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Tag Archives: fire starting

  • 8 Awesome Camping Hacks

    Posted on July 16, 2014 by olinselot

    8 Awesome Camping Hacks

    We at Outersports have scoured through the internet and tried several ideas to find which awesome camping hacks work the best. We've gathered together 8 awesome camping hacks into one place for you to try out.

    Burning Sage

    Burning dry bundles of sage in your campfire, or even spreading some smoke around your tent, will keep mosquito swarms away. Apparently it is one smell that reminds them of a desert fire and they will flee for their lives. This is one of those times you will be happy to let the campfire smoke drift over you to keep yourself from being eaten alive by bugs. Besides, the smell of burning sage is very pleasant. Native American tribes often used soft sage bundles for toilet paper. Our staff have tried both and can vouch for the benefits of sage as a camping hack. Once you have a nearly mosquito free campsite you'll always keep a bundle of sage in your gear.

    Bottled Camping Eggs

    Scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon is one of the best tasting breakfast meals when you are in the outdoors. Keeping your eggs from cracking inside your cooler can be problematic. Some companies offer fancy plastic carrying cases for eggs to keep them safe, but we've found that simply cracking them down a funnel into an empty plastic water bottle before you leave home is the best option. If you are careful you can still have sunny side up too. The mouth of the bottle works well with the texture of raw eggs, allowing you to squeeze out one egg at a time if you take your time to do it right. Simply crack your eggs into the bottle before you leave home and set the bottle in your cooler for worry free egg transportation.

    Coffee Toilet Paper

    Anybody who has gone camping for the weekend eventually faces the inevitable squat in the woods. Having toilet paper is great, but it always gets smashed or falls in the dirt and twigs. If that happens at an inconvenient time then it can make a situation more awkward than it has to be. Simply use an empty plastic coffee container for a portable toilet paper carrier. Use your knife and cut a small vertical slit in the side of the tub and it becomes a handy toilet paper dispenser. You can even get fancy with paracord rope to allow you to hang it from limbs if you'd like.

    Skivvy Clothes Roll

    Learning how to roll your clothing into an easily accessible skivvy roll will change the way you pack your clothes forever. You can fit an entire change of clothing into one neatly tucked roll for easy storage and packing if you follow these simple steps. First, place your shirt flat on the floor. Second, place your underwear in the center of the shirt where the neck is. Third, fold the arms of the shirt over the underwear. Fourth, lay your merino wool socks in an overlapping manner so the opening of the socks extends out where the sleeves of the shirt used to be. Fifth, roll the shirt down over the socks from top to bottom into a tight skivvy roll. Now you take one sock at a time and fold it back over the shirt. There you have it! You now have a perfectly rolled change of clothes that will fit in your backpack for quick access.

    Daylight Finger Measuring

    This awesome camping hack is one that has been used by survivalists and hikers for decades. Even if you have a watch on it can be difficult to guess how much daylight you have before you are left in the dark. Standing and looking at the sun to see how fast it might be moving is a horrible idea. What you should do is simply hold out your hand, palm facing toward you, at arms length. Keep your fingers together and horizontal to the horizon. The width of each finger is roughly 15 minutes. Place your hand so the sun is just above your index finger and count how many finger widths are left before the horizon. If the sun is three fingers above the horizon then you have 45 minutes of daylight left. It's really that simple and it works.

    Toiled Paper Fire Tubes

    Rather than throw away your empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls you can use them as a fire starting log. When you clean out your dryer lint after doing a load of laundry just stuff the lint into the cardboard tube and keep them for your next camping trip. Set it in the bottom of your kindling and light the lint with a spark or lighter and watch it easily catch fire. It is a great way to reuse something you normally send to the landfill and it works perfectly. Keeping the tubes in a plastic bag will keep the lint off the other items in your pack.

    Pencil Sharpener Fire

    In the snow or raining weather it can be difficult to find dry kindling or grass to start a campfire. Find some dead twigs and small branches and use a simple pencil sharpener to create the perfect fire starting shavings. You might think you can do this with your pocket knife, but it will take you a lot longer than you think to create the perfectly dry shaving that a pencil sharpener can. Simply trim off the tiny limbs and keep them for larger kindling, then shave the twig with the pencil sharpener for perfectly dry and paper thin fire starter shavings. Try it once next time you're camping in the snow and you'll keep one handy from them on.

    Prescription Bottle Storage

    Save empty prescription bottles, and peel off the label, to reuse them for camping storage containers. Depending on the size of the bottle you can place a variety of helpful items inside to keep them safe and dry in the outdoors. They make great portable first aid kits, fire starting kits, or even spice containers for cooking. The child safety locking lid can come in handy if you have children you want to keep out of the items inside as well.


    This post was posted in Hiking, How To - Life Hacks, Merino Wool, Merino Wool Socks, Outdoor Gear, Socks, Thermal Underwear and was tagged with camping, fire starting, hiking, how to, skivvy roll, tips, tricks

  • Optimus - Cooking Since 1899

    Posted on August 10, 2013 by olinselot

    Optimus Since 1899
    In a market where products and fads seem to come and go with each season, Optimus cooking and camp stoves have endured for over a century. Created in Stockholm, Sweden in 1899, Optimus has been refining upon its tried and true designs. It has was a favorite at the turn of the century and still persists as a clear choice among outdoor adventurers today.

    Optimus CookingIt is not always convenient to gather up wood and kindling in your surroundings. Bad weather, strong winds, cold and rain can easily disrupt your plans. The Optimus cooking system makes butane canister cooking simple. The oversize burner heads will consistently and evenly distribute heat. Optimus stoves are capable of folding down into a compact and portable size. Serrated pot holders keep your cookware firmly in place to reduce tips and spills.
    Optimus UltralightCruxTerra Solo

    Optimus has developed a variety of pots, pans, cups and kettles made from ultralight anodized aluminum. These sleek cooking sets easily fit together making it easy and versatile to pack and carry. Most cups and pots can be used for a variety of cooking needs for even the worst environments.


    This post was posted in Cooking and Fire, Hiking, Outdoor Gear and was tagged with bowls, camping, cook set, cooking, cookware, fire, fire starting, Optimus, pans, pots

  • Primus Power Cooking

    Posted on July 15, 2013 by olinselot

    Original PrimusIt was a time for change. 1892 marked the first year in America when Ellis Island would actually begin to accommodate immigrants to the United States. The first rules of a new game called basketball would be published by James Naismith. A new company was formed called General Electric. Thomas Edison would patent the first two-way telegraph device. In a Stockholm, Sweden a factory worker named Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist would create a device that would reach across the globe to make countless lives better. He developed the first soot free stove called the Primus.

    Original Primus DesignVery few products associated with hiking and camping have stood the test of time like the Primus Stove System. When looking at a modern EtaSolo or Omni-Fuel stove you'd think they came from another planet with their advanced design and ruggedly refined features. But the Primus Power Cooking system gets its roots from an era when products were built to last. The original Primus Stove was made of brass, was fueled by kerosene, and used an innovative pressure system to create a clean burning flame. Before its creation you relied upon a standard oil and wick lamp which was inefficient and left black soot on the walls and ceiling wherever it was left.

    Omni Fuel SystemToday Primus is not only still in operation, but has created a stove that can take almost any type of fuel making the Omni Fuel the perfect stove whether you need it for hiking the Appalachian Trail, winter hiking or just for emergency preparedness. To make it even better, Omni-Fuel has a very exact flame control as well as jet nipples to make it easy to simmer, boil, or whatever you need. With the fuel source being external to the burner you have greater flexibility in packing and storage as well as making it simple to replace and keep cooking even when in use. You can fill the bottle with gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, LP Gas or any other combustible fuel source that fits your needs.

    Eta Solo Primus has also developed a cook system that streamlines the fuel, flame, and cooking cup/pot into a lightweight user friendly system. The EtaSolo by Primus is a compact and lightweight pot and stove that runs on ISO/Butane and can be used for boiling water, cooking your dehydrated or freeze dried meals to cooking the fish or small game you catch on the trail. Boiling water is fast and easy with the Quick-Click locking system and the Piezo ignition, just one click starts your stove, and the water will be ready in just a couple of minutes. You don’t need to worry about the system tipping over even in windy conditions this system is stable and the wrap around heat resistant cover allows you to comfortably grab onto the pot while cooking.

    There are a variety of other fantastic Primus product now available in our new hiking and camping section of our Outersports online store. You can't always trust the weather to keep your trail side wood dry and accessible. It is always a good plan to take a reliable Primus system into the outdoors.


    This post was posted in Cooking and Fire, Hiking, Mountain Climbing, Outdoor Gear and was tagged with camp gear, camping, camping gear, cooking, EtaSolo, fire, fire starting, hiking, hiking gear, Omni-Fuel, primus, primus stove

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