DIY: Reflective Zipper Pulls

A friend recently remarked on the brightly colored zipper pulls that I have on several of my jackets, and it reminded me that this would probably be a good subject and backpacking tip to share with everyone else.

The photo above shows three of my jackets with some of my DIY reflective zipper pulls made using short lengths of Kelty Triptease, a highly reflective and very strong cord used mostly for replacing tent guylines and simple plastic cord stoppers.  The two zipper pulls on the right have AeroWave whistle cord pulls that I got from GoingGear.com and love attaching to my backpacking jackets as an emergency backup whistle - they're also perfect for putting on small children's jackets.  You never can tell when they might need a whistle and what better way is there to always know that they have one handy?

There are many good sources for the zipper pull accessories online and check out your local REI which usually stock a fair selection of these types of smaller items in their bagged accessories section.  Do any of you perform small mods to your clothing like me? If so please share with the rest of us by leaving a comment on this post.

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Camping Classic - Waterproofing Matches

This will expose both my technology geek side and my backpacking nerd side in one blog post. So, just the other day, I was reading my self-made eBook version of Horace Kephart's classic, "Camping and Woodcraft", on my iPod Touch when I came across a beautiful little nugget of camping wisdom explaining how to weather-proof matches using shellac and thought I would not only give it a try myself, but share my results with you all. Here's the full paragraph that I am referring to:

Matchbox. — Do not omit a waterproof matchbox, of such pattern as has a cover that cannot drop off. I prefer a flat one. It can be opened with one hand. The matches in this box are to be used only in emergency. Carry the daily supply loose where you can get at them. For this purpose I like a pigskin pocket with snap-button, worn on the belt. The matches I waterproof, before starting, by dipping them half-length in shellac varnish thinned with alcohol to the right consistency, which is found by experiment, and laying them out separately on a newspaper to dry. This is better than using paraffin, because shellac does not wear off, and it is itself inflammable, like sealing-wax. Matches so treated can be left a long time in water without spoiling.

I didn't particularly like the way Horace dipped the matches and then laid them flat on newspaper because it seemed to me that one side would lose a lot of the shellac coating. So, instead I came up with a simple solution that allowed me to dip them in the shellac and then "hang" them up to dry.  All you need to follow along at home (in true Blue Peter style) are some strike anywhere matches, shellac, a pair of tweezers, an old cardboard box, some double-sided sticky tape, and a little spare time.



As shown in the picture, attach a small strip of double-sided sticky tape to the edge of the cardboard box and remove the second layer of paper to expose the stickyness. Carefully hold each match upside down with a pair of tweezers and dip them into the shellac but not up all the way as far as your tweezers.  Then lift them up, give them a gentle shake and push them against the sticky tape upside down so that they stick and can drip dry as they are.  You'll notice that I placed a piece of kitchen towel underneath the matches to catch any rogue drips of shellac. That's it! Just let them dry and then store them however you want.

I've tried dipping matches in melted candle wax before, but found that it crumbled off or made such a mess that it rendered the matches almost useless.  However, the shellac seems to make a crisp hard covering that protects the matches from moisture and leaves them easy to light with a normal swipe along a rough surface - what a great solution!  I've kept a handful of my first batch of shellac-dipped matches aside to see just how long they survive in one of my backpack pockets, only time will tell. I hope find this useful and give it a go for yourselves. If you do, please leave a comment to let me know how it goes.

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Contest: Alcohol Stove FREE Giveaway!

As many of you may recall, earlier this year I went through what can only be described as an "alcohol stove making frenzy" where I produced dozens of slightly different alcohol stoves in an effort to refine the making process and produce a cheap and reliable stove for my own personal use.  I learned a tremendous amount about alcohol stoves by building them myself through trial and error and would highly recommend that if you're at all interested in doing the same you try it at least once.

The flip side of my stove making "frenzy" is that I have a LOT of leftover stoves sitting around in my garage.  Just to be clear, I've thrown away all the prototypes so none of the remaining stoves are by any means sub-par. But I see the darn things just sitting there in my garage every day and can't help thinking that they would be perfect to give away to other like-minded backpackers who want to try an alcohol stove for themselves, even if all you do is use it as templates to make your own.



So here's the deal. I'm going to be giving away an unused soda-can alcohol stove to one lucky reader, picked at random, each month until I run out of stoves to give away. According to my most recent inventory check, I have enough stoves to do this each month for at least a full year :)

To qualify for the free monthly draw all you need to do is any one of the following:

• Subscribe to my blog via e-mail (see also the link in top right corner just under my profile)
• Subscribe to my blog feed via RSS
• Follow my blog using your own Blogger account (what is following?)
• Follow my blog using NetworkedBlogs
  

At the end of each month, I will put all of the names of my blog subscribers/followers into a single list and use Random.org to pick a winner.  I'll announce the winner after each drawing and even ship the stove for free. There's no need to enter the draw twice.  I'll include existing subscribers into each subsequent draw, so that everyone continues to have a chance at winning until the very last drawing. All decisions are final.

As always, full credit is given toTinny at MiniBullDesign for coming up with the original stove design, for teaching us all how to make stoves for ourselves, for leading the way in light weight stove design, and for continually innovating!

Good luck everyone!

Update: As I only posted this article on Nov 23rd, I'm going to wait until the end of December to make the first drawing.

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