Saturday, April 7, 2007

A simple container to spice up the thru-hike

Hang around long distance hikers for any length of time and conversation turns to food. Quantity, Quality, variety – lets face it – during a hike, food can become an obsession. There are only so many acceptable types of pastas, or hot foods an ultra-light hiker can deal with. Spices become one way to jazz up those noodles.

That's why, when Stud told me about this creative, ultra-light, spice container, there was a unanimous nods of approval – sweeet!

It is so simple and lightweight. It is a plastic straw filled with spice.

You cut a plastic straw into three pieces, two short and one long. Stick the straw into the a spice container and pack the spice in. Fill the straw with a spice, leaving enough open space at either end to create 'doors'. Fold one end of the long piece over itself and slide a short piece over it. This is a door (see photos).

Here you have it! Functional, lightweight, simple, cheap, amazingly sturdy - what's not to like.

One final specification for the anal-hiker, Cut your straw spice containers to a length where they fit nicely in a Ziploc bag and you have a clear plastic, Ziploc, spice 'cabinet'.

Some of my favorite hiking spices are: ground ginger, curry powder, ground nutmeg, parsley flakes and garlic powder. Finally, when it comes to camp grub, you can never have too much pepper.

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