Body wipes....

Body wipes,,, why am I doing this,, well sometimes you dont have access to water or in an emergency your water is better suited for other purposes like drinking, or other sanitation needs. You can waste alot taking a bath or a shower as we all know. When water is critical and you feel funky or are stinky there are other solutions. Here are a few I really like.
The first two are by Sage Products, their Deodorant bath wipes and their Foot and Groin wash cloths. The third is by The Kleenhanz Company, their anti-bacterial hand wipes.
The Sage Products are great! They do leave you feeling fresh and do an excellent job of getting the funk off. We just had our bathroom remodeled and I found this a great time to use their product and give it a try. The outer package is heavy and can be immersed in hot water for a few minutes to heat the towels up. Nice!!! I found the did a great job of getting the stinky parts clean and I didnt feel like I had anything or any residual left on me. The Foot and Groin wipes also did a great job as well, left no residual and also left me feeling fresh. The towels are thick and made heavy duty, no wimpy wipes here! I found them able to stand up to a good scrubbing and they held up with out any failure or tearing. I like this!
Kleenhanz was introduced to me by my brother in arms Jeff, These are great as well, leave your hands clean, germ free and they do the job well. They also leave your hands soft, and dont leave them feeling dry or dry them out like some hand cleaners or hand wipes will.
All three of these are in my bag and BOB. I look forward to trying some of their other products in the future.

550 Parachute Cord!!

I won almost 2300 ft of 550 Parachute Cord, time to find projects for it. Also time to learn to start tying cobra knots for bracelets, and other cool things...
you can find 550 para at
www.campingsurvival.com
www.amazon.com
www.paracordstore.com
www.parachute-cord.com
www.countrycomm.com

The Hobo Stove!

I have decided to try to build a Hobo Stove and see how well it really works. Your suppose to really use a #10 can, but seeing that I dont have one yet I am trying this can and doing it on a small survival style. Hobo Stoves are designed to burn twigs, leaves and anything small that can be placed inside of it through the side opening. I dont have the side cut open yet, but when I do I will have pics of it in action and see how well it works. So as the Holidays roll by, this will be a work in progress.

My IFAK

Just scored a great deal on an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) for Cheaper than Dirt! Has some pretty good stuff in it. One thing I will be replacing is the tourniquet for a much better one, it comes with a rubber band style one, I will be replacing it with either a SWAT_T or an SOF Tactical, the SOF can be used one handed! I will also add some small items as well, like a few bandages, antibacterial stuff and some extra gloves. For right now I stuck it on my pack just for show, also just might leave it there for a bit.
It comes with a package of Quick Clot, as well as an Israeli Bandage, and compressed gauze for packing wounds. I will do more on this when I get a chance, need to get through the Holiday Season first!

You can get IFAKs from
www.cheaperthandirt.com
Alamo Tactical
www.chinookmedical.com

Light and heat!

Two pieces of gear I love, my Coleman Catalytic Heater and my Coleman Lantern, both take propane to run, you can use either a small canister or they now make a kit that can run multiple items off of a large propane tank. One large tank with the kit can run up to four + items, I have a Coleman stove, lantern and the heater. You can run them for a very long time if needed that way which is a bonus if you go out long camping, avoids taking a bunch of small non-reusable cylinders and you take one large one instead. Not good for a light camping trip, but then there are trade offs and alternatives.
The Coleman heater works great! Could easily heat a tent up to knock off the morning cold or evening cold before you change, it is dependable and it is somewhat packable if you decided to bring it along camping/hiking. The Coleman lantern is a good old reliable standbye, they have many years of use and testing behind them. Just wish Coleman would bring all of its production back to the US. I find changing the mantles very easy and of course it gives out tons of good light! I have used this one multiple times, I also have another one but I broke the glass bowl and am currently looking for a replacement for it.
These are two pieces I dont go family camping with out!
I got mine at Walmart ( I try not to do alot of business with them)
You can find them at any good outdoor store or sporting goods store.

Playing with the Esbit Stove

The Esbit tab right after being started
About 2 minutes into burning
Side view of the stove

OK, my first attempt at video, I decided to play with my Esbit stove today and make some hot cocoa, used 2 tablets, first tab got the water to 160f and the second one got it to 210f. The first tablet in about 2 minutes got the water to 100f ( thats quick!), 5 minutes into it, it got to 160f. The second got it to the start of a rolling boil, the wind kept it from getting any hotter, it was windy today and rainy so I thought it was a good day to try it out.
I found my Esbit at Academy Sports and Outdoors
you can also order them online from
www.rei.com
www.campmor.com
www.amazon.com