Bushcraft Shelter Practice

"No matter how good you think you are at something, you can always practice more..."

One of my grandfather's favorite sayings....

So I decided to do a little more playing around with a couple shelter types, and since it was nice out, get something the kids could play in. Tipis have always been my favorite type of long term shelter, but they take practice to get them right. This time I tried with tarps to see if I could get it to work.

Not great, but I learned a few tricks...

Looks aside.... it would still keep the rain off!

This shelter took me 2 minutes to set up and 10 minutes to get the dog out of it so I could take the picture. Henry wants to go camping!

Thanks, Decado.

What do bushcrafters do in the Winter?

Is it cold enough for you?

Christmas Gift I carved for my wife.

Looks like the shelter is still standing!

Debris Shelter.... more like a snow shelter...




Hrmmm.... need more snow!

Its a snow bump!

Yes Mungo! I am wearing wool!

Serious Winter Bushcrafters!

Thanks, Decado.

Xmas Prep and Best Wishes

I have a couple of post sitting in draft postion. Been wanting to finish them off but with the Snow Storms and Christmas presents still to make its been a bit like a whorl-wind around here.

Just in case I don't get a chance before the big day I wanted to wish everyone and their families:

Merry Christmas and all the Best in the coming New Year!

Hope everyone remembers what Christmas is really all about (I know... most of us think Bushcraft Toys! But.... no..... well.... mostly no.) Keep life simple, live it beyond your expectations, and remember that no one ever laid on their "Deathbed" and thought: "Gee... I wish I had spent more time in my life WORKING!"

Thanks, Decado.

Leaves are still changing.... time to build a winter shelter - Part 2.

Wow! Two posts in as many days! That's different! For me, anyways. Just making up for lost time, I guess.

I have some more progress to report. I took a few more pictures (with my daughter's help) so most of this post will just be on the pics.

I used the "Constrictor Knot" I learned from Mors. Works amazing and it uses a lot less string.

I took some time to find sections with branches so that I could use the "hook" part to make the binding more sound.

Here are the latest pictures with the roof mostly done.

This is my daughter's "Self portrait of a 4 year old's Bushcraft experience even though I spent most of my time asking to play with Daddy's expensive digital camera and wanting marshmallows to go with that campfire" picture.

This is also the picture she took of her foot. So we will always 'member it!

and a darn good shot of the back of my head!

I hope to get the cover on it before the end of Thanksgiving weekend (which is this weekend for us Canadians) and maybe get a chance to try it out the weekend after!

Will let you know.

Thanks,

Decado.

Bought the farm..... and moved in.

Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know we moved in...... well our stuff is now on the property anyway.

Lots of boxes unpacked and I even got a chance to cut some of the grass with the new riding mower. Yee haw! The wife and I are thrilled with the place, but the amount of stuff we need to do now and in the future can be a bit overwhelming. And it is soooooo quiet! Henry the dog is in heaven.

The kids will be coming on sunday so there is still a lot to do!

Will post pictures soon.

Thanks,

Decado

Decado bought the farm......

Ok. Maybe I should have rethought that title.

To put it into context: I really did buy a farm! No I did not 'kick the bucket' though you would not know it from my lack of posting lately. My family and I are leaving the city! Will be hours away from Toronto and ... well.... living outside a small town on a 71 acre farm. Lots of room for the kids to grow and the vegetables too! Over half the property is mature woods: birch, poplar, many pines and hardwoods! A bushcrafters dream! Think of it! Walk 100 feet off the back porch and WHAM! you are in the bush! and beyond that? More bush! And beyond that? ... uh... a road I think.... don't know. Haven't been that far yet.

Life has been nothing if not interesting over the past couple of months. We expect to be moving in July if everything goes well. Once there I will be setting up my business and sneaking into the woods when the wife is not looking.

Will let you know how it plays out. I Plan to post some pictures and put together some shelters first chance I get. Will let you know.

Decado.

Down but not out...

Greetings all! Life in general has turned upside down over the last month or two. I have had to take a short(?) break from the blogging world for a number of reasons. They are as follows:



1 - Walked away from my job just before Christmas. It was not good. Lets just say there are some people that should never work for some other people. For me.... I just could not take it any more.

2 - I quit smoking. It has been over a month now and I swear I am still in some kind of twilight zone. Things just have not been normal.

3 - Now that I have been home more, I have had more time with the kids. My wife has decided that many of the tools I purchased over the last year for my 'walking stick' company work very well when used to renovate bathrooms and hallways. So my time has been a bit occupied with domestic activities.

There is the whole aspect of my "need to make a career change", but I will not bore you with the details..... I am sure all of you readers out there are happy and comfortable with your place in life as well...

Anyway. I have done a couple more over-niters in the bush over the last while mostly to take time to slow down and think of life stuff. Jeff and I have another trip planned for the middle of this month and I am looking forward to it. Now that I have tested a couple of things that I learned with Mors, I will be doing some equipment changes for the next trip.

Looking forward to getting back into regular posts again soon.

Hope all is well with you and yours.


Thanks for being here...

Decado

Meet my new Bushcraft Partner...

Hey everyone! Meet my new Camping Companion!

This is Henry Ronin. He is an Australian Shepherd. I wanted to call him Ronin and my talented wife wanted Henry so we made a comprimise. As you can see he is already making himself more comfortable in the bush... well... the wife's garden anyway. Now I just need to teach him to carve himself a spoon!

Thanks,