Dunk Testing UCO Stormproof Strike-on-the-box Matches...Say What!? ©

Dunk Testing Matches...Say What!? ©

 

 

UCO Stormproof and UCO Titan Stormproof matches, photograph by the Author.

Did you ever purposefully dunked a match that you wanted to stay lit, into a bucket of water?  Me neither!  Until that is, I was given a box of UCO Titan Stormproof matches to test out.  I was told that you could dunk a burning UCO Stormproof strike-on-the-box match into a bucket of water, pull it out and it would burst back into flames.  Not possible I thought, but hey, why not give it a shot!  And so I did, but before I tell you what happened, let’s talk about UCO’s Stormproof matches.

 

UCO Stormproof matches...

 

The 4-¹/₈ inch (10.5 cm) long UCO Titan Stormproof matches, left, and the 2-³/₄ (7 cm) long UCO Stormproof matches, right.  Photograph by the Author.

UCO makes three different types of Stormproof matches, the Titan Stormproof match, with a 25-second-long burn time, the Stormproof match, which will burn for 15-seconds, and the Survival Stormproof, match that burns for 12-seconds.  Now the good news about all these matches is that they are windproof, waterproof, and submersible, the bad news is that they are not strike-anywhere matches, they are strike-on-the-box matches and must be struck on the striker to light.  However, UCO ships two extra strikers inside the box, besides the two that are on the sides of the box.

 

If your UCO matches become wet, just wipe them dry, before you light them.  If the box and striker get wet, the striker will still work, but it must be dried first, so until it is dry, use one of the spare strikers.

 

These are great additions to your survival kit; I keep four UCO Stormproof matches and a striker in my survival kit and have for years.  Also, I am going to add several of the UCO Titan Stormproof matches, with their 25-second-long burn time and their ability to get wet and still burn, to my tinder-bag, since they would make starting a fire on a rainy day a lot easier.  For more on tinder-bags and starting fires when it is wet read “The Book of Knowledge, Camping and Camp Lore, 1957©”, HERE, and “Could You Survive? Building a Fire When it is Wet ©”, HERE.

 

The Dunk Test...

 

The Author dunking a lit UCO Titan Stormproof match into a pot of water, photograph by the Author.

“BandanaMan, what about dunk testing the match”, you ask, “what happened!?” 

 

I dunk tested both the UCO Titan Stormproof and the UCO Stormproof match, by dipping the lit matches into a pot of water.  Both matches sizzled and bubbled under the water and when I pulled them out, they both burst back into flames!

 

So, next time you go into the woods pack some UCO Stormproof matches, because you never know when the weather will turn wet.

 

For more on UCO Stormproof matches watch my video “Dunk Testing UCO Stormproof Strike-on-the-box Matches...Say What!? ©”, HERE, or go to UCO Gear, HERE.

 

Lighting an UCO Titan Stormproof match, photograph by the Author.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Survival Kits, Your Ace In The Hole ©”, where we will talk about Richard C. Young III’s August 1972 article, “Ace In The Hole” and survival kits.

 

An ace in the hole, photograph by the Author.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Sources

 

UCO Gear, “Award-Winning Fire Starting Collection, https://www.ucogear.com/award-winning-fire-starters, accessed August 28, 2021

Kelly Kettles®... The Faster Way to Boil Water! ©

Pandemic Masks...1918 Style©

 

 

From Wikimedia, originally published in Illustrated Current News, New Haven, CT. Volume 1, no. 785, 1918, by Paul Thompson, HERE.

Pandemic masks are back in the news again, and so I thought we would look way back to 1918, to see what people did during the Spanish flu pandemic.

 

“But Bandanaman, masks...”, you say, “normally you write about survival and the wilderness!”

 

You’re right, I do, and I would rather be out in the woods than in the city, but hey, you have to be able to survive in the city as well as survive in the wilderness.  So, you must be prepared for both, and remember knowledge is power.

 

A picture of a Red Cross nurse wearing an influenza mask, from “How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask”, The Argus, Albany, New York, October 15, 1918, page three, HERE.

During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the Red Cross of America, at least in the city of Albany, New York, recommended that people make and wear masks to protect themselves from the flu.  So just how did Grandma make them during the Spanish Flu pandemic, of 1918?

 

The 1918 Red Cross Pattern mask

 

An excerpt from “How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask”, The Argus, Albany, New York, October 15, 1918, page three.

On page 3 of the October 15, 1918, edition of The Argus, an Albany, New York newspaper, in an article called “How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask”, the Red Cross provided instructions on how to make pandemic masks from unbleached muslin¹.  Muslin is a plainly woven cotton fabric of various weights, from sheer to coarse sheeting.  Unfortunately, the author of “How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask” didn’t mention what weight (thickness) of muslin to use, so I am using an old cotton sheet for my mask, it might not be the right weight, but at least it will be the right pattern.

 

The 1918 Red Cross Pattern mask, created by the Author.

After cutting out an 18 inch (45.7 cm) square piece of muslin, fold the cloth in half and then measure down 5 inches (12.7 cm) and make a cut 3 inches (7.6 cm) long in from the fold towards the sides, through both layers of cloth.  Make another cut 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the first cut, also 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, from the fold towards the sides.  Join the two cuts together to make the eye slit.  Next sew on the two ties, one on each side, at the edge of your mask just below the eye slit, 6 inches (15.2 cm) down from the top of your mask.  And you are done!

 

The finished 1918 Red Cross Pattern mask, photograph by the Author.

To wear the mask simply tie the ties behind your head and then pull the part of the mask hanging down from your chin back and behind you head pinning the fabric from the sides and bottom of the mask, there with a safety pin.  I was unable to duplicate the 1918 instructions and pin the top sides of my mask back, there just wasn’t enough fabric.

 

Three views of the Author wearing the finished 1918 Red Cross Pattern mask, photographs by the Author.

For your convenience, the entire “How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask” article, is reproduced below.

 

“How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask”, The Argus, Albany, New York, October 15, 1918, page three, HERE.

For more on pandemic masks read “COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask ©”, HERE, “COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask, Part Two ©”, HERE, or watch my video “COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask ©”, HERE.

 

An excerpt from The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, New York; October 28, 1918, page 7, HERE.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Dunk Testing Matches...Say What!? ©”, where we will talk about UCO Stormproof Matches and whether or not you can really dunk them in water and have them relight.

 

UCO Stormproof Matches, photograph by the Author.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ My thanks to Donny Aben, from the Fort Brewerton Historical Society, in Brewerton, NY (http://www.fortbrewerton.net/), for first showing me the article from The Argus.

 

 

Sources

 

“How To Make Your Own Influenza Mask”, The Argus, Albany, New York; October 15, 1918, page 3, https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/search/pages/results/?SearchType=prox5&from_year=1725&to_year=2019&ortext=&andtext=&phrasetext=&proxtext=how+to+make+your+own+Influenza+mask&proxdistance=5&dateFilterType=range&date1=01%2F01%2F1725&date2=12%2F31%2F2019&rows=20&searchType=advanced, accessed August 14, 2021

 

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, New York; October 28, 1918, page 7, https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031647/1918-10-28/ed-1/seq-7.pdf, accessed August 14, 2021

 

Wikimedia, Illustrated Current News, New Haven, CT. Volume 1, no. 785, 1918, photograph by Paul Thompson, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustrated_Current_News-1918-Thompson,_Paul.png

 

 

Kelly Kettles®... The Faster Way to Boil Water! ©

 

 

The Author’s Scout model Kelly Kettle®, photograph by the Author.

Throughout the World, and throughout most of humankind’s existence, the only way to cook food and boil water was a “three-stone fire”.  The three-stone fire is a wood-fueled fire, made by placing three stones 120 degrees apart, in a circle, to make a stand for a cooking pot.  This is the classic campfire and today many people still rely on this method to disinfect their water by boiling (for more about disinfecting water by boiling, read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”, HERE).

 

The Faster Way to Boil Water...

 

A Kelly Kettle ® cut-away diagram, from the box of my Scout model Kelly Kettle®, photograph by the Author.

The problem with a three-stone campfire is that it isn’t very efficient, having only an average efficiency of 14%, and because of this it uses a great deal more fuel to boil water than other methods.¹ 

 

And that is why you need to have a Kelly Kettle®!  Kelly Kettles® are a type of rocket stove with a surrounding water-chamber and as the representatives of both Kelly Kettle USA and Kelly Kettle UK explained, a Kelly Kettle® channels all the heat of the fire up and over the large surface area of the chimney and allows a small fire to quickly boil the water within the water-chamber.²

 

I was first introduced to Kelly Kettles® in 2014, when I started as a guide with Birchbark Expeditions.  I was so impressed with how fast it boiled water (faster than I could boil water on my gas stove at home in my kitchen) that as soon as I got back from the trek, I went out and bought a “Scout” model Kelly Kettle®.  I couldn’t believe how well and how fast it worked!  And it doesn’t need much fuel to boil water, either.  In fact, I often feed my Kelly Kettle® on small sticks and chips that have fallen to the ground, when other larger logs were cut up for fuel, wood scraps that normally are just left lying on the ground near the fire pit.  Lately, I have been thinking about buying a small, Trekker model Kelly Kettle® for use when I am backpacking, since space and weight are at a premium then.

 

How To Use a Kelly Kettle...?

 

Kelly Kettle ® Scout model instructions for use, from the box, photograph by the Author.  Always follow the instructions.

“So, how do you use a Kelly Kettle”, you ask?  Good question let’s go over that.

 

First, read and follow the instructions that come with your kettle.  As with any stove or fire, serious injuries can occur, if you use the product incorrectly.

 

Gather tinder and kindling, but you can skip gathering wrist-sized fuel wood, since once the fire is burning in the fire base, you will only be feeding the kettle with kindling.  For more on what tinder and kindling is, and how much to gather before you light your fire, read “Fire Burns Up! ©”, HERE.

 

A bird’s nest in the fire base, photograph by the Author.

You build and light your fire in the Kelly Kettle® fire base, just like you would for any other fire.  When you have gathered all the tinder and kindling that you will need to light and sustain the fire, in the fire base of your Kelly Kettle®, you will need to make a “Bird’s Nest” with a circle of kindling, with some tinder in the center of it.

 

Tilt the fire base on its side and let the hot flames of the match or lighter rise and light the bird’s nest, photograph by the Author.

Tilt the fire base up, just like you would if you were using a piece of bark to protect your fingers and hold your bird’s nest together, so that the hot flames and gases of your match or lighter will rises into it.  Don’t forget fire burns up!

 

Next fill the Kelly Kettle® with water.  Never put your kettle over a fire when it is empty, I have seen earlier, aluminum models melt when heated while empty.  The newer stainless-steel models handle heat better, but it is still a bad idea to heat the kettle when it is dry.  Also, always remove the orange stopper or any other plug from the spout before you put it on the fire, to avoid serious burns.  The only exception to this rule is if your Kelly Kettle® came with a green whistle-stopper.  A couple of years ago, Kelly Kettle introduced a new green, whistle-stopper for the larger “Base Camp” and medium “Scout” model kettles, that you can leave in as the water boils and which whistles so that you know when the water is boiled.

 

The Author’s smoke shifter, photograph by the Author.

Something that will make it easier to light and sustain a fire in a Kelly Kettle® is a “smoke shifter”, a flexible, plastic tube with a metal end, that you can use to blow into the wind-hole of the fire base.  I made mine out of three feet (.9 meters) of 5/16 (8 mm) diameter flexible, plastic fish tank air tubing and a piece of an old metal wind chime.  I keep it coiled up in the fire base, when it is not in use.

 

The Author demonstrating how to use a smoke shifter, photograph by the Author.

Once you have the fire going in the Kelly Kettle® and the flames are rocketing out of the chimney, voilà, you will have boiled water in just a few minutes.  Follow the instructions from your Kelly Kettle® when removing it from the firebase so that you don’t get burned.

 

Always remove the kettle from the fire base this way and DO NOT put your hands over the chimney!  Picture by the Author.

You can find a lot more information and how-to videos on Kelly Kettles® on the Kelly Kettle UK website, HERE, and the Kelly Kettle USA website, HERE.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Pandemic Masks...1918 Style©”, where we will talk about how to make pandemic masks the way Grandma did during the Spanish Influenza pandemic, of 1918.

 

Originally published in "Illustrated Current News", New Haven, CT. Volume 1, no. 785, 1918, by Paul Thompson.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ The average thermal efficiency for campfires is 14%, but it can be as low as 5% if it is poorly tended, if there is wind or if the wood is moist, and it can be as high as 20-30% if it is protected from the wind and tended with care.  The skill of the person tending the fire and the weather conditions are responsible for how efficient the fire is.  A tip to increase the efficiency of a three-stone fire is to push the sticks of wood further into the center of the fire as they burn, this allows the wood to dry out as it is approaching the flames and when this is done the fire can burn hotter and more efficiently.

 

Just to compare, the thermal efficiency of a metal can rocket stoves have an efficiency of between 23% and 54% (although most sources state that the average efficiency is 20%), natural gas cooking stoves have an efficiency of 23%, microwave ovens have an efficiency of 19% and electric stove tops only have an efficiency of only 13%!

 

From

“Improving the three-stone fire”, by C. Ballard-Tremeer and H. H. Jawurek

“Well-Tended Fires Outperform Modern Cooking Stoves”, by Low-Tech Magazine

 

² From personal communications with representatives of Kelly Kettle USA and Kelly Kettle UK.

 

 

Sources

 

Ballard-Tremeer, C. and Jawurek, H. H.; “Improving the three-stone fire”, Boiling Point No. 36, November 1995 (ITDG, 1995, page 35), http://www.nzdl.org/cgi-bin/library.cgi?e=d-00000-00---off-0fnl2%2E2--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00&cl=CL2.7.3&d=HASHb8c186878d47dbd7754211.7.3&gt=1, accessed August 9, 2021

 

“Well-Tended Fires Outperform Modern Cooking Stoves”, Low-Tech Magazine, https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/06/thermal-efficiency-cooking-stoves.html, accessed August 9, 2021

 

Fire Burns Up! ©

 

 

From Wikimedia, “Fire triangle.svg”, by Gustavb, March 7, 2006, HERE.

Whenever I teach people how to build a fire, besides confusing kindling for tinder and not gathering enough wood, the one thing that everyone gets wrong when lighting a fire, is they forget that fire burns up! 

 

A Kelly Kettle® fire-base filled with kindling, you can’t light this by dropping a match on it.  Photograph by the Author.

This happened again recently, I sat and watched, while some scouts who were going canoeing with me through the Adirondacks, tried to start a fire in the fire-base of a Kelly Kettle® and they made exactly this mistake.  They made a pile of pencil-sized kindling sticks, without adding any tinder, and then dropped a match onto the top of the pile and wondered why the fire wouldn’t light.

 

So, let’s go over the basics of lighting a fire!

 

Gather Tinder, Kindling and Wood...

 

An excerpt from Combat and Survival Volume 4, page 227.

Most people don’t know the difference between tinder, kindling and fuel wood.  Tinder isn’t kindling and kindling isn’t fuel wood. 

 

In a nutshell, tinder catches the sparks from your flint and steel or flame from your match and ignites your kindling, kindling takes up the glowing embers of your tinder and turns it into flames to light your fuel wood on fire. 

 

To get a fire going quickly and easily, you need to have the right amounts of all three on hand before you light that first match.  Oh, and your tinder and the kindling must be bone dry.

 

The biggest difference between tinder, kindling and fuel wood is size.  An excerpt of “How To Build A Campfire”, from Scoutmastercg.com, HERE.

Remember to have plenty of fuel wood on hand, as it always burns faster than people imagine.  Craig White, a Canadian survival expert, teaches that you will burn through a generous armload of wrist sized sticks in an hour.  A good rule of thumb to remember is that just over two pounds (one kilogram) of wood is required to boil one quart (approximately a liter) of water when cooking over a campfire¹.

 

Make a Bird’s Nest ...

 

A bird’s nest, photograph by the Author.

A “Bird’s Nest” is a circle of kindling with tinder in the center.  Just like birds, who build a strong ring of twigs to hold soft grasses and padding to cushion their eggs, you should build a ring of kindling with tinder in the center to help your fire grow.

 

A ring of fine pine twigs, surrounding a tinder ball made with a ring of yellow birch bark, around toilet paper and a piece of fuzzed up jute string.  Note that I am holding it against a piece of bark, this bark will shield my fingers from the heat of the flames when I light the bird’s nest and will prevent any ground water from extinguishing the new fire.  Photograph by the Author.

Remember Fire Burns Up!

 

While pinching the bird’s nest against the bark shield, turn it so that the flames will light the tinder and flare up into the kindling surrounding it.  Photograph by the Author.

Don’t forget hot flames and gases rise, which means that you must turn your bird’s nest, so that the hot flame of your match or lighter rises into it

 

Now all you have to do is feed your fire and keep it going.  Remember to not put too much wood onto it too quickly and smother it, start with small pieces of kindling, and then gradually add wrist-sized pieces of fuel as the flames grow.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Kelly Kettles... The Faster Way to Boil Water!”, where we will talk about how to use a Kelly Kettle® to boil your drinking water.

 

For more on fire building check out these articles, “The Book of Knowledge, Camping and Camp Lore, 1957©”, HERE and “Survival Tips From Jack London, Part One©”, HERE.  Also, I hope that you enjoy the excerpts from The Woodsman’s Journal Online Field Guide, below, and I hope that they will help you build your fire.

 

Excerpts from The Woodsman's Journal Online Field Guide, by the Author.

  

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ From Introduction to Biomass Energy Conversions, by Sergio Capareda.  Mr. Capareda calculates that “1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of wood has several times more energy than that required to boil 1 L of water”, however since campfires are very inefficient much of that energy will be lost and thus one kilogram of wood per one liter of water is a good rule of thumb.

 

Sources

 

Capareda, Sergio; Introduction to Biomass Energy Conversions, [CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, 2014], p. 69, https://books.google.com/books?id=eFLOBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=how+many+kilograms+of+wood+does+it+take+to+boil+1+liter+of+water&source=bl&ots=3DEm8Rl7ad&sig=ACfU3U034BzjsPtB1B0Hp1hhn--ZzGft5w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4ioeAoZ_yAhVtKVkFHQPOB-sQ6AF6BAgaEAM#v=onepage&q=how%20many%20kilograms%20of%20wood%20does%20it%20take%20to%20boil%201%20liter%20of%20water&f=false, accessed August 7, 2021

 

Combat and Survival Volume 4, [H. S. Stuttman, Inc., Westover, Connecticut, 1991], p 227

 

Green, Clarke; “How to Build a Campfire”, November 7, 2012, [Dynamik-Gen, 2019] https://scoutmastercg.com/how-to-build-a-campfire/

  

Wikimedia, “Fire triangle.svg”, by Gustavb, March 7, 2006, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_triangle#/media/File:Fire_triangle.svg, accessed August 1, 2021