Well I’m back from vacation and I had an amazing time. I spent the week at Rivercane Rendezvous in Lafayette, Georgia. Rendezvous is a primitive skills gathering that happens twice a year. They offer classes in a wide range of subject matter including Blacksmithing, bow making, primitive beer brewing, trap and snare making and many many others.
OIL I’m talking plant oils here, so no mineral oil, petroleum, etc. There are tons to choose from, all having different nutrients and properties to offer. I generally use/start with Olive Oil simply because it’s abundant in this house, but I have used Grapeseed Oil (lighter, good for damaged skin), Coconut oil (solid at room temp, great alone as a skin moisturizer), and Jojoba (closest to human sebum) to name a few. Drop by your local grocery store to get started right away. When you are ready to expand your collection, check out Mountain Rose Herbs for more.
SALT Yeah, salt. This article is mostly about oil, but salt does a great job of exfoliating rough/dry skin. There are many gourmet salts on the market, but plain old NaCl will do. You could branch out with sea salt (it’s softer) and epsom salt (not for consumption), but this is about using what you have, so, use what you have!
I asked Mike From Skills and Gear if he would mind doing a guest article this week while I am on vacation and he banged out an awesome one! Enjoy.
Kodiak Fire Starter
James asked me to do a guest article while he was on vacation so I thought long and hard on what I wanted to talk about with you guys. I happened to be watching a show that reminded me of how much useless garbage there is on the market I and I just wanted to introduce you to one such piece of crap. I thought I might take a shot as a pitch man for this product and give them a new sales line while I’m at it so here goes. Now introducing the Kodiak Fire Starter, It’s not that it doesn’t work, it just doesn’t work well. Now that I have summed up the product let’s get into specifics.
Today I’m going to review my Coleman Max Elate 14L. It features a 2 liter hydration bladder. Microban anti-microbial treated bite valve. Three zippered storage compartments. Side compression straps. Cool airflow shoulder strap design. It also has an adjustable sternum strap.
I got this pack a few years ago on clearance at Wal-Mart. I think I paid around $15 or so. My purpose for this was as a small light daypack for hiking. Also I’m a big fan of hydration bladders. I love my Wide mouth Nalgene bottles but drinking while moving always ends up making a mess. Usually I just throw in some trail snacks but have loaded it out with a full 10 piece kit before.
We’ve been gardening for a few years now, but we still don’t quite have it right. We discover new problems and new solutions every year. This past year I decided I wanted to grow peas, they are a favorite of mine, but I quickly discovered my 4 3′ rows were not enough. On top of that, the “trellis” we threw together was just crap. This year I put out a little money and made trellises out of PVC piping. I didn’t recycle anything, but it was cheap, quick and should last at least a few seasons. This is the kind of thing you could gather supplies for from yardsales, craigslist, or freecycle earlier in the season to make it even cheaper.
