1- Cooking methods. Some methods are in Sit. Rep. #75.
- Spit Cooking – Think Kabobs, run a skewer through the meat &/or vegetables that you need to heat up and cook. Rotate to keep from burning.
- Rock Frying – Get a flat, thin rock (not from any body of water), heat it up with fire or coals underneath, cook on it like a frying pan.
- Rock Oven – Put rocks on 4 sides and one on top, cook inside of the enclosure, possible to combine with rock frying.
- Pit Cooking – Think oven dug into the soil and heated using hot rocks, Heat the rocks in the pit or in a secondary fire, Layer grasses on top of hot rocks, let grasses steam off, then place food on top of grasses, top off with a rock or wood slabs to cover the hole and soil on top of the rock.
- Rock Boiling – Heat some rocks until very hot and then place them in your water or soup. Note: This is how a sweat lodge is heated.
- Drying food – dehydrating by using fire is a method of cooking and preserving. Think Jerky or Pemmican.
2- Water crossings come in only 2 versions: Wet or Wet and Dangerous. The difference between the two is only one wrong step!
2A- Precautionary procedures:
- Water shoes or sandals: If your plan includes a water crossing be prepared with the right shoes. I use an older pair of sneakers. I store my hiking boots in a plastic baggie with my socks.
- Be prepared to build a fire to dry out and warm up if things go badly.
- A stout hiking staff will help stabilize the hiker while crossing. And will give you 3 points of contact with the water bottom. Probe before stepping. The staff should be taller than you by a foot or more.
- Plan your crossing – more on this in #154 and #155.
- Survey upstream and downstream for this safest crossing point.
- The first person crosses without a backpack to determine the safety of the crossing point.
- Station someone downstream to be a lifeguard if something goes wrong.
- Never cross going barefoot.
- Cross the water headed slightly upstream. Lean into the current and facing upstream. NOTE: Flowing water has approximately 10 times the force as the wind at the same speed.
E: Where can you find water that is not wet?
F: On a map.
G: Why don’t you have a joke about water?
H: Sorry. I am all dried up.
Semper Paratus,
Gaither