Tin obsession

[bigzee]

Is it just me, or do any of you guys find youself wandering round a supermarket with your eye "off the food-buying ball", drawn instead to different types of packaging, regardless of the contents?

In recent months my wife has wandered across to me as I pick up strange items not on the shopping list with a puzzled expression on her face. I then have to explain (in hushed tones) that I'm looking at a fray bentos pie tin wondering if it would make a good frying pan, or at the large aluminium hairspray can, with visions of converting it into a new (improved?) meths burner, and whether the handbag-sized body spray would fit in the former as a fuel reservoir. Maybe that odd shaped toothpaste bottle would store meths neatly in canteen cup?

Does anyone else see the weekly shop as a metal-fabricator's trip to a materials warehouse full of ideas and possibilities.....or.....er..is it just me?

[Matt]

I'm with you on this one bud, always seeing uses for containers of all shapes and sizes. And I thought it was just me:p

[Martin]

You're not alone Bigzee. :)

By the way, a very warm welcome to the NaturalBushcraft forum.

Martin

[OKBushcraft]

Welcome!

I am guilty myself. I even look into the house wares dept to see what type of stainless waste paper baskets they have. I have bought stuff I will never eat only to have the container. I find someone to give the contents to.

I save the plastic stiffener out of the turkey bacon package to use as a prep/cutting board. It rolls up right into my canteen cup. I have a staple tin for my one kit. I saw it at work and asked for it. Holds my ferro rod, mini bic, sewing kit, char cloth.

[GaryBeaner]

Yup!
My Missus knows now purely by the pause and distant look in my eye. But these days she stands patiently and tries to guess the use of 'said container' before I tell her. We have a cupboard full of little bags with various contents, and I'll never be short of boiled sweets again either.
She does get a little embarrassed when I stop in the street to pick up those red elastic bands that the postie leaves for me though:ashamed:
I'm not allowed to asked her Mum for empty pill bottles and tubs any more either. I ask mine now!

[Fletching]

Me too and welcome! My favourite find is a plastic container for sacred 'pooja (http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090424061906AALlvYo)' powder which I keep matches waterproof in as its got a double top. :)

Steve

[luresalive]

Fraid so, bush buddies all tend to be of a different mind set than other people.

[comanighttrain]

there are two cups full of travel sweets that will never get eaten in my kitchen :(

[Mang]

*Stands up to address the bushcrafters seated in a cirlce* 'Hi, I'm Mang and I find usefulness in packaging' *sits down to quiet clapping*. I'm doomed because I work for a supermarket two days a week which makes me an uber Magpie, I mean keen recycler.

[JEEP]

Guilty :D

[swkieran]

busted even down to plastic tubs that chinese takeaway food comes in:),welcome to nb m8

[IBrown]

OOPS!! just been to the local co-op to get a large tin of soup to see if it will fit my tes caddie to make a gas wood burner.
Guilty as charged...

[Kiltie]

Have I got the same wierd obsession ?




























http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg67/aaronslater/OOOHHHYESSSS.jpg

[Fletching]

This is not an offer of a group buy, but the shop where I got the tiffins (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?510-1-Week-Cooking-Set-for-2-3-People) from has ss containers in all shapes and sizes and for next to nowt (e.g. 20p, 50p, 90p etc, etc). I'd suggest looking out in your local asian area for a similar shop to 'Patel's' in Tooting (http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/1241/42976.php). I've seen similar shops around the country, but it was only when I was walking down the road *obsessing* about storage containers that I came across this type of shop.

I'll take some photos next time I'm in there and ask if they have any family/friends with similar shops around the country. :)

[Alba Albion]

With you all the way.

[IBrown]

Fletching, I have the set of 3 mini Tiffins they are great . What is your Hobbo Stove made from? it looks like a small SS biscuit tin. I was going to make a gas wood stove out of a SS tea caddy from wilko for £2.49 and a soup can.

[Fletching]

Fletching, I have the set of 3 mini Tiffins they are great . What is your Hobbo Stove made from? it looks like a small SS biscuit tin. I was going to make a gas wood stove out of a SS tea caddy from wilko for £2.49 and a soup can.

Hi IBrown,

The hobo's made of a ss coffee tin which I got for a quid and allows a 10cm Zebra to fit inside, and in that all the cooking kit...(it all looks big, but it's not - don't forget this is a 10cm Zebra. I nicked the idea lock, stock and barrel from Wayland)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5474995680_70d0ba85a4_m.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5474399685_800d5b4389_b.jpg

I'm working on a gasifier at the mo' as well, using another coffee (exactly like this one) can and a family sized Heinz soup tin.

Steve

[bigzee]

Many thanks for the warm welcome chaps.

Phew! what a relief - it turns out I'm not a total weirdo after all, just a member of a very elite group of lateral thinkers (I think!). Yeah,my name's Andy and I'm an alu-holic. One of my early stoves was made from one of those beautiful sweetie tins, with a pop-up weld mesh pot stand. Have you seen "tinny" from minibull design emptying whole casefuls of "unwanted contents" from heineken cans down the drain....AARGH..NOOOO!

[swkieran]

steve whats a tiffin tin,i know some bangladeshi people so i could proberly get some if there handy tins

[Fletching]

steve whats a tiffin tin,i know some bangladeshi people so i could proberly get some if there handy tins

Here's an example (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SMALL-3-LAYER-TIFFIN---PICNIC-%26-CAMPING-FOOD-TIN_W0QQitemZ220620361140QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=213 254686575&rvr_id=213254686575&cguid=3e77221412e0a47a24376877ff694dec). Basically they're stainless steel stackable containers for food that you can cook in as well.

Steve

[Ben Casey]

Looks great idea I have seen them before but they never crossed my nid for bush craft :)

[Roadkillphil]

Its called vision! Its's called Recyclers Eye! My workmates are totally disgusted with my behaviour, I'm a natural born skiprat. Check out my latest hobo stove made from an industrial filter, some armoured cable and an old flourescent light fitting, all found in a skip a regularly visit.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5474571985_0790d29b69.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5474571985/)
Hobo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5474571985/) by roadkillphil (http://www.flickr.com/people/7904270@N07/), on Flickr

I have a similar filter in 250 mil diameter from the same skip, so a medium curry stove is in the pipeline (as it were!!)

I got the Idea from Matts mega Hobo! I believe he made it from an old patio heater.

Half my kit is made from crap I've found in skips! It's good to not get shredded by folk for this sort of behaviour :D

[FrenchBen]

We are not alone!! :D

Some 5 days ago, I just finished a tub of dehydrated mushroom soup (well outdated but still ok...) to save the tub and now it's filled with 300g of whole wheat flour. Very handy little tub!
2 days ago, I found a sort of a plastic container that had formerly contained some kind of skin-hydrating beauty lotion. Asked my GF permission to use it and it now contains 100 ml olive oil (I'm just a bit worried about the taste cause it still smells like perfume...eventhough I carefully washed it)
And the water canteen I use on every hike is just a recycled water bottle that just perfectly fits in one of my pack's side pockets.


EDIT : sorry for the metric measurements... Felt a bit lazy to convert... and ashamed to be lazy... ;)

[comanighttrain]

We are not alone!! :D

Some 5 days ago, I just finished a tub of dehydrated mushroom soup (well outdated but still ok...) to save the tub and now it's filled with 300g of whole wheat flour. Very handy little tub!
2 days ago, I found a sort of a plastic container that had formerly contained some kind of skin-hydrating beauty lotion. Asked my GF permission to use it and it now contains 100 ml olive oil (I'm just a bit worried about the taste cause it still smells like perfume...eventhough I carefully washed it)
And the water canteen I use on every hike is just a recycled water bottle that just perfectly fits in one of my pack's side pockets.


EDIT : sorry for the metric measurements... Felt a bit lazy to convert... and ashamed to be lazy... ;)

fear not sir. for I too am a child of the metric system.

[IBrown]

Steve,
I have a 12mm Zebra. I bought the SS Tea from wilko and it is also 10mm. I was hoping my family can of soup will be OK. Haven't tried it yet. May have soup for lunch and have a go.
THanks
Ian

[cuppa joe]

Does this say something about the way more and more modern men feel ?...is this man's true nature showing through ? I am the same always on the look out for containers and such.
Ive just murdered our tea and coffee containers trying to make a stove good job the misses loves me he he..

[joshua]

dude i got to come clean I LOVE CAN'S thay have so much use

[Jack Russell]

Oh dear................ my name is Jack and I haven't touched supermarket packaging as a bushcraft aid for...................... hmmmmm 20 minutes (much applause from my therapy group) - where do you want to start? Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie tins - safety can opener leaves your missus with a lid to chuck n the recycle and me with a field chopping board that slides down the back of a pack. Lidl jumbo dog food tin (and I don't have a dog at the mo so had to give away the contents) perfect orginal hobo. Beer cans, pop cans all get stoved (polished for friends and left "au naturelle" for my use - I've lost count how many) Tampons injected with liquid petroleum jelly using inkjet refill syringes and left to set - bug-out bag essential to stick in tins and start a fffffffffffff- fire. paint tins, coffee tins, catering baked bean tins begged from little chef leave me shivering with anticipation (much to the amusement of kitchen girlies at the little chef). My current project fixation is those lurverly big rapeseed cooking oil drums that the local tandoori restaurant stick out for the rubbish collection. But I think I have got a grip on my addiction now, wouldn't you say lads??????? Jack

[OKBushcraft]

Jack, I'd say you are certifiable, uh I mean, qualified, yeah that is the word ;) to being a tin junkie.

Not sure what a number of those items are you mentioned, being in the states we don't have a lot of the cool things you have.

[paul standley]

bigzee - you tapped into a rich vein here buddy...!

Can't believe there are so many shelf stalkers out there... thought it was just me...!

I knew I had it bad when I started carrying a small tape measure in my pocket so I could measure heights and diameters...!

[jbrown14]

Don't sell yourself short there, OKBushcraft. We've got some useful containers here as well. I've got myself a small collection of tea tins (ok, I guess that's kind of an import thing) apricot nectar cans, and a lot of baby food and formula jars that I use for everything from alcohol stoves to storing small parts. I've even got bottles from prescription medicine that I use to pack my headlamp and spare batteries. You can find some great tins and containers to use if you think out of the box (so to speak.) My wife is getting used to my pulling things out of the recycling bin just before it goes to the curb for pickup. :D

Um...Paul? I think it's time to admit you've got a problem...

Ha! All the best,

Josh

[Jack Russell]

bigzee - you tapped into a rich vein here buddy...!

Can't believe there are so many shelf stalkers out there... thought it was just me...!

I knew I had it bad when I started carrying a small tape measure in my pocket so I could measure heights and diameters...!



Paul: you need to "embrace your Bushuality" - Once a week I go to Aberystwyth High Street to the specialist bushcraft stockist (Poundland) with an 8metre tape proudly clipped to the belt of my jeans AND a 6" digital vernier caliper (for those trickier project possibilities) and when the precinct security guard comes wandering around the aisles in stealth pursuit I smile, look him in the eye and pronounce with pride "it's ok mate I'm a bushcrafter"

[OKBushcraft]

Would you suppose that I can find the tea tins at Asian or Mideastern markets?
I use med bottles as well, got a vitamin one with about 10' of duct tape wrapped around it. A snuff can (actually jerky can) with some fire lighting kit in it. Just want some nice metal tins in this land of plastic.

[jbrown14]

Would you suppose that I can find the tea tins at Asian or Mideastern markets?
I use med bottles as well, got a vitamin one with about 10' of duct tape wrapped around it. A snuff can (actually jerky can) with some fire lighting kit in it. Just want some nice metal tins in this land of plastic.

I'd guess that Asian or Mideastern markets would be a good place to start. I got most of my tins (probably more than a dozen) from www.adagio.com when I used to order a lot of tea online. They don't package it in tins any more, so I'm stuck with what I have for now. The Republic of Tea is a brand sold at Starbucks, but they have a website too. I still have a tall tin from them that held some fantastic Earl Grey.

Just to give you an idea, the tins from Adagio are about 2" tall x 1 1/4" square. The lid just presses on. They're not waterproof, but sturdily built and good for separating things out.

The Republic of Tea tin I have is about 5" tall and about 2" in diameter. It held about a dozen tea bags at one time. The smaller ones are about 2" tall by about 2" diameter.

So much is packaged in plastic now, it's a curse and blight on the land. I think you'll just have to do what a lot of guys on here do and look at the stuff on the shelf at the grocery store (hardware store, Bed, Bath & Beyond...) in a new way.

OH! Before I forget, if you want a good source of surplus stuff, www.sciplus.com usually has a good selection of various containers. It's hit and miss because they're just buying up surplus lots, but the prices rock, and their catalog is hilarious.

Good luck!

Josh

[Jack Russell]

Ah you poor American chaps. The greatest and most found tin in British households is the Lyles Golden Syrup tin, an absolute tinaholics icon for generations. I looked at a sexy hudson bay tinderbox (£30+), a 1700's english brass tinderbox (thick end of £40) thinking either would have huge bushy cred and then realised the familiar and instantly recognisable green golden syrup tin IS the canine's lickey bits for the job. I defy any uk member on this forum to deny that my 425g (pah it was and always will be the pound) tin just oozes credibility and for making charcloth there is nothing to touch either size. For you American chaps if you've never seen them they even have there own place on wikipedia. millions of sheds across the uk have these filled with screws, nails, paint thinners, you name it.

[Bernie]

I was just at the front door and noticed my wife (and kids probably) had managed to polish off another tin of Heroes chocs. I picked up the tin and held it to my chest and smiled to my wife saying "oh goodie, another tin for me!". She chuckled and confessed she'd considered hiding it and getting rid of it before I could take it. She's tired of finding them here there and everywhere around the house. Two are currently under the bunny hutch because I fill them with the coals after a BBQ and with the lids on, the coals die out and can be used again for the next BBQ. Did I mention I'm a spendthrift?

I also took a tin of rice pudding (which I can't see myself eating) because it's unusually tall. I have a bag of tins and cans I'm planning to take to a get-together so I can share the pop-can stove idea with people and see what they can teach me about other stove ideas.

Can you imagine what a tin would be worth to stone age man? It's quite amazing how cheap and readily available they are these days.

[jbrown14]

Yes, Jack. We suffer from a great lack of quality tins here, but we have other redeeming qualities...I'll let you know when I think of something. :D

The Lyles Golden Syrup tin reminds me of a 1/2 pint paint can. Does the lid just pry off and press back on? I've got a couple of 1/2 pint polyurethane cans that look very similar, out of which I've made stoves, and I've got one 1 quart polyurethane can of which I made a hobo stove.

[Jack Russell]

"The Lyles Golden Syrup tin reminds me of a 1/2 pint paint can. Does the lid just pry off and press back on? I've got a couple of 1/2 pint polyurethane cans that look very similar, out of which I've made stoves, and I've got one 1 quart polyurethane can of which I made a hobo stove."

@jbrown14


Now you have it young man! BUT you don't need to "pry it off" - if you fit a piece of green metallic (or gold) habidashers ribbon 1 inch longer than the diameter of the lid with epoxy you can open the lid by pulling the ribbon tag - now we're poshcrafting (see other threads on this site!!). What makes the Lyles can so iconic is that it has an almost completely unchanged exterior pictorial design and graphic colour scheme since the day it was introduced (along with Colemans mustard tins ((rectangular)), marmite and bisto gravy granules). I guess for you guys it's a bit like the Altoids tin (though I'm not sure of it's age in design terms but I've seen competitions to see what can be stored in them). If you take a look on the uk e-bay site you will find 2 oz tobacco tins advertised because these fit this same inherited need of men to store goodies in the way that grandpa used to do.
Remember always................. you have turned into your father the day you keep a stick in the garage that is "just" for stirring paint hahahahahahahaha.

[Raven]

i ..........ummm..........ok, i..i am a skiprat to...........i ... i..i just can't let thing go to waste, i just can't do it, i have a skip rite outside the door where i work, its always being filled with TREASURE!!!!! that i can't walk away from............i have a problem i know. i am hanging my head in shame rite now.....sorry!

[bigzee]

i ..........ummm..........ok, i..i am a skiprat to...........i ... i..i just can't let thing go to waste, i just can't do it, i have a skip rite outside the door where i work, its always being filled with TREASURE!!!!! that i can't walk away from............i have a problem i know. i am hanging my head in shame rite now.....sorry!
Don't worry Raven - you're amongst friends...we're all recycloholics here! Imagine what the world would be like if all us westerners thought like this. Having three rat..eerr..cats, and a dog I have to accept that I can't keep all the cans we get through, but it grates with me every time one heads toward the green bin. I just keep the unusual shapes/sizes (plus the Lidl chicken soup can - for replacement non-rusty boot kit cook pot).

I sometimes wonder what you could build if you could keep every single can or milk bottle. Could you weld cans together end ways to make "logs" for an eco-cabin, and roof it with shingles made from milk-container sides, for example?

The retailers and manufacturers often talk about reducing the amount of packaging on the products as a long-term goal. Great for the environment, but what the hell will us guys use for materials!!!!

[tinkers]

i'm glad i'm not the only one. i've always been a keen recycler, and its stood me in good stead since i've drifted into bushcraft, and according to the wife she says that she's noticed that whenever i walk past a skip my pace slows to a crawl, and i seem oblivious to whatever she's saying to me whilst i'm scanning the contents of the skip for anything that might have another use. she now knows not to start a conversion with me if we are approaching a skip lol! as for going out shopping i used to hate it but that was before i became a little more enlightened as to the possibilities of finding the right size and shaped container for whatever project i'm working on, and since i've started shopping with the missus she has said it now takes her twice as long.

[OKBushcraft]

Ah you poor American chaps. The greatest and most found tin in British households is the Lyles Golden Syrup tin, an absolute tinaholics icon for generations. I looked at a sexy hudson bay tinderbox (£30+), a 1700's english brass tinderbox (thick end of £40) thinking either would have huge bushy cred and then realised the familiar and instantly recognisable green golden syrup tin IS the canine's lickey bits for the job. I defy any uk member on this forum to deny that my 425g (pah it was and always will be the pound) tin just oozes credibility and for making charcloth there is nothing to touch either size. For you American chaps if you've never seen them they even have there own place on wikipedia. millions of sheds across the uk have these filled with screws, nails, paint thinners, you name it.

I went and found it. Cool looking tin. I can find some like that about 8" tall and 2.5" in diameter, they hold some sort of rolled cookies with choc in the middle. I could make a lot of char cloth or keep a good amount of red lentils and a bag of spice in one. Keep right nice in the outside ALICE pack pocket. Making me think outside of the box...

[OKBushcraft]

Don't worry Raven - you're amongst friends...we're all recycloholics here! Imagine what the world would be like if all us westerners thought like this. Having three rat..eerr..cats, and a dog I have to accept that I can't keep all the cans we get through, but it grates with me every time one heads toward the green bin. I just keep the unusual shapes/sizes (plus the Lidl chicken soup can - for replacement non-rusty boot kit cook pot).

I sometimes wonder what you could build if you could keep every single can or milk bottle. Could you weld cans together end ways to make "logs" for an eco-cabin, and roof it with shingles made from milk-container sides, for example?
The retailers and manufacturers often talk about reducing the amount of packaging on the products as a long-term goal. Great for the environment, but what the hell will us guys use for materials!!!!

I have even seen some backwoods folks in the past cut cans down their seam after removing the ends. The flatened them and made shingles for their animal sheds.

[Edwin]

Oblong oilcans opened out and the edges turned over each other and flattened to join the pieces together from which I made a chimney blocker to go behind our stove. Most difficult thing was getting a reasonable seal for the stove pipe.