Homemade Gear & Gadgets

[ScoutDad]

Anyone care to share what homemade gear or gadgets they've made or adapted for the trail? I'm always looking for good ideas to share with my scouts!

One item I made was an external frame quick repair kit:

I cut four- 6" lengths of straight coathanger and bent about 3/4 " of each end all the way over on each piece, then secured the pieces to the frame of my pack with 4 small hose clamps. In the event my frame breaks at a joint or at a straight tube, I can use the hanger pieces and hose clamps to splint it. It's ultra lightweight, and never leaves my pack frame unless needed. I've also used the wires as a makeshift pot support/grill; setting them across rocks.

[Tom]

Can't say it's homemade, but about three wraps of duct tape (wrapped back on itself) around a Nalgene bottle seems to be just the right amount for most trips...

Now, if I could only figure out how to carry the WD-40.

[Keweenaw]

Not homemade either, but I learned long ago that a couple of diaper pins on the outside of the pack make great clothes dryers while hiking.

I once whittled myself a spoon to replace a forgotten one, but I don't think that counts.

Bob

[Backpacker534]

ScoutDad, how about an alcohol stove. My buddy and I usually take along a white gas stove, but I'm going to be taking my son on his first hiking trip at the end of May (unfortunately, not to I.R. this time) and we built a lightweight alcohol stove. I figured it would be a cool father/son project and it would be something we could actually make use of. On top of that, it weighs A LOT less than the Coleman white gas stove my buddy and I drag along. It didn't take too long to make and it seems to work pretty well. There are a lot of links to alcohol stoves on the internet if you do a Google search. I researched quite a few designs and websites before deciding on the one I wanted to build. This is the one we chose: http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/stoveinstruct.html.

The stove uses pretty cheap fuel, HEET, which you can buy at any auto parts store or WalMart. We also bought a 1/8" steel rod from Home Depot and used it to make a pot stand as is shown in the link above.

If you're interested, here are a couple other links to give you some ideas:
http://zenstoves.net/
http://users.sisqtel.net/losthiker/pikastove/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcrW27Le ... re=related
http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html
http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/waite_instruct.html
http://hikinghq.net/sgt_stove/ion_stove.html

[Nick]

Back in the 1970's, there was a company called "Frostline Kits" out of Colorado. They had a wide variety of things you could make at home. By the time the company went out of business, I had sewn most of their kits. I still have two down bags, a tent, a tundra jacket, a down vest, a doggie pack, and a down jacket. I wish they would go back into business. The prices were good and the product was awesome.

[johnhens]

I made a portage yoke for my kayak

[Backpacker534]

Hey, ScoutDad, I actually have a couple more ideas for you. As the saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” These two gadgets were born out of frustrations that my buddy and I came across while backpacking. I can’t take the credit for either idea or their actual construction because my buddy (also on this forum as, Hikerken) came up with both ideas and made one of these for each of us. If you’re looking for simple, low-cost project/gadget ideas these may also fit the bill. Both can be made from simple items and they don’t take long to build.

The first one is a simple clothes line. We found that wet clothes and/or gear didn’t dry as quickly when they were hung over wet tree branches and leaves. Also, if it was breezy the clothes had a tendency to fly off of the branches they were spread over. This clothes line was made from an empty 35mm film container, two metal clips and 11 ½ feet of nylon cord. From looking at the photos you can probably figure out how it was constructed. Basically, holes were punched through the container and the lid, the cord was passed through the holes and the clips were tied on. Then you just stuff the cord into the container and replace the top for a self-storing system. When you want to use it just unfurl the cord wrap each end around a tree and attach the clip to the cord. We’ve used these for several years and they work great.

Clothes line all packed up.


Here's a photo of the line itself.


O.K. I know you wont see a basketball pole in the great outdoors, but you get the idea.



The second set of photos shows a simple pack hanger. We got tired of having our packs fall over while packing or unpacking gear at a camp site, or from having them get wet and muddy by sitting on the ground after it rained. All you need for this is a decent length of nylon strap (a wider strap is probably better than a narrow one), a buckle and a carabineer. In camp you simply wrap the strap around a sturdy tree, run the loose end back through the buckle and pull it tight. Then lift your backpack by the top carry loop and slip it into the carabineer. It now becomes much easier to root through your pack using two hands than having to worry about trying to hold it up. And, you get the added benefit of keeping it clean and dry.

Here's the backpack hanger.


Closeup of the hanger attached to an pole.


Here's how it looks with a backpack attached.


I hope these ideas sound useful to you, I know they've been very handy for us.

[fonixmunkee]

Here's how it looks with a backpack attached.

I really like that thing, it would be uber handy. I think I'll look into making something like that. Thanks for sharing!

[Backpacker534]

Yeah, I really like it. Especially since it provides a little extra convenience but weighs almost nothing and takes up very little space.

[ScoutDad]

Great ideas!

I took a 200 ounce sears laundry detergent bottle and cut 4 inches off of the bottom of the rectangular bottom. It's a mini sink, water scoop, laundry tub that fits neatly in the bottom of my pack.

[Nick]

I use the plastic laundry bottle, too. But, not for dishes

[Keweenaw]

Getting up all night long, unzipping the tent, and stumbling around in the dark?

Ask your doctor about an empty plastic juice bottle.

No side effects.

[sgerbs]

Another thought on the film canister clothesline - you could use it to hang your food from a tree as well. I use a similar nylon rope with a caribiner attached to it to hang my food bag. I end up wrapping it around something in my pack to keep it from getting tangled, but I like the idea of using a film canister or something a little bit larger for a longer rope.

[Ingo]

Back in the 1970's, there was a company called "Frostline Kits" out of Colorado. They had a wide variety of things you could make at home. By the time the company went out of business, I had sewn most of their kits. I still have two down bags, a tent, a tundra jacket, a down vest, a doggie pack, and a down jacket. I wish they would go back into business. The prices were good and the product was awesome.

My daughter now has the Frostline down vest I sewed in college (I outgrew it ) Wish they were still around too!

[Nick]

[/quote]My daughter now has the Frostline down vest I sewed in college (I outgrew it ) Wish they were still around too![/quote]

Funny, I gave my vest to my daughter as well. It was the only Frostline product I ever bought that shrank!