Category: Uncategorized

I have had the Grayl Ultrapress for two years now. I haven’t thought I really needed to use it, because the places I have hiked & camped have had portable water spigots and fountains at their trailheads and sites. I used it intermittently anyway so that I could become familiar with it for the times when I would actually need it.

With all of the news stories lately about PFAS in drinking water, I decided to use it even at home, as news reports have mentioned that it’s in water supplies in many places – including my area in general (though my particular municipal water system claims it does not have PFAS). Grayl’s website states it will filter PFAS.

Pros:

• Filters AND purifies water (most other products only filter) including PFAS.
• Not an attention grabber – it looks like any regular water bottle.
• Simple to use (that isn’t necessarily the same as easy to use)
• Can pour filtered water into another container easily

Cons:

• Requires user to be able to stand on a solid surface and use their upper body weight to filter (difficult for wheelchair users and folks on small watercraft)
• If a larger amount of water is needed (for cooking, sharing with others, etc) you have to repeat the process multiple times, which expends more energy than other methods of filtering
• Expensive
• Filter cartridge unit cannot be back flushed/cleaned to extend its life
• Does not fit in my car’s cup holders

It did not take me long to get tired of the small amounts of water (16.9 oz) I can get from the bottle, and I ended up getting a 2 gallon carbon filter for home use, which has worked well.

It was a valuable experiment, since it made me realize that although my tap water seems fine to me taste wise, it has actually made a positive difference in how my tea tastes.

I do sometimes take it with me when I leave the house so that I can filter on the go without attracting a lot of attention, though I tend to prefer to bring 2 large Nalgene bottles with me that hold what I need until I return home, especially when I go hiking. For larger amounts of water filtering, I have a Sawyer Squeeze Mini in my gear, which I can backflush to clean.

I have tossed the Grayl into my car emergency bag, so it is there if I need it, but it’s not going to be in rotation to be regularly used.

Summary
Rating: 3 of 5 long handled spoons
Ease of prep: 4 of 5 (two soaks, but they are short)
Possible hacks: add a packet of soy or teriyaki sauce, pineapple

This is edible but not great, from the comfort of home. I immediately added soy sauce because that helps anything, but this has 59% of the daily allowance of sodium so that’s probably not a great idea. Though if I have been sweating on a hike the level of sodium isn’t as big a deal. The soy sauce improved it from bland to mediocre.

I immediately thought adding some freeze dried pineapple bits would actually really brighten it up. Possibly some lime juice.

The chicken chunks don’t really have much taste, they just add mouthfeel.

Probably sufficient after a long trail day but not anything to crave.

Summary:
Rating: 4 of 5 long handled spoons
Ease of Prep: 5 of 5 spoons (just open package)
Possible hacks: none needed

This is a freeze dried ice cream sandwich and I love it even sitting on my couch… except that it’s a bit messy. Not so much a problem out in the wild.

I opened the package expecting it to just be hanging out in there, but it was wrapped in paper like any ice cream sandwich, though there was a puzzling slice up the side. Perhaps that’s part of the freeze drying process. Do they just get regular premade ones and then slice it to let moisture out?

It’s actually pretty tasty and I’m having fun munching on it, so all in all, it’s a nice snack, and doesn’t require special storage, though I’m not sure how sturdy it would be shoved into a backpack and smushed by everything else in there. Oh dear, I guess I have to buy another one to test this out… you know, for science. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Why did I give it 4 out of 5 long handled spoons instead of 5 out of 5? I guess because it’s not *really* ice cream at this point. It’s something else. But it’s good!

A couple eons ago in pandemic time, folks were throwing milkshakes as protests, and some whiny people tried to say they were getting hit by milkshakes containing concrete, which is a separate thing from calling a very thick milkshake a concrete. There has been zero evidence found that anyone actually put concrete mix in a milkshake and threw it at a fascist. At the time though, I remembered making milkshakes using a mixer at a fast food job I had once upon a time, and I had recently been looking at the famous picture of Woody Guthrie with one of his “This machine kills fascists” guitars… and my brain put those in a blender, and out came a drawing.

Anyway, the topic came back up recently, and I mentioned the drawing, and that I should clean it up in Procreate and make it available to anyone who wants to make a sticker out of it, and I was encouraged to, and to make it available as a coloring page as well. So I did!

I tried to make the text look similar to one of Woody’s guitars, without tracing it.

Here’s a PNG that anyone is welcome to make into a sticker if you’d like:

And I am also attaching a PDF of the line art, so you can print it and color it as well!

Please enjoy, and whatever you do, don’t be a milkshake duck.