The Best Camp Stove For On The Trail

[00:00:00] Every day when we're on the road people around us endanger themselves and others by using their phones while driving.

[00:00:07] They think they're hiding it but we've all seen them and know exactly who they are.

[00:00:11] For instance, there's a sneaker peeker who darts their eyes between the road and their text.

[00:00:16] There's also the God of Ticketer looking upset because they just got a ticket for using their phone while driving.

[00:00:22] And what about the fast scroller who can't drive five minutes without updating their social media feeds or the nightlater

[00:00:30] who has that mysterious glow illuminating the inside of their car after dark?

[00:00:35] Do any of these sound familiar?

[00:00:37] If they remind you of yourself or someone you know, rethink your behavior before you find yourself becoming a fender-benderer,

[00:00:45] the veering off the rotor, or worst of all, the driver who killed someone.

[00:00:50] Put the phone away or pay.

[00:00:52] Paid for by NHTSA.

[00:01:20] Welcome back to the Survival and Basic Badass Podcast, Kevin Inchuk.

[00:01:42] Today, well we're going to talk about camp stoves.

[00:01:46] I guess camp stoves from the perspective of things that you're going to have in your go bag,

[00:01:52] things that you're going to be able to kind of take on having your vehicle, having your off-grid scenario,

[00:02:01] even when you're just out backpacking, hiking, any of the good stuff, out just enjoying life.

[00:02:09] So, I don't know. There's a lot of cool things out there and different ways to try.

[00:02:15] Maybe some cool recipes we'll talk about, you know, that kind of stuff.

[00:02:19] But yeah, there's a lot of great camp stoves out there.

[00:02:24] And we ended up reaching out to a few companies and there's some great ones out there.

[00:02:30] So Kevin, I know you did a lot of first-hand testing.

[00:02:34] What struck your fancy?

[00:02:37] What are you looking for in a good stove, first of all?

[00:02:40] Well, I mean, for camp stove, generally speaking, you know, it's nice to have a nice like propane stove.

[00:02:48] But you don't want to carry all that shit in your backpack, you know?

[00:02:51] So I'm looking for lightweight.

[00:02:53] So lightweight and small and concealable, right?

[00:02:57] Right.

[00:02:58] Not necessarily hide concealable but out of the way, you know, discreet and tucked in and not taking up your whole pack.

[00:03:05] Right, right. So the best one that I found for that was the Uber-Leban Stoker Stove.

[00:03:15] Basically it comes with six pieces and they're all flat, you know?

[00:03:22] It's basically six inches by six inches by a half inch and it all slides in like canvas waterproof pouch.

[00:03:30] And you slide it out, set it up and you're ready to go.

[00:03:35] It all runs on wood though, you know what I mean?

[00:03:39] It's basically, you know, you got to collect a good amount of twigs to keep that fire going and keep it hot.

[00:03:46] But I mean, you can just do it from stuff you find around, you know what I mean?

[00:03:51] You don't have to worry about running out of propane.

[00:03:53] You don't have to worry about carrying in propane.

[00:03:55] You don't have to worry about bringing any kind of fuel at all.

[00:03:58] You just set it up and get it going.

[00:04:01] And it was pretty great.

[00:04:03] I got to admit, high quality, good stuff.

[00:04:07] It was about a pound.

[00:04:09] I was going to say less than a pound but it's 18 ounces so it's pretty lightweight.

[00:04:15] Yeah, no that's, I mean that's a thing.

[00:04:18] Something that you can fold up flat so you can like lay it right against your back or whatever in the pack.

[00:04:23] You know what I'm saying?

[00:04:25] It's not really poking yet.

[00:04:27] It's not an issue.

[00:04:29] That's a great way to go and something that's just, hey it's simple.

[00:04:33] It's straightforward.

[00:04:35] You just crack it out.

[00:04:37] Obviously when you're on the trail, you'd be hard pressed to find an area you can't find twigs and sticks on the ground.

[00:04:44] Right, right.

[00:04:46] You know, when you're in the woods.

[00:04:48] There's desert scenarios or if you're stuck on a boat.

[00:04:52] But I got to say you start chipping the side of the boat off if it's that bad, right?

[00:04:57] That's right.

[00:04:59] But it's basically was a rocket stove and it worked really well.

[00:05:04] It worked fast.

[00:05:05] It was easy to get started.

[00:05:07] Everything was great.

[00:05:09] Everything was exactly what I was looking for in a wood stove for taking with me when I'm hiking.

[00:05:17] What I took a look at was City Bonfires.

[00:05:20] They've got a little stove.

[00:05:22] That one was different though.

[00:05:24] That's more of an urban type of thing.

[00:05:28] You know what I mean?

[00:05:29] Because it comes with its own fuel.

[00:05:31] It's a candle.

[00:05:32] You can burn it inside.

[00:05:34] It doesn't produce any bad fumes or anything like that.

[00:05:38] This one's basically the frame for a pot and then maybe like a sternocan kind of thing.

[00:05:45] Yeah.

[00:05:46] That's basically how it works.

[00:05:48] This room was really inexpensive too.

[00:05:51] It was good quality and I think you get replacement candles for like 25 bucks or something.

[00:05:58] They work very much and they last about four hours if continuous cooking or obviously it doesn't take you more than an hour to cook something.

[00:06:08] But you can use it multiple times.

[00:06:11] What's cool though is like so you have the apartment in New York City because you're bougie and when you're fighting off earthquakes or whatever, maybe the power goes out.

[00:06:22] You can just go on that back patio because all of us who can afford an apartment in New York City have a patio outside.

[00:06:29] No, you can do that right inside on your kitchen table.

[00:06:33] You don't even have to have space.

[00:06:36] Obviously the one, the Uber leaving, you're not going to just have sticks lying around unless you're in Central Park.

[00:06:43] Obviously there's going to be only trees over there.

[00:06:46] Right.

[00:06:47] You could break up the furniture a little bit and slowly pick up the pocket knife.

[00:06:53] Are you not allowed to have pocket knives in New York?

[00:06:56] No, you can have a pocket knife.

[00:06:58] It has to be less than four inches long blade so it's not great.

[00:07:03] Yeah, it's New York City. That's how it goes.

[00:07:07] All right. But I'm just saying these are kind of cool.

[00:07:09] And actually the City Bonfire is at the...

[00:07:12] Yeah, City Bonfire and that one was...

[00:07:15] City Bonfire one that you could just crack out and put on the table and for a power down for short time situation.

[00:07:25] That's ideal and gets you going and easy.

[00:07:27] Right.

[00:07:28] Yeah, it came with...

[00:07:30] Yeah. And it came with little skewers so you can...

[00:07:34] Oh nice.

[00:07:35] ...meat or marshmallows or whatever it is you want to cook on it.

[00:07:38] Little bit of rat or squirrel, whatever you guys have in the city.

[00:07:42] Whatever you have, man.

[00:07:44] Yeah, my cat brought me a big rat yesterday so that was pleasant.

[00:07:50] But yeah, that's something you can cook inside.

[00:07:53] You don't have to have fuel.

[00:07:54] You don't have to have anything.

[00:07:56] You have the whole setup right there and you're eating hot food when everybody else is in the dark.

[00:08:03] And it's pretty good for indoor use in urban areas.

[00:08:10] And I mean, you can use it anywhere.

[00:08:12] You don't have to be in a department.

[00:08:14] You can do it on your back porch if you want to.

[00:08:16] Oh, you don't have to be a city person?

[00:08:18] No, no.

[00:08:20] But those were my two favorites.

[00:08:24] Okay.

[00:08:26] I like to have when I go camping, when I'm not hiking, when I'm going with the family,

[00:08:32] I'd like to have something that's easy to start up,

[00:08:36] propane canisters.

[00:08:39] So the Camp Chef Ever Stove is a two burner stove, propane.

[00:08:46] And that's a good quality stove.

[00:08:49] And also I use the Coleman stove.

[00:08:51] That's primarily what I bring with me if I'm going on a trip with the family.

[00:08:56] I'll just hear a little bit more hiking it in and whatever.

[00:08:59] They're heavyweight and you've got to carry the propane too, yeah.

[00:09:03] So it's not something I would take in a backpack if I was hiking.

[00:09:07] But if I'm parking 100 yards from where I'm camping or something, that's easy enough.

[00:09:14] Right.

[00:09:15] So if you were going to be a speaker at Prepper Camp in September in North Carolina,

[00:09:20] that's something you might bring to your campsite is something.

[00:09:23] Exactly.

[00:09:24] Like that to make your coffee in the morning.

[00:09:27] Gotcha.

[00:09:28] Yeah.

[00:09:29] No, I mean that is something, something that when you wake up and it's cold out,

[00:09:33] it's nice to be able to just turn the, turn the Coleman stove on and get the water hot

[00:09:39] and make some coffee and get some eggs and you're ready to go.

[00:09:44] You don't have to do any work.

[00:09:45] You don't have to get the fire going.

[00:09:46] You don't have to have anything going.

[00:09:48] You can just set it up and you're drinking hot coffee while you try and poke the fire

[00:09:52] back to life.

[00:09:53] Exactly.

[00:09:54] I like it.

[00:09:55] Now, there are a couple of beefier options.

[00:09:59] And I've seen kind of like, I don't know, I would almost say sheet metal, crappy,

[00:10:05] whatever, but there's a lot of the rocket stoves you can buy.

[00:10:09] But if they're collapsible, usually they're pretty poorly made.

[00:10:13] And if they're not collapsible, they usually weigh a ton.

[00:10:17] Right.

[00:10:18] You know, they're big substantial.

[00:10:20] But there are some cool things that you know I've seen out there for the

[00:10:24] rocket stoves.

[00:10:25] It is a balance of quality and weight, you know, where you're kind of

[00:10:30] looking for the trade off, but something for cooking in the backyard.

[00:10:34] There's a lot of cool things.

[00:10:35] And there are more aggressive, like people will take stones, center blocks,

[00:10:40] that kind of thing and work out their own kind of version of a rocket stove

[00:10:46] and setting up stuff pretty cool.

[00:10:49] There's other ways to go.

[00:10:51] Believe it or not, like people take like the flat, like blue stone or like

[00:10:56] that and we'll cook right on it.

[00:10:59] Just throw it in the, you know, right on the coals kind of thing.

[00:11:03] And, you know, you can lay your food on right there and have ways to go.

[00:11:10] And that provides a lot of great options for, you know, when you're out on

[00:11:15] the trail, you don't have to carry something.

[00:11:18] I mean, honestly, aluminum foil, right?

[00:11:21] Wrapping your food and throwing it in a couple of sheets of foil and

[00:11:25] throwing it in the coals, it really depends, you know, how on the go

[00:11:28] you are, you know, I mean throwing some foil.

[00:11:31] What I've seen is people like take like a thin board or something

[00:11:35] and just wrap it with foil to kind of keep those sheets nice.

[00:11:39] And I mean, maybe you could hold it and keep it nice on your own.

[00:11:42] I'm not really sure.

[00:11:43] I haven't had any luck with that, with folding foil and keeping it

[00:11:47] and then opening it back up.

[00:11:49] Yeah, maybe if you slid it in the pouch where I have one of those

[00:11:53] camelback water platters.

[00:11:55] So maybe if you laid it in the flat of there, you know, some squares

[00:11:59] folding.

[00:12:00] Yeah, my experience is that the best bet is if you're going out

[00:12:04] and planning on doing that stuff, wrapping the stuff up first,

[00:12:07] you know, wrapping a potato up in foil and putting it in your bag.

[00:12:11] So the meals are just ready to go.

[00:12:13] Right, you just, you know, but, you know, obviously anybody

[00:12:16] that's played with a campfire knows that you can't just start

[00:12:19] a campfire up and have nice hot coals.

[00:12:21] You have to get it going.

[00:12:22] You have to, you know, let it burn down a little bit

[00:12:25] and get the real heat going in there.

[00:12:28] I gotta say that's where these backpack stoves kind of win out

[00:12:32] is you can, you know, you're cooking in like five minutes.

[00:12:37] You know what I'm saying?

[00:12:38] If you're adding twigs or whatever or your own fuel canister

[00:12:42] right there, you're ready to go.

[00:12:44] You know, that's not an issue.

[00:12:47] Whereas when, like you said, you're cooking on the coals,

[00:12:50] it's a commitment.

[00:12:51] Right.

[00:12:52] You can have a lot more smoke involved, kind of giving away

[00:12:55] your position if that's a concern.

[00:12:58] Maybe you want to be found if you're stuck in the woods,

[00:13:00] can't be sure of one or maybe you're in the woods

[00:13:03] because you don't want to be found, you know,

[00:13:06] it can go either way.

[00:13:09] But yeah, I mean, that's where those little ones win out.

[00:13:13] But also cooking, you can actually throw food right on

[00:13:17] the coals on, you know, you grab that squirrel.

[00:13:21] You can, now I got a picture, a nice steak's cooking on the coals.

[00:13:25] Yeah, that's not a squirrel, but whatever.

[00:13:27] If you had a little squirrel, you cut in those slabs.

[00:13:31] You could throw that right on there.

[00:13:34] In my case, maybe it's rabbits, right?

[00:13:37] Who knows?

[00:13:38] Yeah.

[00:13:39] Yeah, go ahead.

[00:13:40] My experience with that sort of stuff is your best bet

[00:13:43] is to bring some sort of a pot, some sort of a pan.

[00:13:47] You know, they always take up a little bit of space,

[00:13:49] but you know, you can, you know, if you've got a lid on it,

[00:13:52] whatever, you can stuff your dry socks in there, you know,

[00:13:55] whatever.

[00:13:56] You can fill that space up.

[00:13:58] They do take up a little bit more space.

[00:14:00] Yeah.

[00:14:01] And you know, the one problem is with a lot of,

[00:14:04] a lot of the pots and pans that you get for camping,

[00:14:07] they're real lightweight, they're real thin metal.

[00:14:10] Yeah.

[00:14:11] And so you have to keep that fire going.

[00:14:13] It doesn't hold the heat like a bigger pan,

[00:14:15] like cast iron might hold the heat a little bit.

[00:14:18] But backpacking would cast iron is a little bit of a door.

[00:14:21] It's not, not the smartest, smartest move.

[00:14:24] You know how cool are you when you got the big Dutch oven?

[00:14:27] But there's a big butt there.

[00:14:30] But it also weighs 20 pounds.

[00:14:32] Yeah.

[00:14:33] You know, you're cool, but actually I was always really happy

[00:14:36] with the Stanley Cook sets.

[00:14:38] They got a couple of different sizes and varieties of ways

[00:14:42] you could go on that.

[00:14:44] And they're pretty awesome for the backpacking and like that.

[00:14:51] Yeah.

[00:14:52] So I'm a big proponent of cooking on, cooking on the fire.

[00:14:57] You know, I like to, I like the taste of it.

[00:15:00] You know, I'd like charcoal better than propane.

[00:15:02] But you know, propane is a lot easier to cook with.

[00:15:06] You know, propane, a propane grill versus a charcoal grill,

[00:15:10] you know, two completely different animals.

[00:15:14] But you know, personally the flavor of charcoal,

[00:15:17] the flavor of, you know, campfire is a lot better,

[00:15:20] you know, a lot better taste for me.

[00:15:24] You know, one of the, one of the best things to cook

[00:15:27] in my opinion on, on the coals when you're cooking right

[00:15:31] on the fire with aluminum foil or whatever,

[00:15:33] is you want something that's good for slow cooking.

[00:15:36] You know, something like my favorite is ribs.

[00:15:39] I like ribs.

[00:15:40] You know, you get the ribs, you smear it all over with

[00:15:43] barbecue sauce and wrap it up in the foil.

[00:15:46] And then you throw it on the coals 45 minutes an hour.

[00:15:49] And they come, they come out and they just, you know,

[00:15:53] pull right apart.

[00:15:55] I like slow cooking on, you know, a lot of those meats,

[00:15:58] but you know, the truth is, you know, sometimes I like

[00:16:01] it nice sear and get it, get it nice and crispy on

[00:16:05] and off, you know?

[00:16:06] So it's still red in the middle.

[00:16:07] Red in the middle and, you know, a little, little flavor

[00:16:10] charcoal on the outside.

[00:16:12] You know?

[00:16:13] Yeah, that's, that's always, I mean, I'm a big potato

[00:16:17] and onion fan and that kind of thing, you know,

[00:16:20] you cook that down.

[00:16:24] The, you know, one of the guys mentioned the stove

[00:16:27] light, they make a decent one.

[00:16:29] You know, I was checking those out.

[00:16:31] They're pretty cool.

[00:16:32] The, the best in my mind is to how cool are you when

[00:16:38] you can have the ingredients that you have right there

[00:16:41] available to you?

[00:16:42] You know, where you're not even backpacking it in,

[00:16:44] you know, stuff you're grabbing with the snare or

[00:16:47] whatever, you know, the rabbits, the squirrels,

[00:16:50] the things that you're getting on the go.

[00:16:52] Maybe you shoot something, you know, who knows

[00:16:54] you're cooking it up having, you know,

[00:16:57] the, the leeks or the onions that you're finding

[00:17:00] on the, the trail kind of thing or, you know,

[00:17:03] that you have planted in the backyard having that

[00:17:05] stuff available to you.

[00:17:06] I don't know.

[00:17:07] I always get like an extra level of satisfaction

[00:17:09] when it's like, ooh, everything came from my

[00:17:12] property, you know, everything is right here.

[00:17:14] Right.

[00:17:15] And, you know, whatever I started, I brought

[00:17:18] the rabbits in and started that, but you

[00:17:20] get the idea, you know, it's just like, ooh,

[00:17:22] yeah, I've chickens and eggs.

[00:17:24] Well, they weren't naturally here when I got

[00:17:26] here, I did get some chickens, but it's

[00:17:28] something that I have, you know, and that

[00:17:31] we've raised and done.

[00:17:33] Now the latest addition is turkeys.

[00:17:36] I have a torturing me out there, but, you

[00:17:40] know, having that little meat that you

[00:17:42] smoke and you do yourself and setting up

[00:17:44] your own stuff, adding that to your eggs

[00:17:47] that you're cooking on your little camp

[00:17:49] stove, using the onions in the, you know,

[00:17:52] the garlic and the things that you've,

[00:17:54] you know, grown out there and planned

[00:17:56] out.

[00:17:57] I don't know, I guess just the satisfaction

[00:17:59] of kind of self-reliance and building up

[00:18:02] and knowing that you have a sustainable

[00:18:05] thing that you're going to be able to keep

[00:18:07] going no matter what bad decisions our

[00:18:09] crazy government makes, you know, we're

[00:18:11] still going to have, you know, stuff going on.

[00:18:14] Yeah, I think the best camping trip I went

[00:18:18] on was about a seven mile hike and

[00:18:21] up in the mountains and it was a big

[00:18:24] lake there and just pulling trout out of

[00:18:27] that lake like nothing.

[00:18:29] And, you know, it was easy to cook.

[00:18:31] I added, you know, a couple of pieces of

[00:18:33] bacon, so I just threw that in the pan,

[00:18:35] got the pan nice and greasy and threw

[00:18:37] that fish right in there and it was,

[00:18:39] you know, it was unseasoned.

[00:18:41] I didn't have any seasoning with me,

[00:18:43] but it was probably the best fish I've

[00:18:45] ever eaten in my life, you know,

[00:18:47] right over the fire and fresh

[00:18:50] right out of the river.

[00:18:52] Yeah, well if you leave the skin on,

[00:18:54] you kind of get that salty stuff going

[00:18:56] on a lot of it, you know, with it,

[00:18:58] where you get that kind of season,

[00:19:00] you know, plus you get it from cooking.

[00:19:02] But that is a big thing is,

[00:19:04] you know, bringing a little seasoning

[00:19:06] with you isn't a bad way to go.

[00:19:08] Yeah, a little bit of salt and pepper goes along.

[00:19:10] A little bit of garlic, that kind of stuff.

[00:19:12] Learning to recognize what nature has

[00:19:14] out there is awesome, but just to

[00:19:17] say, bringing a little baggy with stuff

[00:19:19] is pretty cool too.

[00:19:21] It's funny that it never occurred to me,

[00:19:25] but my wife decided

[00:19:27] to make garlic powder this year

[00:19:29] out of our garlic, you know,

[00:19:31] she hydrated it and,

[00:19:33] and oh my God, it is so different

[00:19:36] in the potency of the little like garlic

[00:19:39] powder you get from the store

[00:19:41] versus, you know, using our homemade

[00:19:43] stuff and it's like, oh my God,

[00:19:45] it's like totally different.

[00:19:47] Plus, when you see the disturbing things

[00:19:49] of the, you know, the way it's made

[00:19:51] in other countries, you know,

[00:19:53] when you have the made in China, whatever

[00:19:55] and what's in there and you're like,

[00:19:57] yeah, right. Yeah, homemade natural sounds

[00:19:59] pretty good. Yeah.

[00:20:01] Give up a decent amount of garlic

[00:20:03] to get, you know, your jar full of

[00:20:05] garlic. Right, right.

[00:20:07] It takes a lot of garlic to make garlic powder, right?

[00:20:09] You got to take, once you take

[00:20:11] all that moisture out of there,

[00:20:13] it shrinks down quite a bit.

[00:20:15] And I got to say it was effort

[00:20:17] to get the moisture

[00:20:19] out of there. Like it was still kind of clumpy

[00:20:21] and, you know, like

[00:20:23] just keep fighting it like you're in there

[00:20:25] with a fork, you know, breaking it up

[00:20:27] again every once in a while because

[00:20:29] the moisture, so it's tough.

[00:20:31] I mean, I'm sure had we, you know,

[00:20:33] ran it through the dehydrator or whatever

[00:20:35] a few more times, we could have

[00:20:37] had better success. But

[00:20:39] there is something for bringing

[00:20:41] good seasoning and I guess it has brought

[00:20:43] that up one because it's awesome and I'm amazed

[00:20:45] that she made awesome garlic powder

[00:20:47] but two, that

[00:20:49] you know, bringing spices

[00:20:51] and the little extra niceties can

[00:20:53] go a long way. You know, having

[00:20:55] salt set aside both for curing

[00:20:57] and whatever in your preps

[00:20:59] and, you know, and for seasoning

[00:21:01] will go a long way. And those of you

[00:21:03] that love sugar, maybe that's

[00:21:05] a way to go for you, you know, I don't know.

[00:21:07] Yeah, yeah. No, I know

[00:21:09] you know, when I go on hikes, I'll usually

[00:21:11] you know, I usually make

[00:21:13] something

[00:21:15] lamb chops or

[00:21:17] you know, or duck

[00:21:19] or something like that and I'll put it in

[00:21:21] a ziplock bag, put it in with a marinade

[00:21:23] and put it in the freezer the night before

[00:21:25] I leave. And that way

[00:21:27] it's nice and frozen for the whole hike up

[00:21:29] and then, you know, by the time

[00:21:31] you're ready to cook, it's just about thought out

[00:21:33] and it's been marinating so it's ready

[00:21:35] to go. It's nice

[00:21:37] to be out on a hike in the middle of nowhere

[00:21:39] and have like, you know, a nice deluxe

[00:21:41] gourmet meal, you know

[00:21:43] after all that

[00:21:45] all that walking

[00:21:47] but um, you know

[00:21:49] to me that's one of the great things

[00:21:51] about hiking and camping, backpacking

[00:21:53] is, you know

[00:21:55] planning ahead and having a good time, you know

[00:21:57] it's

[00:21:59] bringing a bottle of whiskey

[00:22:01] is a lot less

[00:22:03] weight than bringing a 12 pack of beer

[00:22:05] but um. Yeah, it's good

[00:22:07] planning Kevin, you're smart. Yeah. Yeah, that's

[00:22:09] that's how to do it and those bottles

[00:22:11] are heavy though. You got to

[00:22:13] dump that into a big flask and then you're

[00:22:15] ready to go man. Flask. Then you're

[00:22:17] ready to go. You're hammered

[00:22:19] and you're eating a good meal

[00:22:21] and uh, you're going to have

[00:22:23] a miserable day the next day being hung over

[00:22:25] trying to walk back down the mountain.

[00:22:27] Do we need, do we need

[00:22:29] the uh, Survival in Basic Bad

[00:22:31] Ass podcast flask? Is that where? I think

[00:22:33] that's a good idea. I think we need to get something like that

[00:22:35] together. Yeah, I like

[00:22:37] that idea. That

[00:22:39] sounds right. Um, but

[00:22:41] that's that's one of the things is the more

[00:22:43] you're out camping and hiking

[00:22:45] and doing these things, the more

[00:22:47] you realize what works and what

[00:22:49] stuff you're carrying in. It's

[00:22:51] just useless. You know, all

[00:22:53] the fancy, you know, little tricks

[00:22:55] and whatever, you know, learning

[00:22:57] how to filter water and stuff

[00:22:59] over the life straw or whatever

[00:23:01] is is kind of a good

[00:23:03] thing. But again, you never know

[00:23:05] what situations are going to present

[00:23:07] themselves. You know, maybe boiling

[00:23:09] water is not in the cards.

[00:23:11] You know, having one of those pumps where

[00:23:13] you can just pump right out of the creek

[00:23:15] in a fill in all your water containers.

[00:23:17] That's pretty awesome.

[00:23:19] You know, that might be the right trick

[00:23:21] because carrying in water is never

[00:23:23] fun. But again, you need to know

[00:23:25] it can be hard to find clean

[00:23:27] clean water. You know what I mean? You might

[00:23:29] run across the spring but I mean that's

[00:23:31] those are few in far

[00:23:33] far between. All science points

[00:23:35] unlikely, you know, as long

[00:23:37] as, you know, if you know

[00:23:39] the trip or you know that, oh

[00:23:41] this park has little

[00:23:43] spickets every mile or whatever

[00:23:45] where you can go in and just turn it on

[00:23:47] and good to go. That's cool

[00:23:49] but, you know, maybe that's not the case

[00:23:51] right? Yeah.

[00:23:53] I know I've been to a lot of places where

[00:23:55] accessing clean water is

[00:23:57] not easy, you know, and having

[00:23:59] to boil water is, it takes a lot

[00:24:01] energy. You know, a lot of fuel

[00:24:03] you have to get the, you know,

[00:24:05] the fire going just right and get

[00:24:07] that, you know, get the right heat out

[00:24:09] just to get that water boiling. It can be

[00:24:11] you know, a project

[00:24:13] in itself. So,

[00:24:15] you know, always bring

[00:24:17] plenty of clean water and have

[00:24:19] you know, have

[00:24:21] a filter of some sort with you

[00:24:23] but

[00:24:25] yeah, that's my opinion

[00:24:27] as far as the stoves go

[00:24:31] the Uber Leaven was

[00:24:33] my favorite for sure. Yeah, I'm definitely

[00:24:35] going to put some links in the

[00:24:37] show notes in the bottom of the thing

[00:24:39] so you guys have it and can

[00:24:41] check those out and

[00:24:43] see what's available to you because

[00:24:45] they're both awesome. I mean

[00:24:47] it really just depends on your application

[00:24:49] you know, what are you trying to do

[00:24:51] if you're hanging out with your buddies in that

[00:24:53] you know, in the backyard and you want a little

[00:24:55] you know, something but you're not

[00:24:57] in the neighborhood where you can have the big

[00:24:59] roaring campfire you know

[00:25:01] it's one thing if you can build the 5

[00:25:03] foot tall bonfire and whatever

[00:25:05] right still even that you don't

[00:25:07] want to you know, you're not

[00:25:09] cooking marshmallows on the one that you

[00:25:11] can't get within 10 feet of you know

[00:25:13] uh-huh yeah

[00:25:15] yeah so I did a few

[00:25:19] on my honeymoon we did

[00:25:21] we were out camping

[00:25:23] and I had to set up a

[00:25:25] tripod and

[00:25:27] I had a few people come out you know

[00:25:29] hike out and meet up with us

[00:25:31] and I had a few big

[00:25:33] steaks that I cooked on there

[00:25:35] and that was uh, that was really

[00:25:37] something that was uh, that was good

[00:25:39] you know it was like the big

[00:25:41] broiling steaks you know the big 3 pound

[00:25:43] steaks and you know

[00:25:45] how did you work the tripod was it

[00:25:47] like a grate that's hanging off it

[00:25:49] or right right so it's a great

[00:25:51] that hangs from the center of the tripod over the fire

[00:25:53] and you can adjust it you know I mean

[00:25:55] up or down and um

[00:25:57] you know obviously

[00:25:59] it can be a lot trickier

[00:26:01] to cook meat over a fire than

[00:26:03] on the stove you know what I mean you've got

[00:26:05] you've got to uh work

[00:26:07] the fire so it's just right you know you

[00:26:09] don't want to burn all your food

[00:26:11] and uh you know you want to have some nice

[00:26:13] hot coals that you can put the food right

[00:26:15] over top of without uh

[00:26:17] you know without burning everything to shit

[00:26:19] and it can be a tricky you know it can be tricky

[00:26:21] to do it to get it right

[00:26:23] yeah that's right and so uh with those

[00:26:25] with those um

[00:26:27] with those tripods when you work it that way

[00:26:29] it's it's a lot of up and

[00:26:31] down you know what I mean

[00:26:33] you know want to have a bunch of uh

[00:26:35] you know little twigs in there burning real hot

[00:26:37] and and you know

[00:26:39] burning all your your meat

[00:26:41] and you don't want to have a bunch of old logs

[00:26:43] that are just kind of like you know

[00:26:45] wet and steaming and you know

[00:26:47] slow and low yeah slow and low

[00:26:49] so you have to have a good balance

[00:26:51] and uh you know it can take a while to get

[00:26:53] a fire where it's big enough

[00:26:55] and hot enough that it has coals that it

[00:26:57] can burn down and and still maintain

[00:26:59] the heat for a while

[00:27:01] and that's the thing it's all about

[00:27:03] finding the right application for what

[00:27:05] you're into and you know what you're

[00:27:07] after but again that's the

[00:27:09] you know go out and do it

[00:27:11] the more you're out there hiking

[00:27:13] camping and experiencing

[00:27:15] stuff and I gotta say when you go out

[00:27:17] on like these trails and different

[00:27:19] things you meet people

[00:27:21] and you see the other tricks they're doing

[00:27:23] um there is a ton of

[00:27:25] things that you can do with spending

[00:27:27] no money or little money

[00:27:29] you know even a tripod

[00:27:31] you can work out things where

[00:27:33] you're hanging stuff for cheap

[00:27:35] cheap you know or nothing

[00:27:37] you know even just a great like

[00:27:39] heck you could just take an old oven rack

[00:27:41] and make your own you know tripod

[00:27:43] and you know I mean

[00:27:45] there's different ways to go and maybe

[00:27:47] you cut it down a little smaller with the

[00:27:49] grinder in the backyard you know

[00:27:51] you don't need to spend a million

[00:27:53] bucks to you know find

[00:27:55] the right setup you need to just

[00:27:57] kind of use your head kind of

[00:27:59] think you know a little bit of what

[00:28:01] you know what could work for you

[00:28:03] you know you could easily take an old

[00:28:05] oven rack and cut it to where it's

[00:28:07] gonna fit just inside your backpack

[00:28:09] and be you know one more thing

[00:28:11] now obviously you don't want that

[00:28:13] metal grate laying right against your back

[00:28:15] when you're hiking in but

[00:28:17] you might be able to cushion it

[00:28:19] and spread it out a little bit and set up

[00:28:21] the right thing you know these are the

[00:28:23] things you learn over time by doing

[00:28:25] though is oh you know that was

[00:28:27] you know grating on my back the whole

[00:28:29] night like a cheese grater and I didn't

[00:28:31] you know like that hiking in

[00:28:33] but oh when I wrapped a sweatshirt

[00:28:35] around it or my towel that I brought

[00:28:37] you know then it wasn't so bad

[00:28:39] you know whatever you find the tricks

[00:28:41] that work yeah what I was

[00:28:43] um yeah my experience

[00:28:45] too is when you go out

[00:28:47] you're never going someplace where nobody

[00:28:49] else has ever been and people are always

[00:28:51] leaving all kinds of trash and shit behind

[00:28:53] and you can always find something

[00:28:55] you know there's been probably

[00:28:57] half a dozen campsites that I've gone

[00:28:59] to where the fireplace

[00:29:01] you know was already built and set up

[00:29:03] and there's just an old

[00:29:05] fucking great sitting there

[00:29:07] someplace you know what I mean somebody

[00:29:09] brought it in didn't feel like hiking it back out

[00:29:11] um that's pretty

[00:29:13] cool yeah oh I mean

[00:29:15] and how cool are you when you're leaving

[00:29:17] for the next guy you know I know they're like

[00:29:19] go nature and leave it as you found

[00:29:21] it and whatever

[00:29:23] yeah whatever

[00:29:25] don't be a jerk you know but just the

[00:29:27] same mm-hmm that's something

[00:29:29] useful for the guy you know maybe

[00:29:31] maybe they appreciate it yeah

[00:29:33] yeah you can always find something

[00:29:35] I mean I always bring in

[00:29:37] a trash bag and always carry out a lot

[00:29:39] more stuff than I bring in but

[00:29:41] well Kevin you're just a good citizen

[00:29:43] I mean we're all proud of you

[00:29:45] you know there's sometimes when I'll

[00:29:47] go out someplace and I'll think like

[00:29:49] this place looks

[00:29:51] too clean you know what I mean it doesn't look

[00:29:53] right it doesn't feel right you feel

[00:29:55] like somebody needs to bring a bag of

[00:29:57] empty beer cans and dump it out

[00:29:59] so that it's a little

[00:30:01] bit more homie you know

[00:30:03] a little bit more living empty beer cans

[00:30:05] and dump the batter do you just

[00:30:07] yeah they're empty what I bring them

[00:30:11] that doesn't sound like you

[00:30:13] but uh you know maybe

[00:30:15] yeah but I mean

[00:30:17] I don't know

[00:30:19] I'm sure if you're listening to this

[00:30:21] podcast or the type person that likes to go out in the woods

[00:30:23] but if you're listening you don't

[00:30:25] go camping you can't remember last

[00:30:27] time you went camping with your kids the last time

[00:30:29] you went by yourself or with some friends

[00:30:31] get your shit together man

[00:30:33] you need to get out in the woods

[00:30:35] listen to this some Johnny Cash

[00:30:37] and get your life together

[00:30:39] exactly Johnny Cash

[00:30:41] I don't know how you wouldn't change

[00:30:43] your life right that's actually

[00:30:45] one of the things it would be awesome

[00:30:47] if you put in the comments

[00:30:49] like maybe your best

[00:30:51] camping trip or where to go that

[00:30:53] you've done I know

[00:30:55] the national parks are just awesome

[00:30:57] and you know huge

[00:30:59] I heard it's really great to go out

[00:31:01] and pet the buffalo

[00:31:03] that's a good thing that people

[00:31:05] yes you're supposed

[00:31:07] and have you ever see a grizzly bear

[00:31:09] yeah they're good too

[00:31:11] they love to have their chin scratched

[00:31:13] check that out

[00:31:15] if you're ever in a national park

[00:31:17] and you come across a

[00:31:19] an elk

[00:31:21] you should go try and feed it some grass

[00:31:23] and see what happens

[00:31:25] that actually petting

[00:31:27] might be a bad idea

[00:31:29] that would be one of those

[00:31:31] I don't know if you guys been listening to the show

[00:31:33] for a long time but

[00:31:35] one of those Kevin's gonna get you killed

[00:31:37] scenarios

[00:31:39] those times that Kevin killed people

[00:31:41] that would be with the grizzly

[00:31:43] and the buffalo belly rubs

[00:31:45] yeah

[00:31:47] I think that's maybe the new t-shirt

[00:31:49] for the survival and basic badass

[00:31:51] podcast give a grizzly a belly rub

[00:31:53] yeah they love that shit

[00:31:55] yeah cause that only sounds right

[00:31:59] and they love when you bring

[00:32:01] extra food for their babies

[00:32:03] and try and feed the babies

[00:32:05] they love that

[00:32:07] so yeah if you're out there

[00:32:09] I mean honestly though

[00:32:11] the woods are all around you man

[00:32:13] it's everywhere

[00:32:15] get out there

[00:32:17] get some fire

[00:32:19] there's something like

[00:32:21] innately

[00:32:23] inside humans

[00:32:25] that just makes you happier

[00:32:27] being around a fire

[00:32:29] it's the call of the wild

[00:32:31] no it is relaxing

[00:32:33] I don't know sometimes it does

[00:32:35] the next day you're like ooh I feel dried out

[00:32:37] sit next to that smoke

[00:32:39] and whatever

[00:32:41] but if you build a good fire

[00:32:43] and set something up awesome

[00:32:45] out there

[00:32:47] it really is pretty great

[00:32:49] and gives you some kind of peace of mind

[00:32:51] and relaxing

[00:32:53] um I don't know

[00:32:55] I've had nothing but great experiences

[00:32:57] being outdoors and camping

[00:32:59] and getting close to nature

[00:33:01] and enjoying it all

[00:33:03] and you know like Kevin said

[00:33:05] it doesn't hurt if you bring a

[00:33:07] bottle of whiskey and make everything a little bit better

[00:33:09] yeah that's right man

[00:33:11] that's right could be wrong

[00:33:13] but anyway so

[00:33:15] I'll see if I can't work out some kind of

[00:33:17] I'm sure about petting the grizzly

[00:33:19] and uh

[00:33:21] see if we can't hook you guys up

[00:33:23] you can see some of the other great ideas

[00:33:25] that we've had at

[00:33:27] preppingbadass.com

[00:33:29] slant

[00:33:31] check out gear on there

[00:33:33] we have some cool stuff there

[00:33:35] if you guys want to support the show

[00:33:37] and you know help us out

[00:33:39] always don't forget to like and subscribe

[00:33:41] leave reviews that stuff helps so much

[00:33:43] um

[00:33:45] but I think um you know we'll have to do

[00:33:47] that we'll have to work on that um

[00:33:49] petting the grizzly bear uh flask

[00:33:51] for for hiking so

[00:33:53] maybe we can get some hiking flasks

[00:33:55] flasks going I'll see if I can find some

[00:33:57] uh some company that that'll do that for us

[00:34:01] that only sounds right but uh

[00:34:03] yeah also patreon.com

[00:34:05] slant preppingbadass

[00:34:07] you guys have questions concerns

[00:34:09] things you want to talk about

[00:34:11] um let us know and uh

[00:34:13] actually some good ideas I think we need to do

[00:34:15] another gun episode is what

[00:34:17] yeah all right

[00:34:19] questions concerns

[00:34:21] email us at preppingbadass

[00:34:23] at gmail.com and we will talk

[00:34:25] to you guys next week

[00:34:43] music

[00:35:13] music