A Gentleman`s Guide To Travel Necessities: The Spork

The good old, omnipresent spork: You see it displayed in all shapes and variants (namely in dedicated "show me the contents of you purse pages" also known as "EDC" websites) , which is surprising as it is limited on how many alterations to a proven design you can make something useless.

The favorite way of getting there is to add as many functions as possible to your eating utensils that EATING with it is the last thing you want to do with your tomahawk/spearhead/wrench/signal mirror monstrosity.

A spork as such is a fork, a spoon and maybe a slightly serrated edge to cut your tatties. And not to slice your mouth open with a razor sharp edge.....

But yes, guilty as charged: I do carry these miraculous eating utensils routinely on my travels...wherever my former employer seemed fit to send me.

Mostly to some dodgy hotels close to an airport where for some reason the restaurant was closed at 19:30 and the breakfast buffet was opening about 2 hours later of my departure from said hotel.

So in order to have some chow before bedtime or at least something looking like breakfast I had to leg it to a nearby gas station for yogurts, some milk, maybe a micro pack with cereals and maybe some instant ramen (or if I was VERY lucky a instant meal containing bacon and mashed tatties).

As most hotels have a electric kettles for tea and "coffee" making a little meal is easier than thought...however: Eating ramen or ceral with teaspoons is a bothersome affair, hence the spork.

Sporks of choice: One out of plastic, one out of titanium.

One cheap, the other expensive.

Both LightMyFire

Both have serrated edges for shenanigans like...

...cutting up a tetra pak with milk...

...and use it as a ad hoc bowl.

"But I have a KNIFE! Why don`t you just use your KNIFE?"

Sigh...

You don`t fly much, do you?

Survival: The (alleged) Survival Hammock

I was mildly surprised when I found out that the improvised "shelves" we used to stow gear away up under the decks of the fast patrol boats I served in in the Navy. (Place was reserved for missiles and the ridiculous high powered engines, not for the soft & mushy parts in-between: The crew)

Anyway, I know those "survival hammock" from before, but never thought of sleeping in one. So I went out to make one and try it out.

My two cents: If you have some padding, like an empty backpack or suchlike, it is ok. With no padding it feels like sleeping on a potato peeler..

If you are a fakir, masochist (or both) or simply just want to try it out: Here is the tutorial video I made

Survival: The Sun Mirror

99,99999 % of what some neckbearded "Survival Instructor" is telling you (while he is pulling his group through some senseless hike to stretch the time and having an audience for his "When I Was In The Sandbox" stories) you already heard in your school during science class:

The same with this little experiment I staged for my oldest science class and later decided to add to this blog: How to make fire with a hollow mirror aka a reflector headlights.

Enjoy, and please activate the subtitles for this video:

Survival: The MRF Adventur 2.0 - Axe mod

I always liked the idea of a flat, multi purpose tool that could fit snugly in a wallet..preferably a thin shoulder wallet or neck pouch without bulking the whole assemble up.

Anyway, I got a very nice Baladeo Survival Card that followed me around for a few years: Small enough to forget that I have it with me and functional enough to actually be useful when needed.

So I was blissfully aware of being equipped for about 90% of all things that never happened...until I seen the "Adventur 2.0" which made me painfully aware of that I was under equipped for the other 10% that will probably never happen. But hey, who knows right?

It took me some weeks before I ordered one, when the Cider level in my system counter balanced the hefty price tag, while my "me-wanty" instinct Blackjack`ed my ration over the head.

A few days later the chunky piece of Ukrainian steel arrived in my mail box and I am in love ever since.

The "Adventur 2.0" has many advertised features, one of them is that the (heavy) survival card can function as axe head.

Something I was more than happy to try out.

(If you are interested in a similar project, check out my Stoneage Club

The MRF Survival Card in attack mode

All new and still shiny...

First we need the axe shaft...some good whacks

with a piece of wood drives...

..the blade into the shaft and splits it.

Good steel: No nicks!

I will try to keep it in place with a ZipTie first.

Still no nicks.

No complaints from my side!

Will try with some cord instead of a ZipTie

Tales Of Ice And Fire

Once if the ideas I had during lockdown for a bit unusual garden ornament/decoration for the winter:

A fire bowl made out of ice.

It sounds like the kind of poetry an eighth grader would write:

"...it burns like Ice and Fire..."

I let water freeze in a steel bowl with a weighted metal bottle in the middle.

To remove the bottle I fill it with hot water.

Now I fill the hole left behind by the bottle so just a ca 5 cm deep hole is left.

I let that water freeze too.

Turn the bowl around, douse it with hot water to free the "ice lens"

Now add a bit of petroleum paste to the hole and...

...set on fire :-)

The flames will actually not touch the ice as only the fumes, 

which are 2-3 mm over the petroleum paste, are burning.

So the ice will not melt all too fast, with a bit of luck you have it 

all night :-)

Survival: The Flint Spark Lighter

Running into the flint spark lighter is inevitable if you work with metals, it is commonly used to ignite an acetylene welding torch (or, like in our house, ignite the gas stove).

It is widely available in building markets and actually has a lot of advantages in regards of fire making over the Ferro(cerium) Rod, which is so popular in survival/hiking circles (even though I prefer to carry a simple BIG lighter...)

You will find that a spark lighter is:

- much cheaper

- easier to use (also with gloves on...ESPECIALLY with gloves on!)

- in general (for me personal) works better in terms of success rate

- can be used one handed

- does not leave this stinking, grey residue on your fingers

....and so on.

( By the way: Over the years I bought most of my knives and outdoor clothing in building markets, carpenters pants and shirts/jackets, because I find them of much higher quality and at a better price/performance ratio than stuff bought in a "tactical" or "survival" store)

Of course practicality is not as marketable as the "tactical factor" so Ferro(cerium) rods will always be associated with survival. 

Anyway, let me show you how well the spark lighter works:

Greatest advantage is obvious: Can be used one handed.

Small in price, large in effect.

I rest my case.

I use the Cotton Pad Fire Starter ….

….which work great :-)

Survival: Understand your Ferro (-cerium) rod!

MY TWO CENTS

Ferro rods ( or "Flint Strikers") are one of these things nobody really knows if it`s actually a "Must-Have" or "Nice-To-Have".

XL sized Ferrocerium rod from China. Cheap as dirt incl. shipping

The first time I seen one was in an outdoor catalog (Anno 1989) and apparently had near magical properties were:

- start up to +1000 fires!

- 4000  °C hot sparks (!)

- works in any weather!

Now, 30 year later and just (marginally) smarter, I can not understand why someone would pack a ferro rod but not a BIC lighter!

To use a ferro rod in anger needs either a whole lot of skill or some pre-pared carry on`s like 

Cotton Pad Fire Starter

or

Tinder Rasp

In the meantime you can start a fire with a flick of your thumb with a BIC lighter...or create a lot of sparks (if lighter out of gas) to use in combination with above aids.

Cotton pad with petrol jelly (vaseline) as firestarter.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When steel strikes/scrapes flint (ferrocerium) , microscopic flecks of ferrocerium are knocked off. Due to the surface to oxidation ratio these flecks rust so fast that they start to burn.


WHAT IS THIS DEMON STUFF?!

Ferrocerium is a synthetic, pyrophoric alloy made out of iron (latin: "Ferro") and the rare earth Cerrium. It is often wrongly referred to as Flint-And-Steel because of the lighters using high carbon steel and natural flint.

Survival: Cotton Pad & Vaseline Fire Starter

Vaseline maybe doesn`t strike you as a "survival remedy" but its one of those things so small and cheap: It is almost stupid not to carry it....at least if you plan to make a fire with a Ferrocerium Rod / Flint striker

Anyhow, I usually carry a small tin with Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly to use against chaffed lips during wintertime. So it is a win-win. I might be lacking at bit more in the cotton pad department, but I usually carry (PLENTY of!) tampons in my EDC. They work fine too.

Using vaseline is not my favorite method though, that title still belongs to the Tinder Rasp but hey: A fire is a fire.

Petrol Jelly/Cotton pad in action

Knife? Check!

Tinder? Check?

IKEA hobo stove? Check?

Cheap, Chinese Ferrocerium rod? CHECK?

Yup, you heard right: I like to use the cheap, Chinese ferrocerium rods.

You can`t beat the price of 2 $ with shipping.

Cotton pad / petroleum jelly

Try to pull the pad in half so the fibrous inside is exposed.

FIBROUS is the keyword because the cottons fibers will catch 

and "nest" any spark you make with your ferro rod.

So, the trick is only to cover HALF of a cotton, the other 

(fibrous) half has to stay free to catch the sparks.

Also: Small fibrous hairs are easier ignited than a smooth surface. 

A less than impressive spark (or less than impressive skills with a 

camera)...

..but it did the job!

Quickly into the stove

Bit of tinder

Okay, a LOT more tinder!

I rest my case!