A winter walk/gear test

[majorhavoc]

Sad that it's taken until January, but this is the first significant snow we've had all season.  I wasn't about to waste the opportunity. 

Heading out from my backyard. About 8" of snow at this point ...


Entering the woods.  I'm planning on being out for maybe a couple of hours.


It's just so beautiful out here.  Bushwacking towards a local land trust forest.


The whole area here is bissected by small ravines with a stream coursing along the bottom of each.  Hard to tell, but I had quite a bit of difficulty getting back up on the other side.  This is fresh, powdery (dry) snow, which doesn't provide much traction on steep terrain.


Shelter in a storm.  There's almost a foot of fresh snow on the ground now.  This is that Wise Owl tarp I was talking about in the Deals and Bargains section.  The included stakes are worthless in these types of conditions.  I ended up tying the side guy lines to my snowshoes on one side, and my trekking poles on the other, and burying them underneath the snow.  Not too shabby for $12.36, don't you think?


As long as I had the shelter set up, I figured might as well brew some tea with one of the Esbit-style emergency stoves I have in a lot of my emergency kits.  I have plenty of dedicated fuel tablets, but I wanted to try out using grill firestarters as a fuel source.  I had read somewhere that these could be used instead of regular hexamine tabs.  Verdict: they do work, but don't last as long, go out suddenly with almost no warning when they're expended, and burn very dirty.  Cleaning that little pot after this little outing was a royal pain.  The soot got everywhere.  I had to throw out my dish scrubby and I seriously doubt I'll ever get the stains off the cuffs of a really nice technical fabric (Under Armor) undershirt I was wearing.  My recommendation: stick with purpose-made hexamine fuel tablets.


Between setting up the tarp and working with the stove with my gloves off, I got pretty chilled.  Tea never tasted so good ...

[Moab]

Awesome, man!!!! 

[flybynight]

Sad that it's taken until January, but this is the first significant snow we've had all season.  I wasn't about to waste the opportunity. 

Heading out from my backyard. About 8" of snow at this point ...


Entering the woods.  I'm planning on being out for maybe a couple of hours.


It's just so beautiful out here.  Bushwacking towards a local land trust forest.


The whole area here is bissected by small ravines with a stream coursing along the bottom of each.  Hard to tell, but I had quite a bit of difficulty getting back up on the other side.  This is fresh, powdery (dry) snow, which doesn't provide much traction on steep terrain.


Shelter in a storm.  There's almost a foot of fresh snow on the ground now.  This is that Wise Owl tarp I was talking about in the Deals and Bargains section.  The included stakes are worthless in these types of conditions.  I ended up tying the side guy lines to my snowshoes on one side, and my trekking poles on the other, and burying them underneath the snow.  Not too shabby for $12.36, don't you think?


As long as I had the shelter set up, I figured might as well brew some tea with one of the Esbit-style emergency stoves I have in a lot of my emergency kits.  I have plenty of dedicated fuel tablets, but I wanted to try out using grill firestarters as a fuel source.  I had read somewhere that these could be used instead of regular hexamine tabs.  Verdict: they do work, but don't last as long, go out suddenly with almost no warning when they're expended, and burn very dirty.  Cleaning that little pot after this little outing was a royal pain.  The soot got everywhere.  I had to throw out my dish scrubby and I seriously doubt I'll ever get the stains off the cuffs of a really nice technical fabric (Under Armor) undershirt I was wearing.  My recommendation: stick with purpose-made hexamine fuel tablets.


Between setting up the tarp and working with the stove with my gloves off, I got pretty chilled.  Tea never tasted so good ...

Nice. Woodswalker is smiling down on this post. But where's the Wendigo?

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Sad that it's taken until January, but this is the first significant snow we've had all season.  I wasn't about to waste the opportunity. 

Heading out from my backyard. About 8" of snow at this point ...


Entering the woods.  I'm planning on being out for maybe a couple of hours.


It's just so beautiful out here.  Bushwacking towards a local land trust forest.


The whole area here is bissected by small ravines with a stream coursing along the bottom of each.  Hard to tell, but I had quite a bit of difficulty getting back up on the other side.  This is fresh, powdery (dry) snow, which doesn't provide much traction on steep terrain.


Shelter in a storm.  There's almost a foot of fresh snow on the ground now.  This is that Wise Owl tarp I was talking about in the Deals and Bargains section.  The included stakes are worthless in these types of conditions.  I ended up tying the side guy lines to my snowshoes on one side, and my trekking poles on the other, and burying them underneath the snow.  Not too shabby for $12.36, don't you think?


As long as I had the shelter set up, I figured might as well brew some tea with one of the Esbit-style emergency stoves I have in a lot of my emergency kits.  I have plenty of dedicated fuel tablets, but I wanted to try out using grill firestarters as a fuel source.  I had read somewhere that these could be used instead of regular hexamine tabs.  Verdict: they do work, but don't last as long, go out suddenly with almost no warning when they're expended, and burn very dirty.  Cleaning that little pot after this little outing was a royal pain.  The soot got everywhere.  I had to throw out my dish scrubby and I seriously doubt I'll ever get the stains off the cuffs of a really nice technical fabric (Under Armor) undershirt I was wearing.  My recommendation: stick with purpose-made hexamine fuel tablets.


Between setting up the tarp and working with the stove with my gloves off, I got pretty chilled.  Tea never tasted so good ...

Nice. Woodswalker is smiling down on this post. But where's the Wendigo?

He was sitting next to Majorhavoc, sipping on some tea.

[majorhavoc]

Nice. Woodswalker is smiling down on this post. But where's the Wendigo?

I actually was thinking of Woodswalker as I was preparing this post.  But those are shoes that I will never be able to fill.  He was the real deal and I'm just an out of shape, over-the-hill outdoorsy hack in comparison.  The only thing I have going for me is in my twenties and thirties I did a lot of backpacking and winter camping that, in hindsight, I guess was somewhat hardcore. 

But it did cause me to reflect: we like to talk about and gear up with some vague notion that in a dire situation, we'll all be ready to head for the hills, bugging out to some secure location, off the grid and persevering in a SHTF world.  Planning for and equipping ourselves for something like that is just the first step.  Even a little bit of practical experience can make a world of difference: in ability and much more importantly, in attitude.  I guess it's been a while since I've done this and I was shocked how winded I got bushwacking through snowy woods.  And honestly, I was so chilled when I got back to the house that I literally was having trouble getting my fingers to work to unbutton my fly to take a leak.    But in spite of that, at no point did I have any doubt I could do this. But only because none of it was anything I haven't done before. Even if it has been, ahem, quite a few years since I set up a shelter and boiled water in the middle of a blizzard. 

What I'm saying is: just get out there and develop a little bit of familiarity with what it means to spend time away from all the comforts of civilization.  It doesn't have to be winter time and it doesn't have to be anything hardcore.  If you have a family, make some memories camping out with your children and/or significant other.  Or even day hiking at a nature preserve. It gets you practicing skills that are absolutely transferrable to being resilient in a disaster/emergency situation.

But it was nice to think about Woodswalker. And that in some small way I'm helping his legacy of wisdom and skill live on here at UFOZS.   

[flybynight]

Nice. Woodswalker is smiling down on this post. But where's the Wendigo?

I actually was thinking of Woodswalker as I was preparing this post.  But those are shoes that I will never be able to fill.  He was the real deal and I'm just an out of shape, over-the-hill outdoorsy hack in comparison.  The only thing I have going for me is in my twenties and thirties I did a lot of backpacking and winter camping that, in hindsight, I guess was somewhat hardcore. 

But it did cause me to reflect: we like to talk about and gear up with some vague notion that in a dire situation, we'll all be ready to head for the hills, bugging out to some secure location, off the grid and persevering in a SHTF world.  Planning for and equipping ourselves for something like that is just the first step.  Even a little bit of practical experience can make a world of difference: in ability and much more importantly, in attitude.  I guess it's been a while since I've done this and I was shocked how winded I got bushwacking through snowy woods.  And honestly, I was so chilled when I got back to the house that I literally was having trouble getting my fingers to work to unbutton my fly to take a leak. 

I guess what I'm saying is: just get out there and develop a little bit of familiarity with what it means to spend time away from all the comforts of civilization.  It doesn't have to be winter time and it doesn't have to be anything hardcore.  If you have a family, make some memories camping out with your children and/or significant other.  Or even day hiking at a nature preserve.  It gets you practicing skills that are absolutely transferrable to being resilient in a disaster/emergency situation.

But it was nice to think about Woodswalker, and that in some small way I'm helping his legacy of wisdom and skill live on here at UFOZS.   

Woodswalker was the real deal. Very adept and experienced using his gear in actual conditions. What you shared with him though was , he would go out in the nastiest, worst weather conditions  to test his gear and himself.  And then come back and relay the adventure in picture and words. That's what you did. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I like to think there's a little bit of Woodswalker's spirit in all of us.

Guy was a wealth of bushcrafting and outdoors knowledge and it's a damn shame he passed so young.

[flybynight]

It does my heart good to see how many views some of his video's have gotten. Still helping people


MegaWoodswalker
@MegaWoodswalker
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Just showing my hobby to those who are interested. Any comments are welcome.

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$100 Hot Tent On The Trail. Multi Day Winter Storm. Solo adventure.
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4 years ago

[Moab]

It does my heart good to see how many views some of his video's have gotten. Still helping people


MegaWoodswalker
@MegaWoodswalker
‧
47.6K subscribers
‧
476 videos
Just showing my hobby to those who are interested. Any comments are welcome.

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$100 Hot Tent On The Trail. Multi Day Winter Storm. Solo adventure.
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4 years ago

Wow. That's cool. 

[echo83]

This is awesome! It reminds me of the Mock Bug Out thread on the other site. You're absolutely right. All that gear in our basements, attics or trunks doesn't mean anything unless we know how to use it. 

It's not really on the same level, but I try to make hot cocoa when I take my kids out in the woods on a walk. I have yet to calculate the MPS (Miles per Swiss Miss) but it's not nothing. 

Thanks for taking the time to demo and document your gear in action. I'm restocking my Esbit and was considering other heat tabs, but it looks like I should stick with what works. 

[Moab]

This is awesome! It reminds me of the Mock Bug Out thread on the other site. You're absolutely right. All that gear in our basements, attics or trunks doesn't mean anything unless we know how to use it.

It's not really on the same level, but I try to make hot cocoa when I take my kids out in the woods on a walk. I have yet to calculate the MPS (Miles per Swiss Miss) but it's not nothing.

Thanks for taking the time to demo and document your gear in action. I'm restocking my Esbit and was considering other heat tabs, but it looks like I should stick with what works.

How old are your kids? Next time teach them how to use a firesteel or any other form of fire starting to make your cocoa. It'll be the one time they get to play with matches. Lol. They'll love it. Then once they have those down. Switch to harder methods. The 9v battery and steel wool one is fun for them to watch. Or the magnifying glass. Let them kill some ants.

[echo83]

This is awesome! It reminds me of the Mock Bug Out thread on the other site. You're absolutely right. All that gear in our basements, attics or trunks doesn't mean anything unless we know how to use it.

It's not really on the same level, but I try to make hot cocoa when I take my kids out in the woods on a walk. I have yet to calculate the MPS (Miles per Swiss Miss) but it's not nothing.

Thanks for taking the time to demo and document your gear in action. I'm restocking my Esbit and was considering other heat tabs, but it looks like I should stick with what works.

How old are your kids? Next time teach them how to use a firesteel or any other form of fire starting to make your cocoa. It'll be the one time they get to play with matches. Lol. They'll love it. Then once they have those down. Switch to harder methods. The 9v battery and steel wool one is fun for them to watch. Or the magnifying glass. Let them kill some ants.

They're 8 and 6. I helped the oldest put together an "Adventure Pack," with an MRE, mess kit, canteen, and a few snacks. The younger uses her Adventure Pack to pick up cool rocks, feathers and animal bones. She's not there just yet, but she's getting close. 

And yeah, I let them build a fire with me in the fireplace at home and light it. My son's pyromaniac gene hasn't activated just yet, but it's imminent. When I was about his age, I was Planet Alderaaning ant hills with a magnifying glass and snappers. Ah, unsupervised childhood mayhem...

[majorhavoc]

They're 8 and 6. I helped the oldest put together an "Adventure Pack," with an MRE, mess kit, canteen, and a few snacks. The younger uses her Adventure Pack to pick up cool rocks, feathers and animal bones. She's not there just yet, but she's getting close.

And yeah, I let them build a fire with me in the fireplace at home and light it. My son's pyromaniac gene hasn't activated just yet, but it's imminent. When I was about his age, I was Planet Alderaaning ant hills with a magnifying glass and snappers. Ah, unsupervised childhood mayhem...

Have your kids ever read/been read The Mysterious Benedict Society?  They're about the right age.  It centers about a group of resourceful kids with special abilities recruited by a secretive, narcoleptic benefactor to foil the dark machinations of his evil twin brother. 

It's wonderfully off kilter, and has strong male and female characters.  A central theme is these kids work as a team and use their wits and resourcefullness to solve problems - very empowering.  One of the female kids always has a bucket tied to her belt full of all manner of EDC-type tools and supplies.  My daughter really enjoyed it and I remember thinking: this is a clever way to introduce your child to the ideas resiliency, teamwork and preparedness.

[Moab]

This is awesome! It reminds me of the Mock Bug Out thread on the other site. You're absolutely right. All that gear in our basements, attics or trunks doesn't mean anything unless we know how to use it.

It's not really on the same level, but I try to make hot cocoa when I take my kids out in the woods on a walk. I have yet to calculate the MPS (Miles per Swiss Miss) but it's not nothing.

Thanks for taking the time to demo and document your gear in action. I'm restocking my Esbit and was considering other heat tabs, but it looks like I should stick with what works.

How old are your kids? Next time teach them how to use a firesteel or any other form of fire starting to make your cocoa. It'll be the one time they get to play with matches. Lol. They'll love it. Then once they have those down. Switch to harder methods. The 9v battery and steel wool one is fun for them to watch. Or the magnifying glass. Let them kill some ants.

They're 8 and 6. I helped the oldest put together an "Adventure Pack," with an MRE, mess kit, canteen, and a few snacks. The younger uses her Adventure Pack to pick up cool rocks, feathers and animal bones. She's not there just yet, but she's getting close.

And yeah, I let them build a fire with me in the fireplace at home and light it. My son's pyromaniac gene hasn't activated just yet, but it's imminent. When I was about his age, I was Planet Alderaaning ant hills with a magnifying glass and snappers. Ah, unsupervised childhood mayhem...

When I was there age I got caught playing with matches. So my punishment was I had to burn the garbage in the burning barrel everyday. This was way up in the mountains of the PNW. Back in the 70s.  Everyone had a 50 gal drum that you burned your burnable garbage in. 

Why they thought that was a "punishment" I don't know. Lol. I used to take my moms empty hairspray cans and put them in the burning barrel. After awhile they would explode. And make a big boom and send smoke and ash way up in the air. I loved that job. Lol. 

[Mister_Dark]

This is awesome! It reminds me of the Mock Bug Out thread on the other site. 

I miss the MBO's, for sure.  I still get out on occasion (solo),  but it was more fun with the gang.