If you're currently on the 国产吃瓜黑料 Blog reading this, then it's more than likely that at one point in your life you've happened upon Dick Proenneke's on PBS. (Or you've seen it on all those blogs and Tumblrs on the ol' Internets.) My favorite part about Proenneke's adventures are the things he makes鈥攚hich is basically everything鈥攂ut more specificially, the spoons and bowls and forks for his cabin. Why? Because if I were to learn the craft, it would probably take me many many years to work my way up to a cabin. A bowl seems more realistic and relatable, but even I know that's far off.聽
Andrew Graves of lives in Sussex, making the bowls, spoons, and slingshots (!) that I wish I had the time and skills to make (and learn to make) on my own. There's even a Swedish drinking vessel, known as a “kuksa,” a piece that I've been using as my backpacking bowl for several years. Though mine is 聽that I found at an old suprlus store a few years back.
In any case, whether you're hell bent on bringing your Light My Fire products along with you on the trail (they break in peanut butter) or if you know how to do this stuff on your own, the video above, made by is well worth the three minutes it'll take to watch it. Because even in the backcountry, a little handmade craft goes a long way. ESPECIALLY when it's got polka dots.聽
Jeff Thrope is the editor and founder of Cold Splinters. For more ways to pretend you're sleeping under the stars instead of reading the Internet, visit聽听补苍诲听.