Travel Towels - Get One

Maybe I am the only one who has seen a sham wow commercial and wanted one for camping, but they are heavy. I have invested in some REI multitowels and gotten way more than my money's worth out of them. The 36X16.5" is 4.3oz. I also got a PackTowl Ultralight which is only 1.8oz for the 36X20.


The REI multitowel feels more like a shamwow would - it's soft and absorbent, vs the PackTowl which is more like a squeegee on my skin. That said, the PackTowl dries much faster hanging from a tree branch or across my tent or even hanging from the corner of a bunkbed in a hostel!

Travel towels are an important part of my hiking and camping pack for several reasons. Listed below are just a few:
1. While couch surfing you don't need to dirty someone else's towels for a shower or quick rinse
2. If you come across a stream/lake/river on the trail you can dry quickly
3. Most campgrounds don't have towels
4. You can dry yourself and gear off before settling into your tent
5. If it is long enough you can use it to secure bulky gear atop your pack
6. It can double as a pillow
7. With a quick swipe of your knife you have tourniquet strips

I tend to go light and take the Ultralight with me and I have just the large, not the XL or XXL.

Travel towels vary in cost but a good one will last you several years and many adventures (if you're livin right!)

I also posted on my other blog about hang drums. I suppose that a travel towel large enough could provide some travel cushion for the drum.

Hot Water Without Electricity

This is only one way to do it, but he does a sufficient job in explaining the basics of how and why it works. I've seen a few of his videos and while I think there are some basic safety issues overlooked, he seems to master the basics. I think most of us could figure out alternative ways to do this, given his basic explanation.

The Lively Music App

I have a wicked collection of bootlegs for having the unfortunate timing of my birth being later than allowed me to collect them live.
I also have grown up in the digital age, and as is more aptly named, the digitized age.
I love live music and have spent many hours with my tape recorder/digital voice recorder/cell phone in the air trying to capture a few minutes of a great show as a keepsake for later. The result is never as magic as I hoped for and the recreation of the experience falls flat.

I just found a solution. It's called Lively and is available on Windows phones, iphones and android phones. It looks like they are working on other devices too but for now seems to be limited to mobile.

Lively has set up a system where they use (legal) high quality video and sound equipment to capture entire concerts and you can download the whole thing for the price of the album. Since you can share video from your phone it makes it easy to recreate the concert in your living room (or your buddy's living room) - and you don't get a charlie horse in your arm - and you don't have to worry about security confiscating your camera.

Their commercial is not the best, but it does a good job explaining it:

I already downloaded The Lonely Forest concert and am beyond impressed with the results.  I am hoping that they hit the folk festivals. There are a lot of shows I would like to go to but between my last year of school and how much a lot of these shows are it would be a decent substitute to get the concert this way!

Michael Asimos : Fishing on the Road

I saw this really nice fly reel this morning: at Abel's Reels and it got me thinking about how much I love fishing when I'm on my adventure.

Sometimes I like to rough it in a different sense and not bring any main food prep items. I will, of course, pack emergency food like high protein bars, but I like to try my hand at fishing when location and temperature make getting lucky probable.

Along with checking the fishing reports for the immediate areas I'm gonna be in, I try to camp along the river or lake so that I don't have to travel far to get started. Plus I really like the sound of rushing water, crickets, frogs and birds.

I always have the emergency line and hook in with my kit, but I have never used it. I've used something similar to the Ronco Pocket Fisherman (see right) with a little success. It's fairly lightweight and so small that it fits inside of my pack easily. I have a small bait kit that I put together after I read the fishing report and figure out what all I need to bring.
The Pocket Fisherman isn't the most comfortable to hold all day though, so if you're wanting something that is lightweight and won't wear out your hands, I recommend the Ultralight Fishing Rod and Reel Combo at 4.55 oz. I've had it handle some hefty bass and trout with no problem at all.

Do you have a favorite rod and reel combo for backpacking?

Mike Asimos : Preparing Dehydrated Foods for Camping

When you're focused on planning a backpacking trip, a few things usually take priority - namely your tent and sleeping bag requirements, trail maps, first aid and food. Unlike car camping, food weight, ease of cooking and taste all play a factor, as does cost. Some meals can be so expensive and others are cheap and taste awful. I have used a dehydrator in the past with good results and wanted to pass on some tips to you.

The benefits of dehydrating your own food are control over ingredients and freshness factor. Overall, if you buy your items in bulk or use items you already have in bulk in your pantry it can also be more cost effective. It requires no refrigeration once it has been dehydrated and the weight is minimal.

The best fruits to dehydrate are bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches, cherries, pineapple, mangoes and blueberries.

The best vegetables to dehydrate are corn, peas, green beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots and broccoli.

There are plenty of other resources for meats, as I have very little experience with it mostly cause I'm afraid of getting sick, but I know that beef and turkey are supposedly easy.

Every item has its own levels of water and therefore need different amounts of time in the dehydrator but I have never seen a dehydrator that didn't have instructions for different foods.

Things to remember:
Cut the food items into small bite sized pieces.
Lay the items next to one another in a layer, but not touching while dehydrating
Place dried items into bags/containers that will allow you to remove all air from them.

I personally use Ziploc bags and press the air out. I also dehydrate shortly before my trip is happening. Then I bring one Tupperware to mix/rehydrate everything in and am able to reuse the Ziploc bags next time.

Mike's Drinkify Suggestion!

Drinkify

I am astounded on the daily by technology.
I found drinkify.org and put in the Grateful Dead just to see and their soundtrack and suggestion were equally impressive.
Two kinds of gin and lemon juice plus they played "big boss man".
Perfection!

Don’t listen to Grateful Dead alone. We suggest…

“THE GRATEFUL DEAD”

• 12 oz. Sipsmith Gin
• 12 oz. Lemon juice
• 6 oz. Blackwoods Gin

Combine in shaker and strain into cocktail glass. Serve. Stir vigorously.

Vegetarian Camp Cooking

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers

I found this article about Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers at the Tupelo Honey cafe, and it inspired me to both share and comment on vegetarian camping foods.
Most people associate camping with a lot of meat (what about the hot dogs, Mike!!) but in fact I have had great success with vegetarian cooking in terms of flavor and not having to worry about food storage bacteria problems. Many freeze dried foods these days are vegetarian and fruits and veggies will often stay fine in your pack without needing ice.

REI has some pasta and beans kits that just need a flash of rehydration and they don't weigh as much as something already cooked in sauce and a tin can will.

The recipe above could be modified just a bit, pre-formed in a wax paper or aluminum casing and heated up once you get your camp fire going for a nutritious and filling meal.

Head over to the article above for the full scoop, or shortcut here. If you repost, please give credit via the site linked above!

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burger 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup peeled, shredded carrots
• ½ corn, frozen, or cut from 1 large ear
• ½ cup diced roasted red bell pepper
• ½ diced poblano chili
• ½ cup diced Vidalia onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 cup firm tofu
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 cups canola oil
• 8 artisanal hamburger buns
• lettuce and avocado for serving (optional-not in original recipe)
• Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the carrots, corn, bell pepper, poblano, onion, celery, and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often to make sure the garlic does not burn. If it starts to, turn the heat down some. Remove pan from heat and let veggies cool for 10 minutes.
2. Place tofu in a food processor and puree until smooth. Place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, combine beans, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Place 2 cups of bean mixture at a time in the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Once coarsely chopped, place in the large bowl with tofu.
4. Add panko crumbs to the large bowl and mix the tofu, bean mixture, and panko crumbs together. Form into 8 patties.
5. Heat Canola oil in a heavy bottomed skillet on high heat until oil begins to bubble. Put patties in oil and cook about 5 minutes per side, until outside is crispy.
6. Serve on rolls with mayonnaise.

Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise

• 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.