Well after not making it for a couple of years, I fancied some granola at the weekend. So I dug out the old recipe and cooked up a batch, the mistake I made was tweeting a photo! After being flooded with requests (2 of them!) for the recipe I though I would paste it here on my blog.

I can’t take full credit for it though, it was pinched from a weight-lifting website a while ago when I was trying to be healthy. The good thing is it’s so adaptable, you can mix up any number of different fruits and nuts to tailor it to your tastes! Don’t be scared to try new combos, this batch I added 1/4cup of peanut butter, some chocolate chips and left over sunflower seeds!

Ingredients.

Dry:

6cups of Oats
1/2c flaked Almonds
1/2c Pecans ( break them up a bit)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Wet:

1/2c golden syrup (or maple syrup if you have it)
1/2c Honey
1/2c pineapple juice (get stuff with no added sugar, or water works too)
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

Here’s what to do:

Add the dry stuff to a big mixing bowl a give it a quick stir with a wooden spoon.
Oh yea I forgot, put the oven on at 150c.
Add all the wet stuff in the bowl and mix, it takes a little work. (try and get it all in clumps so there is no loose stuff at the bottom like sawdust!)
Try not to eat it all at this stage, cos its yummy!!!

Now spread the mixture out in a baking dish, you might need 2!
Slam it in the oven for about 35-40mins, take it out and stir it every 10-15mins and give it a stir so it gets toasted right the way through.
Take out and leave to cool. ( try not to eat it all here aswell!!!)

When its cool add a good handful of dried fruits. I usually use a handful each of dried cranberries, sultanas and chopped dried apricots.
Mix it up and poor into an airtight container, I have a big glass ‘kilner’ jar that works good.

Enjoy!!!

It’s perfect either hot or cold with milk, or even dry if you have the munchies. Let me know how you like it, especially if you come up with any good combos for the fruit-nut mix.

MYOG?!

MYOG stands for ‘Make your own Gear’ and usually applies to outdoor equipment that has been modified of constructed to suit a persons specific needs. I have been making the odd windsheild, meths burner and pouch cosy for backpacking for a while and I have recently decided (thanks to inspiration from people on Twitter) to step it up a notch and learn to sew. So more terrible MYOG projects may grace these pages in the months to come!

Cuben Fibre bonded drybag.

I have wanted a larger and lighter drybag to put my sleeping bag in for a while, so when some Cuben Fibre came up on eBay and I remembered some plans for a drybag I had seen, I grabbed a metre of it. I have been asked by a few people on Twitter to write a blog showing how it’s made.

I have followed the product developments over on Suluk 46 for a while and in the R&D section you can find my main inspiration for my drybag. Along with this there is a Youtube video of him making a bonded Cuben stuff sack which really helped. If you’re interested in making this I recommend watching it (I pretty much copy it!).

Right, to  make this you will need:

• Cuben Fibre, (or Spinnaker / Silnylon will probably work)
• Bonding Tape, I used Venture 1163 but there are special Cuben tapes or 3M make one that works
• Buckle
• Cutting Mat
• Stanley Knife – with new sharp blade, I also used a old craft knife for cutting tape to stop getting the new blade sticky
• Marker
• Tape Measure or ruler
• A straight edge (I used a piece of wood).

First you need to work out what size drybag you want to make, I advise you to make some prototypes to work it out. I made 3 out of cheap plastic I had in the garage. I ended up wanting a quite big drybag so I didn’t squash my sleeping bag too much.

Next cut out your Cuben Fibre leaving an extra 25mm in the width and 40mm in length to allow for the joins

Tape down the side edge all the way to the end.

I have 25mm wide tape, which I’m happy with to add strength to the seams. But I wanted a 12.5mm top hem, so cut the tape in half along. This is easiest to do on the roll.

Starting at the edge of the side tape, tape along the top edge to the other side.

Next fold the bag in half so the sides are together and the tape is facing up, weight it down, remove the tape and fold up the underneith piece sticking it down. You should have a Cuben tube.

Fold back the hem so the tape is on the inside, remove the tape and stick down the hem as you go working your way around until the top is stuck down.

Now flatten the drybag with the seam running down the middle, carefully cut 25mm up each side at the bottom. Turn the drybag over, fold up the flap and cut off the front flap. Be careful not the cut the rear flap aswell!

Turn the drybag back over and tape above the flap you just cut off, remove the backing and fold up the flap sticking it down. You should now have a Cuben envelope!

Next I stuck some tape on the cut off strip of Cuben and cut a couple of 50mm strips and stuck them around the corners. Probably overkill, but it did improve waterproofness in the prototypes.

I stuck tape down and cut a strip 400x25mm and stuck it together folded in three so that it would fit the buckle. Thread the ends through each part of the buckle and stick down the ends.

You should now have a nice bracelett, if that’s what you want then stop here. But I needed it, so I stuck it to the top hem with a couple of other patches over the top as ‘belts and braces’.

That’s it! You now have a Cuben Fibre drybag! Perfect for soft goods, just dont put anything sharp in there or it will puncture. The satisfaction of making something yourself is great, try it and get the MYOG bug.

Here are some more photies of the finished thing. My finished drybag is 325x510mm and weighs 21grams, not too bad. It is plenty big enough for my sleeping bag and bed clothes, or possibly a cold weather sleeping bag. Sorry if you found this a bit long I will try and be more consise in future.