It had been more then a month, since I saw my friend Sticker. Not since the middle of December 2012, had we had some time to get out for some good ole "dirt time." But on this particular Saturday he showed up and I was glad to seem him. We both needed some good dirt time and a chance to play in the cold and snow.
We decided to try for lighting the fire using good old flint and steel and natural tinder gathered on site. On our way out to the camp, we didn't even bother to try and harvest any good cedar bark or cottonwood bark or try to find any cattail or thistle or the like. We just kept hiking, until we got to where we wanted to be and than we started looking. It was really part of the experiment I guess. To use natural tinder, found on site, and use it to get fire going with flint and steel.
But as we were looking, we really came up short. There were only dried grasses. Even the cottonwood inner bark we did find, was "frosty" and when thawed, felt moist to the touch. I even tried the dried grass with a firesteel and it would light, flame for only a short time and then go out. Nothing sustainable. We were up against the 4°F temps and the little bit of moisture that was frozen and locked up in the tinder we tried.
After much exploring for good tinder and without much success, Sticker gave it a try a few times, until we succumb to using the firesteel and some jute twine and the grasses.
Here is the video of our great outing and when it was all said and done, we really did have a good time. It was good to see my friend Sticker again and to share the adventure. We are determined to figure out this winter firecraft with flint and steel, as it is a fun puzzle to solve.
After we got the fire going, the hot cocoa went down good and we replenished our depleted charred cloth reserves to be ready for the next time. It was a great learning experience. I hope you my friends get a chance to get out and enjoy the challenges of winter. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
It was December 22nd, a Saturday, and the temperature was around 17°F and there was very little wind. A perfect winter day for getting out and having some bushcraft fun. It was also partly cloudy and the fresh fallen snow made a good crunching sound under my boot print. As I hiked out to my usual camp spot, I enjoyed the sun on my face and I could not help but feel there would be a lot of animal activity to be seen and heard. I was not mistaken.
Shortly after heading down the hill towards the Minneopa Creek, I spotted a large buck just a short distance away. He snorted vigorously and trotted off in the direction of the creek, looking over his shoulder and wondering just who this interloper was that was invading his morning browse.
I watched for awhile and got some video the best that I could and then headed further down the trail. I had it in mind to get a good fire going, make some hot water for cocoa and try my hand at improvising a handle for my Cold Steel Trail Hawk tomahawk head that was stuffed in my satchel. It proved to be a great adventure and I think the tomahawk worked great for all of my efforts. I know that I can definitely do this again and it will be fun to try over and over.
Here is the video of my adventure and how things came together. I hope you enjoy it.
It was a very enjoyable solo trip for the day and I am only sorry that some of the rest of the BushcraftUSA members could not make it out for the fun. Maybe next time. Until then, thanks for watching and Happy Exploring.
I had the very great privilege of meeting for the first time,
BushcraftUSA member "Sticker" and his significant other on Saturday,
Oct. 27th for a regularly scheduled meet up of bushcrafters. "Sticker"
aka Terry, has only been a member for a little over a week now and they
both decided that it might be fun to meet up and start working on the
BushclassUSA Basic lessons. We met as usual at 9AM in the Group Camping
Parking lot of the Minneopa State Park, here in southcentral Minnesota.
After waiting for about a half hour to see if any other members would
arrive, we headed out on our hike.
I decided to help them work towards their first lesson "Student Practice
for a Twig Fire" by going over the basics of gathering natural tinders,
discussing the use of ferro rods, using man-made tinders and the
mechanics of building the twig fire. Once we arrived on site near the
river, they set to work gathering their materials.
Here now is the video of our day trip, and all the fun we had meeting up
for the first time and becoming friends for the experience.
Along the way, we talked about friction fire methods and then the
discussion turned to other ways of making fire. I took the opportunity
to demonstrate a bow drill fire using some basswood for a spindle and
some cottonwood for a hearth board. I could see that Terry was watching
the whole process pretty carefully, so I gave him the proven set to take
home and try on his own if he liked. We also looked at starting fire
with flint and steel and now I am sure we will be building some tinder
kits soon. It was a lot of fun.
After some hot chocolate, we headed back to the vehicles and called it a
day. I have to say, it was a fun way to make new friends. We definitely
have some new members to BushcraftUSA and have set them on the path of
enlightenment.
Terry has since shared with me in a PM that they are now working on getting
together a couple of kits using the Finnish Gas Mask bags and that they
have ordered some new ferro rods. Way to go, you two!
I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time, 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.
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.
Recently I had a chance to go thru my main survival kit and modify a few things with some new ideas and products. The overall effect was that the kit became smaller and more compact and even just a little lighter. I also got more of the kit together in one place, rather then divided over two or three pockets. So at the request of a couple friends and because I wanted to complete the elective lesson for Bushclass USA "Student Practice for PSK" I put together this video. Actually, it was done all in one take, so there was no real effort in putting it together. It addresses the needs of shelter, water, knife, sustenance, signaling and travel, first aid and of course fire. These things are at the heart of bushcraft, so I would encourage you to consider putting your own kit together with some of these ideas. I hope you enjoy the presentation.
I hope that will help you to prepare for your next outing. 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.
