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.

Knife Sharpening

 Okay, first things first here, this is not rocket science, but it does take practice and some finesse. Especially using stones and a strop the old fashioned way. I also want to add buying a Lansky kit can save a lot of time because they come with jigs for proper angles. I do not have one at this time so I am not going to discuss them beyond this point in this post. I am going to explain the way to sharpen using a double sided wet/dry stone. I prefer those because I can use them on the fly without trying to screw around with water. On the chance I need to sharpen in camp I use my leg as a support and water simply does not work in this situation. But I prefer my little travel sharpener nowadays. And finally, I want to add, the average camper won't need to sharpen their knife often. They aren't using the knife for hard use.

So you have a knife, and that knife will at some point need to be sharpened. Lets take a look at some knives.

As you can see from the above image knives come in different shapes and edge grinds. Above are a Scandinavian grind (top), a full flat grind (middle) and a full convex (bottom). Do each of these need to be sharpened a different way? Yes. Yet once you grasp how to sharpen the answer will be not really. Let me explain a little further.

Sharpeners come in a lot of varieties as well. In the image below we have to more common variations from a couple leather strops I made from old belts, to some strops made by friends using sand paper and compound, and sharpeners ranging from basic pocket stones (stone and diamond) to two sided stones, two sided diamond stones, round diamond rods, ceramic flat stone, and my favorite a travel sharpener with coarse and fine ceramic rods. It doesn't really matter which you prefer as they all have the same goal. But for this exercise I'm using a two sided wet/dry stone and a strop and then my travel sharpener.

The first thing you need to do us lay the blade flat against the rough side of the stone.

Now you want to pivot or tip the blade to find the proper angle for the edge. This takes some time to learn but you can feel the difference where the blade angle goes into edge angle.

Once you have that you slide the knife forward trying to hold the angle. Going first forward then in reverse as in the GIF's below.

Do this for both sides of the knife until you feel the edge is sharp enough for you. Then flip the stone and repeat on the fine side. This is another personal preference. Some want to shave the hair off a hair while others just want the knife sharp enough to cut some food and maybe whittle a little bit.

I like to run my knives on a strop after using a stone like this. For stropping you simply set the knife on the strop, find your angle and run the edge along the strop from spine to edge.

I like to use the little plastic travel sharpener more and more these days. All you need to do is set the sharpener on a stable surface, set the knife in the slot so it's centered and draw the knife back.

After pictures:

The other thing I really like with the little travel sharpener is how fast and easily it sharpens my trackers. I just set the knife in and draw it back to the quarter round and pivot the knife up then into the chopping area by pivoting it down.

Using the stone and strop method takes practice, patience, and time to learn. But at the end of the day once you start to develop the feel for your edges it won't matter if it's a scandi, flat, convex, or any other edge geometry.

I suggest getting one of the double mini ceramic rod style sharpeners. Especially for beginners. It will sharpen your blades up very effectively and efficiently. The ones I have even make quick work of harder steels like D2.

So that's it. No fuss, no frills.

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. 

 

 

No Fuss Or Frills Ridgeline

 I packed up a bottle bag kit and headed off into the woods to show how to make an easy, no fuss or frills ridgeline. Three simple knots and when you're done a quick pull and the knots are all gone so packing back up your cordage is easy as well.

Step One:

Get out the cordage of your choice. I'm using basic 550 cord, but any cordage will work. I'd shy away from bankline though.

Step Two:

Loop the cordage around the tree, and with the working end, create a loop being sure that the working end loops over itself as in the 2nd picture.

Step Three:

Take your loop and press it over the non-working end. Make sure it's on top, as in the picture below, not under.

Step Four:

Take the working end and make a loop, then slide the loop under and through the first loop you make. See picture below.

Cinch it down like in the picture below.

Step Five:

Pull the knot tight around the tree.

The Other Tree.

Step Six:

Loop the cordage around the tree like in the picture below.

Step Seven:

With the non-working end (the end from the first tree) go back about 2 feet and make a loop.

Step Eight:

With two fingers reach through the loop you just made and pull the cord through making a slipknot loop.

Step Nine:

Now loop the working end through this loop and pull it tight. Using two fingers to hold it in place.

Step Ten:

Make a loop as pictured here. The snug it tight up against your fingers.

It should look like this now.

That's' it. You made a super easy but very tight ridgeline.

You can make another loop like the last as addition to further secure things.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but once you have practiced this takes less then three minutes to complete, as you can see from the video below.