Survival: The Improvised Carrier Rig

This is something I use on an everyday basis: An improvised rig to carry flashlights or radios to have my hands free when it matters. If your radio/flashlight is being caught by something or someone you can free yourself of it by just twisting your body. 

This can also be used to carry knives concealed under a jacket.

A psychedelic pink, arctic sunrise...

See that radio hanging over my left shoulder? That is one heavy lump of a GMDSS VHF.

Its tied to a ca 50 cm (adjustable) long loop

Put your arm through the loop and behind your neck.

Like this...

"You sure you want to do that boy?"

Now a 180 degree turn...

...and a step forward: Ready to escape

"What do you mean, we are all out of coffee?!"

Survival: The Tent Peg Grill

So you ask:

"Lars, where does this profound knowledge of survival in extremely hostile environments come from? Who trained you? Some wise old man? The military?"

The military?

"Ha!" I`d say "HA! Taking survival instructions from an organization that is calculating its members lifespan in minutes? Noo....even though I used my experience later on in my military "career" it was not the military giving me the experience. They just added to the tools in my backpack!"

"But..where did you get IT from then? Did you live with the Yanonami? Were you a fur hunter on Kamchatka? Living on psychotropic berries and ocelot snouts?"

None of those, my experience comes from the most hostile known to man:

- adverse weather conditions

- financial chaos

- hostile natives

- tribal wars

- mud (!!)

- limited resources 

- riots

- unbearable noise pollution

A place where you have to be quick on your feet, smart and tough:

ROSKILDE FESTIVAL 1992-1999

There you had to learn to survive on a string budget to keep yourself supplied with beer, condoms and rolling paper. 

There I also learned this little hack: A grill made out of tent pegs....preferably other peoples pegs.

(Want a free tent? Go to Roskilde Festival and pick one up...thousands of tents and other equipment are abandoned every year)

Survival: Topinambur (aka "Jerusalem Artichocke")

Topinambur is survivaslists best friend:

- It grows like s....t, anywhere.....

- It is self-seeding

- It grows under conditions where the hardiest crops have to give up

- Tastes excellent

- Extremely nutritious

- Is very healthy

-The tubers can be harvested all year round (and the tubers are actually best kept in the ground right before you need them)

- Is not recognizable as food for garden looters

- Can be eaten raw

Nice "sunflower" :-)
Topinambur blooms between August and Octover

"There is something wrong with your sunflowers!!" my nosy neighbor loves to tell me (almost every season) "The flowers are way too small and you got no seeds!"

I just smile at that knowing that the "sunflowers" are actually Topinambur tubers (also known as "Earthapple") and that the 5 m strip of garden I have reserved for them probably yields between 10-18 kg of high calorie food: Hidden in plain sight!

Apart from food source: Topinambur is attractive to look at and gives a great deal of privacy.

Harvest time (all year round, right now it is February)

As said before: The tubers are best stored in the ground!

5 plants: 3, 5 kg of tubers.

Lets make soup: Wash `em!

Peel `em!

Cut them in to small chunks and fry them in olive oil together with onions and garlic.

Fry for about 10-15 minutes...

...until they start to get soft.

Prepare your soup base.

Boil for about 40 minutes.

Add bacon, salt and pepper.

Blend it (to whatever "chunky" grade you prefer!)

You can also use a potato masher.

The Road To Iceland - Sleeping Bags

So we finally took ourselves together and bought tickets to Iceland for the whole family. We will go in October, to maximize the chance to see the Aurora Borealis, and stay for 8 days.

Of these 8 days we want to sleep 3 in a hotel and the rest in our car(avan) or tent....or just under the open sky, together under a never-ending sky.

We got the area scoped out...

That sounds romantic, but we need some sleeping bags that are up for the task. We took a good look at our old sleeping bags and discarded them: They are good enough for summer and/or festivals but not for this adventure.

So we needed to make an investment here and bought 5 high-end sleeping bags with a comfort limit down to minus two degrees celcius. They weren`t cheap but we also not overly expensive as we each have a bagage allowance of 30 kg and can afford to splurge with weight: And high-end, LIGHT WEIGHT sleeping-bags cost the world.

Here we go: 1600 PLN for 5 sleeping-bags. 3 standard length and 2 extra long.

Bit for the spec junkies... ;-p

The two "long length" can be zipped together...

...as can the regular length ones...

Even for a 1,91m guy: Enough space to stretch out.

Comes with adjustable inside collar to keep the heat inside.

And a massive, sturdy zipper. All in all we are very happy with the purchase!

Survival: The Swedish Candle

What is a Swedish Candle:

It`s an upright standing, large log. In it you make 4-6 pie-like cuts until you are ca 5-10 cm from the bottom. 

Start a fire in the center, and bottom of, the cuts. The wood and the extreme intake of oxygen will result in a very hot flame directed upwards: Which make it ideal for cooking as you can put a pot or pan on top.

Roaring like a jet engine.

Obviously a chain saw is best for the project...

I usually make a few for decorating the garden.

Also ideal for Kelly Kettles :-)

Also ideal for...

...beer and sausages...

Oh baby...