On Bushcraft Friends And Bushcraft Adventure

   On Friday, October 12th, I had the privilege to meet up with a good friend and fellow bushcrafter, BCUSA member "XMP" from the Twin Cities. Steve and I had met at the second annual Hardwoodsman Meet 2012 back in April. We had kept in touch thru BushcraftUSA with friend messaging and PM's and finally worked out a time to meet up once again. He had arrived on the previous day at the Minneopa State Park and had already explored most of the seven miles of trails that park has to offer. I had told him that I would come out Friday after work, and we could share a good camp fire and talk bushcraft and tell tall tales.
   We had a great time and it was good catching up and having a bit of a show and tell and just enjoying the warmth of the fire. It was totally overcast and there was a threat of rain in the forecast, so I was hoping it would not last long if it did. The plan was to get together again on Saturday morning for what I would like to call a regular Saturday morning meetup of bushcrafters at 9am in the Group Camping parking lot. I had invited some other members to come and meet Steve and I the following morning and as we parted company, we both figured that either way, we would make a good day of it, just exploring the park and taking time to practice some skills and the like.
   Saturday morning came and I arrived at 9am and Steve showed up a short time after in his black Jeep Wrangler. I remember thinking how much I like that Wrangler. I need to get me one of those some day. Nice bushcraft vehicle for sure. We wandered over to fill our canteens and in short order member "Steene" and his son "Camper Tater" arrived and it was game on.
   We got acquainted by getting our respective alcohol stoves going and making up some tea and hot chocolate for everyone. Then as we coped with a little drizzle, we headed out on a hike. Wade and his son Chris would not have a whole lot of time, but as we prepared to go out for a hike we worked on some natural cordage using fibers from some "Button Weed" that Wade had brought. Wade also showed Steve and I a hammock and a net he had made. He is very good at making nets. I hope he can teach me about this skill one day.
   We soon headed out and worked on plant and tree ID and I quizzed Chris on identifying some plants we found and what their uses were; cattail for natural tinder, thistle down for the same and mullein leaves for "toilet paper". We also stopped for a short time as I demonstrated using the scrappings of the inner bark of the paper birch to get a flame with a ferro rod. The guys liked that idea.
   Wade and Chris soon had to part our company and Steve and I continued the journey to explore more of the park. I was determined to bring him to some of the sites I frequent. Along the way, as often as I could think of it, I would take some video to record some of our adventure. We were having so much fun, it was hard to stop and think of making a video record of our adventure.
   We visited a debris shelter I had made in haste. (The one featured in the previous blog post) We examined various samples of animal scat, most likely coyote. We found an animal den, possibly fox. We explored some stream beds, saw birds of prey, and came upon a small garter snake trying to get warm.
   Here is the short video of our day trip adventure and I hope you enjoy it.

   We sure had a good time. I am so hoping for more expeditions and more time with my bushcraft friends. It is always fun to get together to explore, practice skills and to show and tell and tell tale tales. This is how you truly find the heart of bushcraft, by sharing it with others. Happy Exploring.

Re-Visit: A Simple Debris Shelter

   On August 28th, 2011 I posted a short story in this blog about a debris shelter that I had built out of a real necessity to stay dry. It was a rather cloudy and stormy looking kind of day and I really thought I might get dumped on by an incoming rain storm. So I set to the task of throwing up a lean-to just above an outcrop of rock and piled on some leaf debris to a depth of about a foot. This worked to give me a "temporary" shelter from the wind and the rain.
   As it happened, the rain never did appear and so I left this debris shelter setup in this remote location, in the event that I should need it again. I took some pictures and some short video clips and later put it all together for my very first video that I ever posted up to my Youtube channel. In retrospect, it is all kind of cheesy, with music and a couple of "walking in, walking out" kinds of shots and just very horrible production values. But for a first attempt at trying to create some content, it has stood as my benchmark so that I can look back and see just how far I have come in trying to create something better. I even got my first "copyright" warning from the fine folks at Youtube for using some music that might not be viewable in some countries (Germany).
   I have actually visited this debris shelter many times since than, and I thought it of some interest to capture some video yet again, after a year or so, to show you just how this kind of shelter has stood up. I have not refurbished it in anyway, and have been very fortunate that it has not been destroyed or vandalized, despite evidence that it has been visited by individuals other then myself.
   So here is a short video of how it looks today.

Thanks for watching and I hope this will encourage you to try building a simple debris shelter. It is a lot of fun and can give you a good idea of just how much time and energy it takes to build one. Happy Exploring
  

On Having A Minnesota Bushcraft Anniversary

   First of all, I would like to thank all my family and friends who stop in to visit my Minnesota Bushcraft blog. This past year has been full of adventures, and in looking back, I can see that I have grown thru the practice of bushcraft as well as many of my friends.
   This site has grown and moved thru many changes as well. Looking back to the beginning, I can see where I struggled to find my audience, where I faltered at using my format and that I was just plain timid about putting anything of good content into my posts.
   But that has all changed and the new challenge of adding video and pictures and including my friends in some of the adventures has made this a much better place.
   As of this moment, Minnesota Bushcraft has received 4,062 visits over the past year. That I would never have imagined. Though I can only see 16 subscribers, I know there are many of my friends at BushcraftUSA that stop in to read my meanderings and to see the latest goings on from my place here in southern Minnesota.
   Since joining BushcraftUSA (also about a year ago), I have completed the Basic BushclassUSA Certification thru the online BushclassUSA courses and have had the privilege to lead some of my friends into the BushclassUSA classes and they too have completed a few lessons, which has given much fodder for sharing their adventures here at Minnesota Bushcraft.
   This past year's Minnesota Bushcraft highlights include the coverage of the BushcraftUSA sponsored 2012 Hardwoodsman's Meet Up in April held in the great state of Missouri. The completion of my BushclassUSA course with an overnight on the fifth outing, in 20° F weather in a debris shelter. The many lessons and outings for BushclassUSA, which helped to fill many of my postings. And of course, the chances to share what some of my friends are now doing with bushcraft which even includes my post about "Bushcraft is Not Just for Boys."
   A special thanks has to go out to my bush buddy and constant wilderness companion Christian, for all of his energy and excitement and enthusiasm. He never refuses to go out in the wild with me and would give up TV and all the video games and sometimes even his other friends, just to get out and explore the wilderness and to learn all that he can. I hope someday he is a bushcraft master and can teach me a thing or two. For a kid of just eight years of age, he sure has learned a lot about bushcraft in the last year.
   Lastly, I would like to thank my Dad, for giving me the chance to learn from him all those many years ago. First as a scout and then secondly as a leader and mostly as his son just learning bushcraft, even when we didn't know to call it that back then.
   This next year I know will be filled with even more adventures, and I am hoping you will continue to share in them with me. Please feel free to comment, and to let me know what you are doing with bushcraft, especially if you are living in Minnesota. We have it wild here and Minnesota is a great place to practice bushcraft. It has in it's very heart and in it's history the very soul of bushcraft.
   Until next time, Happy Exploring.

On Completing My BushclassUSA Outing #5 and "The Over Night"

   This past Friday and into Saturday morning, I completed my final Outing #5 for BushclassUSA and with that accomplishment I graduated. Having received my Bushclass Basic Certification, I am already looking forward to working on the Intermediate Bushclass lessons and creating even more videos and sharing more experiences with you here at Minnesota Bushcraft.
   As for my outing, it was a great adventure, using the debris shelter I had built earlier this year. I built a natural insulation bed in one part of the shelter, moved the fire pit to a better location to allow for more room and cooked a couple of meals, that turned out delicious. I learned even more about how the materials gathered for such a shelter played a large role in determining the geometry of the shelter and how much space was available. It could have been so much larger inside, had there been some longer, straighter rafter poles available. They might have been there, but I would have to have spent even more time in the woodland to find them.
   I hope you enjoy the video, as it was a lot of fun to put together and in the future I am going to try a few different video techniques and continue to polish my bushcraft story telling style. 

   A lot of questions have been asked of me over at BushcraftUSA about how much room I had available in the shelter and just how many people could fit inside and sleep there. So I put together a short animation on the layout of the shelter and where things are located.

   Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the videos. Please consider taking the BushclassUSA lessons and joining BushcraftUSA. It is a lot of fun, family friendly and will give you hours of things to do and learn.
Stay tuned for more adventures in bushcraft. Happy Exploring.

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.

A Simple Debris Shelter

   The day started out looking like rain, but you know when you just have to get out there and get in some dirt time, a threat of rain is not going to stop you. I had it in my mind to throw up a debris shelter because number one, it seemed like a good idea and number two, it's just plain fun. I found a good location in my favorite area and set about gathering up the dead tree poles I would need to construct the lean-to. I took advantage of a natural rock outcropping on the side of a small hill slopping from there to a steep decline to the valley floor below. So it is located on a flat area just over the ridge line, but before the fall off. It looks larger from the front and looks like this from the back.

On Discovering Signs of Bushcraft

  

   This is an interesting discovery in the wilderness that is the Minneopa State Park in southern Minnesota near the city of Mankato. I have spent many hours and days of "dirt time" in this state park, and on occasion I come across some evidence of someone practicing their bushcraft skills.