Hydration And A New Pot

Hydration is an important health issue.

We do not give it a lot of thought as long as we are close to a faucet or can grab a bottle out of the cooler at the grab it and go store. Get away from the settlements and established parks and drinking water has to be either hauled on your back or processed from whatever sources you happen upon.

We need water to stay hydrated. We need water to flush toxins and other junk out of our systems. Without water we can be dried-out dead in 72 hours. We become debilitated before we become dead.

My canteen holds a quart of water.

On a normal day I need to drink at least three canteens to keep hydrated. Let the summer heat come on like it does, along with sweat running out my pores like water through a sieve, and I need to increase that amount. Easy to do when I can turn on a faucet. Not so easy to do when there are no faucets and every source of water needs to be considered with suspicion as potentially dangerous.

I really like the Stanley cook pots we carry. They are great for stewing up a small meal or boiling some water for tea or coffee. 20 ounces though is way short of the quart that it takes to fill my canteen. It is also a bit small for boiling a grown squirrel that would be too tough to chew if cooked on a stick over an open fire.

So I have been pondering the cook-pot dilemma for some time now and have looked at some of the bush pot offerings that can be had. Nice pots but that thrifty side of me balked like a mule at the price they go for.

I was in Walmart a few days ago picking up some things and found what I considered to be the perfect pot for my purpose. Stainless steel with a lid. Holds a little shy of half a gallon. It was not in the pots and pans section. It was, of all places, in the pet section and made to hold dog treats.

$6.00.

My thrifty side latched onto it and brought it home.

The lid had a rubber gasket on it that I pulled off and threw away as soon as the pot entered the house. Two little holes drilled, a piece of metal coat hanger bent to fit, and the bail was attached. Ready to go to the woods and get blackened over a fire.

A stainless cup with folding handles sits in the bottom of the dog biscuit pot. The Stanley pot sits inside the cup leaving room for stuff like a dish rag or pot holder. The downside is that the lid will not fit on the pot when the other items are in it. Not a problem. The lid does not occupy much space. There is room in my kit for it tag along.

The pot comes with some stamped embossing around it. Dog tracks.

I told Shirli that I thought about hammering out the embossing. She told me those were bear tracks and to leave them alone.

Yep.

Bear tracks. That's what they are.

Grooming The Next Generation

It has been a month since we went to the woods with these guys for their first set-up session.

I seriously considered using our outdoor classroom on the farm for this one though I knew the two watershed crossings would still be running water and a couple stretches of the trek in would be muddy. You know. Make it as real as possible. After all, when you are out there hoofing a trail you have to deal with Ma Nature on her level. Sometimes she can be a little testy. Sometimes she can be flat unforgiving.

These guys are not ready for that level of adventure yet. Yet. It is coming though. One step at a time preparing them for some adventures farther on in their journey. So rather than hiking in to the hill we utilized our outdoor space here for their exercise.

I wondered how they would do.

Drawing straws set the order for their demonstrations. Rather than turning them loose as a group to do their set up and fire making I wanted to be able to observe each one individually, offer a little troubleshooting assistance here and there, and make some mental notes.

They did good. Real good.

While the guys are studying on what I am teaching them, I am studying the guys … getting to know them as individuals … getting to know their individual personalities … identifying their individual strengths and weaknesses so I can better assist and direct them in their journeys. This is something that mentoring this trio affords me the opportunity to do. It gives me access to levels not afforded in short courses.

There are a couple of things that I have to reiterate in this early stage of their woodcraft adventure.

1. Practice. Keep practicing the skills you are learning until you own them. It’s easy to build a shelter or make fire when the weather is fair and you have time to spare. It is altogether another story when the weather is against you, everything is wet, and the dark of night is twenty minutes away.

2. Your kit and its items. Safeguard them. Keep every item in its place when it is not being used. Every time it is used. Do not lay anything down and walk away from it. If you lose something in the grass or leaves here in these exercises it is easy enough to replace it. If you lose it out there miles from a supply point you are in real trouble.

I can communicate a lot in a morning crash course, a day course, or over a weekend. Honestly though. Actually grasping, integrating, and owning what is communicated is a whole ‘nuther deal that takes time in the school of woodcraft where there is no graduation day. There is a lot to it … a lot more than having a prescribed kit … that simply cannot be taught in a crash course.

It was a new culinary experience for them.

The broth and squirrel was quite tasty. 

It tasted just like squirrel. Seasoned with a pinch of salt, a little black pepper, and a little crushed red pepper to give it a bit of zip and zing. Now I must admit, being one that wants simulations to be as real as possible, I did not wash all the hair off the parts before putting them in the pots.

The Basic Kit

You do not have to break the bank to put together a good usable kit.

Sure. If you have it to throw around you can spend a couple thousand dollars on the items that make up a kit. Buy a $300.00 knife and a $200.00 oilcloth and you are ¼ of the way to a couple grand. Another three or four hundred for a pack and you are pushing a grand. Maybe if you are planning a long and hard year long expedition. For most folks though it honestly is not necessary.

I am not downing those that can invest big bucks. Truth is though that most folks do not have that kind of wad stashed in a fruit jar or lying around collecting dust. A shortage in financial flexibility should not, however, be an impediment to putting together a good usable kit.

Quality is important. No denying it. Quality, however, in the woodcraft-bushcraft-survival realm … just as in any other arena … does have a tendency to become something of a status symbol. There is enough of that in the world already and it is something we want to avoid in what we are doing here with those we work with.

I think, rather than having the best quality, it is more important to have what is necessary and functional within the realm of one’s affordability range. Realize and respect the limitations of your gear. It is pretty simple. Do not ask something to do what it is not designed to do. When you do you are bound for a let-down. Once you have your kit together … once you are taking it out into the woods and using it … you can always do an item-by-item upgrade as you go along and step things up a notch or ever how many notches you happen to have loose in your pocket.

Getting out there doing it is essential. Personally understanding and developing the triangle formed by knowledge, skills, and resources is paramount.

A usable kit can be thrown together in a few hours. Discovering a proficiency zone and developing confidence inside the triangle requires a much larger investment of time and energy. You can have the best quality of everything in your kit but if you do not intimately know the ground you are walking on and the enveloping natural surroundings a $300.00 knife is not going to take care of you any better than a $50.00 knife. An expensive knife, even within the intimate relationship, is still just side-dressing.

Anyone, when it comes to kit contents, would be hard pressed to improve on Dave Canterbury’s 10-C’s explanation. His take on the kit comes from gleaning a lot of resources on the subject of tramping in the woods and he makes no claims on originality where the kit items are concerned.

Those of us who have spent our lives going into the tames and wilds camping, hunting, and fishing have been using these items all along. What he does do is begin them all with the letter “C” to describe them to make them easier to remember.

Canterbury’s “C’s” and the brief explanations as I have adapted them to my own preferences and geographic needs … the basic kit essentials … fit easily into a military surplus rucksack that is comfortable to carry. It makes a great short-trip pack (or get home bag) and keeps my kit essentials safely collected and ready to go on a moments notice. For longer trips, especially when I am going to be gone for a few days on a hunting trip or need to pack some extra winter-season items, I use an Army surplus ALICE pack with an external frame.

1.   COVER – 8’ x 10’ tarp*, 8’ x 9’ sheet of 3.5 mil plastic, wool blanket, leather gloves

2.   CUTTING TOOL – Fixed blade knife, folding knife, folding saw, hand axe

3.   CORDAGE – Paracord, #36 tarred bank line

4.   CONTAINER – Cook pot, canteen, military mess kit

5.   COMBUSTION – Primitive flint and steel, ferrocerium rod, bic lighter**

6.   COMPASS – Which way is North?

7.   COTTON BANDANA – Multiple uses

8.   CANDLING DEVICE – Flashlight (LED headlamp)

9.   CLOTH SAIL NEEDLE – Sewing repairs in the woods

10. CARGO TAPE – Duct tape … multiple uses

There are a few other things that reside in my kit … like a container with a dozen or so 18” stainless steel fishing leaders that make excellent small game snares*** and a small fishing kit. I also carry a small personal hygiene and first-aid kit as part of my basic kit.

* I prefer camouflaged or low visibility items that blend into the natural surroundings.

** A fire kit is a kit within itself. The items mentioned are in their own bag along with extra 100% cotton cloth to make charred cloth, a tin for charring cloth or other natural materials, jute twine, a small container of fat wood shavings, and a container of Vaseline impregnated cotton balls.

*** Snares are light to carry and an effective means to catch game. I do need to note that snaring is NOT a legal means of taking game in Alabama. Possessing and knowing how to utilize snares is not illegal. In a genuine survival situation you employ whatever means are available to secure food.

Beginning Their Woodcraft Journey

There are situations that arise that test our abilities to survive and come out alive on the other side. These situations can happen to any of us. It is fortunate for us that they do not happen often. The remotely slim chance that we will find ourselves in one of these situations is still reason enough to develop a set of skills and have the necessary resources readily at hand to be able to tell our story rather than have our story added to a list of fatality statistics.

I got bad turned around hunting in a big river swamp a few years ago. It is easy to get into trouble when surroundings are unfamiliar and every tree and bottom looks the same.

I was a mile from the truck when the leading edge of a cold front hit. Thunder and lightning. Rain. I started out in the right direction making my way to the truck. It did not take long for me to realize I was in trouble. I dug out my compass and it told me what I did not want to know. I was headed in the opposite direction from where the truck was. I made the correction. Another ten minutes and the same feeling of being in trouble hit me. My compass told me I was again headed north when I was supposedly traveling south. I kept my compass in my hand following its leading after that and shortly picked up the trail to the truck.

Owning one’s skills and possessing confidence cannot be downplayed. Spend a little time getting out and about in the woods and before you know it nature is going to throw a round of something at you. That something is not so bad when you are in a campground not far from the vehicle. Get a day or two away from the vehicle and that same something appears to have a good bit more intensity to it.

I view woodcraft from a broader perspective than survival. I do not mean to singe anyone’s tail feathers. I do, however, see this as much more than pitting ourselves against nature, or even against some possible situation, as though nature and difficult situations are foes to contend with. I view woodcraft as a way of life that involves me personally with nature in a self-reliant-participant sort of way.

Humans are not apart from nature. Humans are a part of nature. Difficult situations are only calamities for those that are unprepared to deal with them. One of our problems as modern culture humans is that we have so isolated ourselves from nature, and the situations it can present, that nature has become a foreign entity to us.

Our mentoring class met yesterday morning and made close to a ¾ mile hike into the classroom.

As we walked I talked about always practicing situational awareness … always know what is under your feet, around, and over you … that the best way to avoid being bitten by a venomous snake is to always expect to be bitten and you will always be looking for it and see it before it has a chance to bite. We do have plenty of them around, especially the Moccasin variety. I also emphasized that constantly practicing situational awareness causes one to move a lot slower ... that we see and hear a lot more when we are taking our time and our movement is slower.

We looked at and collected various tinder materials as we walked. After I gave a flint and steel fire making demonstration the guys collected their kindling, built their birds nests, and used some char cloth and a spark from a ferro rod to get their fires going. They did good considering after the dense morning fog everything collected was still damp.

After building their fires without the aid of a match or bic lighter, I showed the guys how to use a tarp, three stakes, a few short pieces of paracord to construct a quick diamond fly, and then turned them loose on constructing theirs. They did good.

At the conclusion of the class I was asked … “What are we going to do for the next class?”

I told the guys, “We’re going to hike back here and the first thing we’re going to do is … me and Shirli are going to sit over there, drink coffee, and watch while you duplicate on your own what I have taught you to do today. Then we will do a little something to build on what you’ve learned.”

Water. Fire. Shelter. Food. The four basic essentials.

Food. I’ve got some squirrel in the freezer. I think I will introduce the class to squirrel meat next time out.

Reconnecting The Life Lines

Survival?

Sure.

I suppose, when it comes right down to it, you can say these are survival skills that can get you through an unexpected bad turn of things. Things do happen. Unexpected bad turns do come around. There is a lot of wisdom in planning for unexpected scenarios and there are a lot of scenarios worth investing some thought in.

Honestly. You never really know what is around the next turn in the proverbial road.

I recently read an article about a family vacation that went bad. The folks decided to go for a drive out west and see some country.

Off they went in the car, picking up Granny on the way. One stop was a ghost town up in the high elevations. Up the mountain. Unpaved road. Wrong turn. Unexpected blizzard that dropped three feet of snow and thickened the mercury reading to below freezing.

A hunter found the dad trying to walk out for help. Had it not been for the old woman taking along a few blankets and some snacks it would have been a really bad adventure for them.

The truth of the matter is that most of us just follow the road without thinking about what might be around the next bend. Maybe nothing. But, then again, it might be something that will test us to our limits and then some.

It is our modern generation that thinks along survival lines. A couple centuries ago these were common fare life lines. A lot can be lost in a hundred years. By the late 1800’s and early 1900’s … the era of time when Nessmuk and Kephart were walking the woods … a lot of the life lines had been forgotten. Kephart considered that not one in a thousand city men could go it alone in the woods.

It has been another hundred years since the time of Nessmuk and Kephart. How much more of the life lines has been lost in a century … a century where we are all now, of a sort, city men?

Is Kephart’s one in a thousand now one in ten thousand for the present generation and one in one hundred thousand for the generation fanny-warming the seats in public schools? I do not know what the numbers are but I cannot help but to wonder about the obvious growing generational disparity.

There is a rewarding sense of accomplishment in acquiring skills and reattaching life lines. The knowing and the ability to perform these tasks offer stability and peace of mind. I think, and this is just my personal position on the matter, if our only reason for learning and performing these skills is to survive something unforeseen that may befall us in the future … we are shorting ourselves.

Learning, acquiring gear, and performing these life line tasks is every bit about getting back into, reconnecting with, and enjoying the natural surrounding environment … whether we do it with modern gear or with facsimiles of articles from the 17^th Century.

Stanley Cook Pot Modifications

I bought one of these pots for my wife to carry in her kit. The pot comes with two plastic cups nestled inside. They are great for drinking hot stuff from but cannot be used for cooking. The pot needed a little work done to it to make it more usable in a woodcraft environment.

The first thing was to remove the plastic tab on the lid. A small drift pin punch made short work of removing the tab. The green plastic tab was replaced with a piece of metal coat hanger bent in the shape of a fireproof tab.

The next thing to do was to fashion a bail to hang the pot over a fire.

The pot comes with a nice folding handle that secures over the lid when not in use. It is handy for pouring the finished product but I like to be able to hang a pot over a fire. A fire has no knob to control its temperature. Being able to hang a pot higher or a little off to the side makes a big difference in the outcome of the heated contents.

A couple of holes and a coat hanger accomplished the task.

I liked the outcome of her pot enough that I picked up a second one, set it on the shelf, and waited for some time to make the needed modifications. The corn boiler that I have been using is a great pot but its fixed handle makes it a little awkward for packing and carrying in a small pack.

So a rainy day comes along. I grab a few tools and set about working on the pot modifications.

The pin did not punch out easily this time. The metal piece where the tab attaches came loose from the lid. No problem. I drilled a ¼ inch hole in the center of the lid and used a 1 inch bolt with a nut on the top and bottom sides of the lid to hold it in place. A stainless bolt would have been better but I did not have one and used what I could readily put my hands on. I will pick up something stainless when I am by a hardware store.

Rather than drilling directly beneath the rim of the pot (like I did on Shirli’s) I made the holes for the bail about ¼ inch below the rim and attached the metal coat hanger bail.

When I bought this pot I also picked up the stainless cup. The combined works makes a nice cook set … stainless cooker with two serving cups nestled inside that nestles nicely in the cup for easy packing.

Now all that is left is to get this rig over a fire, smut it up good, and get rid of the new look. Oh. And pick up a stainless cup for Shirli’s pot. 

Putting Your Core Kit Together

Three great young guys embarking on a journey! 

We are really happy to have a part in it with them.

So now that the orientation class is behind us it is time to work on putting our kits together to be ready for the next class. We will be utilizing the contents of our kits in the next class. 

For the next class your kit needs to include …

1.  Tarp, ground cover, blanket, leather gloves

2.  Knife, folding saw

3.  Paracord (100 ft.)

4.  Cook pot and canteen

5.  Ferro rod and bic lighter

There are other kit items that we discussed at orientation that should be in your kit as well. The above mentioned items will be getting a workout as we work on constructing shelter and fire making skills.

Put your kits together. Wear your packs. Go for walks wearing them. Become accustomed to wearing the weight of your kits (including water in your canteen). Our next class will involve a nice walk.

10’ x 25’ rolls of 3 mil plastic have a lot of uses including making ground covers and systems to collect rain water.

Check the sporting goods section of Walmart, the Coleman Store in Foley, or Bass Pro Shop for kit items.