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Survival skills

Okay, I love pinterest. I've been using it for years. It has been good to see it expand and develop into something more than just a wedding planners digital hoarding space. There is some pretty great stuff on there. This collection for example. Pinterest puts together collections of board with different themes. This one happens to be survival skills. There are suggestions of board to follow ranging from growing food, building shelters, long term and short term survival strategy, and tips for the apparently imminent zombie apocalypse. Even if the zombie premise is a bit far fetched, some of the ideas are pretty cool. If you haven't taken a stroll down pinterest avenue, this is a good way to start. 

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Waxed Canvas

Waxed canvas is a material that is making a come back and I for one am glad. For lots of reasons. First of all, it looks great. It has texture and character and ages well. It's very durable and can have a very long lifespan. Unlike a lot of new synthetic material, it can be easily rewaterproofed to factory standards at home. There are different formulas for creating waxed canvas but the basic idea is to melt paraffin wax, bees wax, and/or various kinds of oils into the canvas which repels the water and helps prevent the canvas from rotting. If the wax works its way out through repeated bending and folding you simply need to melt more wax in and you are golden. Is it great for ultralight backpacking? No. Is it good for car camping? Yes. Is it a good material for a super stylish and manly everyday backpack? Oh yeah! I recently got a Fjallraven canvas backpack that I love. And it will probably out last me. 

Here are a few of my favorites when it comes to waxed canvas: 

If you're interested in trying it yourself check out this tutorial. You don't need to wax your canvas around a campfire like they do, but it is much more manly that way...

Foil dinner recipes

Foil dinners are super convenient and tasty. A camping classic. You can prepare them at home before you leave to cut down on time and mess when you're out and about. You can also eat them out of the container (if it stays intact during cooking) and save on dish duty. I stumbled on this list of foil dinner recipes that I thought were worth sharing. 

http://onesweetappetite.com/2014/05/30-camping-tin-foil-dinners/

I made a foil dinner last weekend that ended up super good. Probably the best I have ever had (not to toot my own horn.) It was pretty basic, but very rich. I don't know how you cook, but every time I make something, it's a new experience. A little of this, a little of that. I'm usually as surprised as everyone else. Not always in a good way. But this time was a winner. Here's what I did:

- 1 potato, precooked and diced. (You don't have to precook, but it saves time. If you add raw potatoes, make sure they are cut thin enough to cook at the same rate as everything else.)
- 3/4 cup raw baby carrots
- 1/2 lb. raw ground beef
- 1/2 raw onion, diced
- 1/2 packet of Lipton beefy onion soup mix (I usually just use onion, but they didn't have it. I was not disappointed with beefy onion.)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste

The first step is to start a good fire. You'll need a nice bed of coals for these. That will be the most time consuming part of the process.

Make sure you use heavy duty foil. It holds up much better. Cut a piece about 16" long and fold it in half. Fold the edges over on themselves 3-4 times to make a good seal. Then open the top and put your ingredients in. I recommend breaking up the beef into small pieces so it will cook more quickly. After everything is in, seal up the top by folding the edge over itself 3-4 times, like the edges. 

Once you have a good bed of coals place the foil pouches on the coals and let them cook for 15-30 minutes. The time really depends on the coals you have. Check occasionally to make sure they don't burn. 

This recipes creates a delicious gravy at the bottom of the pouch. Like a pot roast. Very tasty! 

Enjoy

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500 camping & dutch oven recipes

I love cooking over a fire. I especially love cooking in dutch ovens. The process, the taste, the whole experience is an essential outdoor activity to me. Dutch oven cooking is something that is a part of my family heritage. I have recipes from my Grandfather that I use. Of course, like a lot of things passed down from grandparents, they're more like guidelines than recipes. Even though I have some classics that I enjoy I am always on the look out for new ideas. When I came across this, my jaw dropped. This free booklet has all kinds of ideas in it. Not only does it have 500 recipes for dutch oven and backpacking, it has a guide to regulating heat and setting up improvised ovens.

You can download it here: http://momwithaprep.com/500-camping-recipes/

Well worth the $0 you will pay for it.