On The Value Of Backyard Bushcraftin'

    There is just something that is always adventurous when it comes to spending time with my bush buddy Christian. He is all of nine going on twenty and keeps me thinking young. He challenges me and helps me to see that bushcraft and being in the woods is all about being a kid.
    We all know that kids don't have a lot of fun if they are uncomfortable or feel left out or are left alone with their own fears and doubts. So if being in the woods and having fun is like being a kid, and getting in some dirt time is also about being a kid, then it presumes that we are getting comfortable with the bush.
   That is why I do not underestimate the power of the back yard when it comes to bushcraft. It is a taste of the familiar, with a mix of the wild and it works as a place to practice and walk thru the rite of passage into the wilderness. It just takes some imagination and most kids have it in spades.
   A kid just gets really only one "first time" to sleep out under the stars, before he realizes that the next time he does, it won't be his first. It will just be another night, maybe special in its own right, but not like the first. So it was with that in mind, I decided to build a small fire pit in my backyard, line it with some rocks and sand and begin to setup a camp.
   I was going to ready the camp for Christian's first night out under the stars and to spend some time with me bushcrafting, cooking, whittling and in general just having some boyish fun. I knew he was going to like it.
   As I said, I started with making a fire pit, which looks something like this...

 
 I had gotten the fire going with my bow drill set, as I figured it is the first fire in the pit I would start it with something special. Here is the bow drill set I used, a little basswood on basswood...

Then I started on some water to heat up for a good cup of tea which seemed like a good idea...

I used my stainless steel "Little Jon" grill which was made by a good bushcraft friend of mind that knows his welding. Next I put together a pot hook and setup one half of a USGI canvas shelter or "pup" tent...

After making final arrangements to pick up my bush buddy, we went out for a hike along some local trails and then returned to the backyard to cook up some good food for supper. We made vegetable shish kabobs and chicken fillets...

The chicken was looking fine...

After a pleasant evening and eating and chatting and telling stories, we both settled into our open shelters for the night. The temperatures got down to about 53°F and there were very few mosquitoes.

My bush buddy tried to sleep in, but I got him roused and awake for breakfast. He seem to roll off of his mattress pad during the night and got a little cold, so I wrapped him up in my wool blanket...

 We soon had the fire revived and hot water on to boil so we could make some cocoa and hot oatmeal for breakfast. He decided he wanted Campbells Double Noodle soup instead, go figure, but the pot hook worked great with the 10cm Zebra Billy can...

 

   In the end, it was a great time and we grew closer together. I know this will be something we will do again and again and as he gains confidence, we will be able to make that transition to the woods and the wilds and who knows, someday he may just decide to make a solo trip of his own and begin to learn the things that I have learned and to feel the kinship with the landscape and to begin to feel at home with the wilderness wherever he may go. I want him to feel the things that I have felt and to someday, share those with his son. Then I know I will have done him right.

   As the saying goes...

    A USGI Shelter Half... $20

    A 10cm Zebra Billy can...  $30

    Spending a night out under the stars with my son... priceless.

Until next time, Happy Exploring.

Ah Yes... The 4th Of July Weekend... Lots Of Bushcraft

   Well, it wasn't suppose to happen this way, but I decided to put in a very late request for some vacation time, that is for the Friday after the 4th of July on Thursday. I wasn't expecting to get the time off, but the manager said on Wednesday, around 3:30pm, "Get out of here, we'll see you Monday."
   Woo Hoo! I had a four day weekend ahead of me. Now, what to do, what to do?? To the woods!!
   Wednesday after work, I pretty much vegged, thinking about how I could sleep in on the 4th. It was too late to get a campsite at the local park, besides I have more fun during the daytime hours anyway, sleeping in a tent is sometimes just a nuisance.
   I would rather be awake and out and about and when you live that close to the woods, well it just seems to be a no brainer. Sleep good, and play hard the rest of the day out in the woods where you can put in some day long dirt time.
   So after sleeping in on the 4th, I headed out on the trail and that afternoon did some playing with the new canteenshop grill top stove and canteen and cup. You can see that adventure earlier in this blog.
   On Friday, the 5th, I headed out to the local stomping grounds for just some good alone time and a good long hike that would eventually end up being a great work out, with a few surprises and I learned the tale of a tragic event for the state park.
   It seems some campers were using illegal fireworks, and they succeeded in setting several acres of prairie and grassland on fire. The DNR officers I spoke with, said the culprit was lead away in handcuffs and fined heavily for his actions. They said he was ignorant to the point that he did not even think of reporting it at first and just sat and watched it burn for quite awhile. He admitted setting the fire "accidentally" but did not feel any urgency in notifying anyone of the park officials.
   Everyone was very sad, but we all know that the prairie will recover and life within it will go on.
   I finished my Friday hike and started again to look forward to Saturday and my regular meeting with some Minnesota members of BushcraftUSA.
   I met up with my friend Shonuff' at 10AM and it was already about 75°F by that time. We worked on some knot tying practice and then went out on a long hike to visit the fire scared prairie and to work on some edible and medicinal plant ID.
   We ate some wild black raspberries and gooseberries and watched for other edibles.
   Here is a list of most of the things we played with during our dirt time:

• Practiced knot tying including:
square knot, sheet bent, double sheet bent, directional figure 8 loop, alpine butterfly knot, siberian hitch, canadian jam knot, two half hitches, tautline hitch, prusik knot, klemheist knot, bowline, bowline on a bight, figure 8, double fisherman's, and finally the one handed bowline.
• Worked on Wild edibles ID: black raspberries, gooseberries, burdock, greater plantain, cattail (pollen stalk), lambsquarters, smooth solomon seal, salisfy (goats beard), canadian thistle
• Also worked on non-edibles ID: bush honeysuckle, false solomon seal
• Practiced on medicinal plant ID: jewelweed, white yarrow, greater plantain
• Practiced on utility plant ID: mullein (both 1st and 2nd year plants), wood nettle, stinging nettle
• Worked on Tree ID: found ash for making bowdrill spindle
• Demonstration of practical sling by Shonuff: as a primitive weapon, possible food procurement tool
• Worked on firecraft: split wood for kindling, scrappings for tinder, bowdrill with ash on basswood, some hand drill practice
• Prepared full meal: kabobs with chicken, veggies and a rice dish on the side cooked with improvised pot hook

  Here is a video of most of our activity and adventure and I hope that you like it.

   It was a great time as usual and we finished up around 5pm. A good long day of skills practice and good camaraderie has had. I only wish we could convince more members to stop by and join us, but I think that day is coming.
   Sunday brought yet another bushcraft project day, but I am going to tell that story in yet another blog post, as I work to catch you all up on my latest adventures. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

Some Good Minnesota Dirt Time: On Natural Cordage, Land Nav And Cooking Kabobs

   On June 9th, I had made my way up to the Hyland Lake Park Reserve, in Edina to meet with my new friend and fellow bushcraft enthusiast, Shonuffisthemaster. You can read about that trip in a previous blog going back about 2 weeks ago. Sho and I hiked around the reserve and had a great time hunting resources and just getting to know each other. He was a great host, and I liked the area he had chosen for having future outings and meet and greets.
   On June 22nd, it was my turn to host a meetup and Sho came down from the cities to see where we have our regular meetings. We had a great day of it, and hiked about 4.5 miles, with temps in the low 80's by midday. We drank lots of water and worked on several skill sets along the way.
   I started by introducing him to processing and using nettle for natural cordage. Once he had some in hand, he processed an 18" piece in no time at all. Natural cordage is always fun to work with during the summer months, as there are so many choices.
   We worked at identifying some edible and medicinal plants and doing a little tree ID as well.
   At one point we stopped and I walked Sho thru the process of setting up a "shadow stick" so that he could see how to find direction using the sun. We also worked on some land navigation and practiced taking compass bearings and finding our position by using triangulation.
   We worked at getting a fire going with flint and steel, which was a challenge in the high humidity.
   He also gave me a lesson in knife sharpening that eventually had me shaving hair off of my arm with my BK14. He has quite the mad knife sharpening skills and I greatly respect him for that.
   We finished our day with kabobs on the grill and they were delicious.
   All in all, a very fine day and I think in the end, the stories and the photos and the video of our adventure will encourage others to join our group. It is our hope that it can become the great community of bushcrafters in Minnesota, that it can be.
   Here is the video of our adventure and I hope you enjoy it.

   It was a lot of fun to just get out and get in some dirt time. We could just be kids again and see things with wide eyes and amazement. I hope that more can join our respective groups and that they too will see that getting out and getting dirty is what brings life to their worlds of bushcraft. Until next time, Happy Exploring.