The invention of the camp "spat": I gave up on the plethora of goofy camp cooking/eating utensils (spork??) some time ago. It hit me one day, while painting shutters, that a good 1" SS paint scraper would make a great spatula and mouth shovel. So off to the hardware store I go. I purchased their best one ($4.59), rounded off the sharp edges, and Viola!...the spat was born. If it can't be drunk/slurped from my cup, stabbed with my knife, or shoveled with my spat, it must not be edible. Along with my spat, my entire solo camp kitchen fits in a Crown Royal bag...but that' a whole nuther story.
Camp Kitchen Utensils
- Thread starter doc
- Start date
Doc......
You might of just created the new , marvelous , backpacking and camping eating , utensil , sensation everyone will have to have. No one would ever be considered an updated and fashionable camper without one in there food kit or backpack.
Now you have to figure out to use it in a non stick pan without damaging it and have it weigh a ounce or less.
I can see your advertisement for the " SPAT "
" The Spat ".
If you are not Spatting you are not camping.
You might of just created the new , marvelous , backpacking and camping eating , utensil , sensation everyone will have to have. No one would ever be considered an updated and fashionable camper without one in there food kit or backpack.
Now you have to figure out to use it in a non stick pan without damaging it and have it weigh a ounce or less.
I can see your advertisement for the " SPAT "
" The Spat ".
If you are not Spatting you are not camping.
The best non-stick pans are cast iron. But they're heavy t carry. So tin pans are often used. Plastic on their inside helps to make them "non-stick". Problems aren you have to use soft utensils with them. Otherwise you'll be eating some of that non-sticking plastic. Other problem is that, even with soft utensils, you'll be eating some of that plastic anyway.
So, if I cook steak it gies directly onto the fire or hangs on a stick near the fire. Cackleberries get boiled. Rice gets steamed. IE: no frying pans.
So, if I cook steak it gies directly onto the fire or hangs on a stick near the fire. Cackleberries get boiled. Rice gets steamed. IE: no frying pans.
doc said:
Teflon ( Plastic as Jack stated ) coated pans which are made for folks that have no idea about using Cast Iron Pans , well seasoned ones.
I have one , a # 10 skillet that was passed from my Grandmother to Mom and then me. Anything cooked in it comes out really good.
I'm sorry fellas, my non-stick pan question was tongue-in-cheek. I put those pans in the same category as the spork.
And that category would be "goofy".
And that category would be "goofy".
I'm not sure what category you'll put this in, so will present it for yuranalysis. I have a frisbee, that is actually poorly designed. Instead of an aerodynamic arch to help it develop lift and extend lts sail, the top is flattened off. Rightside up it makes a pretty good frisbee. Upside down - it mskes a really good plate.
My eating utensil is a plastic combination spoon (on one end) and a fork on the oyjer end. Almost all camping utensils made of plastic weigh less than their titanium counterparts. And, I can enjoy a nice, store-bought dinner for the price difference.
If you don't categorize me as goofy, I'll report you to the voices. THEY'LL git ya.
My eating utensil is a plastic combination spoon (on one end) and a fork on the oyjer end. Almost all camping utensils made of plastic weigh less than their titanium counterparts. And, I can enjoy a nice, store-bought dinner for the price difference.
If you don't categorize me as goofy, I'll report you to the voices. THEY'LL git ya.
Heck , Jack you are being to modest.
On one camping trip it was reported that Jack was observed using the original eating utensils that never go out of style....... His Fingers. :lol:
On one camping trip it was reported that Jack was observed using the original eating utensils that never go out of style....... His Fingers. :lol:
I also forgot to mention that I have some plastic spatulas, spaghetti strainers, and a big, plastic spoon. I steam rice in a plastic bag, inside a big, tin can. I use a silicone steamer basket because it folds and scrunches for smaller diameter kettles . . Uhh . . . tin cans.
I'll go out on a limb here and say nothing that is cheap, re-purposed, multi-purposed, older'n hell, belonged to your grandma or grandpa, or the subject of a YT gear review, is "goofy". If you ain't spattin',' you ain't campin'. Feel free to add other non-goofy gear to the list. We already have paint scrapers, tin cans, Frisbees, and cast iron skillets (did I miss anything?).
Oh yea, I also use plastic planters peanut jars and plastic V8 jars as water bottles. Add those to the list.
doc said:
32 oz Gatorade bottles are really nice as water bottles.
You get to have the Gatorade , when refilled , then water from them and after the trip they go in the recycle bin. Next trip you start all over again.
If you do not like the Gatorade bottles the 38.8 oz Smart Water ones work pretty good. They are a lot thinner then the Gatorade ones. If you want to get fancy then replace the stock cap on the 38.8 with a , pop top , drinking one from the 23.7 oz Smart Water bottles. Or just use the 23.7 oz bottles. :roll:
I also carry a single burner Coleman stove over 45 years old. Pre-Dual Fuel versions. And "strke anywhere" matches.
Had a Coleman Dual Fuel to use on camping trips for a long time and it finally died on me.
The old Coleman dual ( 2 ) burner one is at lease 60 years old and still runs , semi retired it as a Hurricane stove.
To regress for a minute , The folks would use it to cook on over at the beach when I was a kid. We would gather Cochena's ( small clams the size of a finger nail ) from the sand at the tide line , wash them in the surf. Mom would put them in a cast iron skillet with some water and milk and boil them , then strain the shells from the liquid saving the meat , add some potatoes and butter to make fresh Cochena chowder.
As far as camping stoves today it is an light weight alcohol ( White Box , Trangia , Evernew ) one's or a Bio Mass ( Solo Stove , Silver Fire Scout ) one's burning twigs and sticks.
In a pinch ( no wood to be found ) there is a 2nd way to use a Solo Stove.
The Solo Stove has a dish shaped ash bin in the bottom of it and it can be used as a burner for alcohol. You could call the Solo Stove a duel fuel stove , wood or alcohol even though it was not designed for the alcohol.
Got the idea from here. ( The Solo Stove is identical the the Bushbuddy in construction )
TomsBackwoods on YouTube ( Bushbuddy Alternate Fuel ) video where he took 3/4 oz of alcohol and poured it in the bottom of the ash pan , then lite it and under 4 minutes had water boiling with just over a 4 minute burn time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmD9zBaPgVQ
The old Coleman dual ( 2 ) burner one is at lease 60 years old and still runs , semi retired it as a Hurricane stove.
To regress for a minute , The folks would use it to cook on over at the beach when I was a kid.
We would gather Cochena's ( small clams the size of a finger nail ) from the sand at the tide line , wash them in the surf. Mom would put them in a cast iron skillet with some water and milk and boil them , then strain the shells from the liquid saving the meat , add some potatoes and butter to make fresh Cochena chowder. As far as camping stoves today it is an light weight alcohol ( White Box , Trangia , Evernew ) one's or a Bio Mass ( Solo Stove , Silver Fire Scout ) one's burning twigs and sticks.
In a pinch ( no wood to be found ) there is a 2nd way to use a Solo Stove.
The Solo Stove has a dish shaped ash bin in the bottom of it and it can be used as a burner for alcohol. You could call the Solo Stove a duel fuel stove , wood or alcohol even though it was not designed for the alcohol.
Got the idea from here. ( The Solo Stove is identical the the Bushbuddy in construction )
TomsBackwoods on YouTube ( Bushbuddy Alternate Fuel ) video where he took 3/4 oz of alcohol and poured it in the bottom of the ash pan , then lite it and under 4 minutes had water boiling with just over a 4 minute burn time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmD9zBaPgVQ
I've made/used several stick stoves but have settled on the aluminum sterno folding stove. I made a few mods to it and can use it as a very nice stick stove or with an alcohol burner, bio fuel, and even sterno. Has a grill on top, folds flat, and only cost me five bucks. I've used it from north MS to the gulf coast and from GA to PA.
Kayak Jack said:
Actually I used the wrong term it should of been Biomass since the stove is fueled with twigs, wood chips , cow dung ( dried and aged ) , pine cones and other pieces of organic stuff.
No need to carry White Gas or anything with you , just pick up the fuel as you hike along or after you are in camp.
Doc......
Use to see the Sterno stoves all the time and today when I see one out camping it brings back some pleasant memories of camping trips in the past.
Some things just stay the same forever , our local grocery store has the Sterno for sale along with the little stoves , they are in demand during Hurricane season. If there is a storm reported the stoves vanish off the shelves really quick.
I carry a twig stove too. So far, no dried dung has been burnt in it. One time, on Outhouse Key, Chuck tried to offer some, but I demurred.
One thing you learn when cooking with wood: before you start the fire, gather 3 to 7 times more wood than you think will be needed. Twigs n such tend to be either blazing - or dying out. Stuff from about 2 fingers thick, to wrist thick seems to burn more evenly. Also, I found that if I dig a small hole, partially bury 3 rocks on its edges, wriggle them in solid, and set the stove on them, things worked better. Air gets in better; longer sticks don't protrude out of the top, ashes have a place to collect, and my fire is a bit more predictable.
Lotsa guys like alcohol stoves. They never seemed to cut the mustard for me. Alcohol works better for me when I carry it imbedded in a flask of single malt scotch.
One thing you learn when cooking with wood: before you start the fire, gather 3 to 7 times more wood than you think will be needed. Twigs n such tend to be either blazing - or dying out. Stuff from about 2 fingers thick, to wrist thick seems to burn more evenly. Also, I found that if I dig a small hole, partially bury 3 rocks on its edges, wriggle them in solid, and set the stove on them, things worked better. Air gets in better; longer sticks don't protrude out of the top, ashes have a place to collect, and my fire is a bit more predictable.
Lotsa guys like alcohol stoves. They never seemed to cut the mustard for me. Alcohol works better for me when I carry it imbedded in a flask of single malt scotch.
Kayak Jack said:
We would of never ran out with all the B.S. Jack was trying to feed us. Trouble of it is ... it was all fresh and would of only smoked but that might of keep all the Sand Gnats away.
There is a reason they called it ..Outhouse Key. :roll:
Kayak Jack said:
The nice thing about the little alcohol burners is the wide variety of them and they are gaining in popularity everyday. They are easy to use , light weight , packs up small ( The whole system can fit inside your camping mug ) , Nothing to break , Can be made either simply or complicated.
You can go with one of the manufactured light weight Titanium ones made by several manufactures or you can go a different way and no matter which way you accomplish the same thing , fire for cooking your meal.
Lots of guys use the Fancy feast Cat Food cans as a stove , ( After the cat cleans the can contents ). If you want a pot stand for it three metal tent stakes do the job ( The pot can also just sit on the top of the stove ), a wind screen can be nothing more then some doubled over tin foil.
The simplicity of the little stoves is one giant appealing factor plus the ease of operation and the cost , from free ( Cat food Cans or Tuna cans ) to the expensive Titanium ones over $100.00
The weight factor is usually another deciding factor , from a mere .3 oz ( http://andrewskurka.com/2011/how-to-mak ... hol-stove/ ) with the cat food can to over ( 1.86 pounds The complete Swede Triangia Outfit. ( http://www.campsaver.com/27-8-ul-ha-sto ... aQodSlYJJQ )
With the Trangia you can actually simmer with it since it has a adjustable simmering ring for the burner.
Double duty alcohol stoves......
Some do double duty , wood or alochol , A popular one is the Evernew Titanium Appalachian set which weighs 3.3 oz. ( https://www.amazon.com/Evernew-TI-Stove ... B003DKK7MU ) It also doubles as a small wood burning stove if you want to use it that way.
As far as only using alcohol , Denatured is the best and can be found in a multitude of hardware , home supply stores and I have been told even the camping supply stores near the AT ( Trail ) where fuel is sold. The alcohol stoves are getting really popular.
If you are near a Auto Supply store a Yellow Bottle of HEET Gas-Line Antifreeze and Water Remover will do the same.
The nice thing about the alcohol is if you spill some on your gear it evaporates and does not damage it like white gas would.
As far as light weigh fuel containers the Vargo Alcohol Fuel Bottle at 1 oz empty and will hold 8.5 oz of fuel. Normal use to boil water is 1/2 to 3/4 oz per boil , depending on your burner and experience. Actually any good plastic container works , I like the Little 12 oz Gatorade bottles.
One with the Denatured alcohol which is clear for the stove , One with a darker beverage in it called Bourbon for the cook. It could be a big mistake or wold be a disaster to take Gin or Vodka on a trip. :lol: