I got used to hiking into trail camps where fires are prohibited. My primary is a isobutane stove, my backup is to eat cold coffee and soaked oats for breakfast. A good down quilt keeps me warmer at night than a big camp fire.
I really hate those ferrocerium rods (they are NOT magnesium) because it’s a tool that cannot build yourself, since none of us have a ready supply of cerium metal. If I’m going to have to go to a store for ferro rods, I might as well depend on AA batteries and headlamps and BIC lighters and isobutane bottles and all that.
The “adventure” part of backpacking is definitely part of my enjoyment of the outdoors. Planning, making due, seriously evaluating needs and learning to let go, making do with what i have, problem solving, being challenged and coming out of the other side with more confidence. But rarely do I ever find myself cutting my arm off to escape a rock crevice or have to fend off zombie bears or have to make an emergency signal fire. I do just fine with a Bic, a knife, and a trowel, and Im guessing most people (99.9%) who buy this shovel would also be just fine with a bic, a knife, and a trowel.
It’s a truism that in a survival situation, what’s in your backpack is less important than what’s in your head. By that criterion, I am the world’s most capable camping and adventure tool.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, The jails are made of tin And you can walk right out again, As soon as you are in There ain’t no short-handled shovels, No axes, saws or picks, I’ma goin’ to stay Where you sleep all day, Where they hung the jerk That invented work In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
When I saw that line right off the bat, I wrote this thing off. It’s yet another iteration of things that have been around for ages, that doesn’t bring anything new to the game. I have seen ‘multi tools’ that do a couple of things well that are useful. I’ve done a lot of varied and what is now called ‘extreme’ shit outdoors over 40 some years, and have yet to feel the need to own an “adventure tool.”
