The Cans
I try to buy things that are in small cans and packages to put into my pack,
partially for variety, and partially because I have a military pack that was
designed for C-Rations. The 4 to 5 ounce cans available are just about the
right size. I can (sorry for the pun) pack about two days worth of food in
my pack without too much problem, but then again, a ‘survivalist’
knows what to eat off the land, and what to avoid.
If you are out in an area that has flowers, fruits and nuts that are in season,
make sure that you know what they are before you try to eat them. Sumac
berries may make a lemonaide-like drink when boiled, but Poison Sumac
can make life miserable.
What to do with those cans? How about some recipies.
I always need a little extra sugar on the trail. Energy, you know. Each time
I restock the food, I also get new candy. I have found that the ones like
sweet tarts are easy to use. I now avoid Altoids for on the trail. Too many
of them can unbalance my stomach.
Sometimes when you are on the trail, you need to drink, NOW. For such an emergency,
there are ‘straws’ that have filters and chemicals in to make the
water potable, if not always palatable. I try to have one of these in my daypack
or regular pack, just in case the ported water runs out. Because of the iodine
in most of them, be careful. When ever possible, boil any water you consume
and wash in.
When camping, I tend to need to tie things together, being bundles of herbs
or tent poles. I have found that the plastic cable ties are great for most
of these uses. They do not rot and are able to be trimmed to different lengths.
If you take a peice of fabric and use a cable tie to hold it in place on the
end of a hollow rod, even a toilet paper roll, to filter the water, it can
take out larger peices of particulate as you pour the watr into the water
pot to boil. If you have string, that will work, too, but I am a computer
geek... You use what you have.
Along these lines...
I keep adding things to my pack because of use and what I have found to have
needed. I decided to use my pack to live out of at home for a day to see what
I normally use, and what I could get along without.
I have long hair. The morning I decided to use the pack for ‘everyday’
things, I could not brush my hair. I could not comb my hair. I could shave
it off, but nothing else. I went out and bought a brush with a hole in the
handle to put into the pack. Since then, I have at least one brush in each
of the vehicles we have, one at work, one in my gym bag as well as the one
in my pack. What ever you do, make sure you get brushes or combs that are
as good as the ones you normally use.