This past Saturday started out warm, with the temperature around 34°F, and there was even a warm breeze, so it felt good to get out. Although the forecast said it was going to be getting colder, it was not expected until the afternoon.
The previous Saturday saw the temperature and wind chills around -8°F. Minnesota is so weird when it comes to weather. Go figure.
I went to the local state park for a regular meetup of Minnesota BushcraftUSA members and after waiting a half hour or so, I headed out to enjoy some well deserved bush time. It felt so good to get out and to get away from it all. I was determined to try a few fun things.
I wanted to complete the bucksaw portion of the Intermediate BushclassUSA
lesson "Student Practice to Improvise A Bowsaw & Bucksaw". After
reviewing the instructor Croatoan's fine video on making the bucksaw on my smart phone,
I thought I had it figured out. But it wasn't until I got home, that I
found out I also had to split wood with it as well, to complete that
part of the lesson for the buck saw.
Oh well, it was still fun and I will do it again, (and again and again and again).
After getting the bucksaw improvised, and using it for awhile, I felt inspired to try a couple of projects.
The first one was to make a flat surface for the cutting station at the camp. I really needed a more stable platform for batoning wood and using the Cold Steel Trail Hawk. That was an easy task with the newly improvised buck saw.
The second project was inspired by a post on the BushcraftUSA forum site by member Bushtramp, entitled "Bushcrafty Christmas Prank." This was a very interesting project that he undertook to put several bushcrafted fake "deer" out in a field beside his fathers country property. It was very funny and I have dubbed the fake deer "Cervus Bushtrampus" in honor of this famous stunt.
I decided to fieldcraft a fake deer, just like the ones in Bushtramp's herd.
I have found that having a few pieces of kit that can be used to improvise tools with, has put a little more "craft" in my bushraft.
So here is the video of this last Saturday's adventure. It is a little long, because it shows three projects involving a lot of field work, but I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to skip ahead.
The day out and all the dirt time was a lot of fun. It was also nice to not deal with any firecraft or meal prep. As the day grew longer and it started to get colder. The wind chill by 3pm was approaching 0°F.
I decided to call it a day and head home.
But I will be returning to make even more "deer" and "woods chairs" and "mallots" and many other things. I hope you can get familiar with a few good improvised tools and put a little more "craft" into your bushcraft. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
Well the new year is upon us and I am looking forward to many new adventures in Bushcraft. I had my first outing of the year on Saturday, January 5th, 2013. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining with the promise of warmer weather to come. It was about 10°F and the snow was crunchy under foot. It was difficult to move quietly and even hard sometimes to stand still and make no noise at all.
Despite the noisy conditions, I did manage to catch a few deer on video and I found a lot of very fresh deer sign and was pleased with the chance at tracking the mega fauna.
As the day turned out, it ended up being a solo trip after waiting the customary thirty minutes for some of the regular BushcraftUSA Minnesota members to show up for our 9AM Saturday Morning meet-up.
I know my friend Sticker wanted to make it out, but had some urgent family obligations to attend to. I know he will be anxious soon to join me for another adventure, so maybe I will see him on the next Saturday outing.
I decided it was time to work on a BushclassUSA elective and since I had been playing quite a bit with my new toy, the one inch scotch-eyed auger, I decided that the "Student Practice to Improvise A Woods Chair" would be my next lesson.
I have not really focused on any BushclassUSA lessons as of late, because I have been enjoying so much the time I have spent with my new bushcraft friends and helping them to complete their bushclass lessons.
But, I know I have to get started on things again, as the goal this year is to complete my Intermediate Bushclass Certification.
So before I go any further with this years plans, here is the video of my first outing of the new year and within that, my completing my "Improvised Woods Chair." I hope you enjoy it.
It was a great outing, even if it was just a little bushcraft improvising and some hot cocoa. I always enjoy my solo times and getting closer to nature. And yes, even in winter, it has its perks.
Thanks for watching and look forward to your comments. 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.
