I made this last night out of some aluminium flashing. The aluminium will most likely not stand up to the intense heat of a fire for long, but as a prototype/proof of concept I am happy with it. Some .5mm (soft) stainless steel foil has arrived this morning in the mail so I will be […]
This is still my favourite hiking knife. I received one of these knives for Xmas 2013 and have carried it everywhere since. The Johnson Adventure® Piggyback®. It is just brilliant: overall weight 36.5g, knife only 27.5g (US$12.27 – Dec 2013). The blade is definitely thick enough and strong enough to split kindling. This is a
Just as a follow-up to my recent utility knife post I have recently become aware of these two wonderful little knives, one of which must just about qualify as being the tiniest of knives at .169 oz (4.8 grams) – less than a credit card, they say in their ad! The other is a cheaper,
Of course you could just go about with your hair looking like an untidy birds’ nest but few girls especially would want to. I have carried the same old comb below (3 grams) for twenty years. I own that I could probably have found a slightly shorter, lighter one but there is some sentimental attachment.
If you are a really up-market hobo you can buy this ready-made Tomshoo Brand titanium (of course) hobo stove from Aliexpress for US$14.94 (June 2020). It weighs 55 grams (1.9 oz). Dimensions are : 80 mm (high) x 91 mm (dia) / 3.15 x 3.58 in – so a little smaller than mine 1250mm x
You will have seen the Jetboil and similar devices supposed to save fuel. I suppose they do but there is something wrong with the whole concept of carrying canister stoves. This ‘device’ saves fuel on an alcohol stove. I have made one for my caldera cone which is an important component of my Cookset but
It costs nothing at all (and only a couple of minutes) to create your own safe wood burning hiking stove which will cook you up a wonderful breakfast (below) in just a few minutes without having to carry any fuel at all (or any other stove) with you into the wilderness. A big saving. You
According to Thomas Edison that’s what genius is – and he should have known, with his 2,000 patents. Each took countless experiments, lots of trials and error before he got it right. Tim Tinker is the Thomas Edison of the ultralight tent stove. For years he has been working away at his miniature radiative beauties
Was once the bushman’s standy-by. It is usually abundant, enormously varied, relatively easily to take, involves little waste or preparation and is often tasty and nutritious. Of course much of it is also illegal. You will notice though that in my post about the journey to Cromarty not so long ago everyone used to take
You can repurpose many humble plumbing fittings into wonderful ultralight hiking tools. Take this cheap 19mm (3/4″) irrigation tee from Bunnings for A$1.54 (June 2020) . I have carried one to sit the sharp end of my hiking pole in so it doesn’t pierce the floor of my tent. An end joiner works well for
