioxane burning.

German tabs burning..

Last but not least was the Esbit Fuel tabs. You have seen pics of my Esbit stove and I think its a pretty awesome little piece of gear. I have one in my pack..I used 2 tabs for this test and was able to get water to 210f but the tabs lost their energy after about 18 minutes, they burned over 20 minutes overall. Once again I am pretty impressed!

 So how do I rank these. All were able to create safe water but they all have their good and bads.. So here is how I ranked them
 1) Swedish Alcohol burner. It was able to get the water to a boil and hold it the longest. I had a hell of a time getting it out and it still had plenty of fuel left in the burner. I sealed it and will save it for the next adventure. The burner comes with a fuel bottle so if you have both in your pack when you head out you should have several hours of cook time. If not just get a few bottles of Heet in the blue label and you will be set!
2) The German Fuel tabs. For their size they put out a lot of heat and had good longevity. I did use 4 tabs and the stove does come issued with 12 tabs stowed in it. Would be nice to find a source for them. I was really impressed with the tabs.
3) The Gel fuel. For what you get you get a lot of heat! I was impressed with the energy it gave off and it did really well being used in an Esbit style stove. The gel fuel is really light and works well with the Esbit stove so I will be stuffing several of these into my bag as well...
4) The Esbit tabs. I really think they should be tied with 3 but it did take 2 tabs to get the water to hard boil. You can store 4 tabs in a Esbit stove so weight and space isn't an issue.You can buy Esbit stoves and fuel tabs at most major sporting good stores or on line.
5) The trioxane tabs. They did get the water to temp, I should have used 2 tabs and checked results. Their energy span was really quick,, 5 minutes and they were done. Also the box I had came with 3 tablets. When I opened one of them there was nothing but blue powder. It would not burn, so I was left with 2 tablets to use. I think I will use these for fire starting more than a cooking source.
OH! Be warned when burning alcohol or gel fuel remember the flame is almost colorless! I really had to look to see it, I felt the heat first. So be extra careful when using them!
 Try these out for yourself and see how they work for you.

   

Swedish M-40 mess kit with stove.

Alright, I got lucky and scored a few Swedish M-40 mess kits with the alcohol burner stoves. I really like these! Very cool, very good design. Overall a great little piece for your kit. My only bitch is I had issues with the amount of fuel used. In the middle of making coffee the burner ran out of alcohol and I had to quickly reload it to keep my coffee pot going.
I made some video, but I am having issues loading it due to size limit. Will post those when I get that resolved.. So here are some pics of everything.

You will notice in the first pic I have included some gel flame packs, I did this as a back up for the stove. Also I will be picking up a spork real soon and adding it to the kit as well. I look forward to playing with this some more in the future. I also want to see how well and long the gel packs burn and if they can make coffee as well as boil water.

Disaster and P.A. Bathing!

So, I have a confession.I have been experimenting.  I have been showering only once a week ( plz note showering,) I have been doing this for almost 3 months now. I have however been bathing almost daily. I fill the sink with hot water, add several squirts of Dr Bronner's peppermint or tea tree soap and wash myself that way. I keep my hair pretty short so its not a maintenance issue. What I have noticed is that there is a HUGE water savings and I am still clean with no FUNK! I have also used bath wipes as well testing them out to see how well they really work, and guess what,, they work really really well! No B.O. issues at all. Would well be worth adding to your B.O.B. as a way to keep the funk off and to help feel fresh ( which can be good for morale) . Remember when water becomes scarce or you have a limited supply bathing becomes a critical issue. figure a 50-100 gallon shower x3 people and your 2500 gallon supply is gone in no time flat! Now,, take that at 1-2 gallons per person a few times a week and you are doing a lot better. Remember also to use Castile soaps, they are very mild on the skin, but very effective at cleaning! Dr. Bronners makes many varieties that will appeal to even the picky person. 

 No Rinse bath wipes and no rinse shampoo are also things you should consider to have on hand. When I was stationed in Egypt, my mom had gave me a big bottle of No Rinse shampoo. She said it might come in handy because she knew water was a premium there in the desert. Well we had great super hot showers and I had access to everything to stay clean, until time for us to leave. We were one of the last units to leave so when everything was packed up we spent 2 weeks without shower facilities. We bucket bathed and my shampoo made me several friends. we bathed every couple of days and also did our laundry in buckets as well.. It wasn't the greatest situation but we put a system in place and it worked.We created a bath station, put up some privacy walls and used good old cold water! Being it was 110f nobody cared. So, be sure to factor in some way to keep yourself clean or at least the family, it will improve morale, reduce chances of skin infections and parasite issues and keep everyone healthy!

 

review, Bearded Brothers Energy Bars

OK, so I was at a friends yoga studio and they had these energy bars there. Well always up for something new and different I bought two of them and gave them a try.
The company is Bearded Brothers www.beardedbros.com. I have to say there are a ton!! of energy bars out there and many are very commercialized in nature, these are all natural and I found very tasty! I tried the Colossal Coconut Mango bar first. I enjoyed it! It reminds me of a less sweet fig newton with coconut and a mango finish. It was moist enough to not require very much water to chew which in a survival situation we know can be an issue. It had a great texture and I enjoyed the flavor very much. I also like the fact they use a wrapper that is commercially compostable.

 

If you look at the nutritional info, They use basic all natural things! Also Dare I say the "F" word.. The fat content is almost 1/2 the calories. OH MY GOD!! FAT!! Fat is energy folks,, pure and simple.. The fats in this are on the healthy side, so dont go stressing! The shelf life of the bar is about 1 year from the time from which I purchased it. Not great for long term survival, but in a short term its a great food source. The bars are small, but being dense and all natural you can go a good way on the energy it should provide. It also has a small amount of protein as well,, (Bonus!) You do need protein to help balance out and slow down the sugar in your system.
I am now looking forward to trying the rest of their bars as well and will be adding them to my hiking pack as well as my bug out bag. So if your looking for a good all natural alternative to the energy bars out there, give these a try!

recipe for a survival bread..

Here is a recipe for a survival bread that will keep for a very long time, it also will provide an adult a days worth of nutrition and calories,, that is one whole loaf.

Survival Bread

2 cups oats

2 ½ cups powdered milk

1 cup sugar

3 Tbl Honey

3 Tbl water

1 pkg lemon or orange jello (3oz)

Mix dry ingredients , in a medium sauce pan mix jello and honey. Bring to a boil, add dry ingredients and mix well. If dough is too dry add small amounts of water a teaspoon at a time, shape dough into a loaf, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, let cool wrap in foil and store. This bread should keep indefinitely and provides the nutrition for 1 adult for 1 day.

Here is one for Hardtack..

 

Hardtack recipe

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups unbleached flour

2 cups whole rolled oats

2 cups pecans or nuts of choice

1 cup raisins or any dried fruit

1 cup olive oil

1 Tbs baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups butter milk

Mix dry ingredients and then wet ingredients separate, then combine them. Roll to about 3/8 of an inch thick. Cut into squares or rounds, then bake at 375f for about 40 minutes, let cool then enjoy..