Archive | February, 2013

siberian elm samaras

USING THE SIBERIAN ELM FOR BUSHCRAFT

To most it’s a weed tree. Considered useless and unwanted. To me, it’s a part of the heartland now.  A permanent fixture across wind breaks and homesteads as well as in the cities and for Bushcraft.  It was after the dust bowl that started in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, that these trees were widely planted […]

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david wescott

Camp Life by Steven M. Watts

“Here I am camped by a rushing river between forest-clad hills. It is close on ten in the morning. I turned out at five, and yet those five hours have been full of work for me, albeit it was no more than little camp jobs. The fire had to be lit, coffee and scones to […]

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Beautyberry

Beauty Berry; Herbal Bug Repellent by Darryl Patton

DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a wonderful product! On several trips to the jungles of the Amazon as well as countless hikes here in the Deep South, I have found this bug repellent to be just the thing to keep biting insects at a safe distance. DEET was introduced by the U.S. Army as an insecticide back in […]

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inversion

Your Campfire And The Weather

Treat fire with the respect it deserves and it will keep you warm, cook your food, make your water safe, and a host of other things to make you a happy woodsman. Be disrespectful and it could leave you cold and lonely OR you could have a wildfire on your hands! Wouldn’t it be nice […]

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Rite of Passage

The March/April edition of the Backwoodsman (magazine) arrived in the mail yesterday.  As always, I started reading Charlie’s opening message.  Whole heartedly agree with him about today’s children not being taught things they should know; also appreciate his appeal for us older folks to get involved with a youngster.  My how our society has changed, […]

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ursa-major

The Bear is Coming Back

For those of us in the southern states, particularly where there are a lot of trees and topography, we lose sight of the Big Dipper in winter and Cassiopeia becomes more prevalent.  Vice versa in the summer. I know it is still very much winter up north, nonetheless, it’s nice seeing the days getting longer […]

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Two Winters in a Tipi

TWO WINTERS IN A TIPI

Hey Foks, Here is a quick news update. On Tuesday, Feb. 19: Author Mark Warren, director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, will be at the University of Georgia in Athens to discuss his recently published memoir Two Winters in a Tipi. The event will be held at 3 p.m. in the 5th floor Reading Room of the Miller […]

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Boxes or Circles

I really have a love/hate relationship doing this website.    While it is full of relevant information and a great medium in which to encourage folks to get to get to the field, it also means I was sitting in front of box typing this, and you are now sitting in front of a box reading […]

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Volcan Masaya 2

Baden-Powell, Condor Knives & Volcanoes in Central America

I was in Central America last August and ran across this plaza in El Salvador dedicated to Lord Robert Baden-Powell. I thought those that have an appreciation for the history of Boy Scouts would enjoy. Also, many thanks to my friend Joe Flowers; I made the trek to Santa Ana and took an amazing tour he […]

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