View Full Version : Most unusual item in your kit.
I was flicking through some old web pages I have archived away and came across a thread from a forum I used to frequent with the above subject. That was 4 years ago and Hoodoo popped up a couple of times in there.
I wondered what you lot have as your "unusual" item(s).
Piece of chalk ... the idea being "measure by eye, mark with chalk, cut with an axe and bang to fit!!" :-D
I also have a tiny ampule of WD40 that I got somewhere (1 ml) that just might come in handy!!!!!
If out overnight, I usually have my shortwave morse transceiver with me. Cost £60 as a kit. Two watts of radio power out to a wire antenna strung between the trees with homemade nettle cordage.....oh, alright, I lied....paracord.
With walkman earphones and morse key, I can chat around Europe, sometimes USA/Canada. Occasionaly you contact another station also doing 'wilderness radio' - see http://www.ae5x.com/crater_lake.html
Other odd thing I carry, depending where I am, is my gold pan.
You'd be surprised how many streams in the UK have small amounts of gold.
Other odd thing I carry, depending where I am, is my gold pan.
You'd be surprised how many streams in the UK have small amounts of gold.
:shock: Really??? Any tips for a prospective prospector!!!! :-D
Thanks!
Other odd thing I carry, depending where I am, is my gold pan.
You'd be surprised how many streams in the UK have small amounts of gold.
:shock: Really??? Any tips for a prospective prospector!!!! :-D
Thanks!
C'mon now !! We don't want to start a 'Gold Rush' in Stoke on Trent !! :-)
The most unusual bit of kit I carry is a very tiny bottle (about 5ml) of some chilli sauce called 'Who Dares Burns!' (I know :lol: ) But when you've been foraging and cooked up, occasionall it tastes, well less than perfect. Add a few drops of this baby (1000,000,000 scoville units = effin' hot) and you won't care :-D
For those who want to know what a scoville unit is (like I did :-D ) check this out: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-scoville-unit.htm
Tabasco have just started making a "habanero pepper sauce" - aint tried it, but I'm gonna. :)
Great Pebble
07-02-2004, 17:40
Have a go at this... it's pretty good.
http://olliver.family.gen.nz/chilli_sauce.htm
Nick in Belfast
Bought some habenero's once, for use in a jamaican stew thing. The recipie called for just 1 of em, dropped whole and un-pierced into the stew. It said if the pepper bursts, the stew becomes inedible so take care. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ahh...forgot the seasoning. I like Knorr 'Seasonall' - pure monosodium glutamate though!
Re the gold panning: Lots of burns/streams are gold bearing: North Wales, Cornwall, Charnwood forest, maybe small amounts in the Lake District. Ireland has deposits in Wicklow and Sperrin. But the best opportunities are in Scotland: around Helmsdale/Strath of Kildonan, anywhere in the Crieff/Crianlarich/Pitlochry triangle, the Ochill hills, and also in Wanlockhead/ Mennock water area.
Panning is easy. A car hub cap/cooking pan will do, but a plastic riffled gold pan is ideal. I use a blue Klondike Special. Gold is 3-4 times heavier than rock and 20 times heavier than water. Put a spadeful of sand/gravel from a stream in the pan. Immerse in water, shake like hell, let the lighter stuff wash out.
Eventually you are left with the densest material ('black sand' - mostly iron and titanium oxides like magnetite and ilmenite). Sometimes you find spent lead shot in it - a good indicator that your technique is good. And, maybe flakes of gold. The biggest 'nuggets' I've found are match-head size, but I know folk who've found serious nuggets.
If you want to learn, you can go on courses, but alternatively, go to the Kildonan burn on a summer weekend, and look for anyone with a broad brimmed hat who is sucking gravel from the burn with a pump made from 3 foot of drainpipe. If you ask nicely, they'll show you how its done, and you can (?could) buy a pan at shops in Helmsdale.
ditchfield
07-02-2004, 22:01
I just watched a program on BBC2 6:30, mostly about gold panning in Ireland. What a coincedence.
Justin Time
07-02-2004, 22:40
oddest thing is my bag at the moment is a flourescent pink measuing tape (well the case is pink, not the tape) Plastic rulers just haven't lasted anytime at all.... Must get round to making a tracking stick.
bothyman
08-02-2004, 08:51
But the best opportunities are in Scotland: around Helmsdale/Strath of Kildonan,
If you want to learn, you can go on courses, but alternatively, go to the Kildonan burn on a summer weekend, .
What did you tell them that for?
I live down the road from Helmsdale.
I have a book called "At the end of the Rainbow" it shows places throughout Scotland where gold has been found.
OK as long as the Midges arwe not out to play
Natural sponge. Weight=next to 0. For field expedient bathing.
Rollnick
08-02-2004, 21:55
The oddest thing..hmmm.
Iron wool (?) the best way to get a fire started!
or
perhaps.....juggling balls, very relaxing after a hard walk (its a type of meditation if your at a certain level)
cheers,
Jake
Bowie_Fan
08-02-2004, 22:54
I quess the odest thing I cary is a role of eletrical tape, and crazy glue.
Whats even odder? I basicaly consider that my 1st aid kit :oops:
MartiniDave
09-02-2004, 08:56
A cotton bag - about half the size of a pillow case. Useful for foraging, gathering etc, or stuff it with grass, bracken or similar and I've got a pillow for my strangest bit of kit --- my head!
Dave :-D
my strangest bit of kit --- my head!
Dave :-D
:lol: :biggthump :rolmao: :o): :ekt:
Anonymous
11-02-2004, 22:05
A small container of black pepper... never leave home without it, as I find it just adds that little something to make the perfect meal, every time.
Dutchman
11-02-2004, 23:25
I wondered what you lot have as your "unusual" item(s).
- Petzl quickdraw (= 2 non locking carabiners + express sling)
- DMM carabiner (twistlock)
- 3 mtr sling (unstitched)
Comes in handy for many tasks 8-)
Carabiners are dead handy ... I always have one attached to my ruck.
I wondered what you lot have as your "unusual" item(s).
- Petzl quickdraw (= 2 non locking carabiners + express sling)
- DMM carabiner (twistlock)
- 3 mtr sling (unstitched)
Comes in handy for many tasks 8-)
As a young teenager I used to carry a bullwhip around.
It was redundant from when I was re-braking in some problem horses.
It was great fun to play with, I used to be able to take flower heads off at 10 paces. :-D
Going to start carrying one again for fishing. Very useful for over enthusatic bulls and bullocks, that come a' Nosein! Great for loads of other stuff to!
Dutchman
12-02-2004, 01:43
Carabiners are dead handy ... I always have one attached to my ruck.
Howabout this for a carabiner :?:
http://www.kershawknives.com/web2/p28.htm
Carabiners are dead handy ... I always have one attached to my ruck.
Howabout this for a carabiner :?:
http://www.kershawknives.com/web2/p28.htm
Seen that before - I dont think it's load bearing. I might be wrong.
It's not load bearing!!!! :shock:
Carabiners are dead handy ... I always have one attached to my ruck.
Howabout this for a carabiner :?:
http://www.kershawknives.com/web2/p28.htm
Seen that before - I dont think it's load bearing. I might be wrong.
It'll probably take your weight but in a fall I wouldn't trust it. Even the mini Krab sold for carrying your keys will take your weight, enough for an abseil! (Yes we've tried it, although with a back up belay on too!)
To be honest I wouldn't like it as part of a climbing anchor, even if it was able to load bear. Would you want a knife blade that close to your life line?
I wouldn't mind using it as a gear krab though! :twisted:
Yes, it's the shockloading that they can't take ...
There was a time, way back, when I used to use old reject carabiners from a local manufacturer to lift engines and tow cars. Considering how rough we treated them, they used to put up with the punishment well!
It'll probably take your weight but in a fall I wouldn't trust it. Even the mini Krab sold for carrying your keys will take your weight, enough for an abseil! (Yes we've tried it, although with a back up belay on too!)
To be honest I wouldn't like it as part of a climbing anchor, even if it was able to load bear. Would you want a knife blade that close to your life line?
I wouldn't mind using it as a gear krab though! :twisted:
woodsitter
12-02-2004, 12:02
come on boy's, you can use any tool for only one thing at a time.
When you use this comi carabiner as a carabiner,. you can't use it for anything else, so the knife part is useless, unless you treat the whole thing as a knife and use the carabiner part to 'store' your knife somewhere on your gear. To do this it does not need to be load bearing at all.
It looks cool, but its a gadget, nothing more.
When you use this comi carabiner as a carabiner,. you can't use it for anything else, so the knife part is useless, unless you treat the whole thing as a knife and use the carabiner part to 'store' your knife somewhere on your gear.
:?:
:-?
Surely that's true of any multi-function tool. I can't use the pliers on my LM wave if I'm using the saw. If I put the saw away, I can then use the pliers. I don't think they used a carabiner as the base of this tool just so that's how it is "stored".
woodsitter
12-02-2004, 12:45
o.k. it sounded maybe more stupid then intended :wink:
I just imagine myself hanging in some tree or cliff of whatever on a rope and my combi carabiner, when some very urgent need of the knife occurs…just quit hanging for a while?
:roll:
I don’t mind combi tools. But whether I use my victorinox as a knife or a saw, I have it in my hands and my job at that time is to cut of saw something, open a bottle, turn a screw or whatever. I use my hand for it, it’s the main task at that time etc.
You can combine a knife with a saw and a screwdriver, you can combine a tent with a sleeping bag, but if you combine a pot handle with a tent peg you have to chose between camping and cooking and that is quite stupid. If you use your rope as a belt you have to climb with your pants down. If you combine two things you might need to use at the same time for different things is a bad combination.
I think this carabiner-knife-screwdriver is a bad combination.
Hang it on you belt, you might even use it but I hope you never have to depend on it.
That's better!! :biggthump
Dutchman
12-02-2004, 13:04
I think this carabiner-knife-screwdriver is a bad combination.
Hang it on you belt, you might even use it but I hope you never have to depend on it.
I agree on that.
ALLWAYS use 2 anchor points for a belay, this is a nice trick
http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/Mariners.htm
Cheers,
Frank
:-D You should talk to Antarctic Fire about setting up belays - he's a master!
:rolmao:
(He's so trusting of his set ups that he won't even clip in to it, in case his second falls off!!)
RAPPLEBY2000
13-02-2004, 22:51
you guy's been watching "vertical limit"? :shock: :lol:
i am just about to do SPA training and Mountain leadership, we have been told by just about every instructor
NEVER NEVER NEVER
carry a knife when climbing!
you should never have to cut a rope! ever! thge whole systems are now set up with various safe ways of escaping the system without cutting anything!
remember "vertical limits" was made by hollywood! :rolmao:
plus i never carry anything "non load bearing" on my harness just incase in a panic i used it by mistake:yikes: !
i have several "fake" key ring carabinas that i don't take climbing anymore!
i would say the carabina shown is fine for fixing rucksacks together or for hauling gear or a means of prehaps even fixing a hammock but, i wouldn't trust it in a fall! :shock:
RAPPLEBY2000
29-02-2004, 19:29
:lol:
on sale in milletts front window today i saw on sale....guess what?
a carabina / radio!!! :shock: :rolmao:
:roll:
yet another way to make a potential disaster! :yikes:
AntarcticFire
29-02-2004, 19:50
My belay systems are always safe - I just don't always feel the need to clip into them. :wink:
As for the strangest thing in my kit list, it's probably a small furry sheepdog... :-D
Hi.
Anyone comes near my rope with a knife and its more than the rope that will get cut. Very poor rope craft if you cannot escape the system i always carry 2 prussik loops. Decent ropes around £100.
When i started down at Swanage i had a brand new rope that got caught by a wave and dragged into the sea. 2 days use and 50m was cut down to 20m. Was not best pleased. We live and learn.
crazyclimber
10-02-2008, 11:21
Hey Doc - are you still active on ham radio?
I've been having a go for a while - was looking at an Elecraft KX1 for doing pretty much exactly what you've said. Something different to occupy some time sitting in a tent in winter.
Never thought about gold panning before. Didn't ocur to me there'd be much gold about in the rivers here in the UK. You've given me ideas!
Blimey this is a blast from the past.
I don't even remember starting the thread!