New Gear & Lunch

Horn Dog

Horn Dog

Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
4,363
I've been meaning to try out some of my new gear for a while. I also wanted to try out the vaseline and cotton ball fire starting trick. I see folks on this forum using nothing but small knives for hiking trips. I usually carry a chopper, but at this park, axes, machetes, and even large chopping knives are not allowed. So my knives would need to be small. I wanted to use my Scrap Yard Bird Dog in 154 CM and my new BRKT Mountain Man in 52100 for meal preparation. I received permission from the park officials to build a small cooking fire at the primitive camping area.
It was a pretty day for a hike, so down the nature trail I went, heading for the camp site.
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After about a half hour's walk, I arrived and set my gear down on a table there.
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Yes, carrying the little 22 revolver is legal as long as I have a license. I didn't need it, but its a nice little trail gun.
It had rained the night before, so finding semi-dry wood for my fire took a while. If I had a machete or chopper, I could have collected a lot more, but I was limited to stuff I could break with my hands.
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This chunk of concrete was useful for breaking the thicker pieces of wood.
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So I organized my wood and kindling on one table and used the other for meal prep. I had the whole camp site to myself.
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I prepared a skewer from a palmetto frond, and set about to start my fire.
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More to come.
 
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I opened my new shoulder bag, an EOD bag I got for hiking trips. In it I carried a poncho, canteen, cutting board, food, and my vaseline and cotton balls for firestarting. I've been meaning to try that trick, and with the woods damp, it was a good day to do it.
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So I carefully piled up my tender and kindling wood and set vaseline coated cotton balls at the base of my pile on the up wind side.
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It worked, the damp wood caught, and I had a cooking fire.
So I cut up my bell pepper and all beef franks, and made a kabob on my skewer.
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Next: Lunch!
 
Looks good HD, the palmetto frond, does it leave a taste or anything on the food?

Nice pics of the place and the gear. Looks like you had a good lunch.
 
I removed the cooked peppers and franks from the skewer, split the franks with my Mountain Man knife and made a strange new sandwich. Well, new to me.
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It was delicious! It would have been even better with some mustard. I need to scrounge some mustard packets next time I eat fast food.
My new gear worked out fine, but I swear, an axe or chopper would have made it much easier to have a decent fire. My MM knife and BD knife were fine for slicing and skewer making, but useless for wood chopping.
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My new Cabela's hiking shoes were comfy enough. These are water proof as long as you don't go above ankle deep water.
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My EOD bag worked fine, but the shoulder strap is too short for me (I'm a big guy) and I wasted space carrying the canteen inside it. The cotton ball trick worked great.
I used a Bic lighter this time, but last night I got some NATO survival matches.
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When I got back home, I modified my bag, attaching some old army suspenders so it would carry better, and attaching canteens and a knife to the outside.
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I'd rather check my gear out in a place like this, close to home, than find out way down in the swamps that I needed a few changes. Anyway, lunch was good.
 
barrabas74 said:
Looks good HD, the palmetto frond, does it leave a taste or anything on the food?

Nice pics of the place and the gear. Looks like you had a good lunch.
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Yeah, lunch was fine. People down here have been using palmetto fronds for skewers for years. They work fine and don't add any taste to the food.
 
I am used to not having a chopper, and I never miss it for a couple of reasons. First, I have done most of my hiking and camping in state (Texas) or national (California) parks.
You are warned up front that you can use fuel you bring in, burning it in a designated fire pit. But you cannot gather fuel to make a wood fire. Over the years too many morons have torn up trees pulling off small small branches and sometimes even big ones. With no wood to chop, no reason for a chopper.

We used to have wood fires (and still do when I go hunting) in the 60s when I was a Boy Scout. Got my fire making badge then.

Now I use an MSR, and have had it going for about 20 years with no rebuilds!

So the second reason I don't have a chopper on the trail is that I am too lazy to carry one. If I am going on a day hike, I take portable food, and possibly the MSR. If I am going on a distance hike, I don't want the weight. My first really long hike that required me to carry 5 days of food and water filtering equipment made me take out 1/2 of the stuff I carried with me on the trail. Nothing goes that I don't really need. No luxuries.

I do use a camp axe when hunting, though. We tend to build a nice fire, and since we are camping on private land out of the back of our pickups, it works great.

Horn Dog said:
Yes, carrying the little 22 revolver is legal as long as I have a license. I didn't need it, but its a nice little trail gun.
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Liked the pics! Nice gear, too. But I did get a chuckle out of the gun on the table. So you live in an area that lets you have a gun on the trail, but not a machete? Your state laws make about as much sense as ours do. :confused:

Robert
 
The rule against machetes is a local park rule, to keep us from chopping everything down. Yes, there are morons who would chop down the magnolias, live oaks, and palm trees. Cutting down a palmetto is fine, they are like weeds here. You can't kill them! Last year the State of Georgia passed a bill allowing the carry of handguns by licensed persons in State and local parks. Pocket knives are still "iffy", with a deliberately vague prohibition on the carry of any concealed knife "designed for offense or defense". I guess I only carry the gun because I can. :D Technically, I guess carrying those knives hidden the way I did might be unlawful. But the gun is fine. :eek:
 
Horn Dog said:
Yes, there are morons who would chop down the magnolias, live oaks, and palm trees. Cutting down a palmetto is fine, they are like weeds here. You can't kill them!
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That is what being a good woodsman is all about. Knowing your plants and trees, and if you harvest them to do it intelligently :thumbup:

Looks like a nice walk HD, and some cool knives too. That looks like Rainwalker kydex to me :thumbup:

I am getting ready to head out into the woods too, but I will have snow instead. I am looking forward to warmer weather.

B
 
The Park Supt (Camp Commandant) uses prisoners and those assigned to community service to keep the trails cleared. I see them there all the time whacking everything in sight with machetes. But not being a felon, I couldn't bring mine. :D
 
Thanks for the pics. I love hot dogs, never had them with peppers before-now I'm planning to try it!
 
Great pics as usual Vic, I love it when I see you have added a new post !!!

That Mountain man knife looks real nice and functional, being 52100 it should keep an edge for a long time eh !

I noticed ya have a RAT knife on your bag, don't you find the handle is too small ? Your hands must be a fair bit larger than mine and it felt way too small for me !!!!
 
i've been looking at a mountain man knife myself for some time, thanks for the pics.

looks like you had a great time. that eod bag is something that i've been meaning to get for a while.

cheers

JC
 
pitdog said:
Great pics as usual Vic, I love it when I see you have added a new post !!!

That Mountain man knife looks real nice and functional, being 52100 it should keep an edge for a long time eh !

I noticed ya have a RAT knife on your bag, don't you find the handle is too small ? Your hands must be a fair bit larger than mine and it felt way too small for me !!!!
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Yeah, but it's not the first knife I bought with a small handle. It is usable for me. BRKT's Bravo-1 fits me a lot better. They're both good solid knives, though.
 
crm3137 said:
Another great thread HD!

Are you going to apply your usual edge to the Bird Dog?
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I already did. That 154 CM isn't the easiest steel to sharpen, but it takes and holds a sharp edge. The little BD is a great slicer and a wicked sticker.
 
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