DIY Edelrid Hexon Multifuel Stove With Vargo Titanium Hexagon Wood Stove

Before I purchased the Hexon Multifuel Stove, I did a lot of research and one of it was using with Vargo Hexagon Wood Stove. I have Noticed the nut of the Hexon Multifuel Stove size and the base plate of the Vargo Hexagon Wood Stove had the same size. It was a wild guess without physically seen it. There was no info on the internet that anyone has done it.

Took the gamble and guess what??!! I was right. This is a simple mod to use both stoves together. Takes less than a minute to get it done. Watch the video below

Car Camping Mini Camp Setup (Mini Glamping)

It has been 18 month since we did this and is our third time we have tried mini camping, was much inspired by many Japanese V-Blogger. Mini camping has all the comfort of Glamping, the setup is less tedious and less heavy gears to bring along.

Watch the video below to get a better glimpse.

Leatherman Wave Mod - Black Tactical

Black Tactical is completed!

From 17 tools Leatherman Wave now it is a 24 tools Leatherman Super Wave. 

Additional features: wood chisel, awl, nail extractor, steel cutting saw, hard wire cutter, electrical crimper and scriber tools. 

Leatherman Wave with Steel Saw Add-on

I have been scouting for weeks on the internet on how to add a steel saw blade on my Leatherman Wave. Most of the results came from forum.multitool.org and none of it really fits my bill.

DIY 5V Li-ion Charger

Initially started this experiment to revived old dead phone batteries which cannot be charged by conventional charger anymore, read it from somewhere so decided to give it a shot. Somehow it worked and the batteries were revived once more for use. 

So I decided to go further experimenting on live batteries that requires recharge. To my amazed I was able to charge live batteries using 220V or portable 5V Power Pack supply. 

DIY Universal Smartphone Bike Mount

These days we have been using our smartphone as GPS and Fitness Apps  instead of our Garmin Oregon 400t. I have been thinking how can we mount our smartphone on our bikes instead of stopping and taking out from our pocket or bag to use it or rather spend extra money on a Smartphone Bike Mount. 

So finally here I found a simple solution for both of us, a DIY Universal Smartphone Bike Mount and it cost almost nothing.

Platypus Water Bottle Modification

Last few camping trips, we had tested our gears in the most extreme conditions, wet weather, hiking in the dark and filtering the worst condition water ever.

First of all we would like to thank one of our Fan, Way Point for bring up some ideas on our water filter. He was suggesting that we should add another filtering material just at the inlet strainer to prevent more sediment into the filter element and prolonging it's life span. 

When on with the idea somehow came up more modification for the 2 Litres Platypus Water Bottle. One problem we faced during wild camping trips, at time the water bottle could not stand up right properly due to uneven ground. While filtering water into the bottle it ended up the whole bottle fell flat on the ground, wasting all the effort filtering the water. 

In this Modification included

• Water Filter Upgrading
• Washing point Conversion
• Hydration Bag Modification
• Packing Attachment 
• Hanging Attachment
• Flat Ground Water Filtering

Vargo Titanium Hexagon Wood Stove Modification

This is ridiculous, the stove is not even half a day old and started making modification. The mod was rather simple, made few holes around the lower plating for better air intake. Like any Hobo Stove, the side walls should have holes so that more air can flow into the chamber and create a better combustion during wood burning.

However it was not so simple as it seems, the Titanium was really hard, drilling the first pilot holes was easy but when drilling the final holes, the drill could not cut properly ended with irregular circle shapes. Had to use a rotary tool to smoothing it out. 

DIY Water Bottle Cage Mounting

My bike came with only one water cage mounting. Since I have the Topeak Modular Cage XL which fit 1 ~ 1.5 lts bottle, I have decided make mounting points for it and add extra mountings on other tubing for different setup. 

Initial intention was to make mounting points on the Seat Tube, additional mounting on the upper Down Tube as it was too low and the bottom of the Down Tube. After taking measurements on the upper Down Tube soon realised the drill could not fit in....Crap!!

Waterproof Tinder Straw

Here is an idea how you can make a tiny waterproof straw container for tinder. This will protect the tinder from drying for many years. In this tiny waterproof straw tinder, I can have as many as 25 times to start a fire. You can use it any time and seal it back. All you need is a bubble tea straw and some Vaseline. 

DIY Aluminium Foil Windscreen

Recently I re-organised our 2 person backpacker Kitchen Kit and found we have forgotten something, a windscreen. Our current MSR and folding windscreen could not fit in the Kitchen Kit so I decided to DIY one using Aluminium Foil.  

The construction is rather simple, takes some measurement and just fold the windscreen to shape. I decided that the height of my windscreen to be around 15cm heigh. When I folded the Aluminium Foil in half, it was around the heigh....perfect!!

Our Outdoor Kitchen Kit

During the days of family backpacking, I would have to prepare meals for the family, those days I had purchased an Outdoor Research Backpacker Kitchen Kit. It comes with these following items and I had added extra forks and spoons for family of 4. These had made backpacking easy, everything was stored in a pack. The whole idea is having lesser item, lesser weight, everything in one place and compact size, this had mde camping a whole lot fun and stress free. 

Survival Darts

After testing out few different kinds of DIY darts, finally settled for one simple method to make it. These darts are normally used with Blowpipe a native hunting tools which is still used around the world. The hunting gear is easy to fashion out, you can use a copper pipe, bamboo or anything that is straight and hollow. The pipe diameter should not be too wide. Blowpipe effectiveness should be at least 1.2m long. However you can try out different length to test it out. The current Blowpipe tested was using Bubble Tea straws, length 60 cm and effective range of 10 metres.

I have other intention that is to construct a compress air gun that can have a range 40 to 50 metres. Still on the drawing board. 

In my survival kit, I have a roll of duct tape and some nails. I carry nails just in case needed to peg the tent down on a tent wooden platform. I can use the nails to make a hunting tool. Now I found that I can make darts with it in matter of seconds.

I first started out making the dart using bamboo skewer and cigarette bud. It did take quite sometime to make one dart. Next I tried using Post-it and nail, it too took sometime but much faster than the bamboo dart. Finally duct tape and nail, it took seconds to have one ready. View the photos below how it was done.  

After testing out all the darts, the Post-it and Duct tape nail darts were more accurate and it sank into the carton box deeper. Maybe is because of the cone shape design which have lesser drag.

PureEasy Pocket Water Filter Maintenance and Upgrade

Maintaining any water filter is rather important. Most hand pump water filters comes with couple of O-rings and seals. If these O-rings and seals are not maintained properly, it will loose it properties, start to crack and leak. 

I have upgraded the hoses to black hoses. These hoses can be bought from an aquarium pet shop. Like any clear hoses, in no time algae will start to grow if not kept properly dry and will look unsightly. A black hose will prevent such growth. Algae growth will not affect the water filtration quality, is just that the hose will look ugly. By the way I felt it look better with black hoses.

I have extended the suction hose which was 70cm long, to 100cm long so that I can have the suction hose at a further cleaner water source. The delivery hose was 27cm long and now it is 40cm long to fit on the Platypus water bottle when set on the ground.  

I have also replaced the existing stuff sack to a self DIY breathable stuff sack. This will allow the wet filter for quick drying. 

The filter scrubbing sandpaper was replaced with a small piece of Scotch scouring pad, this pad will last longer compared to the supplied sandpaper. 

I found a method to fill up hydration bag without removing from the backpack. Not sure it will work, will try it out one day. Also made an improvised soda bottle cap to fit the Platypus water bottle for filling.

MTB Settings Guide

Since 2000 till now, I have spent almost USD13,000 on Mountain Bicycles for myself and family members. Recently I have given advised to one of our reader on getting a customized bicycle. Today he is telling me he loved it. So I thought I might just share this post with you guys. I am not bragging what I have but hoping you do not repeat my mistakes before. 

Firstly, I do not recommend buying a complete Setup bike unless you are just using it for transport purposes. As your interest in biking grows, you will likely upgrade bike components and wasting money on your existing components. Next, what do you want to use the bike for. For me, I want my bike able to tour with it, MTB, leisure riding and do grocery shopping. 

Topics in this Post

1. Bike Frame Size and Types
2. Budget and Choosing Bike Components
3. Tools
4. Setting Up the Bike

Royce DM-300 Rotary Power Tool.

My childhood dream tool, I use to do a lot of Tamiya plastic modelling, having such tool was perfect for my hobby. Those days these tools were very expensive. Finally I got my hands on one such tool, no more plastic modelling but plenty of DIY and repair use. 

I have been using it for couple of weeks and found it extremely useful. Mostly use it for grinding, polishing and cutting.

This rotary tool is similar to Dremel except it is much cheaper and made in China. It can fit almost all Dremel accessories. Another beauty of this tool, you can use 110V or 220V 50~60Hz.

Similar to Dremel, it rans on ball bearings and the long lasting motor brushes are replaceable.

The box itself came with a set of engravers, spindle wrench and spare motor brushes. Instruction manual is in English. I ordered additional Flex shaft attachment and a box of different accessories bits.

Mobolo PWM Solar Charge Controller Modification

Got this Solar Charge Controller locally made in China by Mobolo Electronic Technology Co. Ltd. It came with a 3 page Mandarin user instructions and the Solar Charge Controller. This model is EPOW-PS10 10amp PWM Solar Charge Controller, on their website you can download the User Instructions but it is in Chinese. PWM, Pulse Width Modulation are one of the most sophisticated technology as it is able to monitor, adjust and control the charge going into the battery.  

Mashin KS-1210 Intelligent Battery Charger

For the whole last one week, we been having problems with our vehicle stater battery. The vehicle was left too long not running and the battery was totally discharged. Checked the battery it was 11.9V, managed to jump start and drove around for 2 hours. Next day, it was not able to start again the battery reading was 12.1V.

Just the other day when our friends from Singapore came to visit us, the battery was dead again. Decided to use the Aux Battery through Joeypa Battery Isolator to boost the starter battery and it started the engine. After travelling in the vehicle for 4 to 5 hours. The next day the battery reading was 12.38V.

Suspected the battery was not able to hold the charge well, the sulphuric acid might have coated the battery plating inside causing the battery failing to hold charge. From many information on the internet, they would recommend to change the battery if it falls below 11.9V.

Found new information on rescuing battery, apparently they claimed they can resurrect a dead battery provided there is no internal plating damage. This new technology is called Pulse Charging. A Taiwanese company Mashin Electric Corp, they manufacture Battery Chargers and they have the Pulse Battery Charger. I contacted the supplier and they recommended to use their latest product just released in 2012 to try it out. So I did

DIY Portable Heineken Solar Panel

Decided to rip off  my Solar Focus Mio and reconstruct it. Reason for doing that, the rubber casing around the SF Mio started to crack and there is no option for direct USB charging. 

Material needed

• Femal USB connector
• Heineken Box
• Duct Tape
• Shrink Wrap

DIY Alcohol Stoves

These are the latest alcohol stoves designed by me, the Mutant X (MX) and Pressurized Jet Assisted (PJA) Alcohol Stoves. The MX is an improved open jet stove design to give better fuel efficiency and yet burns like pressurized jet alcohol stove. With the turbo base added, it cuts boiling time by half. These stoves have been tested and are made for  proper usage. If you have any quires, please send us email.