Another Day In The Hyland Lake Park Reserve

   On June 30th, I once again made my way north to the Twin Cities and the Hyland Lake Park Reserve to meet with my friend Shonuff' for his regular 10AM meetup and skills practice.
   The weather was perfect to begin with, but I could tell it was going to be a warm day eventually and we would be thankful to be in the shade and in the picnic area on the hill, where the wind would keep us cool.
   As we hiked the trails, we worked on edible and medicinal plant ID, tree ID, some navigation and also some direction finding techniques.
   We eventually arrived at the Nature Center where we explored some debris shelters and their construction.
   Here is a list of most of the days activities in a nutshell:

•Land Nav- used park maps
•Direction Finding- used daytime moon to find "South"
•Worked on Medicinal Plant ID- white yarrow, greater plantain
•Worked on Edible PLant ID- wild strawberries, cattail, basswood leaves
•Observed wildlife- wild turkeys, osprey, various chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits
•Visited debris shelters and studied construction and visited 2 year old winter shelter
•Worked on Tree ID- Basswood, Willow, Red and White Oaks, Elm, Ash, Box Elder, Maples, Birch
•Practiced Friction Fire- bowdrill: basswood on basswood, 2 stick hearth board, natural and man-made tinders, false tinder fungus
•Practiced Fire by Magnification- sun to false tinder fungus to cedar bark tinder to flame

   Towards the end of the day, we were able to give several demonstrations of firecraft to a group of kids that were attending a birthday party celebration in the picnic area adjacent to ours. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time trying out the bowdrill and using flint and steel. Three of the boys worked together to get an ember with a bowdrill which Sho' was happy to help bring to flame for them.
    Here is the video of that days great adventure.

 
   As I did not have permission to be taking video of the kids, I was not able to capture their surprise and amazement on camera, but all around they were smiling and having a good time with learning about bushcraft. We shared the contents of our kits and talked also about the essentials and important skills to practice and also about the "rule of threes" and the sacred order.
   I have to call that outing and adventure a complete success and I look forward to going up there again. Hopefully we will begin to have some regular attendance and get to meet a few more Minnesota BushcraftUSA members so that we can begin to plan a multi-day event in the future.
   Thank you my friends for following along on my adventures and I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

A Bow Drill Fire... An Emberlit Stove... And Nettle Soup...

   Wow, is it June already? I guess I came up short on my blog postings for the month of May, but it was not for lack of adventure. On the contrary, I have been busy with traveling and vacation time and doing some bushcrafting and camping out in Wyoming and Nebraska respectively.
   I will try to finish up my video of the adventure I had in Wyoming and share that with you all a little later this month.
   After finally getting back to work, and getting back to a more regular schedule of things, I was able to get out to my usual wilderness area for a Saturday morning meetup. After waiting around for about thirty minutes for any other BushcraftUSA members to show, I decided to strike out on my own.
  I hiked out about a half mile and decided that on this day, I was going to go with practicing a bow drill fire, get something going in my Emberlit Stove and then try to make use of all stinging nettle that was making its way into the sandy soils that define the river flood plain where I was at.
   Though I do enjoy practicing bow drill and friction fire methods, I have not really ever focused on the process for the sake of making video, but on this outing I decided to make an exception and tried to show the process I go through.
   I had only my SAK Farmer for wood prep, which made it a little more difficult to "baton" the larger pieces, but it was not impossible and with a little care I got it done.
   So here is the video I would like to share of my adventure and I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

    Well, I hope that this will peak your interest in going out and trying to make a bow drill fire and to not just do it to get a flame, but to actually use it to cook something or boil water or craft something. So many times I see my fellow bushcrafters practice to get fire with their respective bow drills and spindles only to just put the fire out and never use it. That is all fine and dandy, when it comes to practicing, but it is even more fun when you realized that the fire you made for making lunch came out of your pocket knife and your boot lace. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

On Bushcraft and Strangers... Part I

   So it was, a Saturday. November 10th, to be exact and as I rolled out of bed, I readied myself for a regular meetup of BushcraftUSA Minnesota members at 9am at the local state park. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know the details of my trying to get something going with these members on a regular basis, to practice skills, complete some BushclassUSA Basic lessons and to get out and explore and have some fun.
   I usual do not know what to expect when I arrive at the meeting point, though I always have high hopes of finding someone there. It has been getting better as of late. A new acquaintance, member "Sticker", has shown some real interest in making it a regular thing for himself and his wife, "Callmekris." I have also been surprised when "Steene" and his son, "CamperTater" show up, and this has been more often than I thought they would.
   But on this last Saturday, no one showed. I busied myself for a little bit, getting my kit ready and then strolled over to talk to the park ranger, who had showed up to check on the group campsites and the outhouse facilities and such.
   The ranger and I have spoken before and today I found out his name was Greg. Greg and I spoke about the park, some of the wildlife and my reasons for being there. I told him about the regular meet up of bushcraft enthusiasts and how we try to get together to practice skills. He remembered seeing me working on doing a friction fire one time and seemed very interested in the various activities. I told him about BushcraftUSA and its membership and how it was growing and how we had a growing number of Minnesota members as well.
   Just as we were about to part company, a husband and wife drove into the parking lot and began to ready themselves for a hike. They wanted to know how to get down to the river trail. They had been there a long time previous and wanted to hike the trails. I offered to take them for a "tour." We parted company with the ranger and headed out.
   As we hiked along, I showed them the lookout area, to view the valley below and the Minneopa Creek. We talked about the trees and how to identify them and what types there were high on the ridge as we hiked down to the valley. Soon the Red Oaks, Paper Birch, Eastern Red Cedar and Ash gave way to the Elm, Black Walnut, Cottonwood and Basswood of the valley floor, near the creek.
   I shared with them my interest in bushcraft and my reasons for coming to the woods. I shared how the trees have many resources for bushcraft. I mentioned the use of the cottonwood tree to make friction fire with a bow drill set and how I liked to practice with friction fire methods.
   It was then, that the woman shared something amazing. She said that she and her husband had been on a hike on the Sakatah Trail, out to the Eagle Lake bridge. As they were sitting around the picnic table near the bridge, she had found a hearth board and a spindle and a bow laying by a tree. She saw that it had been used to make a friction fire, as it had a burn in divot and notch. She said she was tempted to take it with her as it was a very interesting find and looked primitive and "artistic."
   It was at that point that I revealed to her that the bow drill set that she had found was mine. That I had made it out of some willow found on site and that I had used it to make a friction fire. We were both amazed at the coincidence. What are the odds of two separate individuals finding such a connection, thru bushcraft.
   We continued to hike closer to the river, when the husband and I noticed the smell of smoke. It was then, that I noticed a group of three young men, in their 30's, working around a campfire at trying to prepare some breakfast. The three of us decided to stop and say hello.
   Then it got interesting.
 
   Read more in part II....  Happy Exploring.

  

New Friends Meet Thru The Love Of Bushcraft

    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.

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.

A Day Trip With My Bush Buddy

   It is always a pleasure to get out for a day trip and to explore with my bush buddy Christian. He always reminds of what it is like to be a kid. That makes for some really good bushcraft adventure. We really get in some good dirt time. He enjoys learning the things I can teach him and he teaches me things about being curious and observing and about getting dirty and wet and close to the things that really make it fascinating. He never gives me any excuses why he does not want to go. He always wants to be outdoors and on an expedition. He has told me flat out, he will never refuse an invitation to go "for a hike". I like that. He is faithful to his word. He is always good to go. He is my son and I love him.
   He challenges me to keep honing my skills, no matter what the subject might be some days. As he is learning more about bushcraft, he is challenging me in other ways. One example came up on this latest trip.
   We had sort of reached the end of our trail, following a stream bed and decided to stop, fire up my trangia alcohol stove and boil some water to make a couple cups of hot chocolate. As I was getting that going, he found a lost "Bic" lighter and wanted to see if he could use that resource to start a fire. I was sitting under a tree along the shore and asked him what kind it was. He said basswood and he was right. We then discovered a part of the tree was a deadfall, so he harvested some of the inner bark for tinder and challenged me to make a bow drill fire with some of what was left. I accepted the challenge. It was fun.
   Here is a video of our adventure that morning. It is a little long, but I think entertaining and especially if you like spending time with your kids. I hope you enjoy it.

   I am sorry that I did not get his success in getting a twig fire going with the tinder he had made up, but he did succeed in getting a fire going with the found lighter, all on his own. Just before the trip began, he was able to run a 7 point compass course that lead him to a water source and I thought he did quite well in that for a first timer.
   He is fast becoming a good bushkid and I look forward to many more trips and learning a few more things from him. Take the opportunity to get out with a kid and enjoy what "real" dirt time is all about.
Thanks for watching and Happy Exploring.

Finally A Meetup: BCUSA Minnesota Members

   I was quite excited on Labor Day Weekend, 2012 to finally meet up with some Minnesota members of BushcraftUSA. One of the members, "Steene" and myself have been playing email or personal message tag (PMing) on the BushcraftUSA forum site for some time, trying to arrange a meeting. But to no avail, we just could not make it happen. Then this Labor Day weekend came along and he said he could make it. I quickly contacted two other members, Gager and Little Jon and they agreed to meet us as well. We were on for what would be, at least for me, a first time "Meet Up" of Minnesota members.
   I let the guys know that I would be bringing what we would need to practice some skills and that I thought it would be great to work at friction fire and bow drill sets. I also brought some compasses to run a 7 point determinate compass course and if time allowed, we would hike out to find parts for a bow drill set to build from scratch and maybe work on some natural cordage skills.
   Well the friction fire practice was a lot of fun and here is a video of two of the guys and their very first attempts at getting a friction fire with a bow drill set.

   As you can see, both Steene and Gager were successful in their attempts and I must say it was well worth coaching them thru it, to see the smile on their faces. It was fun to be kids again.
   Next we went on to run a determinate compass course, which really was a set of 7 compass bearings they had to follow, each bearing they walked until they hit a barrier, such as a tree or a rock or landmark. The whole course did not take long and led them all to a source of water. It was a fun time, and if I had not been so involved walking thru it with them, I would have had more video. Maybe next time.
   Around noon, Little Jon and Gager had to leave, and Steene and his son and myself went on for a hike to gather for him some parts for a bow drill fire set. We settled on some boxelder and basswood and he tested it with a little burn in. He will be good to go for some practice. We also stopped long enough to harvest some wood nettle and make some cordage. Steene was very interested in that, as he is very adept at making nets. I am hoping to talk him into teaching how to make netting one of these next times we meet up. That will be fun.
   After we returned to the parking lot, we said our farewells and both agreed this will have to happen again. It was just to good of a time to let it happen but once. All in all, we made good friends and I know that this kind of adventure will continue and grow. Now I just need to get some more members to visit us here for our Saturday 9am meetups in the Minneopa State Park. Come and join us if you can. Every Saturday, 9am in the Group Camp parking lot to start.
   Happy Exploring my friends.

Bushcraft Is Not Just For Boys Part II

   Recently, I was once again able to meet up with some friends who are interested in learning bushcraft. We are now regularly meeting Fridays at 4pm and on Saturday mornings at 9am, for 2 to 3 hours, in a local state park to study and practice bushcraft skills.
   On this particular friday afternoon, fellow BushcraftUSA member "Emorgs" and her boyfriend joined me and my eight year old bush buddy, Christian, to practice firecraft skills. I started out by introducing them to friction fire methods and they had a chance to attempt getting a coal with a bowdrill and spindle. Then I demonstrated how flint and steel works with char cloth and finally I had Christian demonstrate the lighting of five man made tinders. He is very proficient at it for an eight year old, and gave a very good demonstration that Emorgs would then try to duplicate for her BushclassUSA lesson "Student Practice for Five Man Made Tinders". Here is the video I captured for her lesson. I hope you enjoy it.

   As I started out with the title to this blog entry as "Bushcraft Is Not Just For Boys Part II" because it was Emorgs and her bushclass lesson "Student Practice for A Twig Fire" that was featured in Part I. Young women are interested in bushcraft, and she is very committed to learning all she can and graduating Basic BushclassUSA.
   I hope even more young people will discover the fun of getting in some dirt time and learning bushcraft skills. The good news is, now her boyfriend is interested. I hope they keep coming to the friday meetups. The adventure will continue. Til next time, Happy Exploring.

For Friction Fire Tuesday...

   Well, as it was Friction Fire Tuesday at BushcraftUSA, I decided to join in the fun and try my hand at it. More specifically, I wanted to try a wood combination that has been giving me trouble for quite awhile. So today it was Norway Maple on Norway Maple.

   To preface this, I would like to go back to the Hardwoodsman Meet 2012 that I had the privilege to attend back in April. Before the meet, I looked upon friction fire methods as something to know and to try occasionally, and I did have successes over the years, but it was nothing that I would "practice" on a regular basis. It was just "back pocket" kind of knowledge and more like an occasional party trick to pull out on a camping trip with friends.

   But at the HWM, I learned that it was something to be practiced, and studied and favored as one of the best and most advanced of skills you could learn as a bushcrafter. My eyes were open. I was hooked.

   On Thursday night, just before the Meet started on Friday, two guys came by my tent as I attempted to try a hand drill fire with a piece of mullein I had harvested and a piece of box elder for a hearth board.

   One of the guys, if I remember correctly was "Scooter" who I later would learn, would be the winner of the skills competitions for the Meet. The other guy was Ross or aka "Redmech", who I would later learn, was a friction fire wizard in his own right and had been studying friction fire methods almost exclusively since the last Hardwoodsman Meet in 2011. These two brothers, stopped long enough to help me get some finger loops fashioned and attached to my hand drill spindle. In the end, they helped me to succeed in getting an ember. Whoo Hoo!!

   I later discovered Ross had a great collection of wood types for spindles and hearth boards, all organized in what I think was a couple of large cases that made moving it all around, easy to setup, and to practice a great number of combinations. He showed me that organization was key to building a good practice  set. So from this, I started to label all my wood types. I am still looking for a case like his. I think it was something for storing a compound bow perhaps? Maybe a large gun or rifle case? I am not sure. Long, flat, wide. Something.

    Anyway, back to Friction Fire Tuesday. I just had to have some fun and got this video in the process.

   Before I wrap this up I would just like to say, "Where has the month of July gone?" Here it is, July 13th or rather Friday the 13th, my lucky day! and this is my first posting for the blog this month.  I have been really busy with lots of bushcraft adventures, I just need to stop long enough to just share it all with you, my friends.
Hopefully I can get some more video taken about some upcoming adventures. I will be meeting with some bushcraft friends soon to help them with bushclass lessons and I know that will be fun. Also, there will be more fun with friction fire. Until then, Happy Exploring and remember to get out and get dirty.

Failed Bowdrill Friction Fire

   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.