Try Stick

 The following pictures are a couple of years old, they are from a challenge I was involved in at that time. This is pretty much a text book example of a try stick. It covers the main notches one may have to carve for use in bushcraft camping.

A Wire Saw & Some Pine Tea

 I wanted to show how those budget wire saws can do, and I figured I might as well make a hot beverage while I was out in the cold. Packed up a haversack and hit the trail They had plowed a couple of other areas so there's a nice change of scenery.

Below is the pitch pine needles. Notice the group of three.

Eastern white pine. 5 needle groups.

A couple of ways to know if pine needles are edible are by how soft they are. If they are somewhat soft and flexible it's usually safe. Also, if you rub them so the oils come out they should smell just a bit resinous with a hint of citrus. But again, I still suggest the book on foraging.

I want to mention that in the following video I accidentally call the pitch pine ponderosa pine a few times. 

No, Sir, I Am Not A Survivalist

 It's not secret I'm not a survivalists. At least, not in the sense of that term that most think of or practice to be. In all honesty, the word/phrase has started to bug me when I hear it attached to bushcraft. Which for the record, I'm not the biggest fan of that word/phrase either, but it does fit the skills I practice and use. Anyway, back to survivalism. This is what Wiki defines survivalism as:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism

Which is spot on to everyone I know who practices it defines it as. That, does not fit me or why I practice the skills of bushcraft.

If you look up bushcraft, Wiki has this to say:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushcraft

I like that they add Woodcraft into the definition as that's what most of us are actually practicing.

As one can see, while they are similar, they are not the same thing. A survivalist needs to have some bushcraft skills, but a bushcrafter does not need to be a survivalist. Some might argue that being prepared for a natural disaster is both. But, that's incorrect. Bushcraft is practiced in the woods. It's about being able to go off into the woods and know how to build stuff. Not sit around your house counting rounds of ammo or dusting the bunker in your basement. Yes, many woods roamers should have the skills to get by should they get lost or maybe hurt, so they should be prepared for that type of situation. So in a slight way, you could say your learning survivalism. But, that's also sort of like saying you need art class to survive life after school.

So, the reality is, whether some want to admit it or not, bushcraft and survivalism are not the same thing.

But, as I mentioned, a bushcrafter is prepared to get by in the woods for a short time (or long term) while waiting for help. Perhaps a sort of little kit to aid in this? Hmm.... I am going to call this kit my emergency kit, not my survival it. So the question is asked a ton, what do I need in this kit? Well, the real answer is only you can answer that. That's not a stand by response, that's a fact. I have talked about this so much I sometimes feel like a smurf. A perfect example of what I mean is this: What you put in your kit to be prepared for a night or two lost in the Arizona desert in Winter won't come close to working here in NY in Winter. What someone in MI would need in Summer won't be the same as what someone in GA would need. So, you see, only you know your environment, and more important, your needs. An example of a need, is a knife. Are you proficient using a folding knife for hard tasks, or are you more skilled using a fixed blade knife? Are you able to make cordage from natural resources or would you be better off carrying it? Do you know what plants are edible? Only you know the answer to those three questions.

Are there some base universal items? You bet. Here's what your EMERGENCY KIT should contain at it's base.

●A first aid kit. If you live in venomous snake country a good snake bite kit should be part of that.

●A compass.

●A knife. I suggest a fixed blade. Everyone likes high carbon steels, but here's some food for thought: A stainless blade can be used in a pinch as a signal mirror. Coated blades or knives or high carbon knives with a lot of patina won't work. But, a shiny stainless blade will reflect light the same as a mirror. So, you can eliminate a mirror by carrying stainless.

●A fire kit with at least three ways to make fire. Carry what you know you can use.

●Cordage. At least 50 feet, and strong enough to lash a shelter frame or make a pack frame.

●Some sort of metal container. A single wall stainless bottle is a good option as it can be used in a fire to boil water and as a drinking vessel.

●Water Purification system. A straw, tablets, either or, or both.

●A light.

●A little pouch with some coffee, tea, and couple bouillons is a great idea.

This is a barebones list of items you should have. If you watched my video on the belt kit, that's a great starting point and you can add or remove items that you would need or not need.

If you watched the last video, on what was in the Advent Survival Calendar, I go through what was in that and discuss why some it if was useless and how to make parts of it sort of useable.

I covered a little more than my original topic here, but feel I'm passing along good information to the readers. Knowledge I have learned through trial and error. I also repeat a lot of this information, and too often it seems.

I also want to add, a ferro rod is not a fire steel! A fire steel is sued to smack a rock to create a small spark. A ferro rod is scraped with a sharp edge to throw molten metal into a tinder bundle.

So, you see?

No Sir, I am not a survivalist.

Belt Kit Outing

 

Happy New Year

 

Another Snow Shoe Trek

 

Out for another snowshoe trek. Some light survival kit musings.

MRE For Breakfast

 Embracing the suck I packed up and headed out with a real feel of 4*. My plan? To heat up and eat an MRE and make some coffee. The MRE heater didn't really work out this time, so I ate a cold beef and bean taco with rice and corn MRE. Surprisingly, this ne actually had some coffee in it. But as my wife reminded me, I cannot have caffeine, so I guess it was a good thing when I went out with the first one there wasn't any coffee.

Fingers are still a tiny bit frostbit, but not bad. hard to wear cloves to eat and make stuff to eat and drink.

Snowshoe Hike

 

Annual Virtual Bushcraft Meet

 I thought I'd mentioned this here, and I know I've discussed it in a few videos, but it's worth updating.

For 6 years I hosted an annual virtual meetup for camping and bushcraft. It was called Night Of 1,000 Blades. Due to a few factors, I made the decision that it was time to make changes to this event and host it through my forum starting in 2026.

The object of this event was/is for people to go out in their chosen area and camp for at least one night. I had also deemed that you can even camp in your yard, but you must camp for a night. Then share your trip report with everyone in an report thread. It was started to be a motivational event, but I did add a few requirements to the gathering for the past two years. It's designed to more or less be a bushcraft event, so three bushcraft related tasks should be done. It's pretty easy, your camping and part of camping is making a fire, and cooking a meal over that fire. Twig stoves are allowed for those who might be under a fire ban or not have an actual fire pit in their yard. So that's two of the tasks down by simply going camping. The third was participants choice, go as easy as you like or as difficult as you like. Each year the attendance grew less and less, so I decided that the Fall 2025 gathering would be the last NOATB. I had even swapped it one year from Fall to Spring because people said Fall was not acceptable, and that did not go any better or have any more participants. I had also been asked one year to set up a Google map and did so, but no one bothered to sue it. So I feel it was just time to move on. I feel strongly that 6 years was plenty of time for it to run. 

So for 2026 it got rebranded and is now called Night Of Smoke And Blades (NOSAS). It will also be hosted through Firepit Outdoors exclusively. The forum is free to join, all we ask is you follow the rules. Everything is the same. The date will be selected of early to mid September, after the bugs have dissipated a great deal from most areas and temps for most areas have come down and are more tolerable. One must still actually camp out for at least one night on the selected dates, and may still do so in their yard as long as they actually sleep out of doors. The three tasks will remain as well. Make a fire, cook a meal over a fire, and a third of their choosing.

This is a great way to have a virtual gathering and for participants to see what others cook, do in camp, and what other areas look like. Hopefully those who participated in past years will continue to do so from the different base camp. Maybe we will even get some new participants.

Axe Edges

 If you ask how to sharpen an axe or how sharp an axe should be on the internet, you're going to get a lot of varied replies or information. I'm going to add to the confusion, as well state a few things that will make a collector cringe.

You can sharpen a wall hanger any way you like. Make it hairsplitting sharp and use it to shave.

You should not make a user axe or hatchet shaving sharp! Yes, I just said that! The sharper and thinner the edge of an axe is, the easier and more prone it will be to chipping or possibly rolling. An axe should be sharp enough to cut paper, and that's all that's needed. It merely needs to be able to chop and cut through wood fibers. It does not need to help with manscaping.

Some people like to reshape the axe head. There's nothing wrong with that, but a user axe should be sort of wide at and behind the cheek. The theory to thinning the cheek is for felling and making the edge slice/cut into the wood better. To make chopping easier. But a thin axe head isn't always the best for splitting. A wider cheek and butt make it much easier to split wood. A wider cheek will cause the wood to septate (split) easier. Look at a splitting maul and you'll see exactly what I mean. So it's sort of a catch 22? No. Not really. I'll explain:

When we head off into the woods to camp, the odds of felling a tree are slim. Very slim. In fact, most states do not allow us to fell even dead standing trees on public land. So in reality, felling can be removed from the equation. This leaves us with possibly needing to buck and split laying and downed trees. Bucking is more or less the same as felling. You want to chop the log into reasonable size lengths to be able to split. But now you open a new conundrum- it's difficult to split small pieces of wood that do not have flat ends. The best way to fix this is to use a saw to buck and an axe for felling and splitting. But, we're not talking about saws here, are we?...

So what's the best options? Loaded question. No right or wrong answer, but I will suggest using something with a sort of thin bit, while the cheek widens a bit to force easier splitting. Something like a convex angle to the cheek with a fair amount of depth to the cheek area. Sharpened enough to cut a sheet of paper. This will offer a decent edge for both bucking and splitting.

Just my personal point of view from almost 5 decades of camping and using axes. Feel free to join the discussion over on the Firepit Outdoors Forum.

Some Light Snow

 

Fall Cabin Trip 2025

 We left last Monday for our Fall cabin trip. The weather forecast wasn't looking to good and it was pretty correct. We had more rain than we had dry weather. We just went with the flow and made the best of things. I did have to miss one day of hunting and the rain made me bail a couple hours early the next morning.

I usually do a bunch of bushcraft practice, but this year I just wasn't feeling it. I did get the wood stove going with a ferro rod one night and flint and steel another, and of course hunting is bushcraft, but that was it really.

We did some touring in the car over to Long Lake, Raquette Lake, and found out one area was sold and the new owners have blocked access on their land to one of the more popular state owned mountains in the area we go to. What can ya do? Things change I guess....

The only deer seen was a very small doe on my way to my hunting area one morning. 4 days of the early ML season and the regular season opener for the NZ.

That's really about it. Not a lot going on this year for that trip.

Last First

 I put the video for the last day of the archery season and the opener for the muzzleloader season together. So far it's not been a horrible season, having seen deer on 3 of the five hunts I've been able to get in.

Yesterday was part of the game on public land.

When I got to my chosen spot there were already two vehicles there. One smaller SUV and a pickup. The owner of the SUV was already gone (so to speak- see later), and the two guys in the truck were just finishing up getting ready. They asked where I was going to be (I wish everyone on public land did this), I told them and they said they were going to be in the second field. Which was fine as it did leave me a good area to watch.

They headed in and I threw my pack on and locked my own SUV and started in. I noticed a light coming back from the first field and figured one of the other guys forgot something. Nope. Upon my getting on the trail I was greeted by two dogs wearing orange vests with a third back with the owner. The light I saw was a pheasant hunter who was now leaving, in the dark. My best guess is he decided to give up the area to the deer hunters. At least I'm guessing for the benefit of the doubt here that's how it went. No night hunting allowed in any of the areas near home so....

I got to my blind and set up. After about 40 minutes I saw a doe trotting from the woodlot to the field and was out of my safe zone in less then a few seconds. She slowed and stopped for a second between me and the other field the other two guys here hunting. I didn't even get time to think about grabbing my ML/ I managed to get a little clip of her on video, but with the low light it's a little hard to see her.

So my morning consisted of seeing a good doe but not having a shot and hearing turkeys where I never heard a peep from a turkey all last May when I was hunting them.

Deer Hunt 2

 

First Deer Hunt Of 2025

 The archery opener was last Saturday, but I had stuff going on all weekend and most of yesterday. But I was finally able to get out this morning. It felt good to be back in the deer blind. Plenty of acorns were dropping in the woods so things should get interesting pretty soon. Providing those woods don't get over run with pressure. It seemed very strange to be using a crossbow instead of my compound bow. You get used to something for so long it can feel off to do something different.

I didn't see any deer on this hunt. I might head back out tomorrow or Thursday if I'm feeling up to it.

Some Light Hunting & A Discussion

 We set out this morning to go over to the camp because I wanted to do some light bear hunting, try and locate a coyote den, and state why going forward my annual virtual gathering as well as all ABB outings will be set up through my forum now. So te end chat for this one is very dry and direct.

So upon arriving in the area we got a call from my buddy he had to help his father with a goat. Due to some bad cell coverage we thought he had said they also needed our help so we said we'd meet at the goat pens. Once there there was no one else around so I did manage to get ahold of my buddy who then explained that there was a mix up due to the call breaking up, but since we were there the extra hands would be appreciated. Turns out his father had suffered a nasty gore cut by one of the goats horns. So we got things handled. His dad drove himself to the ER even though we all tried getting him to let us take him. So off to the camp we headed.

Upon getting back in we talked for a while and then my buddy and I set out to look for the den and see if there was any fresh bear sign around. We did a big zig zag and passed by two of my hunting blinds but did not find what we were in search of. Back at the camp we opted to pass on making fire due to it being 81* in the Adirondacks in late September. I made the closing clip for my video then we talked about deer hunting, reworking the firepit at the camp, and the upcoming cabin trip.

From there we headed back out loaded things back into my SUV and went to see how my buddy's father was.

As a side note, I won't be discussing guns much on this blog, but those Thordsens are a huge step up from the spur if you live in here in NY. The best option by far if you want to go featureless. The 10/30 Hexmags aren't horrible for the price either. 

While at the camp we saw a few of these caterpillars.

They are Hickory Tussack. We looked them up when we got home and while they are very cool looking they secrete a slightly toxic fluid from the hairs that causes a rash. Pretty interesting little critters if you ever feel like looking them up.

Walking The Long Bow

 I felt like stretching my legs a little this morning, so I grabbed the long bow and headed out for some squirrel hunting and then stopped to get my TRC picture.

 

First Official Gathering of the Adirondack Bushcraft Brothers™

 

Tracker Action

 I had to rebuild a brush blind this morning. I still may need to do a little work to blend it a little more on the side but for now it's very useable. My Boker Plus full size tracker and an SAK Ranger Grip 79 were my tools of choice. Good combo for some light chopping and sawing.

Stuff

There are thousands of forums, sites, blogs, schools, books, videos, blah blah blah, that talk about the gear for bushcraft. So I'm taking my turn. But-

I'm going to talk about the most important ones here and that's it. I'm going by store bought gear for this, so if you're looking for a lesson on how to poop a rabbits foot out of your butt, make cordage from armpit hair, or make fire by rubbing your ears together you're in the wrong place.

Things that everyone should have in a backpack or with them when heading off into the woods. This is a minimal list with some options.

First aid kit. At minimum a small boo boo kit with some band aids and bandages. If you live in venomous snake country make sure the kit has a snake bite kit in it. It boggles my mind at how many "lists" don't mention a FAK.

Compass (and a map if possible).

A lighter, matches, or a ferro rod with a scraper. I suggest all three but.....

A good knife.

A water bottle.

Cordage. Something strong enough to make a shelter.

A loud whistle.

A flashlight.

Water purification tabs.

A bag or pack.

This is a very solid foundation. This list can be added too or made smaller, and should be built to fit your personal area.

FAK:

Make this as elaborate or sparse as you wish. But some key items are of course any medications you take like heart pills etc., bandages in different sizes, some alcohol prep pads (work as fire starters too), some ointment for burns or miner cuts, medicines like aspirin and little duct tape to make a splint in an emergency. Chest sealers and a TQ are also a good idea. Toss in a whistle as well and maybe even a plastic mirror.

Get a book of first aid and study it.

COMPASS:

This is a tool everyone should have with them heading into the woods. Especially when going into unknown lands. I also suggest a map of the area you plan to be in. Maps are as easy as saving a page from the web and printing it these days and this method is more or less free, I mean, you pay for that internet so why not get a little something back besides hanging out on my awesome blog and fantastic forum. I would/will never rely solely on electronics for all navigation, invest in a decent compass.

Go someplace very familiar and practice with the compass. Start by learning navigation from one land mark to the next, and the next, and the nest, and so on. Having that map you printed will come in handy as the top of the page will be north, so you can use the map and compass to navigate without having to dive into the world of aeronautics to navigate.

FIRE:

There is no skill more important than being able to make a fire. It will dry your clothes and your person, warm you, make water potable, cook your food, be used to signal for help, keep animals away, and most important it can comfort your mind. A good fire kit should have at least a lighter, some stormproof matches, and a ferro rod with a scraper. I would also suggest learning to use flint and steel and a magnifying glass (if you're AO will allow this method). Friction fire with a bow drill is a good skill to know, but would be the last thing I'd suggest if I were teaching someone due to the fickle aspect of proper materials and conditions. If you're hurt or need a fire ASAP it's just not worth the success to failure ratio. If you have a small kit with the lighter, matches, and a ferro rod with a scraper you're going to be fine. I suggest a dedicated scraper to use with a ferro rod as not all knives have sharp spines for scraping, and not everyone wants to properly sharpen the spine of a knife.

I also keep some tinder with me. At minimum a few dry cotton balls. A small piece of fatwood is a great option and you can order it online.

Practice with twig fires and tinders. I say this because in the woods you're going to have and use small twigs to get fire going most often. Next would be split wood and using shavings. Practice with both but the twig fire should be prominent.

KNIFE:

I would have two. I strongly suggest a good fixed blade belt knife on your person and a folding knife in your pack. The style of knives is a personal choice. I would recommend if your choice of folding knife is a Swiss Army Knife, get one with a small saw on it. The same goes if you prefer an actual multi-tool. Other than that I only say carry both the fixed blade belt knife and the secondary folding knife.

Learn to use your knives. Even to do dreaded batoning. If you use you knife to split some smaller wood you may be able to get to a dry middle if the wood is damp. You don't have to split down giant logs here, but being able to split smaller diameter sticks into kindling should be something you want in your wheel house. Also learn to use the knife for carving, which you can practice my making try sticks and shavings. Both teach control and are skills worth honing. Of course your going to use those knives for food prep too.

Make sure you can at least sharpen your knife as well. Often in the field if you have a leather belt you can use that to strop the knife back to plenty sharp enough for camp tasks. Or you can carry a pocket sharpener which makes life easier.

WATER BOTTLE:

This is another one of those personal choices, at least as far as material goes. But if going metal, go with a single wall and not an insulated bottle. I say this because a single wall stainless steel water bottle can be set in or near the fire to boil water without damage to the bottle or harm to yourself. You can make a double wall insulated bottle a little safer to use in and around fire by making a small hole in the outer shell. The hole removes the pressure between the walls so it won't warp or crack as easily.

Plastic is also very acceptable (not in fire of course!!). Just use some purification tablets if the need arises.

CORD/ROPE:

This is mainly for tying out shelters, making a ridgeline, replacing a shoe lace, making a cooking tripod and that sort of thing. So basic 550 paracord is fine, and even the stuff from big box stores will do. I would keep a hank of 50 feet, one of 25 feet, and a few small hanks of spare cordage on hand.

I would go over and have a look at the knot section here. You don't need to know a ton of knots, but the few I suggest will do fine around camp.

I do carry some heavier weight rope when camping too. Often it was simple cotton clothesline rope. Not only can you use it as rope it's also a good tinder.

FLASHLIGHT:

I always have a flashlight on me. even on a daily basis most of the time. Seeing with a little light is much better then trying to see on the dark, and a little safer to boot. Once again this is a personal preference. But I really suggest going with battery operated over rechargeable. I can always be sure to have some spare batteries on hand while in the woods more so then making sure I have something to charge a light. A lot of folks like headlamps, which I prefer for hunting, but in camp I like a hand held flashlight of at least 100 lumens.

WATER PURIFICATION:

I keep some water purification tablets in a few of my first aid kits and take them when I feel they will be needed. Boiling from a moving stream or creek is usually safe enough, but not so much from standing water like lakes or ponds. To be safe I not only boil the water from the latter but also use the tablets. It truly sucks to put bad water into your system. Consuming bad water is about as much fun as hitting your thumb with the claw side of a roofing hammer.

________________________________________________________________

This by far not meant as a complete list. It's simply the foundation, as I stated above. A small stove of some sort with a little fuel, cooking and eating implements, spare clothing...... There's plenty to be added as you see fit. I generally have everything but a sink so.........