Waco’s guide to field sustainment

[The Waco Kid]

Brilliant find on How! I have the urge to train seagulls to find uboats now! 😂

Edited August 27 by The Waco Kid

[Lozart]

On 26/08/2024 at 09:17, Tommikka said:

You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman

 

https://youtu.be/3LkGRxjWQ_c?si=MvpdhQwV0nyFGLpz

 

 

 

I used to love watching How as a kid!

[mightyjebus]

well this thread will be useless unless we include "Bush Tucker Man". (using nut shells for clothes pegs was priceless)

[The Waco Kid]

Good call. The icon Les Hiddins. Not many could carry if that hat. 😉

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jejk-7I9Y6U

 

 

Edited August 27 by The Waco Kid

[The Waco Kid]

Cleaning your water supply

 

1) Step one collect water and remove any obvious debris.

 

2) Pre-filter using Millbank bag*, coffee paper or improvised screen made from clothing.

If your are really have time you can make a filter from sand and charcoal in a knotted trouser leg….

 

*It’s important to soak the Millbank bag until it’s sodden before filling it up. Otherwise the water will not flow through it. Don’t force water through it.

3) Purify the water by your chosen method.

 

 

Chemical/puritabs: Useful if you are the move as you can let it work as you go.

 

Boiling: Simple if you are at a camp and going to be cooking anyway.

You only need to get it to the point of a boiling. Doesn’t need to be a rolling boil for ten minutes.

 

Mechanical filter: Pump filters rely on ultra fine screens to catch pathogens. Some can be used to drink directly from the source. Pre-filtering may help it last longer. Not always clear when they are losing effectiveness.

I guess this takes us to fire lighting and cooking. 
 

“Tastes like shit, but you can live on it”.

Edited August 29 by The Waco Kid

[The Waco Kid]

What I should have mentioned about collecting water is an overlooked hazard.

 

Many of the more toxic plants in the UK grow on river and lake banks. Giant Hogweed being especially unpleasant and can cause serious burns on contact.

 

Some key identifying features are shown by Hidden Valley Bushcraft here:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NQAawyKfIDc&t=19

 

Edited September 2 by The Waco Kid

[The Waco Kid]

Hints and tips for lighting wood fires.

 

As the old saying goes “keep your tinder dry”. 
 

Tinder (not the website/app) is the material that you initially light with a spark or flame. 

Kindling. Small pencil thickness twigs and sticks used to build up the fire from tinder before putting on your main fuel when burning wood.
 

What works with a spark:
 

• Natural materials like bitch bark or very dry fine grass wrapped into a fist sized bundle, not tight enough to stop air flow however.

 

• Dry newspaper screwed up loosely will burn very quickly. Quite often too quickly to work outdoors in a wind. But does work if sheltered or in a fireplace.

 

• Shavings from a block of hexi or esbit. About an eight of a standard hexi block should be enough to ignite with a spark.

 

 

• Cotton wool pre-soaked in petroleum jelly.

 

• Sawdust made into blocks using molten wax.

 

• Hammero tinder card. Thumb sized piece, fluff the surface fibres up with a knife.

 

• Fire dragon fuel block, a small piece cut off can ignite other fuel.

 

• Fatwood stick/maya dust. This is the high resin content wood from the base of a felled pine tree. If it’s good it will smell strongly of pine sap. If you are storing it keep it in a sealed container as it does dry out.

  Shave the fatwood to get a thumbnail sized pile at least.

 

The man made/processed items are usually easier to light in poor conditions than naturally gathered tinder.

 

Some other popular options, but I’ve only limited experience with:

 

Amadu (proceeded horse foot fungus)

 

 

Charcloth

 

Pre-burned cotton fabric

 

https://www.twineagles.org/char-cloth.html

Potassium permanganate (and glycerin)

 

Can also be use for water treatment and wound cleaning. I’m not convinced it’s better than other methods thought.

 

General tips:

 

Practice with the tools and methods you are thinking or using. 
 

Duct tape. A small square is useful to catch fine particles like maya dust or hexi shavings so it doesn’t blow away.

 

Prepare lots of tinder and kindling before starting to start a fire and have them within arms reach.

 

Fold up windshields can be used as surface to help contain tinder and once the fire is going make cooking quicker and save fuel. 

Edited September 10 by The Waco Kid
KMnO4

[Cannonfodder]

I've found hand sanitiser gel is good for getting a fire started, especially in damp conditions. I've also made fire starters by taking a section of bike inner tube, filling it with tumble dryer lint and taping up the ends. The inner tube keeps the lint dry and will also burn when wet

 

6 hours ago, The Waco Kid said:

Prepare lots of tinder and kindling before starting to start a fire and have them within arms reach.

 

This. A good rule of thumb is to treat it like foreplay. Whatever you think is enough double it

[ButcherBill]

19 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

A good rule of thumb is to treat it like foreplay. Whatever you think is enough double it

I was never any good at maths... how do you conver 10 sec X2 into a weight/volume?

[The Waco Kid]

Using wood to fuel a fire

 

Different materials burn differently, species of tree are exception. A summery can be found on the woodlands ways blog.

 

https://blog.woodland-ways.co.uk/fire/which-wood-for-my-fire/

The most common in the UK are probably:

 

Oak. Dense, excellent fuel long burning.

 

Pine. This will spit and pop, this was used as a substitute light source historically. Especially the knots. Fatwood can be gathered too.

 

Birch. Very available and the bark can be used as tinder.

 

The Larch.

 

 

The other major factor that is often referred to when using wood is “seasoning”. I’m not taking salt and pepper but drying timber to reduce the amount of water in it. This process can take months to years.

 

If you are back packing or travelling on foot the best you can do is to gather fallen timber. In the winter it may be dryer if sheltered, in the summer exposed or windward wood is probably better.

 

Green, wetter wood will be harder to light and produce more smoke. Stripping leaves (and sometimes bark can help). Green wood can also be more difficult to cut or split too.

 

Cooking fires

 

The most common open cooking fires are “platform” type fire lays.

 

This is a layer of relatively large pieces of wood laid close side by side the a layer of smaller material at right angles. Repeat until kindling is at the top.

 

 

Fire holes are a sometimes used as a “stealth fire.

 

Long fires and star fires are long burning for overnight heat and light. 
 

A Teepee is the chassis bonfire for social occasions. It’s therefore good for cooking hedgehogs… I mean jacket potatoes.

 

 

                        Po-Ta-Toes!

 

Open wood fires require more work to gather enough fuel, light and maintain. They take time to get to optimal burning condition and to keep going. When you put out a wood fire it is important to damp it down and take out the coals as they can reignite themselves later.

 

Open fires have pro’s and cons over stoves and more technological cooking systems.

 

• Heat and light. Can be varied by fire construction and fuel.

• Smoke. Depends on wood and how dry it is.

• Ash and hot coals. Some fuels will produce more.

 

They less obvious uses of a fire by products:

 

Smoke for signalling, insect repellant (and certain food preservation).

Ash for cleaning pots.

Coals for cooking and heating stones for baking or heating water in non-metal containers.

 

Edited September 11 by The Waco Kid

[The Waco Kid]

MRE of the Day is….

 

Summit to eat Chicken Tikka!

 

 

This is a dehydrated dry meal that you add hot water too.

 

”It’s slightly rippled with a flat underside”.

 

The bag will stand up so you can mix and eat straight from it. The packet is tough and this has been kicking around my Bergen for two years with out puncturing.

 

There are graduations for the fill level inside. A little small but legible. I found even with a lot of stirring there was a bit of powdery taste at the bottom. That said it was a good size meal and the flavour was pretty good, I had it for for breakfast with tea and coffee.

 

Plus side for dehydrated meals are that they are very light to carry but you do need water to make them edible.

 

I used a small folding spork to eat it from the packet but a longer tool, like the ORP issued plastic one, is a bit better to get in the corners.

🤘🤘🤘 3/3 for scran.

 

[The Waco Kid]

Cooking on an open fire

 

 The simplistic method is to just stick your cooking pot on or beside the flame. A lid will help to keep ash out.

 

 Cooking on a open fire does require a bit more attention and practice to keep the fire going as you need it.

 

 A few simple additions can make it a bit easier and flexible.

 

1)  Hanging the pot from something like a tripod or overhanging support. This usually means having to a pot with a bail handle, round and oval pots are easier to suspend without tipping over. Height can be adjusted using this method.

 

2) Using a grill to support pots above the flame. This is hand for rectangular mess tins and you can adjust how far they sit to the heat.

 

An other useful accessory is a pot grab, even on pots with lids and handles. You can buy lightweight ones or make them from wood.

 

Home made wood burning camp stove:

 

 

He does add extra ventilation to the van in a meter episode.

Edited October 6 by The Waco Kid

[The Waco Kid]

Ration meal of the day

 

 Bla Band Chicken Meatballs and spicy tomato (and pasta).

 

 

  I cooked mine in the dirty Swedish mess kit. Just for full effect.

 

  It’s a pretty big meal with plenty of pasta and meat. I didn’t find it especially spicy, but “your mileage may vary”.

 

  I have to agree with the reviewer in that it was big enough to be an effort to eat. 👍 For context I shop for shirts at Jacamo. 🧈 

 

  I couldn’t read the instructions so put it in the pot for 8-10 minutes and turned it over halfway through. It was throughly hot so a shorter cooing time would have been okay.

 

  It’s a big meal and the packet seems  a bit larger than British army ORP main meals so a job to fit in a 58 mug with the lid on.

 

All in all:

 

Good 👍 👍👍 probably enough for lunch for two if you add bread or side dish. I’d like it spicier though.