I'm tired. I've been tired for weeks if not months. Luckily, my tiredness today is different from my previous tiredness. Today's tiredness comes from spending four days camping with my family and a bunch of friends rather than economic gloom and employment doom.


Blast camp.


Wildflowers!


Making fire.


Success!


New friends.


Teaching.


Time to go. Yes, she wore high heels the entire time.

The Texas Hill Country had record rains over the winter so the resulting wildflowers were AMAZING!

Sidenote: anyone who plans on heading off to the hills when TSHTF hasn't done enough camping. Our camp potty was used by ten females. Trust me, you don't want to know how many times a day I had to clean it out and haul the waste away!

-Blast

As long as they were Vibram high heels ...

Seriously, though, there is no better way to "reset and restart" than a grand camping adventure. (Or in my case, walking in wild country until my legs fall off.)

P.S., continuously adding campfire charcoal to the potty really does wonders in eliminating odour and making cleanup a trifle less nasty.

Hey, that's a good idea. We were using clumping kitty litter. That stuff weighs a ton and is easily maxed out in fluid absorption... I'll try the charcoal trick in the fall when we go back.

-Blast

Looks good. Seems everyone had a good time and learned something.

If you can keep the urine separated from the urine, often easier for men than women, the smells and disposal are much more manageable. A little urine mixed in does little harm but a liquid mix in inevitably anaerobic and quite smelly. Often the scent can only be momentarily overcome by perfume and formaldehyde and the result is sometimes worse than the waste alone.

Nice pictures Blast, it’s always great to get away from all the garbage we hear in the news and see on TV plus current events. You may can start fires with rubbing sticks together and eat plants picked out of the wild but when you can do all this in high heels and wearing a dress and make it look easy then you’ve reached the next level But seriously it looks like you guys had a great time and learned something’s as well. Keep on exploring.

Looks like wonderful "quality time" with the family.

As long as you're not allergic to something, those spring wildflowers sure are pretty!

Oh, horror, the images... Blast in high heels and a dress...


There are few better ways to relax than car camping with a fire. Why anyone would want to do that in high heels is beyond me, but given the comfort level available when car camping there certainly isn't any trouble doing so. And she sure looks pretty...

WoW! Guide Gear Galore! That's very reassuring to me as,I've invested quite a bit in Gary Olen's SPG,& have only used 1/3 of it so far.How ever it's done,Camping is ALWAYS Cool!Look's like alot of Fun,Thanx for posting the Pics!

Be Nice.
The Lady has Standards & Style.

I'm guessing 75% of my gear came from the Sportsman's Guide, maybe more.
-Blast

Blast-
Incinerating toilets have been around for a long time-my dad got one for the camp back in the sixties.
EPA notes here: http://www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/incinera.pdf

These items are propane fired, and reduce waste to a (foul-smelling) vapor and sterile gray ash.

With your expertise in high temperature, high pressure chemistry and natural pyrotechnic ability, I bet that you could create a wood-fired, acetylene-powered or ANFO-based incinerating portable latrine that would forever eliminate your burden of latrine-cleansing duties, warm the tent, light up the sky and scare away the predators, while marking your territory and amusing your daughters.

The Blast Commode? The DR Personal Survival Toilet? The Thunder Mug?

I really like the idea. However, reading through the paper it says it requires ~4.5 hours to burn up the deposited material. You get ten ladies ages 4-notallowedtosay together and see if they all can go that long without needing a toilet.

Hmm, then again, none of those incindary toilets used thermite...
This requires more thought.

-Blast

p.s. Obviously it would be called the Thunder Throne!

The neighbors at the camp also got a destoilet. They had 4 pre-teen daughters; the destroilet cycled so ofetn that the wiring melted. how about a carbide cannon-based system that (forgive me) blasts the products at high velocity into the atmosphere, simultanously disposing of the waste, fertilizing the earth, and clearing nearby runways of birds.

Thermite powered toilet?

Turn your waste into glass in mere seconds!!!

Heh!

I expected something involving explosives or incendiaries and thermal power supplies.

Great pics, Blast!

Thanks! I just finished a complete write-up of the event on my blog.

-Blast

I have a 3 state traveling job and I drive right by the Sportsman Guide warehouse once a week. They have a clearance store attached . I would really appreciate if you guys would order a lot of cool stuff, open it and then return it so I can buy it for half price. It was a cold rainy day last week, and I was wandering around in there. For the first time(even though tempted by a camo cap I carried around for a while)I left empty handed. Should I seek professional help?

I am jealous! I get in enough trouble with the Walmart and the local sporting goods chain store. I can only imagine how much stuff I would buy if I could WALK to SG.

On Topic: Blast; looks like an awesome trip. I am planning a backyard "camping trip" soon to get my kids warmed to the idea...

I read your blog occasionally (same as I read any blog), and enjoy it quite a bit!

It could use more cat, though.

It looks like you all had a great time. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Props re fire starting.


Observations re suprises re same:

No handhold for the top of the spindle.

Fireboard a round branch not much wider than spindle.

Fireboard not notched to allow coal to fall out onto tinder.

Fire started in / on fireboard.


Queries re same:

Observations correct?

Type of wood?

Why / what advatages to things observed [very different from the guidelines I am following]?

Thanks!

Dweste,

I was actually using a porcelain insulator cap from an electric fence for my upper bearing block. The teacher had assorted bearing blocks made from wood, antler, shells, and even teflon blocks. I found the insulator worked best for me.

Both the spindle and the fireboard were made from the well-dried flower stalk of yucca. The fireboard part of the stalk split in half, it just looks round in the picture.

The fireboard was notched, you just can't see it well in the picture.

The fireboard develop a very large coal which remained attached to the board rather than falling into the tinder. When the frayed jute we were using as tinder ignited it lit the fireboard on fire, too. There were better shots of the tinder smoking and glowing, but the picture I posted was more dramatic.

Choosing the right wood is very, very important. What I didn't realize is how important it was to get just the right amount of tension, friction, and spin. My wife commented that it was a lot like learning how to drive a stickshift. My biggest problem was keeping the hand/arm holding the bearing block locked against my leg. That's my weak arm due to shattering the elbow years ago. Anyway, the spindle kept hoping off the fireboard. A friend eventually clamped down on the arm to hold it in place. Once he did that I had fire in less than two minutes. Time to do more pushups, I think.

-Blast

Thanks for the clarifications!

Check out the so-called Egyptian Bow Drill technique; for many of us it helps a lot to reduce unwanted spindle movement.

Here here dweste, Blast take a look at daves video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZtTd19_cgY he narrates it in a good point but puts a good twist that may pertain to you. This method is ideal because it accomplishes many things. First it starts your fire with very little to no effort by you using your kydex knife sheath as a block, second puts the girls to work so that they stay out of trouble, third it tires them out so they sleep better that night and will reduce the amount they are constantly distracting your attention on other matters while wanting you to explain everything under the sun. But sometimes it is good to teach the kids things all the time when you have that time available, it's just nice to take a breather from time to time.