Review: Snugpak Stratosphere bivvy

I typically prefer off-ground camping in hammocks or on cots, but there is  a time and place for a low-profile, low laying tent, and sometimes even the ubiquitous dome tent is too much. Whether it be due to weather (high winds are not attractive to hammock users), location ( no trees or structures to sling between) or for a more clandestine profile, sometimes a bivvy is the way to go. I've used improvised bivvies before, with a tarp, poncho or just a poncho liner, but I saw this and wanted to add it to my collection, so as a birthday treat to myself I bought it as part of the Platatac End of Financial year sales.

This is the Snugpak® Stratosphere and it is the picture of functional, elegant simplicity. That's saying a lot, right off the bat, but it really impressed me. It is, essentially a waterproof over-bag for a sleeping bag, with a supported canopy to provide space around your head and shoulders.

The whole package is enclosed in a roll-and clip-top dry-bag type stuff-sack, with two additional webbing straps and buckles to cinch it in tight, it packs down to a mere 31cm x 14cm  (12" x 6") and all told weighs only 1.13kg  (2.49lbs).

The bundle contains two drawstring bags, one for the 7 aluminium alloy Y-stakes, and one for the two collapsible 8.5mm aluminium poles. as well as the uni-body bivvy itself. 

The bivvy upper is constructed of a 50D 190T 100% nylon ripstop cordura with (5000mm HH) waterproof polyurethane coating. All seams being fully waterproofed and taped, the upper meets the bathtub style  210T 100% Cordura nylon with (8000mm HH) waterproof polyurethane coating. This combination makes for a very dry sleep, even in very exposed locations.

Two sleeves at the head-end take the curved poles to pop out the hood section, seating in eyelets in tabs in the base to stretch out the head and shoulders area nicely. A flap at the back edge can be staked out to to pull it extra taut and increase the internal cavity even further.

Pegging the bivvy out at each toe end corner, shoulder and head end flaps, as well as the back flap makes for a very secure and stable structure. It sits very low to the ground, offering a very slight weather silhouette. 

When fully staked out the bivvy has a footprint of 220cm (87") length x shoulder width of 70cm (28") x feet-end width of 60cm (24") x and is 48cm (19") tall at the hood.

The bivvy has  a 3/4 length zipper, which extends all the way up and over the lip of the hood to seal the whole unit off from weather or bugs. As well as the storm flapped zipper, it also has 5 hook and loop strips for rapid egress in case of emergency or contact. You obviously compromise the water-proofing of the bivvy by not zipping it up but it's a trade-off you can choose to make. 

The hood canopy is stand alone stable and provides a shady nook to rest ones eyes in without the need to zip up at all. The fabric of the bivvy is soft and not very crinkly, making it comfortable to lay in without a lot of distracting noise. The back side of the hood features a No-See-Um Mesh Mosquito Net window, under the flap, which provides sheltered venting to reduce breath condensation from building up. In good weather the flap can be rolled up and stowed with toggle loops. 

The front of the hood can be zipped up all the way to the left corner for complete enclosure or left open to the elements. If left zipped up there is a hidden feature, a backwards zippable mesh face window, for added ventilation or visibility without creeping intruders. It rolls up out of the way when not in use. 

face window opened

rear window open, flap rolled up

Inside the hood there is a surprising amount of room, plenty enough to sit up on your elbows to read or even wrestle yourself in and out of sleeping bag or change clothes. The roof of the hood has a mesh pocket built into it, plenty big enough to slip a tablet, phone glasses or even a small light. 

Getting in and out of the bivvy is easy, once you get past the hood lip zipper, which can be a little awkward to get around the corner. It is super quick to put up, pegging the feet out, feeding the poles and pegging out the back takes just minutes. The end result is a sleep system that is elegant, robust and reliable. 

After a couple of trial set-ups, Tactical-Baby said they wanted to try it out overnight, so with just a yoga mat ,a sleeping bag and a couple of fleece blankies. Despite an overnight of 15C (60F) and spotty raining throughout the night (enough to leave pools on the upper surface they were remarkably comfortable and slept well past dawn. 

Given its small packed-size and light weight I wouldn't hesitate in either recommending it or strapping it to my own pack if there was even the possibility of needing to overnight trail-side. With its low profile and unobtrusive olive drab I bet you could pitch it in trailside bracken and smell passing hiker without being seen.

Review: Titaner titanium Bento Box

It's all good and well to load up with knives, axes, shovels and all manner of gadget and do-dad, but every-body has to eat. Old tin mess-kits are all good and well, light and compact, but not known for their durability or stealth.

I am very happy with my Heavy Cover canteen and mug set both as a hydration tool but also as cook-ware, so when the opportunity came to add to my titanium cookware collection in the form of the Titaner  Bento lunchbox Kickstarter. 

Pressed from food grade titanium, with titanium wire fittings, the bento box has a lid fitted with a tritan gasket inset into the rim. The lid is held in place with the two clasps at each short end. Along with the gasket, the clasps hold the lid water-tight, with a capacity of  600mL (20 1/3 oz), making it ample for cooking single serve meals as a small fry-pan or shallow pot. 120mm x 165mm x 60mm (4 3/4" x 6  1/2" x 2 1/3") 227g, (8oz). The inside is plenty big enough to carry an instant noodle packet and additions sufficient to make a decent trail-side meal. With some careful packing you could probably carry a half-dozen eggs in relative safety too. I might work on some inserts to do just that .

Speaking of cooking, the long titanium wire handle, which folds over one of the short sides, which provides a comfortable and stable handle to carry and manipulate the pan-side of the box allowing the user to adjust the pan over the fire. When using it, I have tended to clip closed the clasps in order to avoid any unwanted snagging and possible spillage.

The bottom of the pan has a slight inset bulge to reduce deformation and denting, and matches a similar bulge in the lid, allowing the pot to sit on the lid as a coaster or heat-shield. The rounded internal corners make for easy clean-up and ensure nothing gets stuck or burnt in to inconvenient spots. The gasket is easily removable for easy cleaning 

No coatings, no additional material other than the tritan gasket ring and the titanium, i'm confident that this is a healthy, resilient and robust piece of cook-ware as well as an eating surface, that also doubles as storage. The fittings don't rattle and hold it securely. I haven't yet found a pouch to slot it into but it fits into a napsack easily enough.  

Perfect size for 2-minute instant noodles ( shown here with spring onion, ginger chunks, lap cheung sausage and chilli paste.  All of which fit nicely in the box for easy transport. 

 

Review: Gardening shovel

Another hand tool post. I really like hand tools, not only because of their simple utility and ease of use but also on the freedom from reliance on power, for both off-grid use and grid-gone use.

Digging holes is one of those truly universal skills that all peoples; Inuit to Bedouin, Pict to Massai participate in. There is something very primal about digging. Whether is be digging up roots and tubers, clam or crabs for food, digging a fire-pit like a Dakota fire-hole ,digging for fresh water, for shelter or to bury a cache of booty. 

This most recent tool i've added to my arsenal is this very simple gardening trowel I saw online. 

This tool is simplicity itself. An overall length of 32cm (12 1/2"), half of which is "blade" the other half is handle. Made from a single piece of 16Ga stainless steel 2.2cm (7/8th") tubing, the blade has been punched out and folded outwards to a nominal width of 5cm (2")) The resulting edge is unsharpened, but finishes in a respectable point. 

The tip is slightly canted inwards almost to the centre of the handles cross-section, for scooping and balance.

The whole tool has been dip-coated in a tough black paint, which has barely worn on the edges from my digging in sandy soil and repeated throwing into turf and fence posts. 

The butt-end of the pipe handle is filled with a hard plastic plug that I managed to pry off, drill a hole into and add a cord loop for ease of removal and grabbing.

A quick dirt test resulted in a slightly lower yield  than the ChinLin spade but what it misses in surface area it makes up for in depth and low-drag design, which results in a quick digging tool. 

Silent and efficient this tool allows you to dig deep, even through tough turf, perfect for planting bulbs or seedlings. The most exciting part of this tool is that the hollow pipe handle doubles as an eye for mounting a shaft which can either add reach for digging or weeding without tedious bending. 

It is completely and totally coincidental that fitting it to a standard broom handle converts it into a fairly serviceable spear. Much like the humble axe, a spear is a force multiplier and unmatched in melee combat, even in the hands of relatively unskilled operators. 

Weighing in at a mere 120 gm (4 1/4 oz), this tool is easy on the hand and deft in the garden. The only drawbacks are the open end on the blade/ handle interface allowing dirt to enter, but not a  significant issue, a quick shake or bang will loosen that. In a pinch you could scoop up water and carry it in the upturned handle. 

Review: CRKT Freyr hatchet

Its no secret that I am a fan of axes, or cutting tools in general

I never go camping without packing at least my Fiskars log splitter and even a long hike will see my Boker Tomahook in my belt because their general utility and suitability to the tasks commonly at hand  camp-side or on the trail. But a log splitter is big broad and heavy and the tomahook is light, narrow  and short. Not all tools do all jobs well, which is why when I saw the CRKT Freyr hatchet I was impressed enough to add it to my collection. 

The broad head of the Freyr is made from the robust 1055 high carbon steel, with a textured black finish all the way to the beveled edge. It features a hammer poll on the reverse face, which I prefer over a spike end for the utility of having a hammer on hand. I rarely have to puncture breastplates, oil drums or car tyres. I do, however often have to reset nails, screws, tent pegs and the occasional fence-post.

Another thing I liked was the significant beard which enabled me to fit most my fist behind the blade for good control and protection when using the blade for shaving or planing. 

This makes it very handy for camp-craft, making kindling for fire-starting and coincidentally, the top corners of the head make good striking surfaces for ferrocium rods.

The usable blade bit length is 12cm (4 3/4"), with a slight toe rising above the top edge of the hatchet, giving decent bite when embedding head-on, which i like to do when pausing in chopping or as a carry-aid when processing logs. 

The haft is stained Hickory, with a very nice grain and a smooth finish, a 42cm (16 1/2") overall length, with a slightly flared end knob for good hand indexing and retention when chopping. The head has been wedged in the eye and has two steel rings holding it all in place and stable. As the Pale Rider would say, "that's a nice piece of hickory".

Unlike the Tomahook, with its full-length tang, the Freyr maintains almost the full weight at the axe-head end, lending itself to solid chops regardless of how you hold it. The traditional bit and eye design broadens the tool for extra log splitting power, without adding significant extra mass or bulk. Topping out at 814g (1lb 12oz) its certainly a handy tool around camp on on the belt when adventuring. 

I have made a leather mask for it, to protect myself and the edge, which I secure with the leather strip when on, 

The balance point is just behind the tip of the beard, adding to its nimbleness in the hand. Overall i'm exceedingly pleased with this hatchet, it is simple, elegant and functional. It holds a good edge, the black finish keeps it rust and resin free. 

 I wouldn't say it has replaced my Fiskars logsplitter for its power and reach or the Tomahook for its versatility and tacticool appeal. 

Review: restored Folding entrenching tool

 A couple of years ago, between lockdowns, I went for a bushwalk with the family, in the Churchill National Park just near my parents place, and on the way back we passed a couple of items, sitting rusting beside a tree. I'm a firm believer in the old Marine adage of "Gear adrift is gear a gift", and as it had obviously been left in the elements for some time, snapped them up. A good sized Dutch oven, and a wooden handled cast iron pot with lid, and beside them: a rusty entrenching tool. After some soaking, scrubbing, heat-cleaning and re-seasoning the pots have become a welcome addition to my outdoor cookware collection.

The entrenching tool appears to be a Bushtracks folding entrenching tool with Pick' which had seen better days. The screw-down locking bracket had partially seized but with a little elbow grease and liberal WD-40, I got it worked loose enough to unfold the shovel-head and the pick head, with a little extra work I cleared the screw threads of grit and get it working smoothly. 

The next step was to wash and scrub the rusted  shovel face and pick. Luckily the hinge and locking bracket were not especially rusted. Once the loose crud and dust was removed, I heated the shovel head over the gas range hood to drive off any remaining moisture and coated it liberally with linseed oil as a seasoning mechanism. I did this outside as the hot steel vaporized the oil into old-timey smelling white clouds.

The scrubbing and seasoning paid off  and the surface has remained rust-free despite quite a lot of digging, both in the garden and trips to the beach where I use it to fill ballast sand-bags for our sun shelter. I have previously reported on my black tri-fold e-tool and the much smaller tactical-dump trowel but i'll be comparing the two e-tools, as they're in the weight-class.

I'll start by breaking the tool down into its major elements: the shovel, the pick and the haft. 

The working end of the shovel is a triangular tipped square side shovel, with  a gentle scoop. The tip is rounded and the edges are quite wide for durability, unlike the tri-fold which has a decidedly sharpened edge. One of the square sides has a sawtooth edge cut into it. The shovel face is riveted onto the hinge piece with three hefty rivets. The shovel has three positions, folded flat, 90 degree "Pick mode" and full extension. when folded flat the "head" of the shovel between the rivets makes a half decent hammer face, perfectly suitable for driving tent stakes in, not so much for fine carpentry. 

The screw-down locking bracket features  a big washer to aid in keeping  a tight fit when tightened which has stood up to some enthusiastic hammering and digging.

When folded out in "Shovel mode" the tool stretches to a fairly decent 62 cm (24 2/5") length, slightly longer than the delta-handled tri-fold. Length is leverage and leverage is force, both have utility when digging, and the extra length has little impact on its pack-ability  at 42cm (16 1/2") fully folded.

The shovel face itself a little smaller than that of the tri-fold,, but the tri-fold has an inch or so "behind the shaft" so the usable length is all but the same. it certainly digs well and scoops tailings out of the way smartly.  It lacks as pronounced  a rolled-over back-edge to support a diggers boot-assist, and if you really wanted or needed to you could use the pick, folded down.  

At 860g (lbs 14oz) its a reasonable tool to carry around, especially if you know you'll need to dig more than a trowels amount (be it a fire-pit, latrine pit-trap or fighting position.) The wide edge does not lend itself to axe-like chopping in the way the tri-folds per-sharpened edges do ,though they could take an edge without too much effort (either hand file or powered grinding tool). The saw teeth could be sharpened up without degrading the robustness of the tool, but that's a project for another day. I have been primarily using this in the vegetable garden, tilling soil, digging up potatoes and shifting delivered soil into our raised beds.

The Pick tool folds and locks in place the same way as the shovel does. The most useful position being at 90 degrees to the haft. The spike itself is curved along the whole length of the pick for strength and extends out  21 cm (8 1/4") from the haft. 

It is possible to operate the tool with both shovel and pick extended, but its a bit cumbersome. Easier to use one tool and swap between the two.  The pick isn't sharp-tipped, featuring the same robust edge as the shovel, but its not expected to be a mining tool. 

The pick, when folded flat against the haft, can also serve as a hammer, though the rounded back face of the pick makes for a tricky strike surface, but possible.

The pick can also be folded "upwards" into a "spear" configuration, extending the tool into a length of 58cm. Good for getting to the bottom of a hole, reaching the top shelf or possibly ventilating an unwanted visitor to your trench.

Lastly, this tool can, when set into soft enough soil, make for a halfway decent stool, with some balance and practice. better than sitting in the dirt or mud, not as good as a proper chair. 

The original haft was held in place by a rivet through the throat of the locking bracket, and whilst giving the tool a good bash test, trench-club style, I managed to snap it off at the bracket. After sitting unloved in a pile of scraps for half a year, including a house move, I dug it out, ground down the rivet head with an angle grinder, whittled a new head to the shaft, fitted it after a little char-hardening and set it with a clinch-nail. This cost me 2-3 inches of over-all length, but with my longer than average wingspan, it's none the worse. 

Though it doesn't fold down as small as the tri-fold, nor stow away in its own belt pouch (though military surplus canvas pouches exist), this is a solid tool rich with utility and with years more life in it, both in the garden and on the trail.

At some stage I may throw a sharp edge on the shovel for root/brush chopping and i'm certainly going to try my hand at sharpening the saw edge, but all in all I'm very happy with this restoration and salvage of a "lost" tool.

For the God-Emperor! For Krieg!

Review: portable Campmaster dual-range stove

 Having a campfire cookout is a glorious thing: open flames, glowing coals, smokey flavors, but some times you want the surety and stability of a gas range, especially if feeding a family or in adverse conditions, something like this can really make a potentially miserable situation cheery again. 

The Campmaster Double Burner range is a collapsible unit that folds up into a 11cm (4 1/3" H) x 26cm (10 1/4" W) x 21cm (8 1/4"D) box weighing 3.1kg ( 4lbs 10 oz).It unfolds, with silver retention band folding underneath it to form legs. The adjustment knobs sit outside the frame, so you'll need to be careful of that when packing and transporting. 

When unfolded, the "lid" forms the splash-back and two wings fold up and "tab A into slot B" to secure the lid and form a windshield. The unit comes equipped with a detachable hose with a recessed port on the right hand side. the cylinder end of the hose fits 3/8" LHT gas cylinders, without requiring a regulator.

Unfolded and hooked up to a gas cylinder, the range has two burners each with independent control knobs, which throttle the fire from roaring fast-boil to gentle simmering. The burners are guarded by stainless steel wire grills much like  the retention bands/ legs. The base of the unit has a cut-out which serves as a drain spot for spills when in use, or as a handle to carry it when folded up. These are hefty enough to bear up under my biggest cast iron pots, though the wings and splash-back need to be folded back to make room, but certainly enough room for a good size skillet and a pot for full meal cooking.

 The unit can be used with Universal LPG from cylinders complying with AS2030.1 (or equivalent), which means it is compatible with Swap and Go cylinders

The stove doesn't feature a pizo-electric starter, so to ignite it you'd need a match, lighter or ferro-rod type system, that's not an issue for me as I carry multiple fire-starting options as part of my EDC. 

The wings and back form an effective wind-shield keeping the burners from blowing out and heat staying where you need, the blue enamel finish makes wiping down any cooking splatters or trail dust an easy task. Needing an LPG tank for fuel sort of restricts it to back-yard or tail-gate type events, unless you fancy hauling a cylinder about, but its reliable, powerful and super simple to use.

My parents gifted me this one, as they used it to cook on whilst having their kitchen renovated and are not big campers.

One final thing, the standard BBQ cylinders available to me don't have a 3/8ths" fitting,  so an after market adapter is required but these are easy to come by. 

I keep mine on the top shelf of my tucker-box /  chuck box which we built around this unit, where it not only stows nicely but can cook on, right in place. 
 

Review: Scotch eyed auger

 

I started seeing ads for these a while ago and got one a couple of years ago for bushcrafting adventure and general utility. Having manual tools on hand is good, both for emergency power-down use but also off-grid crafting. Hand saws, hammers and hand-drills are all reliable, if sometimes arduous tools to make use of.

A scotch eyed auger bit is a type of tool you can use to create holes either dry or wet woodworking applications. The “scotch eye” is the hole at the end of the auger and its purpose is to enable easy handling and additional leverage. 

This particular one has a 20mm auger bit (8/10th") with a single flute that runs for 9cm (3.5") for  a total shaft length of 15 cm (6") and terminating at a round pipe eye of 18mm (7/10th"). It appears to have been made from a 20mm hex ended drill bit welded onto the eye segment. 

The cutting tip of the tool starts of with a self-tapping screw-head that ensures good purchase and correct placement of the auger for optimum boring. 

The cutting face of the auger is set back from the leading edge of the flute, which has the effect of being a scoring/ cutting edge, around the circumference of the bore being cut, this ensures a clean cut and smooth finish.

The eye is set perpendicular to the auger shaft, such that a branch can be fitted through it  in order to make a handle to easily turn the auger and bore into even hard, seasoned timber. Once the tip has bitten, and the cutting face engages, the long flutes will guide the auger on a straight path through the wood, so be sure to get the initial line straight. 

The eye is also a means for producing peg ends that will fit into the hole bored by the auger. These can be  whittled manually and test-fitted in the eye or hammered through the eye to shave/ scrape the pegs down to size. The remaining hex of the original drill  haft is lined up to nicely  be hammered upon, which was also a nice touch. 

The eye is sightly narrower than the auger bit, which means that pegs cut with it will be -slightly- loose, which can be a good thing depending on the situation, but a long as you take it into account you  would be fine. If I were making a pole and branch ladder, i'd be lashing the rungs in, regardless. The length of the tool allows for quite deep (6") cuts to be made. This is plenty deep enough to make a rocket fire from a log like a Swedish Fire torch. Deep enough that you could probably pin log cabin logs together, though that would be a lot of hand cranking. pegs used in this fashion are called treenails or trennals and have been documented back as far as 7000 years.

I've seen some Scotch eyed augers with one face of the eye being sharpened to bite into the peg-wood, whilst the rear face is hammered and mine lacks this. I'm not certain it would be necessary and have done just fine without, but if you were intending to make a lot of pegs out of cut lumber it might be advantageous. I whittled down this segment of green branch the power company lopped from one of our cub-side trees, and its made a very good handle in less than a minute. I did this when my previous branch/peg handle snapped whilst mid way through boring a hole through a particularly seasoned piece of recycled timber. A minor setback, quickly addressed with a field expedient replacement and I got the job done. 

One thing that hadn't occurred to me until I was well into my boring task was that the swerf material (wood chips) I was boring out would make excellent kindling, even in wet conditions ,the inside of most wood stays dry.  This would be even more true with more resinous woods. I've used the auger on branches and logs I've found trail-side as well as dressed timber both fresh and reclaimed. 

One word of advice, ensure your leverage stick is a good fit and smooth or you'll hurt your hand whilst boring. Wear gloves. Be sure your angle is correct when starting off and check for drift. All in all its a very simple and elegant tool and at only 175g (6.3 oz) its an easy add to your bushcrafting carry. 

I made a simple leather pouch for it with belt loops, so I can take it with me along with my belt knife and trail hatchet. I imagine myself making tripod stools and even legged benches with this tool, as well as through-holes for future furniture projects.