Articles

Mischmetal

February 03, 2018

All of the types of ferrocerium rods I've listed initially, the first ones to hit the global survival market (and later the bushcraft market), are of the harder type of ferrocerium rods. Any abrasion on these types of rods begets sparks. Light pressure yields lights sparks, and harder pressure yields hotter sparks, but essentially any scraping of the surface at all produces the pyrophoric result. That would change just after the turn of the century. A new and different style of ferrocerium rods, ones labeled as “mischmetal”, would come along and create havoc for some people. It would be the topic of many discussions on outdoor forums back in 2006, and it even caused more than a few arguments about which was better.

Cold-Weather Hammock

January 31, 2018

In the past 10 years, I’ve noticed more and more campers taking to the trees. Hammock camping is on the rise and if you doubt me, just take a look at all the places selling hammocks, suspension systems, tarps and hammock hardware. Hammocks have an inherent advantage over tents, bivy sacks, and dropping to the ground with a ground pad and sleeping bag. Your sleep isn’t interrupted or prevented by sharp roots digging into your back, puddles of water marinating your feet while you sleep or uneven terrain certain to roll you into your camping buddies. With all the benefits of hammock camping, it would seem logical to use them over traditional ground shelters whenever possible but there is one condition hammock campers despise; that condition is cold. Hanging in the cold air requires specialized equipment and some “stay warm” hacks and habits.

Firecraft From An EDC Perspective

January 25, 2018

When we are out and about in the city and wandering the concrete trails along the asphalt rivers that run through our urban wildernesses, under the neon stars of the city skies, most of us tend to look at EDC tooling at least a little differently than we do when compared to a woodland environment. We do this viewing from different perspectives that are based on our own life experiences. Personally I seldom put any thought to self defense when I am out in a wilderness environment. Having grown up in wild places, fishing and trapping commercially in my youth, I am generally pretty relaxed in a secluded forest environment. Yet I definitely think about such things when I am in crowded urban environments.

Leather Pouch Tutorial

January 24, 2018

Working with leather has been a winter pastime of mine since 2009. I first learned this skill from my friend Marty Simon at his leather workshop at the survival school where I used to work. Leathercraft is something many bushcrafters will eventually take up but at first, it seems very daunting with all the leather choices, finishes, tools and techniques. I have been contemplating what project I could demonstrate in a tutorial here and settled on a very simple one-piece pouch for a sharpening stone, or other flat objects like the signal mirror used for mine. I didn’t want to carry a quality glass mirror around in a foam and duct-tape sleeve anymore. I’ll do my best to summarize the process step-by-step and anticipate common questions sure to arise in the course of this tutorial.

Heat Vectoring

January 07, 2018

If you are a hunter or fisherman, or you just like the out of doors and plan to venture into a wilderness environment this winter, it could be helpful to have more than just a basic understanding of wet weather fire starting techniques. Not because winters are known for wetness around the globe, but because if you can start a fire quickly in wet conditions, then you can start a fire quickly under less humid conditions as well. If you find yourself alone facing the bitter cold of winter, and dealing with the onset of hypothermia and the loss of motor skills, it will be the quickness with which you can produce warmth that is important to your survival.

Frequent-Use Pouch or Pocket

November 22, 2017

During the Advanced Wilderness Survival Course I used to teach at the Wilderness Learning Center, I would ask my students to keep track of the items they used daily. Over a week of training in the northern woods, students were exposed to many skills-based challenges and environmental issues. Prior to the end of the course, the students would sit around the fire, do an after action with my boss Marty and me, and review what they found useful and what they realized they could leave behind. What many students discovered was that some items carried in their “ten essentials” kit or emergency pouch, were never touched as they were never truly in an emergency situation. For long-term survival in the great outdoors, sometimes

Have Life, Will Travel

September 23, 2017

We, as a people, travel and we do it a lot. We travel for work, we take road trips for vacations, and on the holidays we take to the highways to go visit family and friends. Just how much we do travel is evidenced by how many hotels and motels you will find in an urban center, in any given city, in any developed country around around the globe.

The Travel Trunk and Foot Locker

August 22, 2017

Using a hard case for travel and storage isn’t a new concept. Plenty of pack horses carried wooden crates along trails in the wild West and wanigans were carried by outdoorsmen in the 19th century in canoes to house all the camp kitchen gear here in New England. There’s a reason we pack important equipment and parcels in hard-shelled cases instead of soft. Eggs aren’t sold in bags (ok, Eggbeaters are sold in cartons), football helmets aren’t leather anymore (but they should be and more emphasis should be placed on tackling with shoulders!) and high-security jails are made from brick not canvas or nylon. I’m partial to using a good hard case for carrying my gear and storing it in my traveling base camp. I used a long-gun Pelican case to carry my rifles and sidearm to Alaska last summer and I’ve carried everything from medical gear to cell phones to my pocket-carried items in smaller boxes while on the river canoeing and kayaking for years. My largest volume Pelican Case is something I get asked about regularly. Students and associates want to know A: What I tend to carry with me and B. why haul something like that? I can’t stress how useful a hard-shelled travel trunk is in transit and in places where bags aren’t always treated with finesse.

Ultralight Backpack Fishing

August 09, 2017

I know there are many readers of this blog who are just as crazy about fishing as they are about collecting knives. I know I’m in good company as a knife nut and angler. Hopefully enough readers of this blog will eventually hit up Andy to make us a Fiddleback Forge filet knife. What do you say Andy? With so many of the Fiddleback Family interested in fishing, writing a blog post about fishing was inevitable. That said, I don’t want to write about your average fishing set of skills but rather one I hope more of you will pick up. If standing shoulder to shoulder with fist fights breaking out over crossed lines is your idea of fun, this isn’t going to be your favorite blog. If hooking a fish that has never seen an artificial lure and fights for its life like no other is more like it, please keep reading. What I’m about to offer up as one of the most incredible fishing experiences combines getting away from the rest of the populace with your backpack and fishing some mountain ponds and creeks rarely visited by others.

Bamboo, A Gift From Nature

June 13, 2017

Most people know what bamboo is, but not everyone these days understands just what a resource it can be. It just so happens, that for a number of reasons, bamboo is most wonderful gifts that nature has to offer. In the world of plants, few if any bring as much to the table as bamboo does.

Anyone who has eaten at their local Asian restaurants very often has learned to use the fee chopsticks by now,. It does take a little more effort to make a set in the wilds than just opening the package and snapping the connection, but really not all that much effort. With a sharp knife a functional set of chopsticks can be whittled in a couple of minutes.

Surviving the Little Things

April 30, 2017

How many people do you know who claim to be “survivalists” or “bushcrafters?” Maybe they don’t go by these titles but prefer to say they are “woodsmen” or “outdoorsmen.” If these titles don’t suffice, perhaps they don’t want to be labeled at all but will tell you they “live” survival or “live” bushcraft each day. What always never ceases to amaze me are those outdoor enthusiasts (I’ll use this as my catch-all term for all of the above listed) who may have a rock-solid wilderness survival strategy and set of skills but a neglected sense of self-preservation once they leave the woodline. Of these people I asked you to consider, how many engage in risky behavior that could threaten their existence? Bushcraft knowledge and experiences are most appreciated outdoors and not from a hospital bed or prison cell. Sometimes, what threatens our survival the most is not the inability to make a fire or build a shelter but the little things we don’t consider on a daily basis.

Connecticut Bushcraft Gathering

April 05, 2017

Bushcraft and survival skills are best learned in the presence of those who know them already and are willing to share their knowledge. Granted, there are many books with incredible information and countless YouTube videos featuring bushcraft tutorials but the no video or book can replace hands-on instruction. Bushcrafting is a passion and it seems as soon as someone learns a skill, they want to show it off. How many times have you seen someone post a picture of something they carved, built or tied? With this in mind, I decided to create an event for former students of mine as well as newcomers in the Spring of 2017.

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Fiddleback Forge
5405 Buford Hwy Ste 480
District Leather Bldg
Norcross, GA 30071