Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Gear that Works: Linen Buckets


I love these things. First encountered them in Zimbabwe years ago, where they were used because they kept water cool via evaporation. When they get wet, the linen swells and becomes stiff and watertight, and it's stronger than cotton. These particular ones are French army surplus. Bought them to keep in my car because they're better than plastic bags for picking fruit, mushrooms & etc. Today I noticed a bunch of ripe Staghorn Sumac seed heads. Stopped, gathered a bucketful, then steeped them in cold water in the same bucket. Strained through a cloth, added some honey, and had "Indian lemonade". I'll keep one in my daypack this hunting season and be able to bring a few pounds of acorns or hickory huts out of the woods every day.

4 comments:

Sinnerman said...

You are a wealth of good info! I enjoy your posts, both here and on BushcraftUK.

Oblio13 said...

Glad somebody's actually reading them, and perhaps even gaining something from them.

Sinnerman said...

Oh, I definitely am!

I wish I'd gotten on these buckets faster. They're sold out. Much like those German mittens you keep bragging about! That reminds me, are those Norweigian sweaters short in the sleeves on you? I ordered some and they hit me about 2" above the wrist.

Lastly, since I have no blog to speak of, I offer something better than I could probably ever cobble together in exchange for all the great stuff I've learned from you. Hope you like it.

http://honest-food.net/

Oblio13 said...

Those sweaters (I have three, and wear them so often that my wife sarcastically calls them my "Wonderful Sweaters") tend to be a little short in the sleeves and a little tight around the waist until they're worn a lot. They seem to "stretch to fit" very nicely, whereas lesser sweaters tend to "stretch out of shape".

Thanks for the website, I've enjoyed it and bookmarked it.