It is probably no secret my friends that if you have followed me on my adventures long enough, you know that I choose to use a baton on my knife to split wood for fire prep and other projects. A lot of my fellow bushcrafters also use a baton and their knives to split wood.
In the world of bushcraft there occasionally arises the discussion as to whether to baton or not to baton. I say, to each his or her own.
For me there are many reasons I choose to baton my knives. First of all, it's just practical. I go prepared with at least a couple of knives that I know are designed to be "beat up" and abused. I also go out with more than one knife in my possession, and if one were to break, I have back ups.
In all my time on this earth so far, and for all of that time, meaning multiple decades of bushcrafting, I have yet to break a knife in use. Maybe perhaps I am not having enough fun, but I prefer to think that I am just working smart and not hard.
Anyway, I fall into the camp that prefers to use the tools that I have and use them wisely and with caution, but I will always baton my knives. Besides, they are much safer to use for splitting wood in the dark or in low light, than a hatchet or an axe. I learned that lesson a long time ago, when I thought that all I needed was an axe and nearly lost my thumb in the dark as the fire light died at the most unfortunate moment.
To contribute to a recent discussion on knife battoning on the BushcraftUSA website, I put together this short video composed of highlights taken during the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet in Missouri last year. We did a lot of knife batonning at that meet, and it seemed and was accepted as the norm. We even created "knee high prep" not just knee high flames.
So here is the video and I hope you enjoy it.
Please consider learning to use your knives correctly and than after that, decide if you want to baton or not. I believe it to be a good skill to master and continue to practice, because one day it just may save your life. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
I don't know about you, but I have grown tired of all the snow and ice and greasy skid stuff we have around here in southern Minnesota. I mean really, can we get anymore slippery? It seems that the weather has turned so unpredictable lately and there is no telling from one weekend to the next, just what you will get. Is mother nature really that fickle?
Well, we are now into the middle of the month of March, and this is my first posting for the month. Where has all the time gone? I know I've been busy with a couple other things that have prevented me from getting out much in the past couple weeks, but this past weekend ended the dry spell and after three weeks of trying, I finally hit the trail for some much needed dirt time ...or rather make that snow and ice time.
The recent warm temperatures and even a few rain showers have raised the level of the local creek and its runoff to the river and this has in turn, helped to break up the surface ice on both. It also means that there is no longer anyway you can just "hop" over it, as it was a small trickle of a stream during the colder winter months.
By the end of this month, it will have been one year since I committed to getting out every Saturday at 9AM to meet up with local area bushcrafters to practice skills and to enjoy the comradery and fellowship that comes with the love of bushcraft. I think, now looking back, I have only missed about three Saturdays all tolled. It has given me a huge insight into how the seasons act upon the area I choose to explore. It has also helped to fix in my mind how much at home I can be in any of the wilderness I have chosen to roam, as long as I am prepared.
This past Saturday was a good day to go out and feel and see the signs of spring. My friend Sticker and I both felt we needed to get out. We played with new sharps, practiced some firecraft, followed some animal tracks and sat down to enjoy a good cup of a hot brew. We both agreed though that spring could not come fast enough and we looked forward to getting in some practice on some other bushcraft skills besides always making fire just to keep warm.
Here is the video of our latest outing. I hope you enjoy it.
I hope as the spring temperatures finally reach your area, that you are all able to get out and enjoy the signs and sounds of nature coming back to life after a long spell of winter sleep. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
Saturday, February 16th, brought with it a chance for redemption for my friend Sticker and I. On our last outing together, we failed to get fire using natural tinder gathered on site and the temperature was in the single digits.
We also did not expect the snow and ice conditions that would make our day trip such a hazard. We had experienced a few days of thawing weather so the snow in our area had started melting to slush. Then it thawed even further to form large puddles and rivers of flowing water which began running over all the hiking paths and trails. Then in a manner of hours and overnight, it froze. Finally it had started snowing and we were left with this very hidden danger at every turn and on every trail we encountered. I could not help but think of Paul Simon's song "Slip Slidden' Away". We danced a few times on the ice, but in the end neither of us "biffed" it.
My friend Sticker gathered some cedar bark for tinder on our way out to the new campsite and we continued to pick our way out alongside the trail, following in the footprints of some rather large deer that had gone before us. They too had discovered the trail was slippery and had chosen a different path.
We worked on making a split wood fire and practiced good fire prep and enjoyed using our latest knives, Sticker with his BK2 and myself with a Becker BK17. Both were excellent tools and got the job done in fine fashion.
After laying down our fire base, we got it going with flint and steel and then Sticker worked at melting some snow for a cup of tea. We talked of knife mods and how he really would like a heavy cover from Rob Simpson at the Canteenshop, which has of this writing is still out of stock, be we are hopeful there will be some in stock soon.
We enjoyed the quiet, listened to the birds and enjoyed the comradery and fellowship that comes with finding a good friend. We also enjoyed the tea and in the end, found our way out of the hazardous icy trails and frozen little ponds that made for such a fun and challenging day.
Here is the video of that outing and I you enjoy the adventure.
This time I practiced a little more with using two video cameras. This did make for a little longer story to tell, but I think it is entertaining. If anything, it is a record of our adventure and I hope any of you my friends, will excuse the length and that it will make you want to get out and enjoy the weather and a little bushcraft adventure, no matter what the conditions. It is fun to try things and to practice and to make new friends. Until then, Happy Exploring.
Yes, sometimes, you just have to give it a try. You get this idea, it seems possible, everything is in place, it all seems just right. Then you go ahead with the plan and WALLA! it fails. Okay, so it was not really a failure. But it felt like it was.
I've had many a bow drill fire attempt failure in my time and it always leaves me wondering why? For that reason, if I learned anything by it, it is not really a failure, just a different kind of succeeding.
I will admit that this last Saturday, conditions were not at their best. In fact, the temperature was hovering around 8°F with a wind chill factor bringing it down to -10°F. Needless to say, this was working to quench any creative muse I might of had.
I so wanted to make a nice video, work at using my new knife, maybe get an ember from the newly made bow drill set made from materials on site, or get a set of curls with the new blade and set them on fire with my gloved hands and my fire steel. But it seemed like everything was working against me.
Just one day before, it was 37°F and it rained all day on Friday. So I figured that any wood that was exposed to such conditions, if laying even a little sideways, rather then standing straight up, would be a challenge to get to work as a bow drill spindle or hearth board.
With all the time I have spent recently, practicing firecraft in my little woodlands, I have discovered that if conditions go from rainy to snowy and then to freezing and back again, any wood you find may feel dry in its frozen state, but will be moist or damp or wet once it begins to thaw.
To attempt a bow drill fire in these conditions demands the driest wood you can find. Spindles made from the deepest parts of the stock and then means batoning to the heartwood of dead standing and thick trees.
On this day, I did not take the time to find such materials. I will the next time. I am determined to get a bow drill fire going in the snow, but it will be a large challenge knowing the conditions.
In the end, what made for a good adventure anyway, was the sudden appearance of my friend "Steene", a Minnesota member of BushcraftUSA. He showed up about an hour and a half after the usual meeting time and found me practicing at trying to light some shavings and curls with my firesteel, without taking my gloves off.
We had time for a short trip and fire and a hot brew and in the end, after the wind chill had gotten the best of us, we called it a day and headed back.
Here is the video of my Saturday adventure, half of it solo and the other half enjoying it with a good friend.
I have to say, that after my friend Wade showed up, I started to find my creative muse and I did finally come away with another adventure and a good time. Thanks Wade. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
As it is the last day of the year, I thought it fitting to look back at a few of this years bushcraft adventures by sharing some of the highlights with some chosen videos.
It has been for me a phenomenal year with so many adventures in bushcraft. It has also been a great year for personal growth and learning and for making a lot of good friends, many of whom I can now call brother or sister and feel the camaraderie that comes with sharing our love and passion for bushcraft.
The start of 2012 saw me trying vigorously to finishing all of my lessons for BushclassUSA Basic certification and I finally finished that with the completion of my Outing #5 on February 18th. Here is the video of that outing, although it is a bit lengthy, it is one of my favorite adventures.
My goal was to have the Bushclass Basic course completed before attending the Second Annual Hardwoodsman's Meet 2012 in the state of Missouri in April. It turned out to be the experience of a lifetime and I made some great friends and look forward now to many more meetups and adventures with them. It was fun to finally put some faces to some of the user names I had come to know and respect. Here it is again, a musical highlight video of that great gathering of brothers.
With April, came my commitment to meeting up with some friends who were interested in learning bushcraft. On April 2nd, we would begin meeting every Saturday at 9AM in a local state park. Little did I know that even 9 months later, I would still be going to the park every Saturday, rain or shine and meeting someone or anyone who would care to come and share the adventure.
I have met many BushcraftUSA members now, all from Minnesota, who have found my little piece of wilderness and they have come and enjoyed meeting up and sharing the time and practicing and learning the ways of bushcraft. We just get together and have fun and share the dirt time. Here is a video of one of the larger gatherings we had on a Saturday morning.
I have also found a great companion and friend and fellow bushcrafter in my nine year-old bush buddy, my son Christian. He and I have actually spent the last two years together on various adventures and expeditions and he has grown with every turn. He will one day, make a very fine bushcrafter in his own right. He helps to remind me how to be a kid again and to keep the sense of wonder and imagination. Here is a video of one of his latest accomplisments, of which I am very proud of him. He made fire with his fire steel, using natural tinder, that was in itself a little moist, and he did it without my coaching. He figured it out on his own.
With the hot summer months of July and August, I was able to play with many more new things. I continued to polish my firecraft skills, including many bow drill fires and working on one stick and split wood fires. I have also come to appreciate and enjoy my flint and steel kit a whole lot more than I ever did in the past and choose to use it more often then any other method, and especially trying to always use natural tinders. Here is a short video of using the power of the sun to ignite some false tinder fungus. This method has now become an elective for BushclassUSA and I will have to do it again real soon to submit a fresh video entry for the elective credit.
I have found a good friend in a BushcraftUSA member who goes by the user name "Sticker" although I now know him as Terry. I met him and his wife, "CallmeKris", as a result of my commitment to the Saturday morning 9AM MeetUps. He and I are about the same age and share the same love for bushcraft. I think he gets out about as often as I do, and we have met now several times and most of those times, it is just the two of us, having fun with him working on completing a Bushclass lesson or two and with me just playing and practicing and having fun showing him stuff he can try. Here is a video of one of my favorite outings with Terry. I thought it was at first going to be just me, heading out for a solo trip, in the rain. But as I got out in the bush a little ways, I slowed to take some video and low and behold, Terry caught up to me and we had a great time, in the rain, just doing bushcraft.
Which, as you can see by the snow in the last video, brings me to the last couple months of the year 2012.
I know that I have grown, and I have found deeper meaning for myself in the art of bushcraft. I know that I have been able to improve on my story telling about my adventures both alone and with others and recently I have been refining my video style and adding music and getting more creative about the way I see things and the ways that I want to tell it.
So here finally is a video of a solo trip that I am very proud of, with a lot of effort given to trying to emulate my bushcraft story telling hero, Les Stroud. I like his style and will continue to study his videos and then work to refine my own brand of story telling.
Of course, there is the last and final bushcraft trip of the year and I went out with a new christmas toy I gifted myself, a 1" Scotch-eye Auger. It was fun to be able to use a tool to make another tool.
The year 2012 has been a great one for Bushcraft and looking forward to 2013 it looks like it will be even better, with even more adventures in store. I look forward to sharing it all with you and look forward to hearing from many of you as you follow along or maybe perhaps even join us here in south central Minnesota. So until next year, Happy Exploring.
As it was the last Saturday of the year, I decided to take advantage of it and get out for some dirt... or ah rather, make that snow time. As I arrived at the park, snow started to come down in beautiful and sparkling flakes. The freshly fallen snow and still morning air made for a surreal quiet that set the mood for what would be a great solo trip. I didn't feel the best when I first started out, so I was not going to push it. That's why I at first decided on a simple twig fire. But as usual, once I got out and about, things started to improve and I started to feel better. I have discovered that most of my outings usually involve some sort of firecraft practice and some other bushcraft skill practice or lesson. And once the fire is going, I usually will boil some water for a meal or a hot beverage. I like to experiment with different fire methods and today it was to make fire with a flint and steel, charred cloth and natural tinder gathered on site. The cedar bark was just a little on the moist side and I thought with packing it in my bandana and warming it up inside my jacket, I might be able to coax it into flame. It took some time to get it warmed up and dried enough, but in the end I prevailed. I also got a chance to make a mallet using a christmas gift that I gifted myself and that was a 1" scotch eyed auger that I ordered from a seller on ebay who was based in Great Britain. It took a few days to arrive, but I am very pleased with the 1" auger and look forward to using it on many more outings.
So here is the video of my last solo day trip for the year 2012. It has been a good year for me bushcraft-wise and I am very pleased with the number of posts I have been able to share with you my friends here at Minnesota Bushcraft, and I look forward to sharing many more adventures in 2013.
I had a lot of fun today, making this video and I am still working on my style. I am excited about discovering more of what I can create with my video equipment and will hopefully soon be able to work with multiple cameras. Thanks for watching and until next time, Happy Exploring.
So it was about this time, the husband started to ask about knives and wanted to
know what a good brand was and he also wanted to know about "flint and
steel." I suspected he meant "ferro rod" or "firesteel" so I proceeded
to make up some tinder from some jute twine I had and explained a little
about what knife brands I was familiar with and why I prefer a fixed
blade.Then I brought out my ferro rod on the lanyard and my trusty SAK Farmer. In no time at all, I had that nest of jute twine burning in flame. It was impressive and everyone was amazed.
Well at least they had seen one modern way of making fire, the old reliable, "Don't Leave Home Without It", works in the rain, throws molten metal and sparks to 5500° F, takes a licking and keeps on ticking Ferro-Rod!! But now I had to focus on getting fire the really old fashion way, by rubbing two sticks together.
As it turned out, I got a very excellent ember on the second try. And as everyone looked on, it cherried up nicely and would be an easy start from there. By this time, I had made a second bundle nest of jute twine and carefully transferred the ember to blow it to flame. It worked perfectly, to everyone's amazement. I felt pretty good. I had the chance to share something fun and unusual with some perfect strangers and it did not matter where we had come from, or who we were. We had all felt the kinship with the past, of the discovery of fire in a primitive way. It felt a lot more satisfying than using the ferro-rod that's for sure.
After the young man got the video he needed, I shared the fact that I have a YouTube channel and invited them to visit the site and this blog to see and read more about bushcraft and some of my adventures. I spoke to them about BushcraftUSA and about the membership and the Bushclass lessons. I hope they look it up. I hope I hear from them again or maybe see and visit with them and get the chance to share some other things about bushcraft that I love.
Soon the husband and wife couple and I said our good-byes to the young men and started out on our hike again. I promised to bring them up to the top of the ridge and show them a large rock on the ridge line, that works as a nice look out and a place to stop and have a lunch. Once we arrived there, I showed them yet another bow and drill set that I had left behind. She asked me if I do that a lot. I smiled and said, "Yes, I try to leave them anyplace someone might find them and wonder what they are for and how to use them and I hope that they will take them home if they want." I think she may just go back to the Sakatah Trail Eagle Lake bridge sometime to take home what she missed.
We walked the ridge line over to the campground and thru it all the way to a park bench that overlooks a scenic area and bend in the river. We sat and chatted for awhile and I started to show them things in my kit and why I have them. Then it occurred to me that they had not see yet the use of flint and steel. If I showed them that, they would have a larger understanding of the methods of making fire down thru the ages.
So I opened up my tinder kit and got out some charred cloth, some flint and my trusty steel striker. In no time I had a spark and the charred cloth caught the jute tinder to flame almost instantly. Again, they were impressed.
I finished up the show and tell and we headed back towards the vehicles. It had been now about 4 hours and I was just then getting around to introducing myself. I found out their names were George and Terry and they had been in and around Mankato over the years and were re-visiting some sites they had not been to in awhile.
As we arrived back at the vehicles, we said our good-byes and they thanked me for all the fun that they had. I did have a good time. It was a good day. I wished them well, and it is my hope to meet with them again, so that I can share the adventure that is bushcraft.
Even if I did not get the chance to practice bushcraft with my usual suspects, I did get to practice it with strangers and maybe they will remember me and want to learn for themselves more about that wonderful thing we can Bushcraft. Happy Exploring.
Okay, so sometimes things just do not go as planned. Practice anything long enough and you will discover how many times you fail. You can not get good at anything without practice.
Many years ago, a preacher friend of mine would tell this simple story. He had a friend who could sit down at the piano and play just about anything you put in front of him music-wise. He could play all the tunes and all the classics. He could even improvise for jazz, the blues, rock and any different venue. Then my preacher friend would say, "How do you suppose he had the freedom to play just anything he wanted?" It always came back to the same answer, lots and lots of practice and the learning of all the fundamentals. Personal discipline focused on the goal of learning everything he could about playing piano had given him the freedom to do what he wanted to do.
Now flash forward in time to me, struggling today to get a bowdrill fire going. I know all the fundamentals, I practice friction fire methods all the time. As of late, I have been practicing almost everyday. I am almost addicted to making fire by friction. It is so primitive and yet feels so right. Yet, I know that I cannot get better at it without testing myself over and over again with different kinds of wood in different situations. I need to challenge myself with friction fire all the time to find the freedom to make it work more consistently. I am trying to build a collection of experiences both successful and failures, to teach me what works and when.
Every friction fire attempt is different. Some days, the combination of woods fails utterly and then a couple of days later, you will get success almost immediately with the same combination.
So earlier this month I attempted to challenge myself with making a bowdrill friction fire constructed from one single piece of dead standing willow I found along the trail. The only thing I allowed myself was one knife, one rope and my bearing block. The rest had to come from that one piece of willow. I fashioned my spindle, my hearth board and my bow and set to work, trying for an ember.
So here is the attempt.
I don't think I failed completely, because out of this I learned that my choice of cordage makes a big difference under certain conditions. The failure raised more questions for me, that I will have to explore yet in another outing, trying to do the same thing, the "One Stick Challenge."
So until the next time, I will keep practicing and hope that this will encourage you to not give up on any friction fire challenge you set for yourself. It is truly a big part of the bushcraft adventure and well worth mastering. Until then, Happy Exploring.
Wow, it has been two weeks already into the month of May and I have yet to share any of my recent adventures in Bushcraft. But I have not been slacking, no way. This is prime time in this part of Minnesota to get out and enjoy the weather and the wilderness. Maybe I have just been to busy to write anything or maybe just having too much fun. Whatever the excuse, it has all been worth it. The adventures continue.
As I have shared in previous posts, I have given a standing invitation to some new BushcraftUSA members to join me every Saturday morning at 9AM, rain or shine, to go out for 3 or 4 hours and practice bushcraft skills and for them to work on BushclassUSA Basic lessons. I have been leading them thru the various lessons that require some outdoor activity and so far we have been having a really great time of it.
On this past Saturday's adventure, I was joined by my young bush buddy Christian, member Little Jon (who is a teacher at the college where we work) and a friend of his from school, actually a college student of Jon's who also happens to be named Jon (spelled the same he says) and NewJon's son Taylor, who happens to be seven years old and a good companion for my eight year old bush buddy. Got all the players straight?
Anyway, we started out meeting in a parking lot near the wilderness we were going to explore and I decided while I was waiting on Little Jon to finish a phone call, that I would practice some firecraft of my own and got out my hand drill, hearth board and finger loops and knife. Shortly, they were all gathered around as I was working diligently to get an ember out of the mullein hand drill and the box-elder hearth board. Soon I had a coal, which rested on my knife and I was able to gently transfer it to some tinder (shredded cottonwood inner bark) and blow that to a flame. I was amazed as usual.
But the expression on Little Jon and New Jon's faces was worth even more, as they both said that they had never even seen that done before, except in the movies. I know at this point you might be thinking, "no pictures, so it didn't happen" but if I had not been actually doing it, I might have been taking pictures so you will just have to ask Little Jon on this one, or trust me, either way I was pretty excited to show them this way of making fire.
A little while later, we were all headed out to our usual campsite to practice some more firecraft. Little Jon was going to try for his "Student Practice for Feather Sticks and Shavings" and maybe get in another lesson. New Jon and his son Taylor busied themselves by watching me go thru various fire starting methods with Little Jon.
It was at that point, I decided to demonstrate yet another fire making method by using my flint and steel and some charred cloth. Soon the cedar bark tinder was burning and we had yet another method for making fire.
After demonstrating to Little Jon how to make feather sticks and shavings, I had a pile of shavings which were just ripe for a spark from my firesteel. So, you guessed it, I touched off that little fire with shavings alone and was able to demonstrate yet a third method of starting fire.
Now these guys are really excited and NewJon was seriously looking into joining BushcraftUSA and getting started on the Bushclass lessons. Big smiles all around.
It was finally time for Little Jon to do his lesson and so I set to the task of trying to capture it with photos and video. He has got to start doing some of this for himself, and I know he will, but here is a video of Little Jon's adventure in bushcraft doing his lesson "Student Practice for Feather Sticks and Shavings." I hope you enjoy it.
We had a great time at all of this and Little Jon was able to complete yet another Bushclass lesson after doing his firecraft lesson, but I am going to share that little adventure in my next blog post.
Until the next time. Happy Exploring.
As I have said it before, no matter how many times I create an ember using some method for fire by friction, it fascinates me. Over the years, it has never become old, it is and always will be a "gift of fire" every single time.
I had the very fortunate moment at the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet, to not only make a new friend, but to capture his first attempt at making fire by friction. He was elated, surprised, hurried, excited, thrilled and absolutely giddy about getting his first ember. And it won't of course be his last time. Once you are on the path to using natural means to make fire and natural tinders to sustain it, there is no turning back. Like my friend Ross, with the Arctic Mouth Drill, my friend Grizzly Adams will be making and searching for even more ways to fuel his addiction to making fire by friction. (pardon the pun)
So here is that moment, when it all comes together and you know for the first time that it is possible and that you just know you can do it again...
I hope you give friction by fire, especially with the bow drill, a try. It is a firecraft skill definitely worth pursuing. We will re-visit this topic time and time again, as firecraft is so important to bushcraft. In point of fact, nearly half of all the lessons for BushclassUSA Basic and Intermediate Classes are dedicated to the process of making fire. It is that important. So until next time. Happy Exploring.
As it was my privilege to attend the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet near Ashland, MO, I was truly impressed with the incredible display of skills by many of the BushcraftUSA members that attended. I met some of the finest woodsman in the country, and felt as if I was in the presence of giants. One of woodsman that showed up and goes by the screen name "Redmech", took the time to demonstrate a fire making method known as the "Arctic Mouth Drill." He had posted video and some of his success with it on the BushcraftUSA forum website, but this in person demonstration was to me an amazing show of "mad" bushcraft skill. We were in near darkness with just our flashlights kind of guiding us around. Redmech kept working with his knife in near dark, to prepare his little drill set. It is based on the standard bow drill for friction fire, only it is much smaller and can fit in the palm of your hand. He worked steadily, and continued perfecting the tools until he had success. Here is the video I was able to capture of that moment. I am still amazed.
I hope you were amazed as much as I was. This is something that I will have to try at some point, just to learn yet another method of starting fire. I was very fortunate to be able to create my first ember with a hand drill on that weekend, but I will save that story for later. I am still amazed by all that talent and skill shown on that weekend in April, when some of the best took the time to share what they know, to help us all become better woodsman. If I am ever considered by some to be a good woodsman, it will be because I was able to stand on the shoulders of giants. Happy Exploring.
Today was a great day. Every day I get a chance to get out in the wilderness and practice bushcraft is a great day. Today I had a chance to take three friends into the bush and share some of my experience with bushcraft. They are all new members of BushcraftUSA and are working on completing their lessons for BushclassUSA. We had a great time, even though it was raining and drizzling, and we still managed to get fires started and cook breakfast. I was able to share several examples of the bushclass lessons and assist them in understanding what they needed to do to complete their lessons. Little Jon was able to complete his lesson for "Student Practice for 5 Man Made Tinders" and his daughter worked on completing her lesson for "Student Practice for Twig Fire."
I shared with them various cordage items that were results of bushclass lessons, such as the ridge line for a tarp shelter, twisted 2 strand cordage, and several knots in the line kit. So without rambling on to much more, here is the video of our adventure.
As my tag line at the top of blog states, this is a place to "...Share Adventures In Bushcraft With Friends" Well today it became a larger adventure and a reality for a great group of friends. I am sure you will be reading much more about our adventures as they continue to follow me on my adventures and work on completing their lessons. Until the next time, Happy Exploring.
You may have noticed as of late, that the last few posts here have been on the subject of Firecraft. From the use of natural tinders, to the making of charred cloth, building a twig bundle fire, and also on using flint and steel, all are important subjects to touch on when it comes to polishing your firecraft skill set.
This last week end, I had the chance to set a fellow BushcraftUSA member, Little Jon and his daughter on the path to understanding bushcraft. Little Jon decided it was time to start on his BushclassUSA lessons and he chose the "Student Practice for Making a Twig Fire." He did a fantastic job on this and I helped to cover the lesson for him by taking some video so that he will have something to post up for the lesson on the BushcraftUSA forum website. I am very proud of him as one of my students and his daughter is very eager to get started on her bushclass lessons as well. Here is the video of his first lesson, building a twig fire.
So having gotten out in the bush on Saturday with some friends (even my bush buddy was along to help teach and he did a good job of that too) I was very eager to get yet another lesson done for myself for BushclassUSA. I chose to continue with the whole Firecraft theme of the last few outings and decided on knocking out the elective "Student Practice for Improvising A Flint and Steel."
I really enjoy using flint and steel and natural tinders, and this day was just too beautiful to ignore. So here is the video I submitted for the class.
I do hope you enjoyed the adventure in firecraft and I am sure there will be many more to come. If improvising a flint and steel looks like something you might like to try, get yourself an old file or a carbon steel knife or even a ready made steel striker and practice getting some sparks. It is a lot of fun. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
Another good element or tool to put in your firecraft kit is the combination of flint and steel. This is one of the most primitive means of starting fire, and dates back to the beginnings of the iron age, around 1200 BC. Although the flint is not the important part, any hard and non-porous rock with a sharp edge will do. It is used to chip off very small pieces of carbon steel off the striker and as the fine particles break off, they oxidize and ignite immediately in the air with a yellow to white spark. The trick is to catch these sparks on a medium that is almost on the verge of igniting itself. This is where the char cloth comes in.
Char cloth is made, usually from cotton cloth, by heating it in an enclosed container to limit the amount of oxygen that is around the material. The cloth "bakes" without air around it and gets toasted to black "char" and is ready to take a spark that will grow to an ember that can be used to ignite a dry tinder.
This past weekend, I completed the BushclassUSA elective, "Student Practice for Flint and Steel with Charred Cloth." It was a great lesson in first making charred cloth, then cooling it down and using the freshly made char cloth to start a tinder bundle on fire. Here is the video submission I made for this lesson and it was a great adventure and fun to do. I hope you enjoy watching.
Please check into learning this great fire starting skill and consider putting together a fire tinder kit that includes a steel and a good piece of flint or chert. Even a piece of quartz can work. This will really add to your adventures in the wild and that my friends is what it is all about. Happy Exploring.
One of the most used skills in bushcraft is the subset of skills called firecraft. Learning how to "build" a fire, to ignite it in a thousand different ways and to fuel it and to keep it going under all conditions takes hours of practice. The importance of fire is without question and the ability to build one in a hurry can be the difference between life and death.
Back in 1975, famous grandmaster of bushcraft, Mors Kochanski, did a demonstration and video (read "movie film") of the "Twig Bundle Fire". He showed the advantage of putting together all the twigs and sticks and pieces of wood in the right order and tying them all together so that it was fully transportable, could be ignited at anytime and could be handled in such a way as to get it burning faster, granting the woodsman a great deal of control.
Flash forward to 2012, and BushclassUSA has made the twig bundle fire part of the skill set being taught through the online course. The lesson, in case you want to look it up, is "Student Practice for the Twig Bundle Fire".
So this last weekend, I completed this elective and here is the video I submitted for the lesson. I hope you enjoy it.
As always, I enjoy practicing firecraft and having this twig bundle fire idea in my firecraft tool kit is a great skill to have. It is a great thing to put together and have on hand, especially under conditions that may turn hypothermic. Please consider learning this technique as well and adding it to your firecraft kit and please check out the great lessons at BushclassUSA, found at the BushcraftUSA.com forum site. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
It was about a week ago, when I was able to get out with my bush buddy for an adventure in firecraft. My mission was to begin to find natural tinders for my next Intermediate BushclassUSA lesson. His mission was to gather the right tinders he would need to build a twig fire from scratch and all by himself. We had a great time and I am so proud of his efforts and how far his bushcraft skills have developed.
So here is the video of our adventure and his amazing show of skills. Good going buddy...
I hope you liked the video and I am sure we will have many more adventures, as he is growing into a fine bushcrafter. I am hoping he will become one of the youngest to graduate BushclassUSA. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
The adventure continues as I just finished yet another outing for my online BushclassUSA Basic Certification. It did not start out to be an outing involving the foraging for natural tinders, but the more the day wore on, the more fun it got to be. In the end I found, tested and used some paper birch bark, eastern red cedar bark shavings, bull thistle down in the seed pod and some kind of flower silk that I thought would be a nice flash tinder and yet it did not react hardly at all. Finally, I found and tested some Horses Hoof Fungus or False Tinder Fungus, which took a spark from my firesteel and extended that spark to a good coal which I was able to carry home and it burned for 2 plus hours after first ignition. So here is the video and I hope you enjoy the days adventure.
It has been a lot of fun to make and share these adventures and I am really looking forward to this summer and even more exploration and expeditions. Whether alone or with my bushcraft friends, it is always and adventure worth pursuing. I do like the "dirt time". Til next time... Happy Exploring.
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.
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.
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.
