Constructing A Fishing Pipe

I finally got around to doing it.

I have wanted to do it for quite a long time, ever since I watched a Dave Canterbury video about it on YouTube some years ago. I just never set myself to the simple task. Watching the videos that Nate Hains posted kindled a fire under my fanny. Yep it was time to get busy.

The rig is really a smart idea.

If there is water around there are fish. Whether for the simple pleasure of catching and enjoying a meal of them or desperately needing them for food in a survival situation, there are fish to be had if you have a means to catch them.

Shirli and I both carry fishing gear in our kits … line, a couple sizes of hooks, split shot, floats that we call bobbers around these parts, a few pan fish (we call them brim) jigs, and small artificial baits that look like earth worms. Who knows? Live natural bait might be elusive and hard to find so carry something artificial just in case. Always be prepared.

The thing that really sold me on the idea and prompted me to put these together is the fact that you can cast them and get your baited hook out farther than you can when using a short sapling as a pole. A pole that is long enough to do some good is also hard to manipulate in dense cover. Especially overhead cover.

Of course I had to add a little personal touch to these fishing pipes.

One was to affix a little contraption to the butt end cap to attach the line to rather than tying it around the pipe.

I drilled a small hole, put several circular bends in a short piece of solid copper wire, inserted that into the cap, and then did the same circular bending outside. It is secure inside and out. On went the cap with some cement and it is a permanent fixture on the fish catching device.

The other end is not glued on. The pipe becomes its own small tackle box. I did do a little light sanding on the pipe so the front cap is not as likely to get stuck on so tight that it is difficult to get off. I also sanded the burrs and sharp edges on the cap that might interfere with casting and retrieving the line. On went the cap.

Next was to measure off the line, attach it to the copper wire, and wrap it onto the pipe. I used 30 feet of 20 pound test braided line. I figure that is plenty long enough for these waters. Once the line was on I applied several wraps of electrical tape. One holds the tail end of the line in place on the pipe so it cannot wander around and get loose. The other makes an ideal place to hang your hook between episodes of fishing or when the fishing rig is riding on the truck seat. You know … for those times when you might be driving by a spot and can wet a line for the heck of it.

During transport in a pack the attached bobber can be slid down close to the split shot and the whole catching end stored securely inside the pipe.

I got to thinking about something else this rig can be used for that increases the possibility of catching fish … catfish in particular.

Measure off as many 30 foot sections of #36 bank line as you care to fool with or figure you might need in your given situation. Roll them securely and have them handy in your kit. They can be attached one at a time to the fishing pipe, rigged with a good catfish hook and baited, cast out, detached from the pipe and secured to a root or tree, and left overnight to do their catching thing while you are tending to other important stuff around camp. The bank line is out deep enough to do more good than if the bait was laying in shallower water.

With a little overnight luck you might be cleaning catfish for breakfast and have enough for leftovers at noon.

Woodsmoke Woodcraft School June Training Class

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.

Toasting Punk

I had a hot bed of pecan wood coals in the pit after working up something tasty for the supper table. Supper was done. The coals were waiting. 

It was time to toast some fire making materials.

My fire starting go-to is a fire steel and charred cloth. Flannel, out of all the 100% cotton offerings, is my favorite cloth for charring. It is soft and fluffy and seems to take a spark a lot easier than tighter woven materials.

This is not the only fire starting means that I carry in my kit. There is a bic lighter in there. There is a magnesium bar and ferro rod in there. I just happen to like old school. 

I am, where old school is concerned, still working on the bow drill method. I do not imagine the bow drill ever becoming my go-to fire starting means. Not as long as I have some hard steel and a sharp rock to cut red hot sparks. Friction fire just happens to be one of those good to know things.

Friction fire predates everything but lightening for getting a fire going. It has a certain mystique about it that makes it attractive. I do question its reliability here where the humidity is always high, rains are more often hard and heavy, and things tend to remain at or beyond the damp side of the scale. 

I would not want to have to depend on it. Maybe in a dryer climate. But not here.

Charred cloth. It dawned on me at our last class that I have gone through my little stash of the valuable resource. Time to replenish the container that I carry in my kit.

We do not have to rely on the textile mills to provide us with material to char. Charred cloth is convenient, handy, and readily available close to the settlements. However, in a long term situation where replenishing resources is a serious matter, we do not want to waste a good bandana or toast our cotton underwear to have material to get a fire going. Not when Ma Nature provides us with all the natural materials we need for the fire making purpose.

I am always picking things up when I see them.

Especially good fire making resources. 

It is like they are waiting for me to happen along, find them, and add them to my stash. 

I think this collecting business happens to folks when they begin making a priority of identifying and utilizing natural resources. It is amazing how much there is laying around waiting for us to recognize its usefulness.

The punk wood had fallen out of a live oak in town. A piece from a small limb. It had been run over a few times but there was still a nice bit of it that was usable. 

I stuffed it in a small bag and put it in the truck.

Throw some sparks in the tin of char, hold your tinder bundle on top, blow on it until the bundle ignites, then put the lid on the tin. Charred punk is great stuff. It takes a spark nicely and gives off a lot of heat. Once it is going you have to either drown it, suffocate it, or let it burn out on its own to put it out.

Hence the need for a tin with a tight fitting lid to choke off the supply of oxygen to put out the burning charred punk.

The tin will get quite hot. Give it time to extinguish and cool down before packing it away in your fire bag.

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.