Sit. Rep. #153: Spit, Pits, and Rocks; Water Crossings – I

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Be prepared to build a fire to dry out and warm up if things go badly.
  3. 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.
  4. Plan your crossing – more on this in #154 and #155.
  5. Survey upstream and downstream for this safest crossing point.
  6. The first person crosses without a backpack to determine the safety of the crossing point.
  7. Station someone downstream to be a lifeguard if something goes wrong.
  8. Never cross going barefoot.
  9. 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

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