Prepping – Gadgets

So what I do, when I’m out and attending events, is I set up a historically inspired or historically accurate (depending on the event) encampment. I dress the part, I cook meals either inspired by or directly from recipes of the time period. While I’m not perfect, I try to be very aware of what’s modern and what’s not, so that I can explain to any interested onlookers.

This lends itself well to gadget building. Not modern camping gadgets, though. While those are nice, they’re not replaceable. I can enjoy them, but only in moderation. I’m talking about the kind of gadgets you can build on site, for each event. Or they take so few resources that you can carry said resources with you. When looking into these types of items, I almost always turn to the Boy Scouts (mostly “of old” because the modern ones seem to have lost some of the sauce that made them special, but whatever). They have great publications, both on and offline.

When you look at paintings and sketches and such of earlier time periods, you learn things. A lot of the images contain people doing normal human things. Laundry, cooking, writing home, lounging, and the like. It’s the details I look for, though. What do they have around the fire? Are their tools laying on the ground, or hanging, or what? Where are their towels? How do they hang their wet laundry? What do their tables look like?

Chris is making some shelves for me, and probably a box that is both dry larder and a hide for my very modern cooler. It will look like a standard wooden chest, but will contain some build in shelves for canned and other dry goods, and a big section to slide my cooler into. When the lid is closed, it’ll be just like any other piece of camp furniture. And it will break down and flat-pack in the truck, which is a personal requirement I have of most items.

But there are other, little gadgets that I need in my encampment, and I’m in the process of learning how to make them. The first and most important one for me is a garbage bag holder. I know it seems stupid, but I need to have a modern garbage bag on hand for my very modern garbage… but I don’t want it in plain view. I’m going to be using a “three stave” version (the pic to the right is a four stave style), with either twine or small branches going between the tops of the staves. My garbage bag will be inside a large cotton canvas bag, which will in turn be draped over the staves. Voila, something that doesn’t take away from the camp look, but allows me easy access to my rubbish bin.

The Boy Scouts have a bunch of cool gadget pages, but the best is the Scout Pioneering “camp gadgets” page. If you read through, there are literally hundreds of projects, some large and many small. The second gadget that I’ll be making is a pot holder. This one, like the garbage bin, doesn’t require any twine or tying. For each end of the two sticks, you drive a criss cross of pegs which can be made of any bits of wood laying around. Lay the rods or sticks on top, and now you have a place out of the dirt to put your washing to dry, or the lid off your dutch oven. I have a trivet that I’ve used previously, but this is a much better alternative and one I can install along the far side of my fire. It will have the added benefit of keeping patrons from walking into the fire pit (which is actually a larger problem than you might think).

The wash station will be my first truly “big” item, and since it’s made from sticks and the wash bucket I already have, it should be fairly easy. The idea is to create a three legged stand for your wash bucket (mine is large and relatively heavy, so I’ll need to make sure to use stout branches, sticks, or staves). I plan to have the extra “back” branch length for mine, partly for strength and stability, but partially because I love the idea of having a place to hang my wash rag when it’s not in use. Unfortunately, to date my wash rag has almost always been left IN the bucket, which gets a bit gross after a while.

Making washing up easier is a game changer. Getting a wash bucket originally made my life SO much easier. My first one was the standard black wash bucket most people get for modern camping. It stood out like a sore thumb, so we’d hide it behind a tent. That meant we had to go behind a tent to wash dishes, which was also inconvenient. This spring, we got a big plastic round bucket that looks, on the outside, like the bottom of a wooden barrel. It’s amazing, huge, and easy to keep clean. On the ground it’s a bit frustrating but usable. On a bench, it’s okay. But up at counter level? That’s next level fantastic. I might add a small hanging muslin bag to contain my bottle of wash soap and any modern conveniences (such as my chainmail scrubber).

Last, but by no means least, we have the log holder. Up until recently (well… now), I just tossed the firewood in the back of the kitchen tent and hoped for the best. There are several problems with that. First and foremost, it takes up space I need for other, more important things (the water cooler… the food cooler… my tables… the wash station…). Second, while it does keep the dew off, it doesn’t necessarily keep the wet off the wood. Water can come under the tent edge and soak the wood relatively easy (ask me how I know this). Third, and this is admittedly a big one, the wood almost universally has ants in it. If you make a big pile of ant infested wood beside your food, guess what happens? Yeah, infestation. So yes, I’d like to build this simple but functional wood pile. At night or during a rain storm, it can be covered with canvas (or if I don’t have canvas, something modern and waterproof with a sheet thrown over it for modesty). It keeps the wood up off the ground, and in a contained area. It’s easy to get at. It’s also easier to tell how much wood you’re using and will need to gather if you know how fast you’re going through it. With a neat pile like this, you can judge how many rows of wood you go through in an hour or a day.

There are a lot of other amazing “stave and rope” gadgets to be made, and that’s just the ones available from the Boy Scouts. These items would be useful in any long-term camp situation. As a woman who will be using said items, I consider them invaluable.

A long time ago, I watched a show where a couple of families were dropped in the Canadian prairie and left for a year to succeed or fail. The first thing they built was a kitchen for the ladies. Why? Because the kitchen is really damn important. I can cook over a small fire anytime, but having a structure to hunker under when it’s blazing hot or pouring rain makes a huge difference. Having a prep surface at the right height is necessary. Shelves to hold plates and bowls and cutlery are important, too. Bottom line: when the ladies are happy, the food gets made. When the food is made, people get to eat, and the people are happy. Therefore, ladies with a kitchen is equal to happy people, especially menfolk who are tired after a day of whatever.

Yes, these are for my reenacting. But these could also be used at your home or while camping or if you had to camp rough during an emergency. Knowing how makes all the difference.