New Arrivals... books that is....

Just wanted to put up a quick post the share my excitement! I ordered the Mors Kochanski's Pocket Size Booklets from Karamat.com. They got here today, lickety-split! (thats fast in canadian...)

This will definetly give me a few things to read over before this weekend's "Practice Session".

Will let you know how it goes!

Oh... and got another fire going with my knife and piece of quartz. Man is this stuff fun or what?!?

I have conquered....

Just a quick post to yell out to the world.... I have made FIRE! OK not really that big of a deal since there was probably a few humans in the world that beat me to that one.

Actually, I managed to get an ember going with just my Mora knife, and a piece of quartz. (Char cloth this time) I must confess that the feeling of elation was.... well.... elating!

Funny how you can feel on top of the world just by making something from nothing like that. No match, no lighter, not even gas! I even made the char cloth - crappy char cloth at that.

Perhaps there is a new definition for Bushcrafter.... how about:

"Weirdo dude that goes out into his backyard in below zero temperatures, at 2am, just to see if he can hit a rock with a knife and make something burn before he freezes his fingers off!"

Boy, I bet the wife wishes she never told me to go out and get a hobby!

Clothes, Clothes, and more ...getting ready...

I have been doing a lot of work lately on clothing. Testing out different systems and layers, and materials. I tend to like fleece because it has some of the same characteristics as wool without the need to scratch constantly in public.

The last week or so I have been going to the local second hand clothing stores and looking for wool pants and sweaters. And anything else that looks like a good deal for that matter. The idea is to work on Mors' system of up to but not exceeding 5 layers.

1. - Wicking layer
2. - Thin layer of wool
3. - Medium layer of wool
4. - Heavy layer of wool
5. - Windproof/Waterproof Breathable layer

There is more information to this system but I will go into more detail after I have done more testing. I have worn a lot of fleece in the past and not had too many problems but I wanted to give wool another try. Did you know that some of the characteristics of wool help to keep you from smelling as bad after a couple days as you would if you were wearing fleece? Just found that out.

Henry the puppy is doing well and apparently LOVES running around in the snow. No wonder he and the kids get along!

I am also getting things and ideas ready for a Over Night Test camp the first weekend in December. A friend and I will be working on a couple of the Basic Survival topics that I will be putting together in some of the Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival training courses I am working on. (Thanks again for the advice Mors!)

We will be working on different variations of Mors Kochanski's "Super Shelter" and working out our clothing systems. The idea with the clothing is that one of the most important pieces of survival kit should be your clothes. Can you live comfortably in the wilderness for 4 days without a fire? The only thing we plan to use the fire for is for boiling water as that is all we will be ingesting for the 24 hours that we are out there. Sound a bit rough? Not really. Safe conditions, and extra supplies and equipment in the car that is only 15 minute walk away. The way I see it, there are the things you know, you know. The things you know, you don't know. And there are the things you don't know, you don't know. The only way to change the things you don't know, you don't know is to get out there and try it! You follow?

Been missing the woods ever since the trip to New Hampshire. Looking forward to getting out there again.

Will post more stuff soon.

Thanks for reading,

Decado.

Pictures say a thousand words...

Here are some of the pictures from our Bushcraft & Wilderness Survival Course with Mors Kochanski at Jack Mountain Bushcraft in New Hampshire.

Me and the Mors!

I think I will let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.

Thanks for reading (or looking, in this case...)

Decado.

Hand Made Bucksaw

I have always wanted to try making my own Bucksaw. I have read articles on them and seen one that someone else made but it's not the same as making your own.

This is the one I built at the Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival course with Mors Kochanski at Jack Mountain Bushcraft school. It was one of the projects that the students worked on.

It may not look like much but it works like a dream! After borrowing a friends folding saw on one of my last trips, I really got excited about the idea of taking a saw along. It makes short work of those larger pieces of dead-fall that you can use for your fire or shelter.

This is the one I made.... OK.... Mors helped a bit.

The next thing I am going to work on for this is setting up a leather belt so I can just lay the blade inside it and wear it whenever I am out. Mors mentioned this but I think I read it somewhere else before that.

Thanks for reading,

Another spoon...

While I was at the Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival Course with Mors Kochanski, I had the opportunity to spend a little time carving during one of the sessions.

And I thought to my self.... Self! Why don't you carve yourself another spoon! So that's what I did.

This is what it looked like when I got it home. Note that it was very green wood when I started carving. Green is far easier to carve that dry wood and made it a lot faster to carve. Under the circumstances I did not take the necessary precautions and wrap it in a plastic bag to let it dry slowly. As you can see there is a crack at the tip of the spoon and a larger one at the start of the handle.

I decided to finish it anyway and see if I could salvage it. I pulled out the sand paper and went to work.

Here is what it looked like after an hour or so of sanding.
The small crack is mostly gone but the larger crack is still there. It was a lot deeper than I thought it would be, but it looks better. Will probably give this to someone for a present.

I also wanted to try oiling this to see how it would turn out. Here it is drying.

Spoon #2 completed. #3 is already started.

Thanks for reading,

Thanks for the amazing time...

I will be posting some information about the fantastic time I had at Jack Mountain Bushcraft in New Hampshire with Mors Kochanski over the next couple of days but I just wanted to drop a post now to say thanks to everyone.

First of all I wanted to thank Tim Smith and his family from Jack Mountain Bushcraft for being an incredibly generous host while I was there. Tim made everyone feel right at home and was always available when you needed something. Tim's particular brand of 'social humor' while coupled with his professionalism, made him one of the easiest people to work with that I have ever met. The school facilities were great and the resources that any student had access to was brilliant. A chance to test out one of Mors styled "super shelter" for a couple of nights made it all the better! Thanks Tim!

To say that Mors Kochanski is a good instructor is like saying Canada has a few people living in it! Mors 'down-to-earth' nature (no pun intended) vast wealth of knowledge was if nothing else.... inspiring! His easy manner ,and talent as a speaker, made it an incredible experience and his saying "The more you know, the less you carry" really came to life during his training. I have learned so much in the short time I was there. He is an inspiring person to be with and his stories and humor will be something I will remember for the rest of my life! Thank you Mors!

I had the pleasure of driving down to the site with Mungo on the friday. Although the drive was long and at some times mildly frustrating, Mungo was a great companion, and his enthusiasm made the trip that much easier. Thanks Mungo! Looking forward many more trips with you in the future.

To Shawn, thanks for hanging with the wierd Canadian, it was great. To Frank, thanks for all the taping you did and the conversations we had (not to mention the paracord!). And to all the other students that I had a chance to speak with, thanks to each of you and best of luck in the future!

My time over the 4 days was more than I could have expected and I will remember it for a long long time!

Thanks again to everyone!