It could be my imagination but I swear that I’m accumulating stuff in the cabin. I’d gone to great pains to pare down what I had but still brought a groaning load of things up with me. Certain items I’ve developed a fetish-like attachment to, like the chainsaw (Stihl MS260), hunting rifle (Ruger M77 Hawkeye .308) and paddleboard (Jimmy Styks 11’6”) but the things that I get great utility from are generally the unexpected and unsexy. Here are a few things from which I get huge amount of mileage on a daily basis:
1/ BAP (Big Ass Pot): Not so much the beautiful stainless stockpot that came with your fancy cookware set but a beat-up aluminum 20-quart deal. You fill it up with water and leave it on the wood stove. Then you’ve got ready hot water for washing greasy dishes and for filling the shower bag. You can bathe babies, store potatoes, hide gold coins, carry laundry. You can slow-cook a stew all day or leave a bunch of bones going for stock. If you put the stock into your shower bag, I’ve noticed that the venison tallow will give your hair an unparalleled sheen.
2/ iTelephone: The best reception of any handheld unit on the beach. When you do get a signal you can also call up maps for an area, there’s that constellation app for identifying stars, and the torch app makes a great backup flashlight.
3/ Headlamp: You can see stuff. At night.
4/ BC liquor store plastic bags: I feel like a bit of a douche asking for one when I’m just buying a six-pack but they are the only bags that don’t have holes in the bottom. Whenever I have something that could potentially leak (thawing Ziplocs of meat, camp fuel) they are the only way to go.
5/ Bic lighter: They’ll save your life. If you need a fire there are fewer things more useful. I’d bought a fancy $60 windproof lighter, then I lost it. Now I have 10 Bic lighters stashed everywhere. Then of course there are the more quotidian uses: setting fire to the propane stove/wood stove/beach fire/cowboy cigarettes.
Okay, that was a weird handful of items to focus on but I’ll give it more thought and take another run at a ‘top-ten-ish’ list of useful items for cabin life.
Suggestions/reminders are welcome or let me know what you’ve found useful.
Thanks, Masa