The app on my phone said it was
86 degrees.
Hot enough. With the humidity factored in the felt temperature was
97 degrees as I packed my kit and made for some respite in the air
conditioning.
No regrets. This is more than well worth the sweat in lower Alabama summer conditions.
It was a good training session
with the guys.
I went down to our outdoor
classroom in the bottom early enough to set up my shelter and get a fire going. The fire was needed, not for warding off any cold, but to smoke the mosquitoes
out of the bottom, process some fire making material, and cook up a little
survival culinary surprise for the group.
Mosquitoes? More than plenty of
them until the smoke got going.
Get away from developed sites and
level is not always easy to find.
Somewhat level is.
In fair weather somewhat
level is fine. When a sure enough rain comes along to add some challenge to an
adventure, somewhat level can put a river running through your shelter.
I showed the guys how to improve
their shelter for wet weather circumstances with items in their kit.
The first thing was to tie a short
string to the line attaching their shelter to a tree to work as a redirecting
water stop for water running down the tree trunk, following the attaching line,
and dripping into the shelter. The string needs to be a couple inches from the
tarp.
Some water may make it in but
with the shelter pitched to protect against the wind, most of the dripping
water will be blown away from the shelter opening.
The next was to lay out their
ground covering in a way that 3” diameter logs (cut with their folding saw) can
be laid inside the shelter on top of the cover. The loose ends of the cover are
then wrapped over the small logs. With the wrapped logs 6 inches back from the
sides and front, water running off the sides of the tarp or coming down a grade
will not end up running beneath the shelter soaking everything.
The guys have watched me on
several occasions using primitive flint and steel to get a fire going. They
have used modern flint and steel … ferro rod and magnesium bar … to effect
fire.
Today was their turn to utilize a
rock and fire steel. There is a certain finesse to primitive flint and steel.
It is something that you develop a feel for. The right angle. The right speed.
The right amount of force of the steel against the rock. There is something
about primitive flint and steel. Once you find that certain finesse … once you
get onto it … it has a way of becoming your fire making go to.
I am a huge fan of charred cloth.
The stuff works great. Cloth is not necessary though. Not as long as the woods
produces an abundance of punk.
I showed the guys my container of
charred punk, used my rock and steel to throw a shower of sparks into it, and
we watched as some white spots began to grow on the char. I told them that the
only way I know of to put it out is to drown it with water or deprive it of air
as I put the lid back on the tin to snuff it out. I then took out a piece and
showed them how easily it catches with a magnifying lense. That char went back into
the tin and was snuffed.
Once it was out, I dumped the
contents on a piece of bark from a River Birch, set the char where it would be
safe, filled the tin with fresh punk, and placed the tin on the coals to cook.
A container is not absolutely necessary for the process. It is a convenience
though and a good place to keep the char once it is cooked. Punk can be
effectively charred by digging a hole beneath where your fire will be built,
putting the punk into it, covering it with dirt, and building your fire on top
of it.
I would not tell them what it was
and there was a good bit of curiosity. They did some guessing but none were
close. I whittled a nice skewer from a small oak branch, speared the breasts,
and propped the skewer on a forked stick that I pushed into the ground close to
the coals.
Our blueberries are almost ripe.
We are not the only ones that have noticed and there is an army that visits our
bushes every year about this time. I have tried everything I know to keep them at
bay. Nothing, so far, has worked. So I popped three of them with the fancy .22
Benjamin air rifle that I got myself as an early birthday present, pulled their
breasts, and stuck them in the freezer for such an occasion as this. You know,
after all, in a real survival situation you eat what you can get.
I had never eaten it before but
I have got to tell you. Blackbird ain’t half bad. In fact, blackbird roasted on a
green stick over an open fire is pretty dang tasty! I’ll bet if they were
wrapped with bacon and seasoned a little they would be as good as any game bird
I have ever eaten.
Oh. How did the charred punk turn
out? It cooked up just fine. We gave it a test with a rock and steel. A good
shower of sparks and there were several white spots beginning to grow and glow.
Sure.
I will admit it.
I think all young people ought to
be taught to use cutting tools and build fires.
It’s awful hard to skin a
squirrel or get a campfire going with a computer keyboard or the controls to a
video game.
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