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.

Survival

Of course wilderness survival skills are an interest of mine.  I've been practicing here and there with survival skills and I think it's time to find out what I don't know.  Next week I'm going to do a primitive survival outing.  Basically I'm just going to use primitive things.  The exception is a knife and a pot.  I can't risk getting any illnesses from the water so I'll have to boil it... in a pot. 

I realize that I lack a lot of experience but I figure there's only one way to get experience.  It should be exciting and regardless of how miserable it is I suspect I will learn a lot.  I'm probably going to die ;)

Stump Shooting

Stump shooting is a form of archery practice where you basically just walk around the woods shooting whatever you want.  You don't have to shoot stumps but they make good targets for arrows to stick in to.  I like shooting low palm fronds because the arrow tears through them and makes a satisfying ripping noise.  Also, there is a low ecological impact of course.

In this video I went out into the woods at a place locally known as 5A.  Got some weird looks by the off roaders but no one dared approach the guy with a shark skin quiver full of arrows fletched with feathers from large game birds, with three stick bows slung over the shoulder and walking barefoot down well trodden paths. 

Some of these shots were a lot of work as I was by myself and had to set everything up then take my shots.  I set my GoPro to record at 120 frames per second so I could get those slow motion shots but my arrows were going so fast that I didn't quite get the affect I wanted but it turned out pretty good.

Shooting from the tree was fun but my target fell over once I got up there so I just shot at where it was and marked the spot in the video with an X.  I think I would have hit it had it not fallen.  That was not an easy tree to climb and climbing with a bow and a quiver didn't make things easier.  I think I need to practice climbing along branches like this.

Match Cord

Today I was messing with match cords.  Basically it's a string that you light on fire, then blow the fire out and a coal remains in the string and smolders slowly up the string.  The purpose of this string is so you can easily bring that smoldering coal from one place to another.  I did some experimentation with it today and I found that with a 1/4 inch cord made from sable palm fibers from between the branches of the palm I can hold a coal for an hour for each foot of cord.  So in a day I might walk for 9 hours at the most.  That means I would just need nine one foot lengths of cord.  Of course I would make a couple extras just in case because that coal is super important for when I make camp that night.  Being able to carry that coal would save me so much time and energy.  In a few days of traveling through the woods I would only have to make one friction fire... unless, I brought a coal with me initially on the journey.  Each day I could gather enough fibers to make the necessary amount of cord and just sit by my fire that night and work on cords for the next day.  I plan to use this on future adventures into the Florida wilderness and test how well works.  For now it has just been experimented with a little so the true test is when I'm actually depending on that coal for fire.

Opportunist

I'm an opportunist.  It comes in handy always keeping an eye out for opportunity.  Today a really bizarre and unexpected opportunity came up and I took full advantage of it.  I was at the feed store getting a bail of hay for an archery target.  I know a couple of the guys there so I shot the hay bale a few times to make sure it stopped arrows like I wanted it to.  I knew there were peacocks that hang around there so I asked if they ever shed feathers that are in good shape.  I thought it would be cool to get a few feathers and fletch some arrows with them.  They responded by pointing their thumb over their shoulder and informing about the recently killed peacock lying the dumpster. Apparently it was killed this morning.  When I got to it rigor mortus had set in but I pulled him out and he was in excellent shape.  Feathers were nice and clean and in top form.  I threw it in the back of my truck and went on my way and spent the evening harvesting feathers off a dead peacock. Filmed it so y'all can see how I did it.  Some photos below of this incredible bird for your enjoyment!

 

Breakthrough!

I had a huge breakthrough last week.  All I have to say is, I've been blessed with good friends at good times.  My friend Jay, the dude that does falconry, is also into primitive stuff along with more modern crafts. 

The other day he was over and I showed him my half way built hut.  It needs a roof and I figured at some point I would figure out a way to thatch it.  Up until last week I had never got around to it because I just didn't have any good ideas of how to do it.  All my ideas were really labor intensive and intricate and probably wouldn't have lasted very well.  I had some pretty terrible ideas pass through my head. 

I was telling Jay about how I just didn't really know where to start.  He says, "Well I think I know how you do it."  He quickly demonstrates and my mind was blown!  I quite literally screamed, "THAT'S IT!!!  That's what I have been looking for this whole time!"  It was a simple, efficient, and solid method of attaching palm fronds to the frame of my hut.  We ended up thatching about half of it over a few hours of work.

I put together a little preview so y'all can see what I'm talking about.

Arrow

I've been working on two videos this new year.  They're both on arrows and how to make them.  I exclusively use cane or bamboo arrows as they are strong and I generally put my arrows through a beating. 

After struggling to find a fletching style that I liked I finally settled on one that is efficient with time and materials and shoots well.  I really believe it is the best type and I'll likely do it for a long time and maybe throw in a few other styles if I get bored of it.

I also made a video on cane or bamboo arrow shafts.  The shaft is one of the most important parts of the arrow and to process it correctly is essential.

These are how-to videos so they are meant to thoroughly instruct rather than to be entertaining.   I want the viewer to watch the video and be able to pick up on the concepts easily so they can reproduce what they saw.  It's also important to me that I prove the product.  Whatever it is I just made, I want to show that it works and is effective.  So, at the end I shot the arrows and had some fun with that.

2014

Happy New Year!  I don't really like paying attention to the year and to see 2014 in the bottom right corner of the desktop is a little weird.  Resolutions go hand in hand with the new years so I'll tell you about one of mine.

First of all, I don't really believe in new years resolutions.  If I need to change something about myself or start new habits then I should just do it and all the major changes in my life have happened like this.  However, I do have one thing that I want to accomplish this year.

I need to get out of the country!  At this point I have no idea where I want to go but I want to go somewhere awesome and film some incredible creatures.  It would be cool to go back to Turkey and check out the old stomping grounds but that's a pricey plane ticket.  South America would be sweet too but I don't really have any connections there and I wouldn't really know where to start.  I guess I sort of have a connection in Costa Rica so I may check that out.  I really need to learn Spanish!


I've been back in the US for over five years and my passport is collecting dust so I need to get out there and experience the world and share that experience with the world!

"Paradise," where my adventurous spirit was concieved