Minimalist BOB/camping kit

There are uncountable numbers of threads that cover BOB's or whatever other acronyms that people choose to apply. The biggest problem I see with many of these is that they are literally carrying half their house.

So I have decided to post over the next few weeks and posts a minimalist bag that will work in most environments.

So the break down will be over several posts, and will be as follows

Fire:
Tools:
navigation:
repair:
Food and cooking:
food procurement:
shelter:
med and misc:
and how it all goes into a complete bag:

a Well thought out packing list for any activity is important to not only meet the needs of the individual engaged in any particular activity but also to make it easier for them to do so. Part of that is pairing things down to the minimal amount needed to accomplish the task and accomplish it well.

Fire:

The ability to make fire has been very important to us for the last 100,000 years or so.
Here is an example of a simple multi functional fire kit,

As you can see this all fits in a metal tin 6.5x9x2.5cm (2.5 x 3.5 x 1 inches) roughly altoids tin size. if you will notice there is a small hole in the top this is so that char-cloth can be made on the go if more is needed.
It contains:
Bic lighter: Quick simple and easy way to start most fires

credit card size 4x fresnel lens: these are great as they are small and light and only require a sunny day to get some tinder started and does not use any extra fuel.

light my fire fero rod and striker: Ignites tinder with a shower of hot sparks

healthy quantity of char-cloth: Pre charred material for helping igniting tinder more easily esp in adverse conditions.

there is room for extra things like matches and if I used fero rod and striker with smaller handles there would be even more space but 3 different ways to start a fire is good for most situations.

this is my main char-cloth making container can char about half a T-shirt at a time. bottom photo you can see what the char cloth looks like when its completed combustion in the tin, and what it started out looking like. (do this outside unless you want your wife to murder you but you can do it if you light the gasses comming out the hole but wife may still get mad)

heres a random vid on how to make/use charcloth a fero rod will work better than the flint and steel in the vid,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW_m7tKTMK8

Fire Lays

Having a bunch of crap to make a fire does no good if you dont know how to set up a propper fire here are some of the more common fire lays.

The Teepee is the most basic of fire designs. It is often used as a starter upon which the other fire sets are started . It's also a great fire for a quick warm-up or boiling water. This fire uses mostly kindling, but larger teepees can be created by adding larger logs vertically to the fire. A teepee fire is a good fire to direct heat upward and can be used beneath a hung pot on a tripod for fast heating.

the log cabin and pyramid are similar. the log cabin has a teepee at the center and stacked branches or small logs around that take longer to burn and helps put out a more even heat and generates a good bit of coal.

the Pyramid is the best for cooking due to being very dense and putting out even heat and generating a very large coal bed but you stack your logs like a log cabin and build the fire on top and it burns its way down so vs from the ground up. this kind of fire will burn for a good amount of time.

the Star fire
this is a simple and long lasting fire you take 4-6 logs of modest size and lay them like spokes to a wagon wheel over a small hole in center and build a small teepee on top and as the logs burn you just keep pushing them into the center and the fire will keep burning as well as make a decent coal bed

the keyhole and T fire pits are good as you can have a large fire burning and as the coals are made you can rake them into the small trench to be able to cook away from the blase a bit while still warming the area

the dakota fire hole is my favorite its a small hole that pulls in air for a slightly larger hole where your fire is because its in the ground it limits its visibility and if you build under a tree the leaves/branches diffuse the smoke well.

the nice thing about the last three is that being in a trench/hole you can when ready to sleep especially if things are cold. you can bury the fire the lack of oxygen will keep the coals from completely burning out and easily re used the next morning plus while in use it was heating the earth and when covered you can sleep directly on top of the bed of coals or put your tarp shelter over it to trap more heat. this is very good in winter time.

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Minimalist BOB/camping kit