Ben's Backwoods

I was poking around the internets for some more camping gear and happened to find Ben's Backwoods. I haven't ordered from them before (anyone here with any experience?) but they had a few things that looked really interesting and great for bicycle touring.

For one, they sell the Ghille Kettle (which is identical to the Kelly with the exception for a whistling cap on the spout). Up until now, I think the only source for these kinds of kettles were overseas. Well, here's a local-ish (within the US) source. Ben's also has a blog and he has a post about using the Ghille with some comparisons to the Kelly. Check out that post here.

At the moment, it seems like he just carries the basic kettle without the cooking accessories. Maybe in time, he'll sell those too. (EDIT: Just got an email from Ben himself and he has the cooking accessories, but hasn't put them in the store yet. So if you want those just wait a little while longer.)



Another interesting blog post is on how to make a good feather stick. A feather stick is a piece of wood that has been carved down to have a bunch of curls. It's used to help start a camp fire and is effective even when your wood is wet. What a great find for some camping advice!

I ordered a few things from Ben's , among them an Opinel knife and a space blanket with grommets. I'll have reviews of those when they arrive.