- Joined
- Aug 19, 2011
- Messages
- 925
With my return to the amazon coming up i thought i would share a few of the things that work will for me last year Some of my
A few of my favorite things
*
Last fall I made the totally rational decision to celebrate my 40th birthday with 7 strangers in the Amazon Jungle on a* Bushcraft Global trip.* There were a few pieces of gear that I will never to go to the woods without. Below are a few of them. *
*
P.V.A. towel
* *These are amazing! I carry at least two,usually three. When dry, they are weightless. It does not matter how much they absorb, which by the way is a metric butt load! They can be wrung out and keep absorbing!* In the Amazon, where the humidity was 1000% and rain every day, it was so wet that even the cook fire flames wear soggy.* I could wring out my PVA towel, dry off and repeat until I was bone dry which would last 45 seconds, but I would be dry!* One of the truly* great things about these towels is at the end of the day I would stuff a towel in my boots.* After dinner, I would pull it out, wring it out, and stuff it back in.* Come* morning I was the only guy with dry boots!* It was wet in the jungle and little sun ever made it through the canopy so drying was a problem.* The answer was to fold a towel around an article of clothing roll them up and wring it out.* The towel will keep pulling water out of the clothes until they are fresh out of the dryer dry.
*
Swayer Mini water filter
** * Since it was the Amazon I did not need to worry about freezing temps so I put my mind in line with my water bladder by cutting the supply tube and plugging in the filter. I would put untreated water in my water bladder and then drink through the tube all day.* At night I would hang the Bladder and use it as a gravity filter.* It was after the second night that I noticed that no matter how much water I took out of the bladder it was always full the next day.* I finally had a Sherlock moment and deduced that the other eight* guys in camp were using my filter and then refilling it.* For two weeks I used it everyday, and seven people used it at night to refill bottles and clean up.* Two weeks in the Amazon, and* no one got a waterborne sickness!* After about a week the water started running a little slow so I backwashed the filter to clean it.
*
Russell moccasin boots
These may not be as important to others as some of the previousr things I have written about but I have hobbit feet. I do not mean hairy, well yes they are hairy, but that is not what I mean.* I mean I have wide feet size 10 EEEEE.* My feet are mathematically a rectangle as in the width is one half the length. When I started looking for jungle boots most conversations with manufacturers involved the phrase* Oh you were serious? No, I am afraid we cannot help you".* I started looking into custom boots but they cost as much as my plane ticket to Colombia or they had a one year plus wait time. Enter Russell. I* had my Russells in 6 months and when compared to the special order prices I already pay for regular everyday shoes the price for my Russell's are reasonable.* A word of warning, you will need help to size them.* It involves tracing each foot and making 16 measurements per foot and then sending in the measurements and tracing to Russell. **After 2 weeks in the jungle and not one blister, and back from the trip 6 months ago, I still wear my Russell's almost everyday.
*
80 # fishing line
I used a bright yellow version to string my rain fly and it was outstanding. One hundred yards weighted* 2.2 oz on the spool and the bright color helped keep me from clotheslining myself.* Hanging vegetation on the lines* also helped.* It was a little uncomfortable on my hands when I was cinching it down, but did I mention 100 yards = *2.2 oz . *
*
hand line fishing kit (bottle version)
I wrapped 50 + yards around an empty plastic bottle, I could store the hooks and weights in the bottle although it is somewhat hard to get them out it is an all or nothing option.* One of the best things about this rig is that it floats.* To cast, I* hold the bottle by the neck and point the end of the bottle in the direction I am casting, then spin and throw the line mountaineer style with my off hand.* Putting a cooze over the bottle helps protect the line and keep it from getting tangled.* *
*
Mesh laundry bag
I keep one of these handy whenever I go to the woods to use as foraging bag. It weighs nothing, compress to nothing, is easy to clean, and lets dirt or water drain out, but keeps stuff in.*
*
The shower glove
I learned this one from Joe Flowers. I am not sure where they come from, my wife picked mine up* for me, but I would imagine it is the same place that sells body wash, scented candles and bath beads.* The glove actually is a mitt but a shower mitt just does not sound right.* The brilliance of this is not actually the glove. It is just *terry cloth stitched to make a mitt.* The brilliance is the way it keeps your soap from getting all slimy.* One takes soap out of their soap box, I found a water proof box the correct size in fishing supplies in a sporting goods store. But one takes the dry soap out of the waterproof box shaves off a few slivers and puts them inside the shower glove and then returns the dry soap to the box and puts it away.* When you wet the glove, it will quickly lather up with never ending suds.* After bathing, rinse the glove out, hang to dry and your soap stays clean and dry.
*[/SIZE]
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A few of my favorite things
*
Last fall I made the totally rational decision to celebrate my 40th birthday with 7 strangers in the Amazon Jungle on a* Bushcraft Global trip.* There were a few pieces of gear that I will never to go to the woods without. Below are a few of them. *
*
P.V.A. towel
* *These are amazing! I carry at least two,usually three. When dry, they are weightless. It does not matter how much they absorb, which by the way is a metric butt load! They can be wrung out and keep absorbing!* In the Amazon, where the humidity was 1000% and rain every day, it was so wet that even the cook fire flames wear soggy.* I could wring out my PVA towel, dry off and repeat until I was bone dry which would last 45 seconds, but I would be dry!* One of the truly* great things about these towels is at the end of the day I would stuff a towel in my boots.* After dinner, I would pull it out, wring it out, and stuff it back in.* Come* morning I was the only guy with dry boots!* It was wet in the jungle and little sun ever made it through the canopy so drying was a problem.* The answer was to fold a towel around an article of clothing roll them up and wring it out.* The towel will keep pulling water out of the clothes until they are fresh out of the dryer dry.
*
Swayer Mini water filter
** * Since it was the Amazon I did not need to worry about freezing temps so I put my mind in line with my water bladder by cutting the supply tube and plugging in the filter. I would put untreated water in my water bladder and then drink through the tube all day.* At night I would hang the Bladder and use it as a gravity filter.* It was after the second night that I noticed that no matter how much water I took out of the bladder it was always full the next day.* I finally had a Sherlock moment and deduced that the other eight* guys in camp were using my filter and then refilling it.* For two weeks I used it everyday, and seven people used it at night to refill bottles and clean up.* Two weeks in the Amazon, and* no one got a waterborne sickness!* After about a week the water started running a little slow so I backwashed the filter to clean it.
*
Russell moccasin boots
These may not be as important to others as some of the previousr things I have written about but I have hobbit feet. I do not mean hairy, well yes they are hairy, but that is not what I mean.* I mean I have wide feet size 10 EEEEE.* My feet are mathematically a rectangle as in the width is one half the length. When I started looking for jungle boots most conversations with manufacturers involved the phrase* Oh you were serious? No, I am afraid we cannot help you".* I started looking into custom boots but they cost as much as my plane ticket to Colombia or they had a one year plus wait time. Enter Russell. I* had my Russells in 6 months and when compared to the special order prices I already pay for regular everyday shoes the price for my Russell's are reasonable.* A word of warning, you will need help to size them.* It involves tracing each foot and making 16 measurements per foot and then sending in the measurements and tracing to Russell. **After 2 weeks in the jungle and not one blister, and back from the trip 6 months ago, I still wear my Russell's almost everyday.
*
80 # fishing line
I used a bright yellow version to string my rain fly and it was outstanding. One hundred yards weighted* 2.2 oz on the spool and the bright color helped keep me from clotheslining myself.* Hanging vegetation on the lines* also helped.* It was a little uncomfortable on my hands when I was cinching it down, but did I mention 100 yards = *2.2 oz . *
*
hand line fishing kit (bottle version)
I wrapped 50 + yards around an empty plastic bottle, I could store the hooks and weights in the bottle although it is somewhat hard to get them out it is an all or nothing option.* One of the best things about this rig is that it floats.* To cast, I* hold the bottle by the neck and point the end of the bottle in the direction I am casting, then spin and throw the line mountaineer style with my off hand.* Putting a cooze over the bottle helps protect the line and keep it from getting tangled.* *
*
Mesh laundry bag
I keep one of these handy whenever I go to the woods to use as foraging bag. It weighs nothing, compress to nothing, is easy to clean, and lets dirt or water drain out, but keeps stuff in.*
*
The shower glove
I learned this one from Joe Flowers. I am not sure where they come from, my wife picked mine up* for me, but I would imagine it is the same place that sells body wash, scented candles and bath beads.* The glove actually is a mitt but a shower mitt just does not sound right.* The brilliance of this is not actually the glove. It is just *terry cloth stitched to make a mitt.* The brilliance is the way it keeps your soap from getting all slimy.* One takes soap out of their soap box, I found a water proof box the correct size in fishing supplies in a sporting goods store. But one takes the dry soap out of the waterproof box shaves off a few slivers and puts them inside the shower glove and then returns the dry soap to the box and puts it away.* When you wet the glove, it will quickly lather up with never ending suds.* After bathing, rinse the glove out, hang to dry and your soap stays clean and dry.
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*[/SIZE][/SIZE]
