Make cordage from that mountain of plastic, or boil water in a bottle.
Of course you can take these tips into new territory using heat and plastic to mold or repair, plug holes or shape fishing nets or traps.
Creativity and base knowledge are key in survival, I've found.
Showing posts with label boiling water in plastic bottles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boiling water in plastic bottles. Show all posts
Plastic Melts -Moldable
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Bath Baggies, and Beyond
Now with all that nice hot water hanging around (see previous post) a person can easily take a nice hot bath.
I developed this bath-in-a-baggie while hiking with Rainmaker on the PCT. He saw someone carrying a cut off milk jug for a bathtub and adopted the practice. Except he'd just use regular creek water which is sometimes pretty cold.
Being an ultra lighter nearing fanaticism, I simply would stand in said creek, letting my feet soak while the rest of me got bathed, and wiped dry with a bandanna.
But, as the season progressed, and fall brought temps in the 50's, another plan formed.
It took just a bit more fuel to heat one pint of water to a comfortable 140 or so. Then, I would pour it into a quart zip lock baggie, add my fleece bandanna (what absolute luxury!) and voila! to die for.
Well, the above photo is just a regular cotton bandanna, and I placed it in a gallon baggie, but you get the idea. This works as well, but as we all know cotton takes longer to dry and is not nearly as luxurious. Fleece is a little overkill for summer, hence the swap out.
When we used the water from the hanging plastic bottle, no soot got on our hands, and we simply let it hang, used what we needed, and refilled the bottle. Keeping the fire stoked was natural as the sun set and darkness fell. This is a very good backpacking skill for very little investment.
Boiling Water in Plastic Bottles!
It works. Our experiment last night was very interesting and exciting. If one can boil water in a bottle, that means, using the same procedure, a person could cook stew or soup in a plastic container, suspended over the fire.
I was fortunate enough to find a green branch sturdy enough for such an experiment. The Rhododendron hung out over a suitable campfire spot and by keeping it small enough, I could easily keep it fed.
Also exciting is the cordage I used. By cutting 6 Walmart plastic bags into long strips about 5 inches wide each, and then tightly braiding it, I made a plastic cord strong enough to guy tarps and hang water bottles. The heat from the fire didn't burn it either, as I had feared. It actually seemed to solidify it into tougher cordage.
The cowboy coffee this morning was excellent as well. Fill a empty coffee can with water, build the fire around it, still keeping it small and manageable. Place a metal lid on it to keep ashes out. When the water comes to a boil add plenty of ground coffee (not instant) and allow to boil another 5-6 minutes. I used about one tablespoon of coffee per 12 ounces water. Remove from the fire so that the grounds settle out to the bottom. Slowly pour from the can using a pot holder. The ridge in the metal can keeps the grounds from pouring out.
Save this can for the next trip, or recycle and take a clean one.
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