Stone Oven Pizza with the Hidden Woodsmen

B

bearthedog

Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
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Always pick up tinder on a day hike or overnighter no matter how much you think there is at your disposal. But, don’t pick up snakes!







Safe Saw Tip- Use any scrap stick that has a little bit of thickness to block the saw from skipping out and cutting you!



I made a friend…



The main purpose of this trip was to build a stone stove/oven out of the available stones in my camp. I tried to use what was naturally there and I really scored with this very large back piece, which would serve as the foundation.







I like to keep my brew warm with a pecan pie tin



To keep my wood for the stove off the ground and dry, I made a simple wood storage…









I wanted to be able to suspend my boiling pot in front of the fire, so I made a mini-Burtonsville rig







Enter The Hidden Woodsmen!

Malcolm sent me a Haversack, signaling panel and belt pouch to try out…
His stuff is bulletproof and has a very, “timely feel.”





The back has a loop for a hatchet or hawk…



1000D, with 500D liners





The easy to adjust shoulder strap…



The middle pocket fits a boy scout mess tin and signaling panel





Signal Panel



420D/waterproof/orange
I used it to gather up leftovers from a carving project



The Belt Pouch was a good Possibles Pouch and the PB&J Bread & Butter rode nicely on the bottom buckle.





The Belt Pouch fits nicely in the Haversack…



Before…



After




Hobo Stone Pizza







I used the top to make some appetizers…





Bread, pizza sauce, mushrooms, peppers, mozzarella, and sausages never tasted to good.





And then a turkey for the hike out…



-RB
 
oh man that's looks like an awesome day out and about .. fire makes everything taste better
 
It sure is fun. And, it cuts down on the visible flames from hikers, but heats up like the sun.

-RB
 
Awesome post RB! The young black rat snake (at least that's what it looks like to me) is cool. We have gray rat snakes down this way. Oooooh raspberries! The pizza looks delicious!
 
A warning about using stone. Don't use stone that has been in water.They are weak and can break or even explode as they are heated and the water turns to steam !! One of the photos shows a cracked stone over the heat !! Not good !
 
mete said:
A warning about using stone. Don't use stone that has been in water.They are weak and can break or even explode as they are heated and the water turns to steam !! One of the photos shows a cracked stone over the heat !! Not good !
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Also even dry, some stone can explode. Sedimentary rocks like sandstones. 40+ years ago we'd play (stupid) tricks on others in the Boy Scouts with sandstone in their fires. Luckily we never caused an ember or piece of rock in another's eye or caused a fire to get out of hand, but it was stupid nonetheless.
 
mete said:
A warning about using stone. Don't use stone that has been in water.They are weak and can break or even explode as they are heated and the water turns to steam !! One of the photos shows a cracked stone over the heat !! Not good !
Click to expand...
Hell, to eat something that looks as delicious as that in those photos while deep in the backcountry? WORTH IT!
 
Breaking up stone - my house was built in 1850. My grandparents bought it and modernized it [water, electic] and an extension.That required breaking up a large rock.I watched , as a little kid , the heating of the rock with fire ,then pouring cold water on it to crack it !! A very long process ! Today there is a much quicker way .My spelunker friends explained , you drill a hole about 12" deep just large enough to fit a .223 cartridge .Put the cartridge down the hole and lower a snuggly fitting pionted rod on top. Striking the rod with a hammer detonates the cartridge which cracks the rock !
 
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AWESOME! I really like the look of that Hidden Woodsmen bag. Great pics. That stone oven is amazing. Thank you for sharing!
 
Thanks all. Yes, it was fun to make.

I usually like to try many of the so called survival tips that are cut and pasted in books and that people like to repeat, but with no real personal experiences with them. It never fails, whenever rocks are used for frying or cooking on a forum people line up to say their bit about exploding rocks. Here is my theory:
For many years I have used stones for fire backs and cooking, while burning all types of wood. ONE TIME in Alabama we had such a large, raging fire that the flat stone behind it made a cracking sound and broke in two pieces. It wasn't a river stone and it did not explode like a hand grenade like I often hear people saying. A few times I have used thinner, flat stones for rock frying and had them develop a crack, but then gravity takes over and they just fall where they are, a whole 6-12 inches down, but never explode like grenades.
In winter, I often use large round stones in my fire that I take out before bed and scoot over near where I'm sleeping for their radiant heat. In past years, I have taken river stones of all sizes and put them into a fire, set off to the side, as an experiment to see how bad the explosions are. Yet never experienced it. I wish anyone who has experienced this themselves can share their actual experience with us all including photos to prove it. I really would like to know how long they burned and what kind of stones were used, if possible.:)
I have yet to experience this exploding rock theory, but I am sure it can happen, so can a lot of things.

-RB
 
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A pretty exact set of circumstances probably have to exist in order for a stone to explode like a grenade. I've never had it happen either after hundreds of campfires.
 
GreenOwl said:
A pretty exact set of circumstances probably have to exist in order for a stone to explode like a grenade. I've never had it happen either after hundreds of campfires.
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Not really. You just have to pick the right stone.
 
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