How to make Popcorn Over a Campfire

 

Kitchen DIY: Campfire Popcorn
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I make sure to buy my popcorn in 25 or 50 gallon bulk bags at the local warehouse store because it is cheap, easy, fun, and if push comes to shove can be ground into some resemblance of cornmeal.

Most folks think microwave when they hear the word popcorn, but their are sorts of other, and better, ways to cook popcorn.

Recently we have done a lot of campfire/off grid cooking techniques, so I felt it was only fair to show how to cook popcorn over a campfire…

 

Procedure

  • In the center of an 18″ x 18″ square of heavy-duty or doubled foil, place one teaspoon of oil & one teaspoon of popcorn.
  • Bring foil corners together to make a pouch.
  • Seal the edges by folding, but allow room for the popcorn to pop.
  • Tie each pouch to a long stick with a string & hold the pouch over the hot coals.
  • Shake constantly until all the corn has popped. Season with butter & salt.

Serves one.

Campfire Popcorn is a great recipe to try when out camping with your kids.  Its cheap and fun, but best of all your kids can easily do this with only a little adult supervision.

Besides, its nice to see people cooking items normally and not in a microwave.

How to Carry Duct Tape While Backpacking

 

Duct Tape Tip for Backpackers
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A common trick among backpackers is to wrap some duct tape around their water bottle or lighter so that they always have a couple feet readily available for quick repairs.  This is an easy duct tape tip that ensures you always have some tape on hand.

I find that having some duct tape with me in the things that I carry everyday helps me stay prepared. When hiking, I can use it on “hotspots” to prevent blisters, and its invaluable for survival when making things like plastic water stills and bags. However, since I spend most of my time in an office, I tend to use my duct tape in more normal ways.

This tip is useful more than just outdoors-men.  I have a cut off ink pen body wrapper with duct tape on a monkey fist hanging from my keys.  In the end, it really does not matter if you wrap duct tape on your keys, lighter, water bottle, or frame of your pack.  What matters is that duct tape is dead useful, but a roll is bulky and heavy.

This simple tip ensures you have some if needed as well as saves weight and space.

This duct tape tip is one of my favorites as it keeps tape close at had for any emergency purpose as well as makes my water bottle easily distinguishable from the ones carried by everyone else.

You can also use this tip on hiking sticks and trekking poles – I even know a handy guide to purchasing trekking poles.

How to Extract Clean, Drinkable Water From Plant Leaves

How to Extract Clean, Drinkable Water From Plant Leaves

 

Survival with Water Condensed from Leaves
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As a child I used to read about solar stills made by digging a hole in the desert and covering it with clear plastic, I was an adult by the time I actually visited a desert environment, but I was very disappointed with the results.

However, by placing a plastic bag over the leaves of a living plant, you can extract clean, drinkable water from plant leaves. This survival tip is very easy to do.

I was able to collect much more water condensed from leaves than I could from the typical solar still dug into the ground.  Additionally, this method too far less work and effort.

Condense Drinkable Water From Plant Leaves

Material:

  • Several Large clear plastic bags
  • String or cord
  • Live, non-poisonous vegetation with green deciduous leaves

Procedure:

  1. Tie a clear plastic bag on the end of a plant or small tree branch. The bag should be sealed very tightly over the branch so water cannot escape.
  2. Water vapor will collect and condense in the bag.
  3. Wait until evening for maximum condensation before removing the bag.
  4. Switch the bag to another branch and repeat.

Yield:

Water Condensed from LeavesYou can expect an average of one cup of water per bag per day – which means you will need 16 of these devices per person to collect the minimum recommended one gallon per person per day or water.

Gathering water condensed from leaves is much easier than other condensation methods, but as with any method it takes a lot of stills to get enough water.

Camping: Hula Hoop Camping Shower

Camping: Hula Hoop Camping Shower
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Being out on the land camping while I clear the land has its benefits.  I can save travel time and I get to see my land at all times of the day.  However it also has a drawback.  Namely working hard and being outdoors makes showers a luxury.  I am NOT used to having a shower being a luxury.

I do have neighbors so I need a shower stall.  After long thought I came up with a hula hoop camping shower stall.

All I did was buy a hula hoop and a cheap shower curtain and rings.

By putting the rings around the hula hoop I could mount it with some 550 cord and have an outdoor shower stall.

Add a pallet so you don’t stand in mud and a solar shower like the one pictured and you can be in business.

How to Make a Homemade Cable Snare

 

Building a Homemade Cable Snare
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My friend William Smith, who used to trap in Alaska and now builds very inexpensive, but quality snares.  He agreed to show me how he builds homemade cable snares.

The Parts are Pretty simple

  • 3/32 aircraft cable
  • Sure-lock snare lock
  • Double ferrule
  • Single ferrule.

To Build a Homemade Cable Snare:

  • First, you run the cable through the sure-lock device, make a loop, and then run it back through
  • Next, lock it in place with a single ferrule on the loop end.
  • Then, run the long end of the cable through the double ferrule, loop it around, and put the free end back into the ferrule to make a loop for a swivel or to attach to the tree.

As you can see it is pretty easy to make a homemade cable snare.  When Smitty gets his shed wired so we don’t have to yell over the generator I want to show how to make a snare lock using a penny.

I plan on buying some of his snares, but before I do that, I have to get him to show me how to wax and dye them so I can actually catch some meat with them.