I hate having to take my belt off to hang or remove my knife from it, and if you've seen my previous post about knives and the law you will know why I think it's important that you are able to easily remove your knife from your belt and store it when you are not using it. And while some knives come in sheaths that allow them to be easily clipped on and off of a belt not all do, so I made something that solves the issue.
A sheet of 3mm thick kydex was easy enough to cut to shape and after a bit of heating in the oven was pliable enough to fold into the shape below. One 'roll' to the left now houses my firesteel with it's home made laburnam wood handle, the whole thing then wraps around a belt and is secured at the bottom with a carabiner. It will fix securely to a belt without the carabiner but it's that that allows me to then hang my knife from it. The knife can then be easily removed and stowed in a rucksac and re-attached whenever necessary. The clip it'sef can be left on the belt once the knife is removed without causing offence or alarm to anybody or equally it can be removed as well without the need to take your belt off.
I'm currently working on a second edition to Bow Drill Trouble Shooting and in the new edition i will be dedicating a whole chapter to bearing blocks and will be looking at the fairly new fashion of having a divot in the handle of a knife for use as a bearing block for your friction fire kit.
Heinnie Haynes have kindly sent me a TOPS C.U.B a knife which features this bow drill divot and although I haven't had a chance to test the divot yet I did give it a bit of exercise making a simple willow whistle. You may have seen the video on the Bushcraft Education Youtube channel that shows how to make one.
First select a strait green piece of willow.
Cut a piece to the desired length, and try and choose a piece with as few knots and buds as possible.
I carve the mouthpiece next as it will be harder if you leave it till the end.
next a small notch on the top of the whistle.
And now score around the bark a few centimetres bellow the notch.
After some vigorous tapping of the bark with a stick or your knife handle you should be able to twist it, you should hear a slight 'pop' and the bark will separate from the wood underneath.
You will be able to slide the tube of bark off completely.
Now you can carve a sound chamber, enlarging the notch you made earlier, although you must not make the hole in the bark larger. You will also need to take a thin sliver of wood off the top surface of the wood in-front of the notch which is what you will blow through.
Now you can replace the bark sleeve and you have a completed whistle.
OK, so a large, old two handed cross cut saw is hardly a common tool in recreational bushcraft. But it is exactly the sort of tool which would have been used in woodland management, such as we are conducting as part of the Riddy Wood Project.
In the post I wrote a few months back about old and new tools I mentioned that I like old tools, somehow they have a story, and it is one of very few links we have left in a modern age with traditional skills. I also enjoy the process of taking something which often looks fit for a scrap heap, and through several very simple processes tidying them up and making them functional again, and sometimes even beautiful.
In my workshop at present I have two old axe heads to re-handle, both carpenter style axe heads picked up for £1 and £4 respectively. I also have an old bill hook which I picked up for £2 - the former owner had welded it to a piece of scaffolding tubing which was acting as a handle - Philistine! All the above, and the saw which is the real hero of this piece (also £2), were picked up from car boot sales, they really can be a treasure trove for old tools and can often be picked up for a song. I would also be the first to admit they can be awfully boring places but occasionally you find something worth going for.
THE SAW
Actually my wife bought the saw (one boot sale I didn't have to suffer myself!). And very excited I was too when she brought it home.
I haven't been able to identify any sort of marks or dates or any other stamps on it anywhere so its age, origin and history are beyond me I'm afraid. It is obviously reasonably old, I'd be surprised if it was less than 50 or 60 years old but I basically have no idea.
The blade was rusty but sound, the handles left something to be desired, now loose in the rings, the wood pretty dry and brittle and a smattering of wood worm holes. They would need to be replaced. Other than that the only work which needed doing was cleaning up the blade, sorting out the rust.
The handles were held in by split pins, on one side this pin just pulled straight out after a bit of persuasion, the other side pin was too corroded and sheared, so I drilled it out.
When the handles came out it was pretty clear that they were way past their best. Replacing them should be fairly simple, just turning out a pair of new handles on the lathe (see Pt. 2).
Cleaning up the blade was simply a combination of wire brush, sand paper (and power sander, I cheated because of the big surface area), WD40 and repeat. By the end of this process the metal was back to smooth, although still coloured. The teeth still remain pretty sharp, and with enough good metal to take an improved edge but I won't expend too much effort in trying to sharpen it at this stage. After I've sorted the handles and used it a few times to knock any weak tips off, I'll re-assess the sharpening and may take some time then to improve the edge where needed.
I know it doesn't do it justice but the below photo is where we've got to so far. In the next instalment , hopeful in the next fortnight or so, I'll make and fit the new handles, and use it, then do some sharpening if need be.
The vast majority of bushcraft tasks we undertake require one tool or another. Most of the tools central to bushcraft are ancient in origin, but there have been developments over time - the development of the main tools we use in bushcraft is discussed in brief here. A few woodland management tools have been thrown in for good measure because this forms a large proportion of our work at Riddy Wood at present.
Trying to describe tasks which these tools are used to performed would be futile - everyone uses their tools slightly differently and for a range of different tasks. Indeed this versatility is one of the features which has contributed to the longevity of these basic - as in essential or fundamental - tools.
Knives
The most simple and versatile of the bushcraft tools. In extremis a knife, and the knowledge of how to use it effectively, could literally be the difference between life and death. Obviously knives have their origins in flint tools, with advances in metal work throughout history then changing the material the tool is made of, although never really changing the basic design principle, nor the uses thereof. Most recent advances in metal alloys or manufacturing methods have changed the knife very little. Aside from the folding knife, which is really a portability innovation allowing a knife to be carried more safely, one difference worth noting in modern tools is the prevalence these days of synthetic handle materials. While there may be some advantages to this in terms on grip, comfort, price and 'findability' - bright handled knives are easier to find if you drop them in vegetation - again, the actual design principles of the knife as a functional tool have not really changed in hundreds if not thousands of years, nor has the tasks it is used for.
It goes without saying that there are many different types of knife, but that isn't a new development either - even during the era of flint tools, specialist versions of 'knife' for want of a better word were used. The advent of metal enabled easier customisation, but also as civilizations have advanced, the number of jobs undertaken has increased, requiring more specialised tools than would once have been needed.
Everyone reading this knows what a knife looks like, here are just a few examples of modern knives,
one folding 'Swiss-army' style knife, and another cheap but perfectly functional fixed blade synthetic
handled knife - perfect for a range of bushcraft tasks.
Axes
Another tool which is used extensively in bushcraft, and another tool which has origins in stone. Stone axes again exhibit pretty much the same design principles as a modern axe, with the exception of attaching the head.
The efficiency of axes has probably increased more than knives. Flint edges not being robust enough to withstand the sort of cutting tasks an axe in used for other stones were used which did not hold the same sort of sharp edge that can be achieved using flint. Certainly metal tools would have been a leap forward in terms of both the edge they could hold, and the ability to fix the head onto a handle. Where as with stone axes a hole was typically made in the handle, with metal axe heads it was possible to cast the head with a hole for mounting the head onto the handle. As with knives advances in different types of metal have made little change to the design principle. although different metals would have been able to a) take a better edge and b) hold that edge for longer. Again, synthetic handles are becoming common, typically of fibre glass type materials which provide very strong handles and to some extent potential less vibration than a wooden handle but, for the traditionalists, certainly don't have the same aesthetic appeal.
A modern axe with a synthetic handle, this is in fact a splitting axe and it works fantastically well,
but for the traditionalist, and I must admit in some respects I consider myself to be one, it just doesn't
look right - something like the Gransfors small forest axe (below) just fits the aesthetic bill better.
(Gransfors Bruk Product Illustration: from http://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/products/forest-axes/gransfors-small-forest-axe)
'Make-in-the-field' tools
I 'ummed' and 'arghed' about whether this could qualify as a heading; my 'umming' resulted in me deciding that it qualified for an entire post of its own - one which I need to research a bit more to do it justice. Watch this space...
Woodland Management tools
Bill Hooks
Bill hooks were, and to some extent still are, the basic tool of traditional woodland skills and crafts whether that be coppicing or hedge laying or other tasks. I've let the caption to the below picture do the talking for this section.
The two bill hooks I own, couldn't be much more different if they tried.
The first (above in this image) is a 'hand me down' but 'heirloom' may be more appropriate. It was given to me by my Father-in-law who was given it by his Grandfather. Based on the fact my father-in-law has just turned 70 this bill hook may well be approaching, or even have exceeded, the 100 year mark although with no date stamp I can't be sure. It also serves as an example of the many different styles of bill hook which were once available. While this is slightly off topic this link shows pages from a tool catalogue from around the turn of the 20th century listing all the different styles available. It is fascinating! Based on these pages my bill hook is either a 'Suffolk' or 'Offley' style, and based on the fact my Father-in-law still lives within 10 miles of the Suffolk village where he was born, and always has done, I'll go with 'Suffolk' style I think!
The second is brand new: composite handle, teflon coated blade, different style of bevel, very different blade shape, much lighter weight blade, as well as, I suspect at least, a quite different type of steel. Never the less it works well, in fact if pushed I would have to admit, for some jobs at least, it works better than my old, traditional bill hook. There are three main advantages that I can put my finger on: 1) The thinner blade makes cutting smaller wood easier because there is 'less blade' to push through the cut (does that make sense?) 2) The length of handle gives much greater flexibility in how it can be handled, especially by allowing a longer handed swing, resulted in greater speed at the cutting end and 3) the significantly lighter weight means you don't get fatigued as quickly and it is easier to control.
Click this link for a website dedicated to bill hooks and their history.
Saws
As the history of tools goes saws are a more recent development - the cutting edge of a saw is a far more complicated design problem than a knife or an axe and as such are harder to manufacture. To some degree a serrated flint edge could replicate what we now recognise as a saw but wouldn't have had any sort of longevity, especially not if used on harder materials such as bone or wood. Until relatively recently (historically speaking) saws were still made by hand, with individual teeth filed out separately.
These days of course we have saws ranging from 'fold-into-a-penknife' small right up to chainsaw bars several feet long! To a bushcrafter a good folding saw or a small bow saw is a very useful tool, especially when cross cutting a piece of wood, which with an axe requires the removal of a fair chunk of material just to keep the cut accessible.
In woodland management, larger bow saws and chain saws are the weapon (tool) of choice, mainly for their speed in cutting. I would say ease, but even though you are not providing the cutting power chain saws are heavy and can be tiring to use... although compared to the old school methods I think easy could still apply! A chain saw actually works more like a series of small axes or chisels rather than a normal saw - these teeth a link together forming a 'chain' which rotates around a fixed bar. As with any tool there is an element of risk in its use, a risk which is reduced significantly with appropriate use and training.
Little & Larger... a few chain saws which form the mainstay of the woodland managers felling equipment these days.
Below: the old school option, a two handed saw, requiring a person at each end, and a lot of co-operation and
effort to get the job done, but get the job done it certainly does!
There are obviously other tools we could explore, and other activities linked with bushcraft skills we could describe. Tools, their manufacture and use really does form a back bone upon with bushcraft skills have relied since they were everyday skills. They remain an instinctive fascination to many people (perhaps especially young boys - I don't think that's sexist, though it is a generalisation) along with fire - a link I feel to the days when the survival of human kind as a species relied upon these skills. Whether these skills are 'required' today is a largely irrelevant point, but without question these tools are still required and used today.
This is by no means a new idea, but it is a good one. A really simple meths burner, similar to the style you would get in a trangia stove, can be made from two drinks cans.
You will need two drinks cans, it doesn't matter what type as long as they are the same diameter.
Cut both cans, if they average size cans then cut them in half, if they are taller like the can on the left in the first picture cut the bottom third off. You can easily do this with a Stanley knife rather than wrecking your decent bushcrafting knife.
You will now need to fit the two pieces together and poke some wholes in the rim of the uppermost can.
Now use some aluminium tape to seal up the joins to stop the meths escaping.
Finally remove the centre of the uppermost can, you could do this sooner but I found it makes the can fairly 'wobbly' and herder to work with. Now fill it with methylated spirits and light it. It's now ready to use
It's easy to spend an awful lot on light weight shelter solutions, light weight tents are an option and it seems that nowadays the bushcrafters staple shelter option is the tarp and hammock combination, and the army surplus 58 pattern poncho doesn't seem to cut it any more everyone want's supper light weight nylon branded tarps. That's taking things a long way from the original meaning of the work tarpaulin; which was basically a tarred pall (or cloth, normally made of canvas) used to cover things you wanted to keep dry.
My solution to a light weight shelter solution is this;
This light weight set up all fits in the bottom compartment of a 65 litre rucksac, this means I can carry all sorts of other kit as well, this was important while I was in Italy recently as I had to carry a weeks worth of clothes and all the material for the workshops I ran at the eee conference.
In fact this set up takes up so little space that I could carry a jumper and flight bag in the same compartment.
From left to right; three quarter length inflatable sleeping pad, fly sheet from a £8 dome tent from Tesco, walking pole from Aldi, home made bivi bag, sleeping bag in a dry bag.
That set up can be erected like this using the walking pole as a central pole and arranging the fly sheet around it tipi style, a few tent pegs are required here as well.
Home Sweet Home, it may not be true improvisation as all the stuff I show here was originally designed with shelter in mind but perhaps not in quite the same way I use it.
Our washing machine needed replacing recently, so rather than just chuck the old one out I thought I would make use of it;
This is the drum once it has been taken out of the machine. All the plastic casing, concrete and hoses will need to be removed before you get any further. This was a fairly simple job; the plastic is mostly held on with clips and the concrete is bolted on so it can be removed fairly easily. Some of the bolts on this one were corroded a bit but it was only bolted to the plastic so it still fairly easy to hacksaw off.
The drum once removed from it's plastic casing.
These plastic 'wings' can either be removed fairly simply, they just clip through the outside of the drum and are fastened at the bottom with a nut and bolt. Or they can be burned out when you light the BBQ for the first time. I chose to remove them first but remember if you are going to burn them out not to cook anything over the flames until all the plastic is well and truly gone.
Now to cut a whole in the front for ease of access to add more fuel or manipulate the fire/coals. An angle grinder made short work of this.
Be aware that the edges will be very sharp so consider filing them smooth or covering them with something.
The edges of the whole in the front of the BBQ have now been filed smooth and covered in tape to protect your hands while you are adding fuel. I also set the BBQ on three legs so it stands at a little over waist height so you don't have to bend down to do your cooking.
First time of lighting and after straightening up the legs a bit so the sausages don't roll off the grill. It seems to work just fine. Check out the foragers diary series on this blog soon for a venison sausage recipe that will be perfect for you washing machine BBQ.
One deer season may be vastly different from the previous years, a significant change
in habitat on the farm (felling, ditching or significant changes to crops), weather anomalies such as
drought or extreme wet all contribute to changes in the behaviour of the deer I manage. These environmental changes can make it very hard to get a good idea of the number and whereabouts of in the limited time I have to dedicate to managing the deer. Rock hard ground for example either through frost or drought provides little in the way of slots to look at (deer tracks) and excessive rain washes away tracks much quicker. you just can't win.
A season or two ago, my predominantly early morning outings were yielding less and less sightings
and a corresponding reduction in meat reaching the freezer. Gathering information is difficult on a
2,500 acre farm where the workers presence is fleeting and neighbours are few and far between. I
do have the good fortune of exchanging data with a resident deer expert, who invariably has
invaluable insight into the local deer populations and between his trail cams and ours, we were able
to draw conclusions about deer population and activity patterns.
A trailcam can be placed at key locations and left in place for days, weeks or even longer. The images
recorded are date and time stamped, so you can build up an accurate picture of what passed by and
when. This means that you can use your precious time on the ground far more effectively and as in
our case, shift early morning outings to evening outings. In our experience, images have been good
enough to identify particularly good specimens but also priority animals for culling such as lame
individuals.
Away from the deer management application, there are a huge range of unexpected benefits, a bit
like sitting in a high seat and seeing an amazing array of wildlife spectacles besides the one you
expected! In a single deployment, we caught all three species of deer which are resident on ‘our
patch’, Badgers, Fox, Hare and Pheasant. A trailcam will get children into the fresh air and give them
an appreciation of what’s going on around them, it will get them off of the couch and more
importantly, off of face book! I think it’s a great tool, a fantastic family recreational resource and
another great excuse for being out of doors.
Bushnell have a great range of cameras and a trophycam community for you to share your pictures
with, Little Acorn make some nice cameras and there are lesser known makes with varying
specifications and capabilities at Maplin and of course E-Bay will always give you a wide range of
options.
A trail cam was a fantastic addition to our hunting equipment and has been a fascinating
experience, I highly recommend a trailcam, so much better than shooting zombies on an X-Box (in my humble opinion).
I have recently redeployed mine from the forest to our barn roof to capture images of a visiting barn owl for example. Later this week it will go into the chicken run to find out which visiting wildlife killed my chickens on Sunday night!
Go ahead and try one, you won’t regret it.
MRG
**Note; all the videos in this post came from Richards youtube channel check it out, and for more excellent wildlife photography have a look at his Flickr**
Shelter building is a great activity for groups learning outdoors, whether as part of a forest schools activity or a bushcraft course shelter building allows great opportunities to help students develop their group working skills, build teams, teach about the properties of natural and man made materials, teach the concept of risk assessment, conduction of heat through different mediums to name a few.
A few things to consider when shelter building;
·
‘Widowmakers’;
Overhanging branches and dead tree tops are often known as 'widowmakers' as even with no encouragement from high wind they can often crash down without warning. proper survey of a shelter building site
should be made before shelters are constructed to ensure there are none of
these overhanging hazards.
·
Guy lines;
This picture clearly illustrates
the need for care when pitching shelters which require guy lines, young children
are particularly likely to forget about guy lines so brightly coloured lines
possibly with coloured tassels attached. Glow in the dark lines are also
available.
·Hazards on the ground:
One site I use is a
well-established farm shelter belt planted with a mixture of broad-leafed tree
species but part of this belt covers what was an old dairy and a lot
of the concrete foundations and ironmongery from the old building, although now mostly covered and almost invisible under vegetation, still present
a trip hazard and could inflict very severe injuries if someone was to fall on
something like this. Area like this should be avoided for shelter building.
·
Structural integrity of the shelter:
Especially with regard to natural
shelters which may have heavy poles or a considerable weight of material above
the occupants, the shelter itself must be very secure and strong with
the frame ideally being made of green wood for strength and any necessary
lashings being made very securely. Shelters such as this thermal A frame should be constructed with a strong green wood frame allowing a considerable weight of dead wood from the forest floor to be used to build up the walls of the shelter before leaf litter can be stacked on top to a depth of 1-2 feet. This kind of shelter will keep you warm even without a sleeping bag if you fill the inside with dry leaves or grass.
Fire;
Fire and shelter generally don't mix but sometimes you may need to use the fire to heat the shelter such as a lean to style shelter and a long log fire designed to keep you warm without a sleeping bag in winter conditions, or more likely in a Forest School setting as a focal point of an outdoor classroom such as this;
this particular shelter was used as an outdoor classroom, incorporates a fireplace and is made entirely from natural
material in small broad-leafed copse surrounded by an area of coniferous
plantation. The roof and walls of the shelter are made from strips of cedar bark
left over after where a harvester had cut a block of cedar.
