Giving

I'm convinced that giving is contagious.  Among primitive archers giving is very common and never expected.  It's interesting how we get our materials from nature.  We essentially walk into the woods and gather what we need.  Trees for bows, cane for arrows, and rock for tools.  These are things that generally don't have a price tag on them and I think that makes it easier to give.

I could say we gather our materials from nature or I could say nature gives us the materials we need and by gathering it we are receiving it.  I think this plays a huge role in the generous nature of primitive archers and anyone who receives from nature. 

So how is giving contagious?  The tendency is greater to give after one has received.  So when I receive it gets me excited.  When a guy decides to give me a nutria pelt for a quiver only hours after meeting me I'm totally blown away.  I didn't deserve it or expect it so the result is pure excitement from me.  In the same way when nature gives me something that I don't deserve it kind of blows me away.  A wild passion fruit is ripe and I eat it; that is a gift that I have enjoyed.  It's great!  I didn't do a thing in the world for that fruit yet there it is growing for me.  If there is more fruit than I could possibly eat then I must gather it and spread that joy that I have received from eating it and pass it along to others.  Then when I someone else experiences that joy they'll be encouraged to pass it back to me or along to someone else. 

My goal here was to share my recent experiences with giving and receiving and hopefully I've encouraged someone else to give.  So go out and give to someone, it can be anyone in this world!

Knowledge/Experience Mining

Until this weekend I had never seen anyone's bows, arrows, or arrowheads.  I had only ever seen my own work and it was so refreshing seeing other people's work at the Dade City Knap-in.  I spent the weekend in Dade City making arrowheads and swapping knowledge and material. 

First I want to say that I met some of the most generous guys from the Primitive Archer forum.  I got a nutria pelt, river cane, lots of knapping rock, and a couple sets of pheasant tail feathers.  I was overwhelmed by all the gifts and was not expecting it at all.  Dinner was the same way with much sharing.  I hadn't prepared for this and felt a little guilty for not bringing something delicious to share so I made sure I did what any good Turk would do and accepted the food after the third time being offered.

Knowledge was also generously shared.  I've never made arrowheads with anyone so being able to show them the point and get an opinion on how to approach a problem was priceless.  I came fully loaded with questions and I was able to get answers for all of them.  After I asked all my questions I thought up new ones and asked them.  These guys were so patient and generous with me... even after a million stupid questions.

Unfortunately I was so busy learning and socializing that I didn't get any pictures or video.  It was a grand ol' time and what happens in Dade City, stays in Dade City.

I hope you have a great remainder of the day and find a new way to appreciate nature!

Cranking out the bows

lately I've been making a lot of bows.  I'm dead set on making the greatest bow ever.  I really want to make a good hunting bow that I feel confident shooting.  The last few have gotten me closer to that goal but I still don't feel like I've hit it yet.

The latest bow was a pretty crooked piece of hickory.  It was very challenging and there were a few things that I did wrong but I have learned from that and next time I will make a better approach.

The result is a bunch of bows and I can only shoot one at a time.  I guess it's not the worst problem I could have!

Thatching with the Sabal Palm

The sabal palm tree is Florida's state tree.  It's also a great source for many natural materials that are important in survival situations. 

The large fronds are ideal for thatching, as if they were made for it.  A few months ago a friend taught me how to thatch.  Since then I've been doing a lot of thatching and finally finished up a little hut.  Of course I filmed the whole thing and showed how thatching works and how I did it. 

I'm really happy with my hut and I'm just waiting on some rain to see how waterproof it is.  Here's the video and I hope y'all get out there and thatch something!

Lessons

  I love getting out of my normal stomping grounds.  New scenery is always fun.  Sometimes I find new plants that I normally don't see so when I get home I can look them up and see if there's anything special about them. 

Today I visited an area that I haven't been to in a while, the Econ National Forest.  It's a good patch of woods with some flora diversity.  Since I've been making bows I've become very attentive to every species of tree.  Today I came across the American hornbeam tree.  I've noticed them before but only in Georgia.  Turns out there are many out at the Econ. 

I was glad to see a new species in the area that I hadn't seen before.  It's always cool to find new stuff in the area and it shows that I'm learning more and getting better at identifying the local plants.  It also turns out that it's a good bow wood :)

Book Review

Recently a primitive hunter friend of mine wrote a book about primitive hunting which included hunting stories and various information on the subject.  He asked me to do a book review on it.  I was happy to oblige as it's been a while since I've read a book and I like to take any opportunity to do something I haven't done before, like reviewing a book.  I wouldn't really value my opinion on something like a book but I feel like I did alright on it. 

It was a good book that I thoroughly enjoyed.  It was interesting to watch the author's (Ryan Gill) transition from traditional hunting to primitive hunting.  I personally learned a lot and I'll be taking the learned information and applying it.  One day I hope to take large game with primitive equipment that I have made.

Primitive Survival Outing 1

Well I just got back from my first ever primitive survival excursion.  The intention of this trip was to learn and I definitely did that!  There were a few things that I did that I was good at and it turns out I had a decent understanding of. On the other hand there were some things that I could have done to save myself some grief.

Building shelters is something that I haven't really done a whole lot of.  I have been working on a primitive hut but that's on a much larger scale than any shelter I cold build in a day.  I had some ideas that I hadn't really learned from anyone but just thought up the concept and decided to try it out.  Twisting the two sweetgum trees together so they would be braced across the tree trunks was something I had thought up.  This idea of the cross beam was really good.  I didn't have to use any cordage for binding and that is a huge time saver when you have to make your own cordage.

Fire was another thing that I felt like I did pretty well at.  I've messed with friction fire a fair bit but have never been able to get a coal.  I mostly tested out the hand drill method.  Since it had rained that morning and most everything was wet I decided to go with the more efficient yet more complex bow drill method.  It took several hours to get everything just right but once I did it was as if the stars had aligned and I was able to create a coal.  I've made fires from coals before so once I had that coal it was a piece of cake.

There were plenty of things that I learned and need to improve on.  It got a little bit chilly and my shelter was hardly insulated at all.  That's the main reason why I didn't sleep well.  Being a Florida boy I guess I just didn't really think much about the cold.  I'll certainly keep that in mind next time I'm out on a chilly night.  Also I didn't gather enough firewood so I need to not but such a lazy butt and be prepared for a long sleepless night.