A couple of weeks back, I told readers about a new backcountry kitchen discovery: Chef 5 Minute Meals Chicken Pasta Parmesan (Pack of 6) — a meal that comes complete with eating utensils, napkin, salt and pepper and a built-in oven. That's right, there is a magnesium pad in the box that turns into steam […]
I recently purchased a waterproof I.D. bag at REI for a friend who kayaks and a package of Clif Shot Bloks organic energy chews arrived in the same box as a free sample.
Well, I couldn't resist immediately ripping open the 2.1-ounce bag with 6 strawberry flavored chews and downing two of them.
The strawberry flavor was […]
Ursack Bear Bag: A Wasted $50 Investment
I figured that I had found the perfect food protection answer a few years ago when I purchased a 4-ounce Ursack bear bag made of Kevlar , a material used in bulletproof vests.
A few months after my $50 purchase, however, wilderness officials announced that Ursack was not […]
It’s All About Fuel
In the past few years, manufacturers have developed a large number of really small, light and efficient backpacking stoves.
Most of them are 4 ounces or less. But that’s only half the story.
The other half is the fuel. It’s my experience that when you read expert recommendations about picking light stoves, the experts […]
Bears Kill the “Light” in Lightweight Backpacking
The requirement to carry bear-proof containers in most national parks and forests really makes an ultralight backpacker roar.
You cut off toothbrush handles, trim pack straps and remove tent labels to save a few ounces, only to add 2 ½ pounds of bear-proof container to your load.
Since most light packs […]
I'm guessing, but it was at least five years ago when Hydro-Photon, Inc. announced the SteriPEN water purifier, a portable battery powered device that uses ultraviolet radiation to kill just about everything you might find in wilderness water in seconds.
As I recall, a manufacturing problem delayed the release of the device and actually resulted in […]
My friend Sue recently handed me a coupon for a new line of foods called Chef 5 Minute Meals Beef Stew (Pack of 6). So far, I haven’t been able to find them in the supermarket, but am intrigued by the ad that says they need no refrigeration and have a salt-water activated “oven” in […]
For those of us who eat hot food during our backpacks, some pot and utensil clean up is required.
The ultralight backpacker uses a finger and sand, gravel or a piece of crumpled aluminum foil for scrubbing. Works okay but can be messy, requiring a lot of water to clean the mud and silt out of […]
