another 2-nighter: emberlit stove and happy feet!

[JV3]

i can't believe another month has passed...i'm trying to do an overnighter a month this year and here's the pics from this past weekend's trip. the mild winter is really showing in this stream. normally, the water level isn't this low until late summer/fall but now i can actually cross it without getting my feet wet.

my shelter that i left up from last month's snow storm trip is still intact. i'll leave it up another month then i'm dismantling it and probably move on to a different spot altogether...i'm almost starting to get bored of this location.

i thought about using my poncho shelter again where i slept last time (about 50 yds from where the plastic shelter is) but saw this gooey, placenta looking thing and decided not to.

anyway, i went down to the main stream to fill up my water jugs and spotted this blue blob about 100 yds away. talk about eye catching! i think it works better than safety orange actually. even just a single strand away from the main pile immediately caught my eye it was that obnoxious...i can't stand blue though whereas i actually like the color orange.

this water level is way low it might just be a trickle at the height of summer.

i left my foam pad from last month's trip in the shelter and there were two spiders that took shelter there. reminds me of when i was a kid we used to put two spiders on the same stick and watch them battle it out but i wouldn't do it now though.

i've reached knife and tarp/shelter zen so for this trip my main goal was testing out a sleeping bag-less sleep system (the lows last weekend fell just below freezing so it was perfect timing).

only cutting tools i brought out for this trip - gb scandinavian forest axe and spyderco bushcraft...like i said, i've reached knife zen

i didn't know it at the time but this was the only chopping/splitting i needed to do for 3-days worth of boiling water (i didn't bring any water filter) thanks to the emberlit...man, that thing is super efficient!

i poked holes through the emberlit's case to secure it better.

i've heard so many good things about the emberlit i decided to see for myself what all the fuss is all about...very first lighting!

...and i think i just reached my cooking setup zen too! my favorite cooking pot fits perfectly on it.

informal boil test of roughly 750 ml of ice cold water (the pot is a 775 ml capacity) resulted in a rolling boil of just under 10 min and the 2nd try was under 15 min (the high for that day was around 50 and low of around 28 deg f). in comparison, the snowpeak gigapower stove boiled the same amount in around 6 min. i was impressed with the emberlit at that point given the fuel was only a handful of twigs and whatnot.

i hate sleeping bags since i toss around too much...my new sleep system i tested consisted of an exped downmat 9 lw (crazy high r value of 8 but packs down amazingly small too!), kifaru doobie, and wiggy's booties. it sucks having cold feet, glad i found out these booties exist...on my previous 2 trips my main complaint was cold feet (yes, i changed to fresh, thick wool socks for each night).

i felt bad that i used a gazillion amount of wood testing out my failed super shelter from last month that i left the rest of my wood stash alone and just used twigs for the rest of the trip.

believe it or not that tiny wood pile was more than enough to boil 3 gallons of water

my wild edible skills are getting better - look what i had for lunch

took a different route back to camp after i filled up my water jugs and stumbled upon my first living cedar tree!

at least i think that was cedar...the bark was readily coming off so i grabbed a handful to test back at camp.

fluffed it up and it took a spark just as quickly as a cotton ball would! it happened so fast i didn't have time to take a pic. now i know of 3 trees that are good for tinder in my area so far (birch bark, beech leaves, & cedar bark). yeah, i'm a slow learner but i'm inching my way

i went to bed early that fri night so no spam over the camp fire pics

 

[JV3]

sunrise! that damn sleeping pad was so comfy i went back to sleep until 1 pm after taking this pic

no biggie...it was yet another gloomy, snowless day anyway...sigh.

the wind was howling overnight and the plastic was flapping all night ...remedied it with a few pieces of wood to hold it down.

the weather was looking gloomy every hour and freezing rain was in the forecast so i decided to ditch the starry nightscape and rebuilt my shelter for the 2nd night...i used clove hitch this time. for some reason i can't learn new knots while at home practicing so i decided to try it out this time in the field. now that i associate it with something it's stuck in my head for good!

i forgot to bring more gorilla tape so this stash came in handy. i did notice though as sticky as gorilla tape is, once even a drop of water gets on the glue it loses it's sticking ability instantly so watch out for that when patching holes in tents/tarps while raining...do it before the rain starts or get the area as dry as possible first before patching it up.

the hootch complete with my meth head poker stick in case one wants to rob me

if i wasn't sleeping during this trip i was reading ray mears' book. it's good but i like mors kochanski's book better.

more emberlit goodness! i couldn't stop playing with that thing.

my spoon carving skill is coming along nicely

i always hear of grommets failing in tarps...not in this case, hmm.

warm and wet or cold and snowy i like...but man, cold and wet is just depressing since i can't go mountain biking either.

doing a little one-hand fire practice, mistwalker-style. i just jammed the stick against my chest to do the feathersticks. i rounded off those sharp corners on the axe when i got home...i'm surprised i haven't read anyone complain about it.

it took me over a year of practice but i think i'm comfortable enough with this axe that i can do without any other cutting tool if i had to...although, slicing spam with it could get interesting

hands down the best knife i've ever used.

hunkering down for the freezing rain!

as good as the bushcraft is with wood chores, it sucks at food prep! i kinda wished i brought my military along on this trip. i can imagine the ultralighters here already rolling their eyes at me but i go camping to cook over a fire and play with knives, not to maximize miles traveled.

part of my hot pepper stash i got for christmas from my dad's garden.

our neighbors, thailand and vietnam, are known for their affinity towards hot food but not as much us filipinos...not sure where i got my taste for it but i put hot peppers on practically anything i eat!

 

[JV3]

happy feet! looks like i can push my sleeping setup's temp limit lower with these things without suffering too much.

barely any ice formed overnight...can't wait for spring!

i really like this - gives me a caffeine buzz without the hassle of brewing coffee (or the taste).

finally, some blue skies! i'm seeing a pattern here - it's always the last day of my trip that the gloominess disappears.

caught this bug checking out my food stash.

the sheath for the fenix pd20 fits a bic lighter perfectly. during the long winter nights i think of all kinds of things to try out, this happens to be one of the rare times that actually turned out well

gotta have spam over the fire! i guess the only downside to the emberlit's super efficient design is that since it doesn't produce any coals it's hard to cook food directly over it without the use of a pan to build up the heat.

...the food ends up being sooty because you have to stick it really close to the fire to get any usable heat. i'll just pan sear the spam next time - small price to pay though!

for the bonfire pyros out there, you're not limited to a tiny flame. you can definitely overflow the emberlit with fuel to get a huge fire going and it'll burn it just fine without choking.

check out my sweet new compass! on my previous trip i posted that my compass developed a bubble when the temp dipped into the low teens overnight so threatx3 gave me this one. thanks again to threatx3 for this generous gift i received out of the blue! if there's anyone that will get lost just getting water a few hundred feet away from camp it'll be me so this definitely comes in handy

i'm not religious (but maybe a little spiritual) but part of my ritual before leaving camp is to go back to my water source to say a little thanks to mother nature for letting me use some of the stuff and for not incorporating me back into the earth just yet.

i make a point to take a slightly different route each time (that's how i stumbled upon this sweet spot to begin with last summer when scoping out spots to camp) so on the way back to the car i noticed this weird arrangement of rocks. it looks like a fire ring but there are no leftover coals or scorch marks on the rocks though. i'm not near a trail so between my camp site with the large rocks arranged in a square, this ring and the chupacabra skull nearby there's clearly some devil worship going on!

i always wonder what causes these holes in trees. it's very much a healthy looking tree but with a big hole - perfect for stashing some moonshine

...anyway, that was my mini vacation for this month.

 

[ROCK6]

I'm getting jealous JV3! I'm still stuck in suck-ville but I enjoy your outings. The booties look funny...I'm fortunate enough that my feet sleep hot although the last few nights it's been cold enough in my ice box where I had to throw a pair of wool socks on.

Those Emberlit stoves are quite effecient and effective; glad to see it's working well for you. And you really can't go wrong with the SFA and a decent bushcraft knife!

I see you finally picked up a Kifaru chair...how do you like it? I've had mine for a while and it's good when the ground isn't too wet, but it does take a little practice getting comfortable....

ROCK6

 

[sicily02]

Lost of great pics. It looks like you had a great time out in the woods.

Your shelter looks pretty cool.

Bryan

 

[TheGame]

Good pics. Although, when you have finally found one knife you can say is definitely the best knife you've ever used... that makes me

 

[sar5]

Awesome post and pics. I really enjoy them
Thanks

 

[grunt soldier]

awesome pics and trip as always, what camera are you using?

 

[lightleak]

Very very nice trip and pictures, thanks a lot for sharing!!

 

[JV3]

I'm getting jealous JV3! I'm still stuck in suck-ville but I enjoy your outings. The booties look funny...I'm fortunate enough that my feet sleep hot although the last few nights it's been cold enough in my ice box where I had to throw a pair of wool socks on.

Those Emberlit stoves are quite effecient and effective; glad to see it's working well for you. And you really can't go wrong with the SFA and a decent bushcraft knife!

I see you finally picked up a Kifaru chair...how do you like it? I've had mine for a while and it's good when the ground isn't too wet, but it does take a little practice getting comfortable....

ROCK6

thanks, man! the booties came in handy in keeping me warm. did i tell you on the previous trip when i slept under the poncho on the snow i woke up in the morning with my feet all numb? i look and my feet almost all the way up to my knees were completely off the sleeping pad and directly resting on the snow! that's how much i toss and turn while sleeping i guess. either that or i got some "paranormal activity" deal going on!

yeah, the bushcraft is the one knife for me. i gotta thank esav for that - i wouldn't have bought it sight unseen given the price. he was nice enough to bring his original release 2 yrs ago in a meet locally here and i got to handle it first.

i didn't get to use the chair all that much on this trip, maybe an hour tops, but yeah i did notice it slips easily when it's on a tarp. i think a 1" wide strip of packlock running the length of the fabric will fix it. what i did on the field though is take two sticks and wrapped them in a staggered manner so the fabric jams against my thighs contacting the ground when i sat on it and it prevented any slip...not sure if this pic makes sense, lol:

also, i just put a line marking where the locks are to speed up lining the holes. when it comes to comfort, every split second counts overall, i'm happy with it since once i find the sweet spot it is ridiculously comfy.

Lost of great pics. It looks like you had a great time out in the woods.

Your shelter looks pretty cool.

Bryan

thanks, bryan!

Good pics. Although, when you have finally found one knife you can say is definitely the best knife you've ever used... that makes me

thanks! please elaborate on the ? no worries about speaking your mind, i have thick skin

Awesome post and pics. I really enjoy them
Thanks

thanks!

awesome pics and trip as always, what camera are you using?

thanks, man! i used my iphone 4.

Very very nice trip and pictures, thanks a lot for sharing!!

thanks!

 

[Dago Red]

Beautiful! When my girls get a bit older I need to start taking them out to practice some bush skills!

 

[crossada]

I love your trip reports and look forward to them each month.

Is that the Kifaru Field Chair or the newer Folding Chair they released this year?

 

[JV3]

Beautiful! When my girls get a bit older I need to start taking them out to practice some bush skills!

thanks! start them off with a neck knife now

I love your trip reports and look forward to them each month.

Is that the Kifaru Field Chair or the newer Folding Chair they released this year?

thanks! it's the field chair.

 

[dakine]

Nice to see pinoys going from tropical to northern woods, now all we need is a desert pinoy camper

 

[trailbum]

Looks like another fun trip.
That compass is a good one.

 

[Mistwalker]

Awesome photos man, you must be really diggin' that Spyderco. I have my favorite spots to meditate in but to me half the fun is exploring and finding new places, I never camp the same place too many times in a row. As far as I'm concerned a little burned only improves the taste of spam . We have a lot of hollow trees around these parts too.

 

[soapboxpreacher]

Awesome pics!!

 

[PropThePolecat]

my wild edible skills are getting better - look what i had for lunch

That looks great! One of things i miss most, when doing multiday trips are fresh fruit and veggies. I thought for a second, that you gave up on spam, but sure enough - spam content found at the end

By the way, why does the Bushcraft suck at food prep? I mean, it gets the cutting chores done right?

Thanks for taking us along.

 

[hung-solo]

good stuff man.... i do have an issue with the spam too LOL.. gross. mystery meat in a can... yes i am from the souf and yes this ole southern boy will not eat spam. ever

 

[Skrapmetal]

Nothing wrong with soot on your food! Just adds flavor.

I really want to get one of these emberlit stoves. I didn't realize he made them in titanium now.