New season...New job...New air to my life....

I know its been a long time since i posted anything....Changed jobs during the summer and things generally in Greece are a bit....edgy... Hopefully next weekend i will take to the mountain paths again after a long while and have some interesting new posts with experiences gained during the summer....

Well...I'm back finally!

After a long period of time that involved working like a madman i return to the Blog Front with a post of a video i found exhilarating... These guys have no brain left....It 's been replaced by microchips...And the adrenaline is pumping only to watch this...But, to be honest i'd rather be walking those slopes...i'm too much of a coward to do this...Make sure you watch in full screen!

It's a Mora!....

Silly meetings week coming up and i've worked like crazy these past few weeks...
But there was an unexpected find in a remote village i visited recently...

I found this!

Yep! It's a Mora Clipper by the Swedish Bahco. As you can see it is exactly the same as the Morakniv but with orange colors and a slightly better sheath. Now there have been some posts on the internet regarding the originality of the Bahco Mora. Lets flip the sheath.....

Genuine Swedish product not only by name but also by Barcode!!! Yes! Even if you have any doubt regarding the origin of any product the first tw digits of the bar code show the country this product was made and hence exported...You can check some products from your home, any food, items, gear whatever using this table.... As you can see the 73 prefix is Sweden! So, a good genuine Swedish Mora, which i found in the most remote place i could think of in Greece. And i paid 12 euros thats 16$... I am seriously thinking of buying a couple more as it is an amazing knife and is the stainless steel version.....

So Busy...

I've been preoccupied with some business matters this week so i haven't posted...
Thankfully these matters end tomorrow so i will post the Making of Folding Camp Stool... Stay tuned!

The Fishing Kit...

Now, fishing is something that is very special for lots of people and it is also very boring for the rest. Fishing with a line is an option only for those that have fished in the past or still do regularly. The fishing kit i have and use is something that evolved during the summer when everyone does a bit of fishing here.

I live in a city near the sea, shadowed by a mountain(lucky me...Thessaloniki rules!) and there are many lakes in Northern Greece and they all have fish...So the fishing kit i show here is a kit that can be carried with you very easily and be ready to use anytime you like to throw a line and enjoy the sunset.

These are two kits that contain everything you need. the one on the left is a smaller one stored in a Kinder egg that can be used a floater and because of its bright color(they come in reds or yellows) you can easily see if the fish are biting the bait.

I am going to show the one i carry with me when i go fishing, that is the largest of the two even if it is still small in size...
Important : In some countries you may need a fishing permit to fish. Ask around and find out what you need. If you fish often it is worth it as the fines at times are rather steep. Here in Greece fishing permit is required only if you use any kind of boat out in the open sea and it costs about 40$ to get one.. And remember, you don't have to carry one of these kits with you, unless you know how to fish and want to fish when you go outdoors. Those "survival fishing kits" business is just a load of bull. Either you fish, or you don't, so get the right stuff.

The contents, laid out. From left to right we have, sterile surgical blades, fishing line 25 meters, some bit of cork, small light sticks for fishing, salt/fresh water lure (for small to medium sized fish), hooks on a bit of eraser(very useful that..), hooks pressed on sticky tape, those twirly metal thingys(i don't know what they are called in English...) and assorted weights (clamp style). The Japanese have the best lures and hooks and generally everything about fishing that is Japanese is perfect! Those guys really know how to do it...
My advice, if you want to really use this kit often is having it ready before you set out. Which means tying the line to a hook, tying off one of those twirly metal things, and practicing some fishing knots beforehand.

The line is ready and that's a closeup of the all-purpose lure.(it works fine on both water types and the tail can be replaced with spares...
They all fit inside here and that's a handy fishing kit for any situation.

As you can see i fitted some knot tying instructions around so i don't forget how to set up my line. The knots are somewhat specialized because nylon line is used and not rope... You can find excellent knots for fishing HERE. 

A little story of how i started fishing and liking it...When i was in the army i was stationed at the beautiful Island of Samos. Because my home was 22hours by ship away on my weekends off i went fishing with a friend whose father was a fisherman on an adjacent island. We started fishing squid from the docks down at the other side of the harbor (the waters around the island are among the clearest and cleanest of Greece) and there i learned of a little fishing trick. Colored line, especially blue/green or gray/blue are the best for fishing. Avoid the classic cheapo transparent/clear line because it shines in the water and startles the fish. So we fished and learned and at times called my friend's father and asked for help....We started getting results when we switched to colored line and good quality Japanese lures for squid...What we fished we took to the camp's cook and we organized ourselves small feasts. The cook was allowed to eat but only if he brought the wine...;) 

So after 6 months on an island i came to know and value fishing as a means of passing time but also getting enough food to fill you belly...And remember. a fishing kit is useful if you live near or around lakes or seas. If you live in areas where lakes and oceans are scarce then a fishing kit is useless but you might practise some game snares while you're out.

Update on the Blog-Front...

I decided, with good reason, to change the name of the Blog into something more easy to remember and quote...

Although it sounds like a medieval tavern, the name is chosen for a reason. First, the oak was the sacred tree of Zeus the leader of the Olympian Gods and up until the middle ages felling an oak was considered a crime... The Greeks, for hundreds of years,have used the cups of the oak seeds in tanning and the seeds as an emergency food... In ancient Greece, there was a large oak over the Oracle of Dodoni in Epirus which was said to rustle its leaves when a prophecy was given... The Mountain is chosen for its sheer size and rooted power and because most of my journeys take me to forests up in the mountains...

Cardboard Stove Modification - Test #1

 So after i made the mod, i decided to test its efficiency...I tried to do a somewhat controled boil test. I chose the pot...my trusty 1$ worth of chinese steel pot was perfect because it had quantity markings(in ml) hammered and i tested its contets first...

The pot itself weighs 112grams... it's a trifle....

Zeroed the scales...

And added 500ml of water...(the markings were true..what do you know?)

Then i lighted the stove at the hour shown on the kitchen clock...14:20....

I installed a small wick for better lighting...

I didn't wait long before i mounted the stove on the pot, because i didn't want to have a strong flame as it would make mounting a bit finicky...i did the test outside but i forgot the camera inside...Time from first lighting to rolling boil....11 minutes.. Yep! 11 minutes, looked at the clock and it read 14:31...

You can see from the above photo that the water has boiled really good...but there was one side effect i didnt expect...the stove started to burn very, very efficiently(yes double very...) after 3-4min since i lighted it but it produced some amount of smoke when it burned inside the Modded Can... The excellent flow of air was evident by the shape of the flame and the heat that was emmited...

Important : I was holding the pot with my hand the whole time!! This means that even when you are on some slope or there is snow everywhere and you must have a fire of sorts this setup works fine. If you have one of those pot handles you can attach this stove to an even larger pot and just hang it from a tree... the stove works great!

Now i have some theories about the smoke and there will be more tests as this project evolves...
1. the position of the stoveand the flame is too near the pot...its like a lighter or candle when you move an object at a certain position over the flame they produce this kind of smoke...i will try different positions of the can and stove...
2. the wax used to fill the stove makes the gunky smoke appear...I dunno...maybe i used cheap wax...
Anyways if you have any theories or ideas let me know as i am willing to try them to get a unified result on this...Post your comments and/or Follow if you like...