This is another great set of tips from my online buddy, Bob. He is a genuinely self-sufficient soul, living off the grid somewhere on the North American continent.

This time around, Bob discusses the optimal backpacking setup.

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My standard list of backpacking gear has changed very little in the past twenty years.

I favor fairly heavy leather boots that just cover the ankles, with Vibram soles.

In fine weather I’ll generally wear shorts, a long sleeve shirt with two button-down pockets, the sleeves rolled up, and I’ll always have a bandana around my neck. A broad brimmed felt “cowboy” hat tops it all off.

Don’t forget a hat. On our last 50 mile hike my wife didn’t bring one, so she wound up stealing mine and I wore a bandana on my head the whole time. Even if I’m going without a shirt, I’ll keep the hat on to keep the sun out of my eyes or the rain off my face and so forth, and it keeps my brain from frying in the sun now that my hair is thinning…

A boonie hat is comfortable enough and I have used them over the years, but they don’t shed rain and the brim isn’t wide enough to shade the eyes. I simply despise ball caps.

Do not wear a pants belt. Now, normally I feel naked without one, but most of the load rides on the pack’s hip belt, so don’t put anything under it that will be ground into your waist all day long; like a nice, thick leather belt would.

In my pants pockets I’ll carry a small locking knife like the Gerber LST, and a Bic lighter. It is not uncommon for me to have another bandana in my back pocket.

In my shirt pockets I’ll carry a compass and maybe a much folded map, and a pocket pack of Kleenex for toiletry purposes.

The heavy gear starts with an old Karrimor 75 liter internal frame pack in dark green. For me, this is just the right size. Not to big (and I seldom stuff it tight) and not too small. This pack has a bottom compartment and zipper, but I cut out the divider long ago, and have never once used the lower zipper. To me, a pack should be just one big bag. It has two side pockets big enough to hold a quart water bottle and a few odds and ends besides. It has a big top pocket built into the top flap.

On the pack’s hip belt on the right side I’ll clip a stainless steel Sierra Cup, and on the left hip rides the holster for my Ruger Bisley .44 magnum.

This heavy 7-1/2 inch revolver rides pretty good in a modified Uncle Mike’s shoulder holster. The holster has only one strap, and it goes around my right shoulder. The back of the holster has a strap with a snap that connects to the back hip belt. I can adjust it to put the weight on my shoulder, on the hip, or to share the load, depending upon my mood. On side trips without the pack I can simply sling the holster over my shoulder.

I’ve carried all sorts of sidearms while backpacking over the years, carried in all sorts of ways. Everything from small .22 autos right up to my .44 magnum boat anchor. I experimented with various drop-leg holsters that carry the gun below the hip belt but gave up on ‘em. Shoulder holsters work well enough with small guns like .38 snub-nosed revolvers and .380 autos. A great many times they simply wind up as dead weight in the pack.

Now, I do hike where the big bears may roam so I mostly do take my .44 caliber Boat Anchor with me, but it’s really just for moral support. In all the miles I’ve tramped I have never needed a gun. Of course the one time I leave it home is the day I’ll need it…

A pistol is a big problem to a backpacker. Ordinarily, a backpacker would never in a million years carry two pounds of dead weight! And if having it might throw ya in jail to boot, ya better think long and hard about taking one. If open carry where you hike is illegal, move out west — just kidding, stick it in the top of your pack, just under the flap; it’s the best you can do.

Now we finally get to what’s in the bloody pack!

In the bottom gets stuffed my sleeping bag. All my life I’ve drooled over nice down bags. But things being what they are, it’s often as not a synthetic bag of one type or another that I stuff in there.

Don’t bother with compression stuff-sacks. The silly sacks alone can weight half a pound or more! Use a big oversized stuff-sack for your sleeping bag so that the thing will conform to the shape of the pack. This way, you can stuff it right in there and fill all the corners at the bottom of the pack that would otherwise go to waste; not to mention it’s much faster to do than trying to contort and compress a bulky bag into a small brick. It’s also better for the bag. Just make sure the stuff-sack is pretty waterproof, or line it with a plastic trash bag.

The bag will be the bulkiest thing you carry by far, and may well take up half the pack. That’s OK, don’t skimp on your bag. A fella can survive almost any kind of day, so long as he gets a good hot meal and a warm, dry, comfortable bed at the end of that miserable day. So don’t scrimp here. And, above all else, that sleeping bag must stay dry!

Then a small stuff-sack that contains my spare clothing goes in. What you’re carrying is just an extra pair of socks and some supplemental clothing.

Next goes whatever I am using for a shelter.

Then my kitchen bag goes in next, and the folded-up ground cloth on top.

My pack has a kind of open pocket sewn into the back inside, right below the top flap. Into this is usually slid my rain gear, where I can get to it easily.

That’s it!

Into the very top pocket in the flap goes a one-gallon-sized zippy-bag that contains my “office;” which contains all the little, miscellaneous gear.

The side pockets each contain a quart water bottle, and whatever snacks I’m nibbling on that day. On trips with longish dry spells, I’ll also stash a flattish G.I two quart plastic canteen under the top flap of my pack (minus the cloth canteen cover, of course).

Under the flap straps outside the pack is where my sleeping pad goes.

So, you see that the pack contains just a very few sub-units, kitchen bag, clothes bag, rolled or stuffed shelter or tent, and at the bottom the stuff-sack with the sleeping bag. It’s easy to pack and unpack, and it stays organized. All the individual stuff-sacks add protection — one may get wet, but never all. They also keep things cleaner, by containing the mess from sooty pots, and so forth.

I despise packs with thousands of pockets, flaps and zippers all over them. At first glance they may seem a boon to organization, but they are not. What they are is more costly, less robust, less water proof, heavier, and instead of a few tidy sub-units, you get gear strewn all about the place.

My kitchen sack is pretty simple:

• Old sleeping bag stuff-sack
• 2 qt. Aluminum cooking pail with lid
• WhisperLite stove and fuel bottle
• Spoon
• Bic lighter
• P-38 can opener
• Plastic mug
• Plastic bottle for sugar, and one for powdered milk (For my tea, of course. These bottles are empty honey containers. Remember, I also carry a Sierra Cup on my hip belt)
• 2 one-quart plastic water bottles (carried in outside pockets. May also carry G.I. two quart canteen under top flap of pack)

Right now I’m using a USGI “mountain cook kit”

I’ll usually take only the big pot, and an aluminum lid from an old Palco cooking pail that died years ago. If I’m melting snow for water, or think I might want a separate pot of tea, or I’m cooking fancy meals, I’ll bring both pots. They are quite light. What I almost never ever take is the heavy stainless steel lid/fry pan.

You don’t need blackened, Teflon coated, titanium plated stainless steel pots in odd shapes with clever folding legs, patented detachable handles, and built in temperature regulators that cost a week’s pay. Take a simple aluminum pail with a lid, and make sure it’s at least two quart size.

The bigger pot has a wide base that is very stable, and covers the whole stove to absorb the greatest amount of heat, rather than a tall narrow pot perched atop a tiny wiggly stove. Even if you only plan to boil two cups of water, take the big pot. The small amount of water in the bottom boils almost instantly. Not to mention the bigger pot makes a much better pail to lug water from a creek to douse a camp fire, and on more than one occasion I’ve made an impromptu pot of stew for all to enjoy with contents donated by several backpackers met in camp.

The lid is well worth it’s weight because a covered pot boils much faster, saving fuel. If you cook over a fire, the lid keeps flying ash and bugs out. Besides, it’s useful for scooping snow, setting your cup down on when your done cooking, playing Frisbee, and other things.

The stove folds up and is kept in a small stuff-sack of it’s own. Inside this sack also goes the aluminum foil wind screen these stoves use, the spoon, Bic lighter, and a tiny plastic bag with the P-38 can opener and usually a vent pick, extra jet for the stove, and a tiny sheet metal jet wrench.

The pot lid goes in the bag first, then the pot, then the little bag with the stove and the fuel bottle fit in the pot, and the food is piled in on top of that. I can get three day’s or so worth of food in there. on longer trips I’ll use a second stuff-sack for the bulk of my food and use the kitchen sack for the gear and one day’s worth of food.

I simply love my little WhisperLite stove and can’t say enough about them. One little fuel bottle has lasted me five days, cooking three hot meals for two people every day, plus a few extra pots of coffee or tea thrown in! It simply can’t be beat for fuel-efficiency/heat-output/weight.

If your worried about TEOTWAWKI, you can get the multi-fuel version, which will burn gas, diesel, white gas, and what have you.

My clothing bag is even simpler, it’s an old stuff-sack containing:

• Extra pair of socks
• Pile jacket
• T-shirt
• Knit watch cap
• Another spare bandana (OK FINE! SO I’M A BANDANA FREAK! Remember, I also have my rain gear carried elsewhere)

Those are the basics that don’t change. Even in the summer I’ll run into snow pack up high, and it gets quite cold at night. I just don’t sleep comfortably without a cap on my balding head… and the same for the cotton T shirt. I use it only to sleep in. I’m more comfortable that way and it’s just one of those quirks I’ve developed over the years.

Of course the contents vary according to season.

I often carry my shorts and wear BDU trousers if I know I have to do lots of bushwhacking through nasty brush.

In the winter I’ll wear wool pants, and pack long johns. I have carried a very light set of long johns, and put them on under my shorts and my rain pants on over that when things got really cold and windy.

I use heavy, short, mostly wool socks that hold their shape when worn day after day after day…

For river crossings I go barefoot, and possibly even naked, with all my clothes stashed where they will stay good and dry.

Shelter:

• Black Diamond Megamid, pole, stakes, and ropes (carried an yet another stuff-sack)
• Sleeping bag (in oversized, waterproof stuff-sack)
• Ensolite pad (carried outside the pack, under the top flap straps. In wet weather, this is encased in a plastic garbage bag)
• Ground sheet (carried in top of pack, right under flap)

I think the Megamid and similar designs like the Sierra Designs Origami are the ultimate tent. It’s very light weight, and is the modern day equivalent of the teepee. It has no floor and plenty of head room so you can easily cook inside, yet has a door to keep out the wind (and windblown rain). You can sit up inside! I find it easier to set up than a tarp, and they offer more protection, even offering some protection from bugs. For TEOTWAWKI, they are the only lightweight tent that is comfortable to live out of for extended periods of time.

Always carry your pole and more stakes than you think you’ll need. They are lighter than a hatchet, and you’ll always have them right when you need them without having to chop up the surrounding greenery.

Bivy sacks and ultra-small tents are an abomination to be avoided at all costs.

Tarps are OK if you can set them up quickly and properly in all types of terrain and wind when fatigued, and the bugs ain’t too bad. I certainly have made great use of them in the past, but not anymore.

After a long and difficult day spent climbing a mountain in the rain, you can set up your Megamid, and go in with your pack and shake off the wet. Lay down your ground cloth in the back of the tent and set yourself down. Change into some dry long johns, slip into your pile jacket, and lounge on your sleeping bag while you fire up your stove and enjoy a hot meal while listening to the storm howling outside. Your wet gear gets to dry a bit on the other side of the tent, off the ground cloth, and all your equipment is close to hand.

Or, you could be battling with a flapping tarp (which is usually too small), looking for just the right trees to tie it to, fumbling in the dark with cold hands to cut stakes and poles, trying to rig it to get some semblance of shelter.

Or, you could drop your wet pack to the ground, grab a cold snack while shaking out a bivy bag (body bag), and crawl in to spend a miserable night.

You pick.

I have also made very good use of a truly wonderful tent by Eureka, but it is too heavy for solo use.

I do have two inflatable Therm-A-Rest pads, and have made good use of them, but they are simply much to heavy for solo use. I’d rather have an extra pound of food, and prefer to use a simple Ensolite pad such as the green G.I. pad one often comes across. I do like a full-length pad though. The sleeping pad is to provide insulation, and a dry spot to put your sleeping bag on. It isn’t intended as a mattress away from home that rivals the comfy bed you left behind, so don’t be tempted by heavy, bulky pads. When you lie in your bag, you compress the insulation under you which renders it much less effective at keeping you warm. The pad is to compensate for this. You soon get used to sleeping on the ground.

A word about rain gear:

Mine is a brand called “Spray Away,” I purchased it in ‘86 in England, so don’t try and find the same brand [the company does seem to still be around, see link — ed.]. It’s a very simple nylon shell with Gore-Tex inside. No liner! Don’t get rain gear with cloth shells, fabric liners, a zillion zippers and extra pockets. The more crap built into it, the more expensive it is, more likely to leak and will take longer to dry. You can shake the rain off a bare, impermeable nylon jacket. A soaked fabric liner or shell will take days to dry.

All you want is a durable, light weight, wind proof, water proof shell jacket and pants. Make sure the jacket has a good hood, and is quite large — if not downright huge — on you. I got mine big enough to fit over a bulky down coat. The pants don’t have to be so oversized.

Don’t mess with ponchos. I sure as heck did in my youth, and would use it for shelter and as a rain garment. The trouble was they do neither task very well, and if it rains all day long you’re wearing the silly thing, so now how do you set up your shelter? Take the silly, soaked thing off and rig it as a miniature tarp in the driving rain? You might just as well, because after a day in the rain wearing one, you’ll be soaked anyway.

It doesn’t have to be breathable stuff. Inexpensive impermeable stuff is just fine, if it’s durable. Starting over, I might pick Campmor’s Cascade II rain gear.
The jacket costs 23 bucks, weighs 12.8 oz. The pants run 15 bucks and 9.6 oz.

Office (carried in the top flap pocket, contained in a gallon zippy-bag with a heavy rubber band around it to compress it):

• Sewing kit/repair kit
• Match safe
• Fishing kit
• Flashlight (these days usually a small LED headlamp)
• First aid kit (packed in it’s own sandwich sized zippy bag)
• Extra set of eyeglasses
• Paracord
• Bic lighter
• Notebook (small spiral bound kind, usually with most of the pages missing. May have bit of fine sand paper taped to cover to sharpen knife with)
• Pencil stub
• Toothbrush

The list does change from trip-to-trip as I add things, but that’s about the basics that don’t change.

The fishing kit, sewing kit and match safe are contained in identical small plastic tubes with snap tops, maybe three inches long. I’ve used the sewing kit a time or two, but never needed the others. Still carry ‘em though.

I’ll usually add an item or two to this “office,” but it is never allowed to overflow, or even completely fill, that gallon zippy bag.

Some things it might also hold:

• Candle lantern (heavy, but nice on winter trips)
• Paperback book
• Extra ammo (usually six rounds rubber banded into a consolidated lump. Usually only carried on long trips in real back country)
• Very small container of Dr. Bronner’s soap
• Bug repellent
• Small flask of rubbing alcohol (empty bug repellent container)
• 35 MM film container of foot powder
• Extra Kleenex or toilet paper (uh, I often use empty instant oatmeal packets instead of toilet paper… you probably didn’t need to know that, huh?)
• Space blanket (carried for years, never found a use for it, finally left it home)
• Space blanket sleeping bag (much better than the blankets. Used to cover sleeping bag when sleeping under dripping poncho during howling storm, or inside sleeping bag when it gets freaking cold)
• Pipe and tobacco
• Garbage bag

The alcohol and foot powder is used to pamper your sore feet several times a day. The alcohol will toughen your feet and cool them, and the foot powder keeps ‘em cool and helps prevent blisters. Few people carry this stuff but it makes good sense on long hikes.

Well, the list goes on-and-on. The Office is where you stash all the little odds and ends and gadgets you just couldn’t bring yourself to leave at home. The gallon-sized zippy bag ensures that they will stay dry and organized. In use, I pull the whole bag out, and since it’s transparent I can locate what I need, then open it and pull it out.

Remember that with these little gadgets, less is more! Don’t carry a ton of stuff that you just never use. Some small bits of “survival gear,” such as extra matches, a tiny sewing kit, and a few feet of paracord are fine. Just don’t go overboard there. Do carry extra eyeglasses if you wear them!

My top flap pocket is pretty big, and in the past I’ve also crammed in a camera, binoculars, flask of booze, or something along those lines. Not very often though.

Rather than take my old heavy 35 MM camera, or our newer, delicate, battery munching, digital camera, I’ll buy a small disposable camera just for that trip.

As you can probably tell by now, I despise having gear loose in my pack. As much as possible, it all goes into sub-units.

Water purification:

I just strain the stuff through my front teeth. Seriously, I have tramped many miles all over the place, and have never once in my life used a filter or chemicals. Often I’ll throw my bandana down on a muddy bit of water and laying down, suck the water up through the bandana to strain most of the chewy bits.

Everyone has a different comfort level, and has to make up their own minds. Me, I’m comfortable sucking water from muddy hoof prints, and have never has so much as a hint of trouble doing so.

I live without running water. In the winter we melt snow, filter it through a strainer lined with (you guessed it) a bandana, and drink that.

In the spring and fall, we drink rainwater from our roofs. In the summer, we drink from various springs around our homestead. I’ve never lived on chlorinated water, and I drink gallons and gallons of raw goat milk. I suspect I may have some pretty tough intestinal bacteria. Maybe I’m just lucky. Either way, I don’t bother with filters and crap, and never will. One less thing I need to carry.

I know folk who are just simply horrified at the thought of going out into the woods and drinking water right from a stream! They are positive they will get sick… so naturally they do every time they try it.

Now, I’m a northerner. My backpacking beat has been from New Jersey north through Maine, and out west, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. I’ve hiked northern bits of the Appalachian trail and had no trouble with the water. But I can’t say if a filter on the southern Appalachian trail is a good idea, or if you’ll get sick and die without one.

So there you have it, my very opinionated version of what to carry on your back.

Everyone’s list will differ. The best way to figure out what you’re comfortable with is to practice as much as you can. Sleep out in the backyard a lot. Especially on rainy or snowy or windy winter days. Don’t wait till you’re miles from home, it’s dark, the rain is falling and the wind is howling to try out that tarp or sleeping bag.

Remember to travel as light as you possibly can. It is a joy to ramble with a 20 pound pack, still fun with 30 pounds but it’s work at times, not really fun anymore with 40 pounds and the sweat is pouring off you, and a downright chore with 50. The lighter you pack the freer you’ll be, and that’s a good thing.

Backpacking is about the-getting-there. You can go and camp in one spot by a lake and have fun, but you’ll not have the same feeling of fun, self-sufficient, complete contentment that wandering about with everything you need to be perfectly comfortable (well, almost, anyway) right on your back brings. Traveling at your own pace, where you will, and having fun doing it is what it’s all about.

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(post photo by Jef Maion)

How will YOU survive this?

I am always surprised by the number of people I run into that do not have any supplies in their car for emergency situations. I guess most of them have the, “it can’t happen to me” mentality — that mentality will get you killed.

Every year, stories pop up in the news about a person or family being stranded while driving through a remote area. Even if you are not driving in the back country, it would still be wise to have supplies on hand. You could get in a wreck and not be able to contact help; and even if you can contact help, it may take them a long time to reach you. Then, there is the possibility of running out of gas miles from anything. If anything is certain, it is that anything can happen, and that you should be prepared for it.

A survival kit for your car does not have to be as extravagant or as expensive as your “bug out bag.” Some of the essentials we are going to look at are: water, food, tools, first aid supplies, clothes, and books.

Let’s get started shall we?

Water:

Water is the number one priority in any survival situation. You cannot survive without it for more than a couple days. Water is the first thing you should add to your kit. This is easy enough to accomplish right now — it may not be so easy when your life depends on it. You can buy a couple of gallons from the grocery store, or just fill up some containers with tap water. The amount of water you want to store will vary by how many people you tend to have in your car. I would recommend no less than a couple of gallons for one person. If you have the feeling that you are going to be stranded more than a few days you are going to need to find a source of water. So, I also recommend keeping some water purification tablets in your kit. It is far better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.

Food:

Some possible choices

Food is secondary to water. You can survive a lot longer without food than you can without water. It is important to have food on hand nonetheless. As hunger can take your mind off of other things. A lot of people want to run out and buy a bunch of MREs for their kit. This is unnecessary and can get quite expensive. Of course, if you have MREs available there is no reason not to use them.

The main thing is to have food that is not going to go bad quickly, provides you energy, and is easy to fix. The best would be food that only requires water to prepare, as well as food that is ready to eat straight out of the bag.

Some foods that require water include: Ramen and other noodles, rice, instant potatoes, coffee, tea, cocoa, and things of that sort. Many of these products are dehydrated, similar to MREs, but much cheaper.

Some foods that are ready right out of the package include: beef jerky, trail mix, nuts, candy bars (non-chocolate or you will have a mess on your hands) Vienna sausage, etc.

Also: Most people acquire condiments from eating out. This is a cheap (free) way to add salt, pepper, ketchup, sugar, hot sauce, etc. to your kit.

There are a lot of foods out there that you can add to your kit, so I am not going to recommend any specific brands. Pick what you like to eat. Just make sure it is easy to fix, because you are going to have limited cooking resources available to you.

Tools:

You shouldn’t go anywhere without a multi-tool and a good knife. However, it happens. I recommend having a separate multi-tool and knife specifically for your car survival kit. That way, even if you left your everyday tools at home you still have them available. People will argue over brands until they are blue in the face. For car survival this issue is not that important. You’re not going out there trying to live off the land — you do not need the best tool available, you just need one that works.

I have a Gerber multi-tool for my normal dealings. It costs around $60 new. That is pretty expensive for something you are going to toss in your trunk and hopefully never have to use. I found a Durabuilt brand multi-tool at a pawn shop for $5. It has most of the tools my Gerber has, but not quite as fancy. I bought it specifically for my car, and it will work just fine for that purpose.

The knife on your multi-tool is going to have limited functionality, so you are going to want a knife separate from that one. Do not buy an expensive knife to throw in your trunk, but buy a decent one. You can probably find one fairly reasonable at a pawn shop or off of the Internet. A knife with a full tang and a sharp edge is what you are looking for.

An example of a knife with a full tang

Full tang means that there is no break in the blade. The metal goes from blade edge all the way to the end of the handle. They are sturdier and less likely to break than a folding knife. Make sure you sharpen your knife before you put it in your kit. It may be a good idea to put a sharpening stone in with it.

Aside from a knife and a multi-tool there are other items you should consider for your kit. Some way to start and contain a fire is essential. Keep some matches and a lighter in a waterproof container. In case those fail or run out, you may want to also carry a fire starter similar to the picture below:

Handy backup in case matches/lighter runs out

“Canned heat” is another alternative for heating water and cooking. You will also need a container for heating water. A camp cook set works nicely for this, as it is made with that purpose in mind. If you look around you can find a set fairly cheap. I picked up a set at a yard sale for around $5 that came with 4 mugs and a large pot. You will probably want to put a set of silverware in your kit too (unless you just like eating with your hands). You can either store some plastic disposable ones, or take some out of your kitchen that can be rinsed off and reused. If you rinse them, use minimal water, so as not to deplete your on hand supply too much.

Furthermore, be sure to have a source of light. LED flashlights provide a good amount of light, can be obtained cheaply, and are easy on batteries. I picked one up at Big Lots (a discount store) for somewhere around $2. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra batteries just in case. Mine takes two AAA batteries. So I keep 6-8 batteries in my pack. Again, I’m not picky about what you buy for your flashlight. You do not need a $60 Mag-light. Some prefer headlamps. That is fine too, so long as it works and serves its purpose, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you prefer.

First Aid Supplies:

You can buy pre-made first aid kits these days fairly reasonably. If you want to save a little cash and put one together yourself that is fine too. Make sure you have the essentials: band-aids, wraps, gauze, something to make a splint and/or a sling with, antibiotics, and Tylenol. Also, keep a supply of any prescription medications you are on. I would recommend keeping a bottle of multi-vitamins as well. Tweezer’s, scissors, and a scalpel are also handy to have around. Make it to suit your needs, but be sure to have the essentials.

An example of a well stocked first-aid kit

Clothing:

Being stranded in a car in the middle of winter without extra clothing supplies could make for a very rough survival situation. Even if it is not winter time, temperatures tend to drop considerably at night, and it would behoove you to have the supplies to stay warm. Most of us wander around in cotton clothing. This is not good in a survival situation. Wool would be better. In your trunk you want to keep some extra clothing for warmth (preferably wool or poly blend) rain gear, and a sleeping bag and/or blankets.

The car itself will make you a good shelter to keep the wind and rain off of you, but it is still going to get cold, as you are not going to be able to have a fire in your car. The sleeping bag and blankets will help you get through the night, and the rain gear will keep you dry if you must go out in bad weather.

Books:

There is one book in particular that I would recommend keeping on hand in this type of situation: Where There is No Doctor: A Village health Care Handbook by David Werner.

ISBN: 978-0-942364-15-6

An essential book for any survivalist

From Amazon:

“Home health care manuals are a dime a dozen, but this one is in a league by itself… This amazing manual…successfully brings together modern concepts of public health and personal health care into a usable and understandable format for the Third World villager. If you are a physician, dentist or nurse planning to volunteer on a medical mercy mission, review this book ahead of time and take it with you. — Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 125, no.12″

This book is a must. It will show you how to treat any number of injuries and illnesses. If you do not own this book, buy it post haste. Seriously!

Some other books you may want to carry: a general survival book, a survival book that focuses on winter time survival, and a book on wild edibles (regionally specific if possible).

Other things to consider:

There are a million things you can take with you. Build your kit to fit your needs. Take things you will use, and that you know how to use. Otherwise it is just taking up space. Some other things to consider taking are: Rope, snare wire, foldable camping shovel, small axe, toilet paper, garbage bags, plastic tarp, duct tape, toothbrush, soap, comb, hand sanitizer, signaling mirror, whistle, etc.

This is not a conclusive list by any means. It is a starting point to get you thinking about your survival. It is hard to say how many people have lost their lives simply because they were not prepared. DO NOT let that happen to you.

A new wood burning stove invention powered by a thermoelectric generator, will have the ability to convert waste heat from fire to electricity. The inventors say their BioLite stove can burn a wide variety of biomass fuels from wood, pine cones and underbrush to pellets, rice husks and even dung. The BioLite burning process performs efficiently, using less than 1/2 the wood of an open fire and reduces smoke emissions by more than 95%. This product is not yet available, but is slated for Spring 2010 and 2011. Check out the videos and if interested contact them through the email provided below. For more information on rocket stoves in general look here.

Via Biolite:

With the BioLite Stove you can step off the grid and leave the petrol at home. Whether you’re spending a month in Alaska or a night in the backyard the BioLite stove will quickly and cleanly cook meals using nothing but the underbrush you collect on your journey.

BioLite is no yet available on the commercial market but we hope to be in stores Spring of 2010. If you are a retailer or distributor interested in carrying the BioLite stove please contact us here. If you are a consumer and would like to be placed on our mailing list please email us here.

He also does a side-by-side comparison of the time it takes to boil water in various weather conditions, relative to a normal kitchen range.

Very informative and useful stuff, as is to be expected from Bob!

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I would like to use this post to test, review, and compare various makes of small stoves for outdoor use.

My focus is primarily, but not wholly, on stoves suitable for backpacking, canoeing and cycling. On what to burn when traveling in a country where white gas may not be readily available and finally, it would be nice if others could post similar information about the various stoves that they own and use.

Recently, while planning for a trip I hope to take this summer I came to realize that because I was flying to my destination I would not be able to bring white gasoline ( Coleman Fuel ). This meant that I would have to scramble about looking for white gas at my destination, or come up with a different fuel! Automotive gas is the most widely available fuel, so with this in mind I set about looking over my gear.

Now I happen to have two backpacking stoves, an old Optimus 8R and an MSR Wisperlight. I don’t consider using auto gas in the MSR Wisperlight a good idea. It’s a rather complicated stove and pump system and I imagine it might tend to clog, it has plastic parts that might not like automotive gas, and even on the somewhat less powerful white gas it’s already a blowtorch.

Now the old Optimus stove has a warning label right on it that says not to use automotive gas in it, but I know for a fact that many folks used nothing but car gas in their 8Rs for many years. It’s a very simple all metal stove with but one moving part.

Well, Saturday we had fresh snow. It wasn’t a day to ride my bike or the horses, so I figure I’d do a comparison test on my stoves, and see if the old 8R would work safely on automotive gas, and save me the expense of a new multi-fuel stove.

Here we have my old MSR stove from 1986 on the pink sack, my new Wisperlight, and the Optimus 8R or “Blue Box” along with my original MRS fuel bottle fitted with the pump for my new MSR stove, an old SIGG fuel bottle and lots of gas.

The following tests were conducted when the air temp was 37 degrees, the humidity 20%. The water came from my below grade cistern, I do not know the water temp. it’s pretty cold, but not icy. There was essentially no movement to the air on the porch. The large pot and fry pan / lid from a USGI “Ranger” cook kit was used for all tests. The water to be boiled was keep covered at all times until a full rolling boil was achieved.

The stoves, fuels, and accessories -

A word on stove stuff sacks. If you get a plastic sack with a new stove, throw it away and make yourself one of cloth. Why? Because now you have a multipurpose stuff sack that doubles as a pot holder! My wife made my old soiled and soot stained pink stuff sack. Say what you will about the color, but I have never lost it in the woods!.

In fact, this stuff sack was used as a pot holder throughout this experiment. As with all things in Backpackingdom, light weight, reliability, utility and multiple uses must drive all equipment choices! Put a warm stove back in it’s plastic stuff sack, and it may melt it or stick in it!

The MSR Wisperlight –

I was given my first Wisperlight in 1986, and this little stove has been my steadfast companion ever since. I have used this stove for uncountable weekend tips, cooking in the barracks while in the Air Force, two week long canoe and backpacking trips, cooking on the porch at home in hot weather when I did not care to heat up the house, you name it.

It is so efficient, I have twice used it with but one bottle of white gas to cook three hot meals every day, plus the odd extra pot of coffee or tea, for my wife and myself on five day long backpacking trips. Nothing I know of comes close to the heating efficiency and low weight of the Wisperlight. In all the years I have carried this stove, only twice has it let me down.

Although I’d rebuilt my Wisperlight a time or two over the years, last spring it finally gave up the ghost. My old friend finally died for good. I immediately went out and bought another one, and still haven’t been able to throw out the old one.

Anyway, the Wisperlight is an odd stove, unlike anything that came before it.

MSR first produced a stove similar to this one in 1973. It’s nothing but a burner suspended by three wire legs. The pump used to pressurize the gas tank is screwed into and housed inside the gas tank itself!

The stove does not come with a gas tank. You buy whatever size aluminum MSR or SIGG bottle that strikes your fancy. A flexible and hopefully fireproof tube connects the two.

Now, the real secret behind the super efficiency Wisperlight is the funky wind screen they use.

Now the big draw back of these stoves is they have a horrible Fiddle Factor. To set the stove up you first shake everything out of the stuff sack. Unfold the lower bit of aluminum foil. If it’s an old stove, stick the legs of the stove through the hole in the middle of the foil, and swing the legs into position. Now the new stoves come with a big disc of foil for the bottom, and you simply set the stove down on it. I don’t think this is as efficient, but it is less of a fiddle.

The downside is that the stove now sits on top of a slick surface of aluminum! Not good! Having that hot dinner you have been looking forward to for the last few hours fall off the stove is a horrible and heart wrenching experience! Ask me how I know…

So I’ll probably cut a hole in the center of the disc and go back to sticking the legs through it.

Next, you connect the flex tube of the stove to the pump that’s in the fuel bottle. I have always stuck the connector in my mouth and lubricated it with saliva before inserting it.

Then, you pump the stove up if it needs it, open the valve a bit to trickle fuel into the priming cup, and close the valve. Now light the fuel and let the stove flair up.

Now is the time to unfold the big aluminum foil wind screen, and get ready to place your pot on the stove.

When the stove has all but finished flaring, open the fuel valve, and the stove takes off. Put the pot on, and wrap the big aluminum foil windscreen about the stove and pot, BUT NOT THE FUEL BOTTLE.

What you get when you put it all together –

So the stove sorta has to be assembled every time you use it, and folded back up and stuffed into it’s sack when it’s cool again. You’ll get a certain amount of soot on your hands doing this. Multi-fuel versions of the MSR running on automotive gas will be dirtier.

Now I’ve used this thing so much I can run it in my sleep, but after a bad day when your exhausted and cold, you can’t feel your fingers and your brain is functioning at 10% capacity, a stove you need to put together might not be the best thing in the world. Simpler is almost always better. If it were not for the fantastic efficiency and light weight I don’t think the MSR would have become the instant classic that it has.

So how does it work? Believe me, this stove burns like a blow torch! The burner assembly heats up and glows red, and the stove has a nice blue flame.

My old stove did not simmer worth a darn. It’s basically a blowtorch, on or off. The new stoves may simmer better, but my old one sure didn’t so I never even tried. I came up with a cooking methodology that works well with a blowtorch, and lived with it.

Wisperlight on full throttle at night -

The wisperlight brought a measured full quart of water to a full rolling boil in 5 minutes and 50 seconds. As you can see, the wind screen simply can’t be beat for heating efficiency.

This was rather longer than I expected to take to boil one quart of water. The white gas I used is perhaps two years old. It is said that old gas does add a minute or two to the boil time.

Boiling water on a Whisperlight stove -

The Optimus 8R -

Now for a blast from the past – The Swedish firm of Optimus introduced the 8R a long time ago. Patent dates for the predecessor, the Optimus 8, go back to 1927.

I bought this stove about ten years ago simply because I came across one for sale. I didn’t think they were made anymore and I’d always wanted one.

When I was growing up one of my older brothers had a beautiful blue 8R that I drooled over and coveted. I remember he had the best of gear, a two pound down sleeping bag, that 8R, and a backpack with a frame! At the time I had to make due with a cheap Sears cotton sleeping bag, a sterno stove and a canvas rucksack.

Now I have to say I’ve never used the 8R much. So solid a hold did the Wisperlight have on me that the 8R hasn’t even been on a single trip! The 8R is heavier and does not burn as hot as the Wisperlight. Basically I have only used it on my front porch a time or two to boil down potash for lye water.

The 8R is simplicity itself. It has no pump, and the only moving part is the gas valve. The stove depends upon the heat generated by the stove itself to maintain pressure in the gas tank.

So how do you light it? The best way to light a self-pressurized stove has been hotly debated since they were invented! Every operator develops his or her preferred method. Supposedly, you can cradle the stove to you and warm the tank with your hands, allowing gas to well up out of the burner and into the priming cup. Some folk burn little bits of paper to warm the stove, some use alcohol carried in a small flask, or priming paste. Some brave fellows open the gas cap and blow into the tank. Me, I’ve always been an eye dropper man.

To use the stove, I simply plop it down and open it up. Open the gas cap and using an eye dropper take gas from the tank and squirt it into the priming cup under the burner. Or hell, squirt fuel all over the stove, it’s all good.

Light it, and stand back while it flairs up. When the gas goes out the burner should be hot enough to vaporize fuel, and the tank should be warm enough for some pressure.

I had to fill this stove with white gas before the test, and because of the tiny gas cap and the small capacity of the tank, I spilled fuel all over the stove. So what. WHOOSH!

When the stove was warmed, the valve opened and lit, the stove roared like a jet aircraft on takeoff! Optimus stoves are loud! After roaring away for 1 min, 30 seconds, the roar of the 8R subsided to it’s familiar pulsing, rather like the drone of a WWII buzz bomb.

If anyone else owns an 8R, I’d sure like to know if they pulse as well. It took 12 minutes to bring a measured quart of water to a full rolling boil.

I’m sure much of the difference in performance between this stove and the Wisperlight is that the 8R lacks the wrap around aluminum foil windscreen. I have tried to use the foil wind screen with the 8R in the past, but to do so risks overheating the stove. What happens then? Heh, we’ll get to that!

A full boil is achieved on the 8R -

The 8R in full flame. Not much is visible in daylight but note the pot support glowing red –

I went inside to make a pot of tea with all this hot water, and let the 8R cool for the next test.

When the stove was cool enough, I dumped out the white gas and poured in unleaded automotive gas. This gas had been in storage all winter, and has some stabilizer added to it. Again, I spilled gas on the stove, even with the use of a small funnel. I lit it ( WHOOSH! ) and let it heat up. The auto gas made greasy smoke, unlike the much cleaner burning white gas. This time, the 8R boiled it’s quart in only 9 minutes, 39 seconds! It seems auto gas is more powerful. This time, the stove roared the whole time it was running.

Auto gas would be a bit of a pain to run a backpacking stove on, primarily because of it’s smell. Spill white gas on your sleeping bag and it evaporates very fast, and leaves no stain. Spill automotive gas on your sleeping bag, and you’ll smell it the whole trip.

The big kicker using automotive gas is the danger of the fumes. White gas burns very cleanly. Car gas has many additives like Benzene and other stuff in it so it’s fumes are quite toxic. Of course, we all zoom back and forth every day in our cars, spewing gas fumes to the heavens without a care. But a small stove running on the same gas must be used out of doors, or at least with very good ventilation.

I have cooked indoors, in tents and even inside a car ( with the windows opened a bit ) with a stove burning white gas. I don’t think I’d try that with automotive gas. Still, the auto gas burned hotter, and is widely available world wide! I figure it might would work for my upcoming trip!

Now for the endurance test…

The stove warming up –

I placed the stove out away from the cottage, on a snow covered board and put precisely 1/2 cup of automotive gas in without spilling any this time.

I primed the stove with four 1/2 full eye dropper squirts, which filled the priming cup. I lit the stove, and off it went. I opened the supply valve as wide as it would go without flooding the stove with fuel.

The stove was still cold, and it chuff-chuffed along rather than roaring. On top of the stove I placed a very large pot with 1 and 1/2 gallons of water in it.

I started a timer, then went inside. I figured the stove would burn about an hour on that 1/2 cup of gas. I’d run this stove before for long periods of time, using white gas.

I wasn’t concerned with how fast it could boil so much water, but rather was interested in how long it would burn with 1/2 cup of gas.

Before to long I could hear the stove heat up and start roaring. My mistake was that I didn’t go out and turn down the stove.

Later, my wife and I got ready to go on a walk in the snowy woods to collect pine needles for basket making. I figured I could be away for 1/2 hour, and get back in time to catch the stove as it burned out.

21 minutes into the test we went out to take our walk, and saw that the pot and stove were engulfed in flame!
Flame was pouring out of the gas cap, as well as the burner. I was able to turn off the valve without burning my hand easily enough, then blew out the flame coming from the relief valve on the gas cap, and let the hissing stove cool down.

The water was quite warm, but not boiling. The oversized pot and wide-open gas valve had overheated the gas tank, and the safety valve on the tank had opened.

OK, so now we know what NOT to do with this little stove….

After dinner that night I wanted to see if my 8R still worked, or if it had been fried. I refilled it with fresh auto gas, and the stove was in the same exposed location.

It was now 27 degrees out, the humidity was still 20%, and a slight downhill breeze was blowing, maybe 3 MPH.
The stove lit and ran just fine, and the stove boiled a quart of water in 11 minutes and 30 seconds. Then I reduced the heat of the stove, and simmered the water for five full minutes. I wanted to see if the stove would cool to much to run at this low setting in below freezing weather, but simmer it did just fine.

The burner heats up red hot and the blue flame washes over the bottom of the pot – And the front of the gas tank!

The flame at night –

Looking at this one can see how the tank could overheat with to large a pot on top, a extra wind screen wrapped around the stove, or even just running it to long on to high a setting with automotive gasoline.

For a comparison I tested the propane stove in my cottage. My kitchen was a comfortable 70 degrees, 20% humidity. Same pot and so forth, and my kitchen range boiled it’s quart in six minutes, 20 seconds.

Cooking the easy way –

So the Wisperlight burns hotter than the kitchen stove! Even out in the cold, it boils a quart faster than the kitchen stove.

Conclusion -

All things considered, I’m quite pleased with my little 8R and think I will be using it on my upcoming trip. I’ll be able to walk off the plane with my pack, and get a quart of gas at the first gas station I pass. The trip will be in high summer, so I know it will perform even better than these cold weather tests.

For cold weather or long trips in this country or Canada, I’ll definitely stick to the Wisperlight. Nothing else is as light or efficient. It’s the only stove I’d consider for melting snow for drinking water.

For trips where white gas is unavailable, or the occasional weekend backpack trip, or for cycle or canoe trips where the last ounce need not be paired down, I think I might be using my old Blue Box.

I’d like to hear about tests from other folk with different backpacking stoves, butane or propane cartridge stoves, double burner Coleman stoves, and I think someone should test an electric range at home for reference! I’d also like to hear about other folks experiences using auto gas in these things.

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Thanks, Bob! Like he asked, if anyone has experiences with different stoves, fuels, etc., please let us know in the comments. — Ed.

Honda EU2000i Generator

In light of all the (often deserved) buzz about solar and wind power; sometimes older, noisier technology is overlooked. So, lets talk needs, pros, and cons…

What do you need electricity for? During a normal day, you need it to power TVs, water-heaters, computers, the fridge, the stove, the microwave, and so on — but during a power outage, that list grows dramatically smaller.

If you’ve prepped at all for emergencies, you’re likely to have flashlights (and/or candles), battery-powered communication devices, a propane stove (or other non-electric cooking-heat source), and warm clothing or blankets. You might also have a lot of stored food and water. These are all things you can have whether you live in a 12th-story walkup in Manhattan, or a cave in Tennessee.

But self-sufficiency is not just about mere survival. Why do you need to let all the food in the fridge go bad if the power goes out for three days? Do you really need to break into the emergency food supply if you have leftovers and frozen meals that could feed you for a week?

To help you make comparisons in efficiency of operation, I’ve created this handy Generator Efficiency Calculator.

Also, flashlights and candles get tedious after a while, why not be able to run efficient lights that can illuminate a whole room?

For these situations, a gas-powered generator may be the perfect solution. It’s not cheap enough to replace grid-based power, and it still requires access to gasoline; but it should definitely not be dismissed out of hand as a solution to power outages — be they short or prolonged.

There are multiple living situations in which a gas-powered generator can be used, but we’ll narrow if down for the purpose of this post.

• 1. Apartment
• 2. Suburban House
• 3. Camping

There are a few ultra-quiet generators that output less than 60dB of sound – which is about the noise-level of a regular conversation. For all three living situations, noise-level in both emergencies and normal use is an important consideration for a number of reasons.

• A. Disturbing neighbors, who may be in a desperate state of mind.
• B. Alerting ill-intentioned people to the presence of people/electricity/warmth/food/etc.
• C. Annoying yourself with the constant sound, making communication difficult, or creating a stressful environment.

For camping, A and C are most important; as disturbing a serene wilderness getaway with obscenely loud industrial noises is not recommended for your own relaxation, or that of your fellow campers. Of course, if you’re camping in order to hide from someone/something; then noise is a great thing to avoid.

The reason for settling on 60dB(A) was that it’s the average decibel rating for background music, which we thought to be an acceptable level.

If you’re living in a rented (and/or small) space, you may not have the option to build a generator shed, or to place the generator 50 yards from your residence; as people in the country might be able to do. So, a quiet generator is a better option for those circumstances. This is especially true in an apartment situation, where almost no space separates neighbors from each other, and there is no way to increase the distance between the generator and the residence.

For all three circumstances, point B may be extremely important; depending on the scenario. It isn’t prudent to be the only house with the lights on; but that can be mitigated with curtains. Blocking sound can be more difficult than blocking light, especially when the generator has to be placed outside to avoid harmful fumes.

Camping Life has posted a wonderful review of small, portable, quiet generators (I based the title of this post on it):

First, we established guidelines to determine which generators should be tested. “Portable” being the key word, we decided that 50 pounds was a reasonable weight limit, so we went in search of generators that would tip the scales at or below the 50-pound mark.

We also included noise-level limitations as one of our criteria, because we’re interested only in generators that are “quiet.” Therefore, we looked for units with decibel levels below 60 dB(A) when running at full load and measured from 20 feet away. The reason for settling on 60dB(A) was that it’s the average decibel rating for background music, which we thought to be an acceptable level. For comparison, it’s interesting to note that normal conversation averages 65 dB(A) and an orchestra is rated at 80 dB(A).

Other requirements included good fuel economy and fuel tank capacity, so the generator can operate for a long time on a single tank of gas. We also want easy starting and power output high enough to handle a wide range of electric camp appliances.

Their criteria and findings are a great starting point to finding the generator that works best for your needs.

Which also leads to the next point: Fuel. Unlike solar and wind, gas generators require liquid fuel and oil in order to run. This means that there must be a fuel supply on hand to last for as long as you foresee needing supplemental power. In the country, it’s possible to store significant amounts of fuel safely (how to do so will be the subject of a future post). In the city, a crowded suburb, or the wilderness; however, storing large quantities of fuel may not be feasible or safe. In that light, fuel economy becomes even more important. How much power can you get for the least amount of gas?

Making efficiency even more important is the fact that these little power-plants were designed for occasional use. Bob has some good advice about how to make best use of them:

No small portable has the capability to run so hard day after day for very long. It’ll last decades if you take care of it and use it to run power tools when needed and so forth, but when the power goes out put no more than one tank of gas through it a day, and change the oil every third day, no later.

To help you make comparisons in efficiency of operation, I’ve created this handy Generator Efficiency Calculator. Also included are helpful links to determine how much power you’ll need to keep different gadgets and appliances running.

In closing, there are a lot of technologies that have been around for a while, and that have definitely improved in important ways over the years; and they are options that bear consideration in the search for emergency/supplemental power generation.