Adventures with anrkst.

Like the extinction of the fox squirrel west Louisiana and east Texas lol.

 

I imagine it will go along the lines of....

 

Only if @Zeek shows up

 

Nothing..nothing is ever normally done around here.



Need stock? Yeah let’s just use a blinking washtub to make it right?



Need a prep station? Needs to be 5 full cubic yards wide don’t it?!



Doing some chicken? Use 2 full deboned birds then!

 

Gotta have some okra! The very last quart of the farm fresh Mom n Dad stuff.



Gonna Ramsey blast some rice too, 2 full cups worth!



Gumbo. Uber spicy. And a 14” Lodge high wall should be enough for this starvation squad!

 

Were you waiting for something…normal?



Sorry. This is definitely not it.



And this doesn’t look like it either….



Not even remotely close to it……

 

This is heartwarming, and awesome…but definitely not..normal.



Does it look like I’m cooking for just 1 pint size green eyed girl? So SO not normal.



Blackened Fish Tacos. Super boosted homemade Avocado Jalapeño Spread. Sautéed Red Onions and Cabbage. Honey Garlic Sriracha Mayo. Pan Browned Corn Tortillas with homemade seasoning blend and real butter.

and I do this for fun. The absolute epitome of Not Normal.

 

Your dog is weird

 

That's a dog who knows what's up. If you can't make a pillow from a table leg or a foot.. you don't know how to nap

 

It’s summer. It’s winter. It’s summer. It’s winter….Sheesh. Upper 80’s F here again. Are we sure it’s December?!!
Something rich and savory, Venison Stew with Brown Rice.


This plan needs a weeks advance notice to thaw.


It was a very good year!


Prepping and coffee at the same time. ( it’s not full daylight yet, I’m surprised I still have fingers!)


morning, evening…doesn’t matter. There he is.

 

a dash of olive oil and a smoking hot sear to seal the flavor on MissyBigFeet…


deglaze with boiling water and add that flavor infusion in along with your stock.


then low n slow. 9 1/2 hours of barely bubbling to absolute tender perfection. That’ll do.

 

Wandered off…


It was too nice of a day to be indoors…


I thought I’d grab a lite ruck, a mountain house meal, and well, a Shrike, just in case something needs to be..punctured.


My first plan was to work my way around that point, walk down the shore on the other side.

T
This looks like rock. It’s not. It’s clay, in this case it’s damp and sticky clay. In the summer it’s more concrete like, which is what the spike poll on my wee hawk is for.
Anyway, this was a bust. I spent the better part of an hour getting to the point and the shore on the other side was underwater. All I got for my effort was muddy shoes.

 

Time for a new plan. I motored about 10-12 miles to another place on my map I’ve been meaning to investigate.


you only get 1 go around the ride, spend at least part of it doing something you like. Or at least take some selfies in the woods…so when they find your rotting corpse they’ll have a good picture to put in the paper!


about a mile in, there’s a whole blinking tree of phatwood. This might be hard to tote off…hmmmm…



A piece further and I found a creek bottom. Like a cathedral. Blessed silence. Deep enough so you can’t hear the road’s anymore. Beautiful.


on the other side there’s a nice flat place for a roofless kitchen.


It edible. A little soupy and more salty that I personally care for. Lotta black pepper. I give it a 3 of 5.

 

now this is the kind of lunchtime surroundings I can get down with. More people should try it. It might cure some of the dumba**ery that gets us bent outa shape so often.


Hey look, this bottom is covered in clots of Huckleberry. There No berries right now but…


I’ve eaten tons of the fresh green spring leaves in my life. It’s tart and refreshing, almost lemony. It helps cut the salty cottonmouth those dehydrated meals give you too.


this stuff is tough too. You cut it down, it grows back. The NFS burns these areas off every few years but it grows and spreads like it’s laughing at them.


Then a couple hours to wander up the fire lanes, enjoy the sunshine, the breeze, and there’s my girl. Unscathed while I was off praise be. Guess it’s back to the noisy and not as much fun world for a bit…
while I plot the next unorthodox thing to get into.

 

Someone's a grumpy bear

 

Well, I bought the odd looking thing, I think I will try it out.


It’s a nice Titanium box. Of course it didn’t come like this. It comes with a nicely sewn mesh bag, which I promptly traded for a solid nylon fabric one from my stash of “useful things I’ll just keep because…” ( I’m reaching World Class Hoarder here.)
I guarantee to you, no matter how meticulously you maintain your outdoor messware it will eventually be coated in black residue, flaky soot, or wonderfully sticky creosote from not so perfect wood fires and mesh bags will let it spread over the inside of your pack with beautiful ease. Buy, order, or hoard solid fabric bags like they were gold.
The nylon strap harkens to similar ones seen on old military surplus sets and just keeps the pieces neatly together.
(The water was tinted with safe non toxic food coloring just to make it more camera friendly.)


It didn’t come with a pictorial assembly sheet but some trial and error said this is the best way to do it.
Large pot contains a Trangia, flatware, non melt cotton washcloth (also for handling the sections when hot) a green nylon scrubbie, and a series of 1 oz Naglene’s for cooking oil, seasonings, and dish soap. Lid on, the smaller pot inverted on top, strap around. Neat and non rattling.


I got this manufacturer and design because it has features I like.
Both sections have butterfly handles.


On this brand the tips of the bail wire point in, not out. That means no abrasion point in its bag or inside my pack.
Also, the measurement stamps are meant to be read from the inside, where you’re looking. Shows that thought was put into how it was actually going to be used.

continues in the next post…

 

Some practical testing.


I actually overfilled the smaller pot a bit. 16oz would have been the perfect amount for it.


The larger pot holds a whopping 44 oz! That’s absolutely a meal for 2 with 2nds a possibility!


As it was raining and somewhat windy I thought I should use my standard walking kit to get a good feel for it.
The test is 16oz of water and 2 measured tablespoons of high quality marine stove alcohol fuel.


There’s actually a little whooshing sound like you get from pressurized fuel stoves. No soot or smoke either. Nice.


It burned almost exactly 10 minutes and while the water did not reach boil it was more than hot enough for a spot of tea.

Conclusion: I rather like this odd looking thing. It’s extremely lightweight, non-reactive, fairly sturdy for its lightness.
It’s flat and fits my pack well. The pot capacity is huge! ( I like cooking, even just by myself in the woods.) so that’s a big plus to me. I think I’ll keep it, use it for a while, see if I can burn it up or something.

 

That looks awesome!

 

I was out in the sunshine today and took the opportunity to snap a couple of pics of the kits basic contents.



I needed to get the alcohol burner closer to the pot. Using these little blocks stacked up Lincoln Log style I can get the flame up to 1.5” from the pot.
My paddling bro is endlessly amused by my fascination with this subject matter sent me the folding utensils with a humorous “go on a diet if you wanna lose more weight” note.



All the pieces fit nicely inside the pot for compact non rattling kit.

 

After some days of use testing I became somewhat dissatisfied with how the Emberlit and the stack blocks were working out. The blocks were difficult to place uniformly in the stove by hand and in accidentally bumping the stove it was discovered they could be dislodged or knocked apart causing the actual Trangia inside to tilt nearly onto its side.
I resolved to solve this by pulling out my Siege Stove and making it work as a walk about pack item.


To make this work I needed to get the stove cross members (which are quite pointy and sharp) and a set of wire Ti tarp stakes (also sharp) safely inside my pack. I absolutely don’t want these getting loose and puncturing the pack..or me.
I located a Tupperware/Gladware type plastic container and with some scrap foam pieces I made a non rattle box.


By running the stakes thru the air holes I can make a stable and level base and adjust the height of my flame source.


In this case it’s at the very top level but should you need a bit more wind protection you could start at the next lower set of holes and leave off the upper cross members. If you were using a smaller pot divide the stakes and use half of them laid across the top. It’s easy to be inventive and find versatile ways to make this work.