Salsa: Glass or Can

Who doesn't like salsa on a camp trip?  No one I know!  One thing we consistently try to avoid is packing glass bottles of anything.  Cans are the way to go for us.  It's EZPZ for a glass bottle to break and well...that's not a good thing on a camping trip.

Salsa has never been sold in a can.  It's ALWAYS in glass bottles.  But you CAN get close in a can.  Check out something generally called "Fire Roasted Tomatoes Salsa Style."  It's not easy to find and it's not ordinarily cheap either.

But once in awhile, we get lucky.  Who doesn't love gittin' lucky?  Today we found a digital coupon at Albertson's for $1.04 for a 14.5 ounce can of the Good Stuff.

We generally add some dried chile flakes, dried hot chile powder, cumin powder, dried oregano and maybe some granulated garlic to this canned stuff.  Of course that depends on who we're camping with.  Some folks don't like the hot stuff.  We forgive them.

This stuff easily passes for salsa right out of the can so adding all of the above could be redundant.  YMMV.

Anyway, we're fully stocked up on canned salsa for our next camping trip.  It's wonderful peace of mind not to have to worry about a glass bottle breaking.  Ugh.

Tick Tock...Tick Talk..

Yes, sports fans, 'tis time once again for our annual Tick Talk.

If you've ever hiked in Tick Country, you well know about the scourge of ticks. Ticks are serious stuff. They carry wicked diseases, including the dreaded Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease can be Life Changing to some people. Ticks scare us worse than bears.  Why?  Well, your chances of having a life-changing encounter with a bear are very  slim.  However, every time you hike in Tick Country, you are literally risking a life-changing experience.  You can carry bear spray for the bruins and it works quite well.  But how do handle ba-zillions of ticks?

Before we get into talking a "tick solution" (literally), we'd like to scare you some more with tick stuff from the experts including Center For Disease Control, Mayo Clinic and the Lyme Disease Association.

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/index.html

http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/be-aware-of-signs-and-symptoms-associated-with-tick-related-diseases/

https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/other-tick-borne-diseases

OK, now that you are sufficiently impressed with just what kind of really bad things can happen to you from ticks, it's time to talk the absolute best Tick defense: Permethrin. If you venture into Tick Country, you really need to get yourself some Permethrin and learn how to use it properly. Here are two decent resources on Permethrin:

http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/soak_method

http://sectionhiker.com/treating-your-clothes-with-permeth…/

As we prep to head to Tick Country this week, we're getting all our clothes treated and ready to wear. Here's the Amazon link (shortened) to the best deal on bulk Permethrin. We have been using this concentrate for 4 years.

https://goo.gl/Mj1WYv

Here's how we use it.  First, we prepare a very dilute solution similar to the concentration sold by Sawyer.  We make up 3 gallons and place the 3 gallons in a five gallon pickle bucket.  We then place ALL of our hiking clothing (including socks and underwear) in this solution and let the clothing items sit for at least 12 hours.  The idea is to impregnate every molecule of every thread with the permethrin.  We use rubber gloves on our hands to hand wring each of the clothing items.  We put them on a line to air dry outside. We carry some of the  dilute solution in a spray bottle so we can spray our boots before each hike.  We wear calf-length socks and use velcro to close up our pant legs at the ankles.  If we are in Heavy Tick County, we wear cheap-o cotton gloves purchased at the dollar store.  We also wear a cotton scarf and a wide brim hat.  ALL items we wear are soaked in the solution.

This stuff just doesn't repel ticks, it kills them on contact with the treated clothing. We haven't had a tick on us ever since we started using this method.

Permethrin is safe to most mammals except cats.  It can be lethal for cats.  You can begin reading up about permethrin here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin

DISCLAIMER: Use at your own risk. We consider permethrin to be safe.  However, user discretion is advised and recommended. The information here is presented solely as our own personal opinion and does not constitute medical advice.  Consult available technical resources and consider asking your physician if permethrin is safe for you.

Onboard Fire Extinguisher

I've always wanted to carry a small fire extinguisher in the cab of our camping truck--a 1984 Nissan 720 4WD king cab.  However, everything in that cab is so cramped and there's essentially no place to rig a fire extinguisher.  Today, we finally solved that conundrum.  We bought a small $10 Kidde Marine Model Mariner 5 fire extinguisher and simply bolted the retaining device to a milk crate.  The crate has been a fixture in the truck for as long as we've owned it.  Now the extinguisher stays put, upright in  the same spot and is readily accessible behind the driver's seat.

 As you can see, it's firmly attached to the milk crate.  No wiggling, wobbling or whatever.

 Fits nicely behind the driver's seat.  The seat goes all the way without hitting the extinguisher.

Very easy to get to behind the driver's seat.

Camp knives

We've always had problems with camp kitchen knives.  They are hard to store and can cause all sorts problems.  A few years ago, we decided to simply cut off the sharp tips and shorten the knives to fit the 50 caliber ammo can in which we keep all our other camp utes.

Well, that worked great until realized fugitive dish water hides in the handles of those knives.  We all know what stray water can do.  Think mold and bacteria. So, this week we went to the thrift store and picked out two knives that are essentially waterproof.

We figured this would be a good time to explain the process so here ya go.

These are the former camp knives.  They're great knives and will continue in use in our travel trailer where there is sufficient air flow and ventilation to help the knives dry out after washing.

The problem with the former camp knives is that  water would get trapped between the handle pieces and the blade.  When put into an airtight ammo can, well, use your imagination!

Here are the two knives we found for $2 each at our local Deseret Industries thrift store.  There's no place for dish water to hide in the one-piece, molded plastic handles of these knives.

The new knives have two problems; 1) Sharp tips and 2) Too long to fit an ammo can.

So, we square the knives up and mark the proper place to cut.

A hack saw can cut through most knives.  If not, a bench grinder will do the job.

Good-bye sharp tip.  If you've ever had  a sharp knife tip fall and stick in your flip flop foot, you well know how such an incident can ruin a perfectly good camping trip!

Then, you simply smooth the blunt end of the shorty knife, round and smooth  the corners and you're good to go.

The new knives are perfectly at home in the 50 caliber ammo can utes box.

What's in those tubs?

About 35 years ago we realized "containerized camping" was the way to go.  Everything has its place.

So, what's with the Year Twenty Fifteen rig?  What's in those tubs?

First, the two small blue tubs are "truck stuff."  One tub holds tools and two Nissan repair manuals.  The other holds all the vital fluids a truck might need--antifreeze, oil, power steering, brake fluid and more.  We also travel with two spare tires, a custom lug nut breaking bar and a high flow air pump.

OK, here's the contents of the nine gray tubs:

1. Tent
2. Cooking utensils
3. Food
4. Coffee
5. Share rain gear
6. Susun clothes
7. Susun hike stuff
8. John clothes
9. John hike stuff

Note that we hold coffee in such high regard it gets its very own tub all to itself.  Coffee is definitely not an afterthought with our camping rig!

The six gallon milk crate holds all the tie down material to pitch a tarp.  The three .30 caliber ammo cans hold:

1. Eating utensils
2. Spices
3. Bear Spray

A separate metal box hold a variety of mosquito, gnat, and tick repellents.  We call it The Bug Box.

Our early 1950's Coleman stove is large enough to hold all kinds of stuff, including three propane fuel canisters and related flotsam and jetsam.

By the time everything else gets added this year, we probably won't be able to see through the rear view mirror.   Also, because we're carrying the canoe, our fuel economy will be terrible.  But what are summers for if not for camping, boating, hiking and enjoying the IdaWy outdoors?

Stealth Cam G26NG Review

We purchased a Stealth Cam Model G26NG from Sam's Club on July 31, 2014.  This blog post will serve as a place for the review of this unit.  We will continue adding photos and narrative regarding the unit as the review process evolves.

Sam's sells "game cameras" each summer as a "seasonal item."  The cameras are usually placed on an end cap near other hunting-related items in Sam's pseudo-sporting goods department.  This summer, we noted the cameras shortly after July 4th.  We almost missed out on this camera as the inventory shrunk by about 2/3rds between early and late July.

Originally, the supply of this particular game cameras filled an entire end cap and spanned two pallets!

After getting the unit home, we used an X-acto knife to carefully and surgically cut open the stubborn blister pack material.  By using this technique to extract the camera unit, we keep the packaging looking pristine and "resalable" in case we need to return the unit within the 90-day window.

 Above, the X-acto cuts have already been made but appear almost invisible in this photo.  Below, the camera comes right out and the blister pack remains intact.  Under no circumstances will we use the included batteries, SD card or strap.  By leaving those accessories intact in their packaging, it's easy to make a case that we would be returning the camera unused should the need arise.  Hopefully, we can find the manual online and no have to extract and unfold the included manual.

Below you can see the camera in its first "state-of-inspection."  The first thing we noticed and disliked is there appears to be no protection for the lens.  The LED lights are behind some protection but not the lens, as you can easily see by the second photo below.

Once we find 8 AA batteries and one of our many spare SD cards, this review process will continue.  Stay tuned.

The manual for this model is located here:

http://www.gsmoutdoors.com/downloads/61/stealth-cam-2013-2014-manuals/  It's 5.5 megs and a very fast download in PDF format.  There's 20-something pages of info in the manual.  The rest of the manual appears to be in one or more foreign languages.

Buckaroo Coffee

Stephen Neal Saqui

Buckaroo coffee: Heat water over a Coleman stove. Do not let the water boil, bring it up until it is rolling but not boiling then take it off the heat and spoon two spoons of medium ground coffee (of your choice as long as it's not decaffeinated). Put the cap back on the pot and let it sit. Forget all the lies about salt or eggshell, just let it sit. Go about fixing things to eat with it if you're hungry. When the grounds have settled to the bottom, pour a cup and drink. That's Buckaroo coffee. I have a hand grinder and prefer to grind good roasted beans. Harry Rogan liked Folgers and would scoff at my way but he would drink my coffee and I his. Now there's another thing about Buckaroo coffee...in the Nevada Mountains one might be out prospecting or walking (some call it hiking) and when returning to camp one ALWAYS makes a pot of Buckaroo coffee. That's how it's done. You noticed I didn't say what size spoon? Pick one.