Adirondack Bushcraft Brothers™

 In moving the invitational trip to being set up via my forum I also wanted to give the group a name and come up with a couple of logo's. The logo with the most votes will be used.

Adirondack Bushcraft Brothers™

Logo A

Logo B

I'll make a poll on the forum and give this two weeks.
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Polls done. Only one pother person was gracious enough to take the time to vote. So the winner is B.

Vintage VS Modern

 If you look around you're going to see a lot of gear with the bushcraft label. From knives to underwear. From gloves to hats. Marketing has laid a big claim to the hobby and it can be a little numbing to sift through it all. Leather and canvas or modern synthetic materials, old school steel on a knife or super steel. Titanium or aluminum cooking gear...

Does any of it really matter? No.

I see guys using old heavy canvas tarps, oil lanterns, eating their food from a slab of wood, wearing 1800's style boots and or clothing, but having to have the latest knife steel.

On the opposite side of that spectrum I see guys using ultralight or more modern gear but only carrying a Swiss Army Knife which is a pretty classic knife in old school steel.

Does either matter? Nope. Not one little bit. But it is a solid topic for discussion.

I will admit, I have scratched my head many times when I see someone in a campground using an old style canvas wall tent but running a generator to power a TV. Or using an ultra light tent and using an old fashioned oil lantern. There's nothing wrong with either set up. We all do bushcraft a little different and it's not the gear, but the skills we have that should matter more. Magnacut or 1095 should mean nothing if you have knife skills. Canvas or poly for a tent or tarp means nothing as long as your shelter keeps you dry.

Most of my gear is sort of newish. I like lighter tents and I have a few lightweight tarps. I still have and use the old big box store heavy tarps too. My tents are modern materials. My knives range from tactical to classic in look, but I don't think I have any in a super steel. My cookware is either stainless or titanium these days as carrying cast iron is a bit heavy and I got away from aluminum decades ago. I got rid of the ALICE gear to opt for lighter packs and pouches. I use battery operated lanterns instead of gas. I do have a a few gas stoves that get used, but not often. I live in an area where fires are not permitted on the local public land, so I do use a solid fuel stove pretty often. Due to some health stuff most of my camping is car camping these days, and I still prefer the lower weight of more modern gear.

The only point here is the materials of your gear don't matter. Using your gear and developing wood skills is what matters. So go out and have an adventure with your chosen gear and enjoy the time in the woods. Trust me when I say the woods don't care if it's canvas and leather or poly or silnylon or AUS8 or AEBL.

DIY Possibles Pouch

 Sometime we have little items that end up floating in the bottom of our packs. Cordage, toiletries, medicines (if you need them), or maybe something else. If you have an old pair of cargo pants you need to toss out you can cut the pockets off the legs and use them as as pouches/bags to hold al those odd ball items. Simply cut around the pocked as close as possible and there your done.

Knots Revisited

 The weather is not cooperating these days. If it's not raining it's 96* with humidity levels of 95-99%, and dew points of around 70+. What that means is if it's 92* out we have a real feel of about 110* and your clothes get wet just walking to your car from the moisture in the air. I made a statement back in 2021, "Doing something where you are is better then doing nothing because of where you aren't.". Meaning, practicing skills at home has no shame. But, we practice to go out and put those skills to work in the woods!

Knots are certainly one of those skills that should be practiced over and over until they are second nature. Practicing at home is a great way to dial knots in and make them a permanent part of your wheelhouse.

A note here, there are two parts of a piece of cordage when dealing with knots. The standing end and the working end. The standing end will be the longer section that will be left alone or already attached and the working end will be the end you're working with. Example:

The shorter end is the working end the longer end is the standing end.

There are a ton of knots. There are books with hundreds of pages just discussing knots. The over the head part the sea flap jacker knot, the loop the end through your boot lace upside down when done knot... OK, so maybe not those, but hopefully I made my point. How many knots do you really need to learn for camping? Loaded question. I say learn as many as you want or like. But need is another mule. I say you only need to know 5. Sometimes you might need more then one knot for a single application. I'll explain that below.

I posted how to make a no frills or fuss ridgeline HERE . That ridgeline requires three knots. An over hand slipknot, and two slippery half hitches. The last two knots in that one application are actually called a truckers hitch. I did modify the truckers hitch a little as I'll show below.

I started with the typical slippery half hitch into the securing knot which I use a second slippery half hitch instead of the normal two half hitches. I do so because its easier, holds just as tight, and comes out of my line easier.

The modified truckers hitch.

If it makes you feel a little better you can add an over hand loop as a final knot. But, it's really not needed.

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So those are two knots, (3 if you feel you need to have the added benefit of the last loop). But there's a few more that are good to learn and have in your wheel house.

1: The Taut Line Hitch. This can be used with a ridgeline if you prefer this over the truckers hitch, for tying out to trees or stakes.

Start by creating a bite (loop) around the object you are attaching the knot to.

Next, bring the working end under and back through the loop you created.

Repeat this step again so you have two wraps as pictured below.

Next we bring the working end down and wrap it over the standing end then back through this loop.

Pull the knot tight.

This knot can be moved back and forth but when pulled tight, friction will keep it in place.

2: The Prusik. This probably the most used knot there is and most commonly used on a ridgeline to tighten a tarp and keep it from loosening and sliding in. It's also a good knot to know to hand things from a ridgeline as well. This knot can often be altered and only need two wraps. Testing two will determine if you need the third wrap. If you try two and it slides add the third. For this example I'm doing the popular three wrap.

Start by placing a premade loop (just make a loop of cordage using a simple over hand knot ) over the line.

Now wrap the end with the knot around the line (either way is fine, just make sure the following wraps go the same way).

Repeat the last step twice more for a total of three wraps.

The pull it tight.

3: The Sheet Bend. Very useful for attaching two lengths of cordage together.

Start by making a bite with one length of cordage.

Now pass the other end of the other length through the bite.

Pass the working end down and behind the bite.

Now bring the working end up and pass it under itself but over the bite.

Pull tight.

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These should be all one would need in camp. If you dial these in so you know them and can do them without thinking about it you should not actually need any other knots. 

 

 

It's Not The Knife

 Growing up I can't recall any of my friends who cared about things like steel, edge grind, the shape/profile of a knife, or if sparkled like a diamond in direct sunlight. We bought knives we wanted and we went off into the woods and used them. Often for things you're not supposed to use a knife for like opening cans. I had honestly never heard a fuss over such things until around the same time I heard the term bushcraft for the first time. Man, the arguments people get into over those things boggles my mind. I suppose I get it, but I'm still of the school of a tool is just a tool and it's up to the wielder of the tool to be proficient with it. I mean there's nothing wrong with having knives with different grinds or steels while on your adventure, these days I have at least a few knives with me. So in my eyes there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a knife in stainless for food prep and cooking and another for the more abrasive camp tasks. I am pretty much a to each their own kind of guy.

Where I do have an issue, is when people say you CAN"T use this or that knife to do this or that. That's simply not a true statement at all in most cases. If you've watched my channel enough, you've seen me baton Mora basic and Companions, in both basic and HD versions, as well as carve things with large knives like an SRK. To prove my pint about thicker blades and scandi grinds can be just as slicy as thinner stock and other grinds I sliced up a grape and a cherry tomato using a Joker Ember. The Ember not only has a scandi grind, and is a pretty thick .15". I did not do this to be an ass hat, I did this to disprove the argument of thick blades with certain grinds can't do food prep. To prove it CAN in fact be done, but some choose not too, or won't, or they can't. I can't make magical fart gnomes appear, but I can use my knifes. I also wonder what food people make in camp where they have to or want to carve an onion or tomato paper thin. I mean, it's camp food, it's supposed to be hearty. 

I also feel you should by the knife you want, like, and can afford. If you happen to like a tactical looking knife and want to use it as a camp knife, do so and don't let anyone tell you not too. Many people like the ESEE 4 in it's base configuration for a camp/bushcraft knife. The ESEE 4 in that form is designed as a tactical knife. Many others really like the Becker BK16, which is also a tactical knife. If you want that walnut handled drop point with the nice leather sheath then buy that. Buy what you want and learn to use it. It doesn't matter if it's a popular knife among the cool kids or not.

I'm going to illustrate below how 4 knives of very different specs can accomplish the same task. Two of those knives are are not technically camp or bushcraft knifes and one is even classified as a crowbar with an edge by many. I'm using the feather stick as my comparative test task. A feather stick will show how fine of a task a knife can do as it takes the skill of control, which is a key fundamental for finer knife tasks like carving or food prep. I'm not using a soft wood for this demonstration either. It's hard maple. If the knife can make fine curls then it can slice a tomato just fine.

Top To Bottom: BPS B1, Cold Steel SRK, Joker Campero, Becker BK2.

First Up is the BPS B1. It has a Scandinavian grind, and the blade is .1" . This is a pretty basic and popular over all profile for a camp/bushcraft knife.

Next we have the Joker Campero. This one is a full flat grind with a blade thickness of .13". This is another classic camp/bushcraft profile.

Next is the Cold Steel SRK. One of my favorite camp knives. The blade is .2" thick and has a hollow grind (the argument of hollow vs flat rages on, and that's not for this discussion). This also some in a compact version now, so you get the solid quality of the SRK is a smaller package over all.

Lastly we have the beast Becker BK2. Commonly referred to as a crowbar. This one's a beefy /25 (1/4"!) thick and has a full flat grind.

As you can see I progressively got thicker with the blades. But the curls made with each knife didn't vary much at all. IF at all. This is because I paid attention to my knife angle, taking blade thickness out of the equation. It's clear that it was not the knife, but my use of the knife that was the key. Not the way the knife looked, the grind, whether it was a tactical/survival looking knife or a classic looking bushcraft knife, but the skill I have taught myself.

In closing:

It's not the knife.........................

Cordage Tip

 I just wanted to share the little tip/trick for stowing cordage. Probably more to the point, how to stow a ridgeline with a couple loops for prusik knots.

Many people just stow cordage in a pouch bag inside our packs or shelter kits. Generally in hanks of varying sizes like this. Possibly a carabiner or two. I also use d-clamps.

In the image above the longer hank is the ridgeline, with the two loose pieces for use as prusik knots or other tie on loops. All this in a small pouch is nice and neat, but I have to either sift through the pouch or dump it out to get my ridgeline and strands to tie out a loop or two. An easier way is to tie the strands into loops, and then you can attach them to the ridgeline along with the carabiners like in the picture below.

Now, when I want to get my ridgeline out to set up it's all lashed together so I'm not digging around or dumping.

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Maybe you don't use or want to use the the carabiners?

I'd still pre-tie my loops. Then I'd simply lay them on the ridgeline before I wrapped/lashed it.

The nice thing about using the method above is it's no frills and won't catch on anything else in the pouch or pack. There's also another plus to this: You can color code things. Example, the general rule of thumb for a ridgeline is 25 feet in length. The one above is only 23', so by having those green loops I can easily tell visually which ridgeline that is. You can also still loop a carabiner into the loops here as well if you chose too.

Kayak Voyage 2

 Loaded the kayak back up and went back over to the lake this morning. It was a lot warmer already and a good bit more breeze. I had time to really do some paddling and even got some fishing in. Also found a temporary way of filming, I slid my mini tripod into the straps on my life vest. It word pretty well, but I think I want to find a better way.

I pushed off and just tooled around for about an hour. Taking notice on how the kayak reacted to certain things. It's more stable than the canoe just padding around. Or at least it feels that way to me. Fishing was different as I was used to sitting on the floor of my canoe so I had to keep my arms lifted a little to sack and reel in. In the kayak I had a little more freedom, like if I were able to sit on the seats in my canoe.

I was using a lightweight bait caster rig. I forgot I had put new line on that rig recently, and went with a lower weight. I had not made adjustments to the brake for the new set up. On my first cast I caught a birds nest. While I was fixing that I had drifted around so that when I was able to reel the line in I was in in a position where the lure camo up and hooked the cord on the front handle. So, while I didn't catch any fish, I did catch my own kayak.

When it started to get a little over populated I called it a day and packed up.

So right now, I like the kayak. It's a different feel and ride than the canoe, but not in a bad way. At this point I'll keep both and sue them for different reasons.

Maiden Kayak Voyage

 The last trip I posted was a canoe trip, and mentioned that I was trying to see if I could find a way to sit on the actual seats without tipping. Back to the floor it was, and I'm fine with that.

We had been thinking of a kayak for stability, more in while trying to fish then just out paddling. We came across a sale that had a Quest Teton 100 at 40% off for a 4th of July sale. That was too good a deal to pass up, and with 10 days to return it if I wasn't satisfied, it just sealed the deal.

This morning I loaded it up, and we went over to the lake. The trip was cut short due to my dog being a pain and a lot of other people were piling in. I did get about 30 on water minutes to get a test run tough. I like it. It feels a little more stable than my old canoe while just paddling around, and I moved around to simulate the movements I'd make if fishing, and it was fine as well. I did feel as though it took a little more effort to actually get it going and keep it moving compared to the canoe, but turning seemed the same.

It's going to be difficult to set my phone for recording, I did have a little problem on that task. I tried to use the small dry well without good results, and setting it on the bottom worked, but it wasn't very stable or steady. I'll figure out something to rig up for that.

I don't think the kayak will be great for camping trips where I'd have to paddle in though. I might be able to use it for a weekend where I could get away with very minimal gear, but I feel the canoe will be better suited for those types of trips then this particular kayak.

 

Anyway, so that's it, really. As I said, the trip was cut short, so I didn't get a lot of pictures or video.