Its that time of year again, there are still spot available to register, so if you've been thinking about going to a primitive skills gathering, or you've attended MAPS in the past, sign up!!
www.mapsgroup.org
http://www.ancestralknowledge.org/maps_meet.html
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
MAPS Group Overhaul
For those familiar with the Mid-Atlantic primitive skills scene, you may have heard of a group called MAPS. It recently went on a little hiatus of sorts, and largely disappeared except for a yearly gathering that bears its name (MAPS Meet). Through the diligent work of Rick Hueston of Earth Connections School, it has been brought back to the fore front of the primitive skills community in the Mid Atlantic region with the complete overhaul of its website (which lay stagnant for a few years, and was in serious need of change). It now features far more content that is updated regularly, lists of events, and even features a Facebook-like networking feature.
So if you've attended MAPS Meet, or are interested in primitive skills and are in the Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia area, please join!
http://www.mapsgroup.org
So if you've attended MAPS Meet, or are interested in primitive skills and are in the Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia area, please join!
http://www.mapsgroup.org
Friday, January 30, 2009
Australian Military Issue FRED
While cleaning up around my apartment I came across a little device I was given when I was about 8 years old by my dad's friend. It's a thin, about 3 1/2 inch long piece of metal with a small blade attached. It's been floating around for a number of years, and I figured it was a rather gimmicky military can opener with little to no practical application. I decided to research it and find out if it was valuable or what it was exactly.
The only marking on it are a rather lengthy serial number and the year 1985, along with a faded British Board of Ordinance marking (looks like an arrow, it's present on almost all British made military equipment).
Through some quick Google research, I found it to be an Australian version of the P-38 and P-51 can openers. The P-38 and later model P-51 can openers were issued in mess kits in the 40's, and were apparently supposed to be disposable, however the soldiers were keeping them so they made their way into standard issue. The Australian military seems to have capitalized on the concept by improving the design by adding a can opener, and spoon-like depression to the end.
It's very light weight, sturdy and durable, and has a hole so it can be attached to a key ring, making this my new favorite survival tool. I also read they have been used as screw drivers, box openers, and one source even reported them being used by women in the 50's and 60's as weapons against rapists and muggers.
The US versions are no longer issued, but the Australian versions are still in use and are still available from some Australian surplus shops.
*UPDATE*: As of 2005, the Australian Military have determined the F.R.E.D. to be redundant and have removed them from standard issue. Since writing this article I have found them to be rather difficult to get a hold of, though they are available through military contractors by using the NATO Stock Number (NSN) on the back of the F.R.E.D. (7330-66-010-0931)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Beginners Guide to Wilderness Survival and Primitive Skills Part 1
The realm of the skills used by our ancestors, and survival in general can, to some, seem like a daunting and overwhelming place, fraught with hardship and discouraging moments which all too often lead to a "this just isn't my thing" mentality. On a regular basis when I mention the skills i practice and teach, I am greeted with the all too familiar retort: "I would die if i got lost in the woods."
This mental barrier of doubt gets in the way of learning new skills, the though that because it implies leaving your TV behind and cooking on a fire, it is somehow a difficult and painful way to get by, or live. The purpose of this, and others that will follow it are to give some guidelines and direction to those who are interested, but have no idea where to start when it comes to learning these skills.
First of all, locate a teacher or mentor if possible. When I began, I managed to get by for a short while by teaching myself to sew leather, knap small arrowheads, and generally spend lots of time in the woods making various odds and ends, but when it came to the desire to learn the hard skills like fire making, shelter building, finding water, or more advanced knapping skills, I realized I would need a teacher (or teachers) if I wanted to progress to a proficient level. My answer was MAPS Group at the time, where I attended many gatherings and learned many of the skills I know today. Other teachers seemed to find me, my friend Bill Ewing happened to have extensive bow drill knowledge, and had a very natural way of teaching me which woods to use and how to adjust the set to make it work.
Look up nearby tracking groups, anthropology departments at some universities teach knapping, or atleast have someone on staff who knows something of knapping. If you are on the east coast in the Mid Atlantic Area, there are several schools you can take classes from such as Ancestral Knowledge and Earth Connection. MAPS Group also has a list of people who can offer advice on certain skills.
Which skills should I learn first?
Good question. Perhaps a good way to decide is to put it into perspective. Eventualy you will hear of the Order of Survival. No, its not some mysterious cult dating back to a group of 15th century survival monks, the Order of Survival is the 4 things you need to live on a day to day basis, and in the long term, which are:
Shelter
Water
Fire
Food
This order is not set in stone however, since your situation will dictate which is more important, but this is more or less the order of importance of these 4 things.
That being said, I personally consider fire making one of the first things you should learn and become proficient with. It can be learned any where you are, there are a number of ways to go about it, and it covers a lot of your physical and mental needs. Being able to make fire can dramaticly increase your chances, so it is always a good thing to have a number of ways to do it on hand (and have some level of mastery of those ways).
I'm a big proponent of controlled chaos, putting yourself into less than desirable situation in order to take your skills (and your edge) to new levels. Its important to always push your limits, do not simply make a fire with a bow drill then put it away and decide you have mastered it, because you haven't (can you ever truly master anything?). Start adding in new factors, new obstacles, new challenges. Try it in the rain, in the snow, in a hail storm, break your arm and fine a way to make it work then. Well.. don't actually break your arm obviously, you can just tie it behind your back or something, but you get my point!
I'd like to share a story I often share with my students when teaching fire making.
Last Febuary on a particularly cold day, I was in the hilly woodlands of central Maryland. I was showing my girlfriend (at the time) around a patch of woods I had been going to for a number of years. THis particular patch of woods was a steep sided valley with a fairly deep, and at times wide creek running through it. It was cold enough that ice covered large patches. So, being the manly survival so-called "expert" that I was thinking I was, I decided it was a very good idea to show her how to cross ice without falling through. We found a patch of ice in a rather deep section of the creek and I laid down on my stomach and army crawled across the ice. No problem. Not so much as a crack. Once reaching the other side I coaxed ehr into doing the same, so she got on her stomach and started to crawl across the ice. About halfway across, she pushed down onto the ice to inch her way forward (instead of inch-worming your way across with arms out-stretched) and cracks immediately shot in every direction. Luckily she stopped moving and I was able to grab her hand and pull her across without the ice stressing any more.
We proceed down stream until we reached a series of rapids with deep pools, and we came upon a bridge crossing the creek from one side to the other, with open holes on either side. Once again my "man vs wild" mentality took over and I proceeded onto the ice bridge to show her how it could hold my weight, which it did, up until I started hitting the side of it with my boot. I remember looking back to her to say "wow it isn't breaking" or something to that effect, and that's when I heard a definite crack. I remember looking down in time to see the ice disappear beneath me and water come up to meet me. First thing I noticed was how fast the current was, it literally grabbed hold of my legs and tried to force me under a nearby sheet of ice. Another thing is that everything they say about trying to get out once you've fallen through ice is true. It's wet, cold, slippery, and tiring. I did manage to pull myself out however, at which point my clothes were completely soaked.
I don't remember feeling especialy cold, but I do remember rapidly decideing whether I was going to walk out of the woods, or stay put and make a fire. I settled on fire making, it was about 30 atleast in a snow filled valley.
The only fire making device I had on me was a bow drill, and a ball of tinder which had both gone into the creek with me when I fell through, so I immediatly handed it all to my girlfriend (who had done bow drill once or twice prior). After about a minute trying it became clear that she had not practiced since the last time she made a fire, and was not going to get a coal in time, so I had to take over and managed to get the fastest coal I think I've ever made (amazing what a little motivation can do). Within about 5 minutes of going into the water I had a fire going and my clothes drying by it. At first I felt slightly embarrassed, I had put myself in a position to get seriously hurt or killed, but I saw a different side of it. Using the skills I had practiced so much up until then, I had used them to better my situation, and perhaps save my life.
From that experience, I have come to appreciate the value of scenarios. Putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable or perhaps risky to push your edge and test yourself. Making a fire in your backyard on a nice day is vastly different from making it in heavy rain t 40 degrees in a t-shirt and a pair of Carhartts. So I encourage you, challenge yourself, be uncomfortable, learn to adapt.
This mental barrier of doubt gets in the way of learning new skills, the though that because it implies leaving your TV behind and cooking on a fire, it is somehow a difficult and painful way to get by, or live. The purpose of this, and others that will follow it are to give some guidelines and direction to those who are interested, but have no idea where to start when it comes to learning these skills.
First of all, locate a teacher or mentor if possible. When I began, I managed to get by for a short while by teaching myself to sew leather, knap small arrowheads, and generally spend lots of time in the woods making various odds and ends, but when it came to the desire to learn the hard skills like fire making, shelter building, finding water, or more advanced knapping skills, I realized I would need a teacher (or teachers) if I wanted to progress to a proficient level. My answer was MAPS Group at the time, where I attended many gatherings and learned many of the skills I know today. Other teachers seemed to find me, my friend Bill Ewing happened to have extensive bow drill knowledge, and had a very natural way of teaching me which woods to use and how to adjust the set to make it work.
Look up nearby tracking groups, anthropology departments at some universities teach knapping, or atleast have someone on staff who knows something of knapping. If you are on the east coast in the Mid Atlantic Area, there are several schools you can take classes from such as Ancestral Knowledge and Earth Connection. MAPS Group also has a list of people who can offer advice on certain skills.
Which skills should I learn first?
Good question. Perhaps a good way to decide is to put it into perspective. Eventualy you will hear of the Order of Survival. No, its not some mysterious cult dating back to a group of 15th century survival monks, the Order of Survival is the 4 things you need to live on a day to day basis, and in the long term, which are:
Shelter
Water
Fire
Food
This order is not set in stone however, since your situation will dictate which is more important, but this is more or less the order of importance of these 4 things.
That being said, I personally consider fire making one of the first things you should learn and become proficient with. It can be learned any where you are, there are a number of ways to go about it, and it covers a lot of your physical and mental needs. Being able to make fire can dramaticly increase your chances, so it is always a good thing to have a number of ways to do it on hand (and have some level of mastery of those ways).
I'm a big proponent of controlled chaos, putting yourself into less than desirable situation in order to take your skills (and your edge) to new levels. Its important to always push your limits, do not simply make a fire with a bow drill then put it away and decide you have mastered it, because you haven't (can you ever truly master anything?). Start adding in new factors, new obstacles, new challenges. Try it in the rain, in the snow, in a hail storm, break your arm and fine a way to make it work then. Well.. don't actually break your arm obviously, you can just tie it behind your back or something, but you get my point!
I'd like to share a story I often share with my students when teaching fire making.
Last Febuary on a particularly cold day, I was in the hilly woodlands of central Maryland. I was showing my girlfriend (at the time) around a patch of woods I had been going to for a number of years. THis particular patch of woods was a steep sided valley with a fairly deep, and at times wide creek running through it. It was cold enough that ice covered large patches. So, being the manly survival so-called "expert" that I was thinking I was, I decided it was a very good idea to show her how to cross ice without falling through. We found a patch of ice in a rather deep section of the creek and I laid down on my stomach and army crawled across the ice. No problem. Not so much as a crack. Once reaching the other side I coaxed ehr into doing the same, so she got on her stomach and started to crawl across the ice. About halfway across, she pushed down onto the ice to inch her way forward (instead of inch-worming your way across with arms out-stretched) and cracks immediately shot in every direction. Luckily she stopped moving and I was able to grab her hand and pull her across without the ice stressing any more.
We proceed down stream until we reached a series of rapids with deep pools, and we came upon a bridge crossing the creek from one side to the other, with open holes on either side. Once again my "man vs wild" mentality took over and I proceeded onto the ice bridge to show her how it could hold my weight, which it did, up until I started hitting the side of it with my boot. I remember looking back to her to say "wow it isn't breaking" or something to that effect, and that's when I heard a definite crack. I remember looking down in time to see the ice disappear beneath me and water come up to meet me. First thing I noticed was how fast the current was, it literally grabbed hold of my legs and tried to force me under a nearby sheet of ice. Another thing is that everything they say about trying to get out once you've fallen through ice is true. It's wet, cold, slippery, and tiring. I did manage to pull myself out however, at which point my clothes were completely soaked.
I don't remember feeling especialy cold, but I do remember rapidly decideing whether I was going to walk out of the woods, or stay put and make a fire. I settled on fire making, it was about 30 atleast in a snow filled valley.
The only fire making device I had on me was a bow drill, and a ball of tinder which had both gone into the creek with me when I fell through, so I immediatly handed it all to my girlfriend (who had done bow drill once or twice prior). After about a minute trying it became clear that she had not practiced since the last time she made a fire, and was not going to get a coal in time, so I had to take over and managed to get the fastest coal I think I've ever made (amazing what a little motivation can do). Within about 5 minutes of going into the water I had a fire going and my clothes drying by it. At first I felt slightly embarrassed, I had put myself in a position to get seriously hurt or killed, but I saw a different side of it. Using the skills I had practiced so much up until then, I had used them to better my situation, and perhaps save my life.
From that experience, I have come to appreciate the value of scenarios. Putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable or perhaps risky to push your edge and test yourself. Making a fire in your backyard on a nice day is vastly different from making it in heavy rain t 40 degrees in a t-shirt and a pair of Carhartts. So I encourage you, challenge yourself, be uncomfortable, learn to adapt.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Wander
Yesterday I went on a wander around the surrounding woods. It was a relatively warm day and I found many interesting things as well as seeing a deer with spots, Red Ear Slider, hawk (unsure what species), Red fox, squirrels, Great Blue Heron, rabbit, and several interesting plants including nightshade and Wild Comfrey. Here are some pictures I'd like to share from my wander.
This caught my eye the moment I saw it. It was on a slight hill on the edge of a large area of dirt in a construction site. I took the picture then decided to find out what whatever animal that made it was trying to bury. I found a strip of raw animal hide about 4 inchs wide and 6 inchs long. Almost looked to be untanned deer hide, no chew marks visible. My guess is its the work of a fox hiding its meal to allow it to break down a bit before eating it.
Squirrel tracks in mud.
I found this Red Ear Slider in a creek. He dove in from the bank where he was hiding under some grass. He wasn't too bitey which is how most of these water turtles can be.
Letting the turtle go
I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms these are but they were all over this small part of the creek. I was struck by how many there were and how much they contrasted with the leaf-litter and roofs.
Nightshade (Silverleaf?). It was all over a field behind the library. It has very distinct fruits (seen here in yellow) which look like little watermelons when they're younger.
This caught my eye the moment I saw it. It was on a slight hill on the edge of a large area of dirt in a construction site. I took the picture then decided to find out what whatever animal that made it was trying to bury. I found a strip of raw animal hide about 4 inchs wide and 6 inchs long. Almost looked to be untanned deer hide, no chew marks visible. My guess is its the work of a fox hiding its meal to allow it to break down a bit before eating it.
Squirrel tracks in mud.
I found this Red Ear Slider in a creek. He dove in from the bank where he was hiding under some grass. He wasn't too bitey which is how most of these water turtles can be.
Letting the turtle go
I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms these are but they were all over this small part of the creek. I was struck by how many there were and how much they contrasted with the leaf-litter and roofs.
Nightshade (Silverleaf?). It was all over a field behind the library. It has very distinct fruits (seen here in yellow) which look like little watermelons when they're younger.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Product Endorsment
I recently vacationed in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and while at a hammock store I came across am interesting hat. There were also messenger bags, baseball caps and I believe backpacks, but this particular style of hat has always appealed to me so I was drawn to it immediately. They all looked as if they had been dragged through the muck and mire of an African safari and back, then hopped a jet to the Philippines to aid resistance fighters before making a bee line for the hammock shop in Kitty Hawk. Upon turning it over I noticed a text on the inside of the hat, informing me that it was made from recycled cargo truck tarps used in the amazon and other parts of Brazil.
This. Is. Awesome.
2 minutes and $30 later I was the proud owner of a Real Deal Brazil hat. According to the explanation on the inside of the hat, this hat should stand up to nothing short of 30 odd years in the jungle with a side of urban combat. Now, my previous hat was a black, 100% fur wide brim hat (same style), and needless to say it did not stand up to the riggers of being dragged up and down every slope and hill around the Patapsco river, not to mention the early summer rainstorms I have been caught in. Now it seems to have taken more of a hobbit fisherman look with the brim all distorted and wavy.
My favorite line in the description is "There is nothing you can do to the this hat that hasn't been done before." Ignoring immediate implications of this statement, I have decided to run this hat through every terrain and conditions I encounter and see how its doing in 12 months.
So far this hat has a lot of character, is a great conversation piece (as if the flint knife and buckskin bag on my side with bow drill in hand wasn't enough already), all while doing its part to prevent many tarps from being burned up and wasted.
Their website is http://realdealbrazil.com/
They also have a blog at http://realdealbrazil.blogspot.com/
Update
Summer is slowly transitioning into Fall, and posts will come more frequently as my summer work is now over. It was an awesome summer with much learned.
Something to look forward to is a video series that has been in planning for about a month, but due to my work I haven't had the chance to make it yet, but it's on it's way.
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