Hobo Stove & Char Cloth

I want to make char cloth for my fire kit but first I will make a hobo stove out of a fruit cocktail can. My wife made a fruit salad so I have a can like below.



First, I remove the sticker then I prepared the tools and other materials I'm going to use.


Then I punched 6 holes around the side of the can at the bottom part for ventilation. I used the triangle can opener to punch the holes.


Next, I punched holes for the 2 coat hanger wire pot support.


Then I cut the pot support from a coat hanger and insert in the holes I just made above and voila - I have a hobo stove.


Okay, I have a hobo stove now - time to make char cloth.


Yes, my stove works well.


Let it cool for a while before you open it.


I've got char cloth. Mission accomplished!

For the sake of others who doesn't know yet what char cloth is for. It is used as tinder when making fire, for cooking or camping. Click this char cloth for more info.

Of course the hobo stove is not just for making charcloth. It can be your camping stove, you can use it at home, or you can bring it anywhere you want to go. I suggest you carry your stove in a separate bag else your things will be full of soot.

Happy cooking everybody!

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Harms Woods

Tuesday, April 22 is our day-off from taking care of our grandson so my wife and I decided to hike Harms Woods, a part of North Branch Trail System. Since we're both in the late 50's and not in the tip-top condition, we thought we would hike only a total of 4 miles.

Satellite photo of Harms Woods.


Map of the North Branch Trail System.

We hiked first the Brown Trail (see map) which is 1.1 miles and then 2 miles more or less of Yellow Trail, one way. So actually we did a total of 6 miles to and fro - not bad for a start.


Start of the Brown Trail.


Horseback Riders.


These trees look bare yet but soon I'm sure they would look great.

Trail marker.

I brought food and water in my bag, and of course my possibles pouch which would be the topic of my next post.

We really did enjoy our short hike.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Big Bend Lake

I've got nothing to do today so I went biking to Big Bend Lake. Big Bend Lake is a boating and fishing lake in Des Plaines, Illinois and very near my place.


Here is a satellite photo of Big Bend Lake.


My bike.


Part of Big Bend.


Ducks or geese?


There were very a few people there today, maybe less than 10. I think I'll gonna frequent this place.


I didn't catch any fish though. Why? Because I don't have my fishing gear with me. ;-) That reminds me I should include a fishing kit in my survival kit. Next time maybe.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Personal Survival Kit

Hello everybody.

Since this blog is about survival, I think it is appropriate that my very first post would be about survival kit.

My PSK is the outcome of the many articles I have read and videos I have seen and of course is also highly influenced by factors such as where I live and where I usually go. This is the kit I always carry whenever I go to church, mall, park, work, almost anywhere even around the house. I do have a bigger kit though when I go traveling, hiking or camping but this is the very basic kit that I carry.


1. Whistle with compass, thermometer and magnifying glass
2. House keys
3. Ferrocerium rod
4. LED light
5. Knife
6. Container for petroleum jelly coated cotton balls.

Firemaking:

The knife serves as scraper for the ferrocerium rod and for opening boxes and letters. The red tube is a cigar container that I cut to 3" length and contains 5-6 compressed petroleum jelly coated cotton balls.

Light, signaling, and navigation:

The LED flashlight is a company giveaway, the whistle with compass, thermometer and small magnifying lens is from Walmart for $4.


This kit cost $10 more or less.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.