Gear I Use: Banks Fry-Bake Pan

You might wonder what in the world a lightweight fry pan and tenkara have in common.  They may seem totally unrelated, but in fact (in my world) they are tightly connected.  Bear with me, because tenkara and backcountry cooking keep me busy!

Well over a decade ago, my good friend and frequent wilderness companion, Patrick Smith, gave me a 5-ounce, 9" cake pan he bought at King Soopers.  I'll bet he didn't pay over three dollars for it.  Well, that pan, forevermore called the "fish pan", has cooked up literally hundreds of trout, made-from-scratch biscuits, sliced elk tenderloin, freeze dried hash browns, sausage patties, dried eggs...you name it.  It's been dented, scorched, washed with sand and creek water, and hauled all over creation in my backpack.  It was a really good pan.  However, it lacked a few things...durability, a fitted cover, and the ability to bake.

Enter the Banks Fry-Bake Pan.

I had been researching a replacement for the venerable fish pan for quite some time.  One day while I was actually doing some browsing online about backpack cooking, I stumbled upon the Banks Fry-Bake Pan.  As soon as I read the specifications and reviews I knew I had to order one as soon as possible!  To my surprise, there was also a good amount of information out there about cooking with it, including recipes, in the fine little book entitled "NOLS Cookery", produced by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and published by Stackpole Books.  The Fry-Bake Pan is a cornerstone of NOLS' bacI kcountry cooking program.

The Banks Fry-Bake Pan comes in three different sizes - an Expedition (10.5" X 2" deep), an Alpine (8" X 1.5" deep), and a Deep Alpine (8" X 2 3/8" deep).  Each comes with a close-fitting cover specifically designed to hold hot coals or charcoal on top for baking.  Since most of my use would be for backpack trips and guiding tenkara trips with a large day pack, I chose the smallest and lightest pan, the Alpine.

Here are the specs for the Alpine model Banks Fry-Bake Pan from their website:

Outside diameter:  8"

Depth:  1 1/2" 

Weight:  Approximately 7 oz.

Total weight:  Less than 12 oz.

The Alpine Fry-Bake Pan is spun from .062" 60-61 "O" member aluminum and then given Uniform Anodic Coating of .002 inches of clear hardcoat.  (NOTE:  This hardcoat anodizing makes the pan what I would call "stick resistant".  It isn't stick proof the way Teflon might be, but you sure don't have to worry about Teflon particles getting into your food.  Just apply a light coat of oil and you'll be fine)

Pan measures:

8" in diameter x 1 1/2" deep

Total weight:

less than 12oz

I was impressed that several options were offered for the pan cover.  Standard lids, NOLS-style lids, and lightweight lids are offered.  Here are the specs for the three from the website:

Standard and NOLS-Style Alpine Fry-Bake Lids are spun from .050” 1100 “O” temper aluminum and weigh less than 5 oz.

The Standard Lid has an “L” shaped tab for lifting riveted with 2 rivets to the lid. This tab has a small hole in it to allow for insertion of a stick, “O” ring or “S” hook.

The NOLS-Style Lid has a wingnut installed with a bolt through a single hole in the center of the lid. This style is the easiest to customize with the addition of your own knob or handle for lifting the lid by replacing the wingnut.

The Lightweight Lid is spun of .040” 1100-0 temper aluminum and weighs less than 4 oz. The Lightweight Lid has a wingnut installed with a bolt through a single hole in the center of the lid.

Since I planned to use my new pan mostly for backpacking and guiding, and every once would count, I selected the lightweight lid.

As with most really good gear, the Banks Fry-Bake Pan isn't cheap.  I ordered my pan from the Banks website, and ended up spending $72.70, including shipping.  However, after using this pan for the past few months, I can safely say you truly get what you pay for and it's worth every penny.

After I got my new pan, my buddy Eric Lynn, who owns Mountain Ridge Gear, sewed me a custom cover for it.  He even surprised me by fashioning a deer antler knob for the lid.  Thanks, Eric!

Custom deer antler knob.

Custom cordura cover for my pan

I've used my Fry-Bake pan in various ways.  One of the really cool things I've done is baked pizza in it, and although I didn't use hot coals on top of the lid yet, baking pizza with only my old MSR Whisperlite Internationale stove worked just fine.

Getting ready to bake pepperoni and cheese pizza in the Banks Fry-Bake Pan.

Piping hot pizza!

I've also been using my Fry-Bake Pan for cooking up hot lunches for my clients on the tenkara trips I guide for Royal Gorge Anglers.  Whether it's a drive-up trip along the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon or an all day hike-in backcountry trip in the canyons, I always cook a hot lunch.  So far I've done bratwurst on my Coleman stove, and both pork and beef fajitas in the backcountry.  One day I even put the Fry-Bake Pan directly on hot coals to sauté fajita meat because of a forgotten fuel bottle for my stove.  The pan has worked well for all of this!

Pork fajitas, cooked on an open fire.

Hot meals in the backcountry are always a big hit with my clients!

Breakfast sausage cooked on top of a Kifaru wood stove.

Cooking up bratwurst on my Coleman stove.

Beef fajita mix, using my old MSR Whisperlite Internationale stove.

Well, there you have it.  The Banks Fry-Bake Pan.  It's a great piece of bombproof, simple gear that'll outlast its owner!  I hope you have a chance to try one of these pans out...happy cooking!

Why I Kill Trout

A while back I posted an article on my blog entitled “Cañones de Invierno”, which was a trip report from the cañones this past December.  In that article, I talked about catching, killing, and eating brown and rainbow trout.  I posted photographs of trout sizzling in a pan on top of a wood stove, and of those browns and rainbows grilling on top of some scraps of iron on a pile of glowing coals in an open fire.  While reading Facebook posts today, I found one where my partner on that December cañon trip, Eric Lynn, explained when and why he and I kill trout in the backcountry.  Eric, thank you for your explanation!  I’d like to expound upon what you wrote.

Eric Lynn with a brace of brown trout, ready for the pan.

I kill trout and eat them.  However, there are self-imposed limits to this, and more often than not, I strictly adhere to a catch-and-release ethic.  When, where, and why I kill trout is dependent on a number of factors.  I have chosen to live a disciplined life on many levels, and my tenkara is no different.

First, I never keep fish unless I’m backpacking, period.  I’m not quite sure why it bothers me to do otherwise, but there’s something about backpacking, spending one or more nights out in the boonies, and celebrating the fact that I’m totally self-sufficient, that makes catching and eating a trout or two acceptable.  Much of my wilderness backpacking is done to reconnect with my paleolithic roots, and I devote a lot of time practicing bushcraft, hunting, and fishing to hone those ancient skills so important to keeping myself safe and well-fed off the land.

Freshly caught trout and miso soup, cooking over hot coals in the backcountry.

Fellow backcountry hunter, and renowned hunting ethicist, David Petersen, wrote that fly fishing (which tenkara IS, in case you wondered) is little more than “hydraulic hunting”, a point of view shared with sporting writer, Steven Bodio, who Petersen quoted in his seminal book, Heartsblood.  In that book, Bodio talks about “the occasional killing and eating of trout as a means of reminding ourselves of the ancient visceral connection between human and fish, predator and prey…” 

This connection with ancient food procurement, buried deep in my genome, is important to me.  It’s why I hunt elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, dusky grouse, snowshoe hares, Merriam’s turkeys, and cottontails.  It’s also why I hunt and fish in the some of the most strenuous ways possible, backpacking and burro-packing deep into Colorado wilderness, far from any bail-out my pickup could provide.  It’s a hard life at twelve-thousand feet.

Brook trout, pine squirrel, rice, and tea.  Living off the land!

Second, the fish I kill and eat the most are brook trout, with exceptions in canyons where there are so many brown trout it could make your head spin.  The brook trout in Colorado’s streams need to be killed and eaten.  The fact that there are hundreds of miles of brook trout streams in Colorado, all filled with 7-9” fish, make it a literal buffet for the backcountry angler, since Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers liberal daily limits on squaretails.  Non-native brookies can put the hammer on native greenback cutthroats and, as nature writer Ted Williams has said (quoted by Petersen in Heartsblood) regarding the problem with brook trout in Rocky Mountain National Park, “Biologists there are trying to eliminate non–native brook trout to aid the comeback of threatened native greenback cutthroats.  Releasing a fish that needs to be removed from the ecosystem is worse than Zorba the Greek’s unpardonable sin of not going to a woman’s bed when called…”

A nice 12" rainbow from a tiny creek.  This one lived to swim another day.

Third, size matters.  I simply won’t kill a trophy trout, and “trophy” is subjective.  In the brook trout streams I frequent, a “trophy” fish is anything over nine inches.  The lower elevation semi-desert canyons I call home hold some amazingly big brown trout, and any fish there over a foot long lives to swim another day.  I’d rather chew cold elk jerky for supper than grill a ten-inch brook trout.  The big ones stay.

This one stayed in the canyon, as most of them do.

So, there you go.  That’s my take on “catch and munch” versus “catch and release”.  It’s a moving target, but it always boils down to letting the trout call the shots, and staying true to your ethics.  If those trout happen to be nine inch brookies, build a small fire, get out your grill or pan, and live off the land!

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers 3rd Annual Rendezvous!

Nearly a year ago I found myself flying to Boise, Idaho, on a trip to attend the second annual BHA rendezvous.  It was my first attendance at this event, and I really didn't know what to expect, other than the information that had been sent my way by BHA officials.  By that time I had been an active member of BHA for a few years.  Last year I was asked to conduct a presentation on backcountry tenkara, and I jumped at the chance.  The rondy last year was a wonderful success by all accounts!

Right after last year's event, plans were made for the 2014 rendezvous.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the Colorado Chapter step up to the plate and agree to host it in Denver!

The third annual rendezvous has a lot to offer!  I will again provide a demonstration of tenkara fly fishing, as well as represent RIGS Fly Shop and Guide Service and Tenkara USA.  RIGS has donated a guided tenkara trip for two (with yours truly as the guide), and Tenkara USA has donated rods and other tenkara gear for the auction.  My good friend, Eric Lynn (owner of Mountain Ridge Gear and Original ATV) will conduct a presentation on burro packing.  Patrick Smith and crew from Kifaru (one of BHA's biggest sponsors) will be set up in the vendor room.  We also have a substantial list of seminars and demos during the day, which includes game processing, mule deer hunting techniques, panel discussions on "technology and hunting" and "women and hunting", and state and national conservation issues.

Here's a bit of event info from our executive director, Land Tawney:

"Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), The Sportsmen's Voice for our Wild Public Lands, Waters, and Wildlife, is pleased to announce our 3rd Annual North American Rendezvous, to be held March 21-23, 2013, in downtown Denver, Colorado at the Red Lion Hotel.

After last year's success in Boise, it seems only natural that we follow up with a Rendezvous that is bigger and better.  Over the past two years, the National Rendezvous has attracted passionate backcountry sportsmen and women from across the country.  Attendance has grown by leaps and bounds and we fully expect another year of unprecedented attendance, energy and good times.  Not to mention it's our 10 year anniversary and it's time to celebrate the successes that BHA has had over the past decade.

The centerpiece of our event features a not-to-be-missed dinner with famous outdoor writer and contributor to Field & Stream, Hal Herring as our keynote speaker.  We'll also hear from BHA leaders and local and legislative luminaries.  Our banquet dinner will be complimented by a live and silent auction and music."

I HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US!

Gear I Use: A Series

I don't really make serious New Year's resolutions, but I do set goals for myself off and on throughout each year.  Starting work on a goal on New Year's Day just makes it easy to keep track of.  One goal I have, and a broad one at that, is to put deliberate effort into improving my writing.  Blog posts, magazine articles, book contributions, meaningful content, matters not.  I can make all of it better.

Tenkara Tracks will start to highlight lightweight backpacking, day hiking, and burro packing a little more, and one way that I'll do that is to feature my gear every few weeks in a succession of posts entitled "Gear I Use: A Series".  Pretty creative title, huh?

My understanding and long-suffering wife thinks I have way to much outdoor gear.  I really don't, but what I do have is extremely purpose-driven.  There aren't too many pieces of equipment I own that don't get used, unless you count a couple of my twenty-five-year-old backpacking stoves, or the pair of plastic Lowa mountaineering boots that I got in Germany back in 1984 or so.  Some things you've just got to hang onto.

Packing out my 2013 cow elk with Eric Lynn's burros, many miles from the trailhead.  

So, stay tuned for the first post, which will feature my stoves and grills.  "Gear I Use" posts will come at you as categories, i.e., stoves and grills, and inside each post will be featured the pieces of gear I use the most within that category.  Other categories may include shelters, sleep systems, camp kitchen, lights, footwear, edged tools, clothing…you get the idea.

If I can infuse more backpacking and burro packing into Tenkara Tracks, inform you a bit more about choosing your own gear, or even get ideas from readers on their top gear picks, then one of my goals will have been met.

Next up:  Gear I Use:  Stoves and Grills