Archive | December, 2013

backcountryshelter9

1+ Year Review: Seek Outside BCS Back Country Shelter

I’ll be reviewing the Seek Outside Backcountry Shelter or BCS as it is commonly referred to.  This is the 1+ year review and what a couple years it’s been.  I think in order to give the most complete review of something, it has to be very heavily used and really put through the wringer as […]

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The Super Shelter

There has been a lot of interest in The Super Shelter with recent YouTube videos and articles from others. While you may pick up a tip or trick here and there from YouTube and posts (this article included), getting instruction in the field and doing it yourself are going to be your best teachers. To add […]

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Whelen camping in his Hunter's Lean-to.

In Praise Of The Whelen Lean-To by Steven M. Watts

 I know of no better tent for one or two men, doing their own camp work, except for bad mosquito country, or at temperatures lower than 20 below. – Townsend Whelen In 1901 a young Spanish American War veteran walked out of the Canadian bush.  He was 24 years old, over six feet tall, with a 44 inch […]

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They Just Don't Make'em Like They Used To...

They Just Don’t Make’em Like They Used To…

Since the late 1700’s Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) has sold fine English-made woolen products in North America.  HBC’s point blankets being the standard by which all wool blankets are measured. Published in 2002, Harold Tichenor’s book, The Blanket; An Illustrated History of the Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket, chronicled much of its history.  Unfortunately, the book is out of […]

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One Billet Boil Up!

One Billet Boil Up!

If you are wondering what this post is about, check out the Challenge in THIS article. Challenge is still OPEN if you want to participate by the way. A little more history on the water boil competition can found in Ernest Thompson Seton’s, The Book of Woodcraft. From the chapter on Games for the Camp. WATER-BOILING CONTEST Given […]

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Weather Wisdom

“In God we trust, everyone else bring data” As humans in our current society, our lives are very much data driven, everything backed up by science. There was a time however, when man had to rely purely on observation and what today we call folklore. Well that folklore is based on something, and it can be […]

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AmericanFrontiersmanFirst

In The News ~ Early December 2013

  Dude, You’re Screwed is a new Discovery T.V. show starting this Sunday, December 8th at 10 eastern.  One of the cast, Tom “Tomahawk” Moore, has shared his knowledge and travels on some popular internet forums over the years, so you may already be familiar with Moore.   Chad and I first met Tom in […]

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kephart

Kamp Kephart 2014

Organized through The Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC, Kamp Kephart is a workshop series of Classic Camping Skills taught by Steve Watts.  As our good friend Steve says, “…without the context, it’s just arts & crafts.” Let me tell you, not only do you learn and apply the skills in Kamp Kephart, you get an entertaining […]

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Lotus Belle Tent

Lotus Belle Tent

Don’t consider this article anything more than an FYI…   As it looks like a cross between the traditional Yurt and Bell Tent, the Lotus Belle caught my eye in a New Zealand article on camping. I do like that it is made from 12 oz. treated canvas, add a stove it can be a ‘hot-tented,’ […]

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