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Author: Tom

Tsampa Soup, a new product from Patagonia Provisions, Inc.

Tsampa Soup, a new product from Patagonia Provisions, Inc.

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TweetTsampa Soup delivers the great taste of supply chain ethics. I’m no food critic, but I know what I like! Yvon Chouinard, world class climber and ethical entrepreneur, founder of outdoor retailer, Patagonia, is expanding his new food business. At this time, his food retailer, Patagonia Provisions, Inc., offers responsibly sourced wild caught salmon introduced in 2012, and organic Tsampa Soup introduced in 2014. I bought a twelve-pack of Tsampa Soup packets for $70.20. Each packet makes two cups of…

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Eight D’s for reduced campfire impacts

Eight D’s for reduced campfire impacts

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TweetEight “D” words describe low impact campfire practices. Dead, Down, Dinky, Dispersed & Dangling — Dismember, Dis-ember & Distribute Wood fuel gathered and used for reduced impact campfires is best gathered; Dead and dry, Down near ground, Dinky like your pinky & Dispersed along a length of trail or throughout a large area surrounding a campsite. Dangling or suspended down wood held above ground level, below head level, often holds less moisture–a better fuel, and remains in ecological limbo, or…

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Woodsmoke in the wilds, the BushCooker LT III titanium stove

Woodsmoke in the wilds, the BushCooker LT III titanium stove

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TweetWispy woodsmoke in wild lands is like soft butter melting on oven warm bread; not necessary, but oh so good! Campfire is in my DNA, the flicker of yellow flame and the smell of woodsmoke complete the wild lands experience for me–it’s a personal thing. Most outdoors enthusiasts feel as I do. Nevertheless, low impact camping methods are essential today–it’s a public thing. I expect to find our public wild lands unmarred and in nearly pristine ecological condition. I am…

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Weathering pits, backcountry water holes, tiny ecosystems

Weathering pits, backcountry water holes, tiny ecosystems

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TweetFinding backcountry water is essential. Recognizing potential wild sources, terrains of opportunity, can be an exercise in counter-intuitive searching. Common advice suggests searching the local low spots, ravines, arroyo’s, washes, and so on for low seeps, springs, and shallow groundwater exposed in hand dug wells in stream meander sand bars. These are usually higher probability locales than local high spots nearby. Weathering pits are one important exception. Weathering pit water holes have saved lives! Weathering pits are unique terrain features…

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Shovels for snow camping

Shovels for snow camping

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TweetWhy do we need shovels when snow camping? A snow scoop shovel can be a light weight package for high volume snow moving and snow construction. They are frequently carried on backcountry sleds and occasionally carried up mountains. Shovels are necessary equipment if you want to avoid the inconvenience and expense of using towing services to escape backcountry parking (never conveniently available). When you travel to snow country, snow finds you. Bring shovels. I carry a full size snow scoop…

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Field test: Marmot’s Rockaway 0 sleeping bag

Field test: Marmot’s Rockaway 0 sleeping bag

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TweetA short field test of the Marmot Rockaway 0 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Multi-purpose inexpensive gear selections squeeze more enjoyment and more readiness from outdoor dollars. The Marmot Rockaway 0 is a good value for conditions where a few more ounces and cubic inches won’t weigh you down. My Rockaway 0 Long weighed-in at six pounds, six ounces, including the orange compression bag, after hanging indoors to dry for 24 hours following my return from the UP, not bad for…

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18th Century frontier travel on the Ohio River

18th Century frontier travel on the Ohio River

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TweetSomehow, our forefathers settled wild North America and probed the far corners of seven continents equipped with little more than animal skins, oil cloth and fulled wool. The Age of Exploration mostly preceded internal combustion engines and the fabulous array of high tech outdoor gear we fuss over today. I like to touch base with historical travel and camping methods from time to time to regain perspective. These entries, made in June and December of 1772 and early in January…

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Shade tree chef, ironware meatloaf

Shade tree chef, ironware meatloaf

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TweetDutch oven meatloaf is easy and rewarding. Meatloaves are as varied as their chefs. This one is basic: one large yellow onion and a fat carrot, chopped, sauteed just to soft in a tablespoon of butter, prepared on stovetop or on a Dutch oven lid over coals. Let cool a little, then mix with three pounds of cold fresh hamburger, two cups of bread crumbs, a half cup of Parmesan cheese, two large eggs, a teaspoon of sea salt and…

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Tea-fire on snow

Tea-fire on snow

TweetA one-match fire on snow, no knife or axe needed (OK, I used one match, twice). The tea-fire tradition crossed the Atlantic with early settlers when America was fresh and wild. A mid-day tea break was felt essential and restorative on even the most difficult trails. Tea drinking caught on everywhere. Tea trade reached the furthest remote indigenous populations, even Inuit nomads wandering traditional hunting grounds from Arctic tundra to ice flows in the Arctic archipelago. The immaculate white Arctic…

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Paraffin-dipped wood matches

Paraffin-dipped wood matches

TweetMaking paraffin-dipped wood matches, their utility. This is an old standard. I first made wax-dipped matches while a young boy scout long ago. Wax-dipped wood matches and wax-dipped egg carton section fire-starters were standard equipment for scouts, then. Today, I used a “household paraffin wax for canning, candlemaking and many other uses” to prepare kitchen matches for outdoor use. I purchased the one-pound box inexpensively at my local grocery store, just $4.29. The matches I used, “large kitchen matches”, “extra…

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