Sharpen Your Knife

   So I decided to get one more Bushclass USA basic requirement out of the way. This one was for "Student Practice to Sharpen Your Knife". But first before I get you to the video link, I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to check out BushcraftUSA and consider joining this great online community. There is so much information to be found within the threads and posts of this forum site. Also, the online Bushclass will guide you thru many lessons that will help you to improve your skills and give you a better understanding of bushcraft.
   So here is my "How I Did It" video on sharpening your knife.

More after the jump.

Now To Cook Something Over The Fire

   Today was a good day to get out and enjoy some of the wilderness and finish up yet another Bushclass USA lesson. The one I did today was the "Student Practice for the Pot Hook". This is a means of hanging your cooking container, such as a billy can or pot, over your fire and then being able to control the temperature of the cooking pot by raising or lowering it over the fire. So here is a short video of my adventure today. I hope you enjoy it.

   One of the best parts of today's expedition was towards the end when I came upon a Great Horned owl perched in a tree. He saw me at first and left his perch for another a short distance away. I took the opportunity to get out the video camera and tried really hard to get close, but it was getting dark at that point and I could not zoom in quite close enough. But it was great to get that close just as I was getting back to the parking lot. What a great day. Til next time, Happy Exploring.

More On The Subject of Firecraft

   Recently I needed to complete another lesson for BushclassUSA on the BushcraftUSA forum website. This particular lesson involved the gathering and lighting five man-made tinders. Part of the lesson was to have fun, I decided to approach the process as if the tinders had to be found in the wild, even though they are really "man-made". So here is the resultant video I made and I hope you enjoy it.

More after the jump...

On the Subject of Firecraft

   So yesterday, I woke up, looked at the digital weather station hanging on the wall next to my bed, and the outdoor thermometer said "16° F" and I just knew I wanted to got to the woodlands. It would be brisk, and I would have to bring the right gear, but it would be a perfect day to work on Firecraft. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am a member of BushcraftUSA and I am working on the Bushclass requirements for the online classes found on their forum website. One of the requirements is "Student Practice for Feather Sticks and Shavings" which requires you to post a picture of your practice, which is a hat or cap full of shavings. But first, I need to get out to the wilderness. I decided to do some more "One Stick Fire" practice, as this is a good skill to keep well practiced for those rainy days or snow days. More after the jump.

When You Just Have To Make A Tool

Wood Spoon Blank

Okay, so sometimes you just have to have the right tool for the job. On a recent bushcraft outing, all was going well. The fire was made, the water set in the canteen cup to boil, soup in the offing. It was Chicken Double Noodle after all, and one of my bush buddies favorites. So he gets out his mess kit, and his Light My Fire plastic spork and his soup bowl now at the ready. All I need is my trust LMF Spork also and I will have my soup right out of the canteen cup. We will divide it up, and chow down. I reach for my kit, open the flap on my utensil pocket and lo and behold pull out half a spork. That's right, a spoon bowl with a one inch handle. Hardly enough to do the stirring, even tougher to eat with. What to do? More after the jump.

Bush Buddy and Biscuits

Time sure flies when you are having fun and it sure has been fun lately, doing all kinds of bushcraft stuff. I have especially appreciated the time I have spent lately with my bush buddy Christian. Christian is my all around good kid and cubscout. He is seven going on eight and has a keen eye, enjoys all kinds of nature, likes hiking, exploring, learning things and will make a fine bushcrafter someday. He has gotten real good at starting fire with both man-made and natural tinders. He has learned to identify these things in the wild and collects them with a vigor. His backpack "tinder pocket" is full of birch bark, thistle down, milkweed fluff, cattail and some dryer lint and jute cord, just in case. He has practiced with his fire steel so much, he has worn a curve into it. I guess I need to teach him to rotate it occasionally. But is he ready for more?