Look at me... I'm sailing!!!

A few years ago I went to a movie featuring Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany called "Master and Commander: The far Side of the World" and instantly wanted to sail on a tall ship.  A good friend of mine we'll call "Morgan" informed me that the film was based upon a series of books know, collectively, as the Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian which only furthered my desire to sail on a tall ship.  But alas it is my lot to live in land-locked Iowa where tall ships are exceedingly, nay exasperatingly rare.  So what is a bushcrafter to do when he has sailing blood coursing through his Scandinavian veins?  Why he needs to improvise a sailboat!

So I did, during a summer camp at work.

The kids, other naturalists, and I took a couple of canoes down to a lake found near our Nature Center and then set about to find sticks to use in lashing the canoes into a pontoon and for the mast for our sail.  The sail in this case was my ever present surplus poncho.

We lashed the two canoes together with assorted ropes and 550 p-chord and three, wrist diameter sticks each about 3'-3.5' long.

 The sail was supported by a frame made by lashing together four wrist-diameter hackberries (Celtis occidentalis L. ) that were being shaded out by some old cottonwoods.  In this picture you can see me and two other naturalists lashing the starboard (right-hand) mainmast to the thwart located abaft (behind) the bow seat.

 Once we had securely lashed the cross-braces to the canoes thwarts and attached backstays to the mainmasts, and the sail lashed to the spars it was time time to see if she was sea worthy.

 Here you can see two other naturalists lowering the sail after we'd paddled into the wind and swung the pontoon around.  The top spar (not in photo) is square-lashed to the two up right masts.  The bottom spar is lashed to the sail only and is longer than the distance between the two masts.  The overlap of the lower spar pushes into the mast when the wind fills the sail and pushes the whole thing forward.

 Look at me.... I'm sailing!!!

We didn't get going to fast, slightly slower than an easy paddling speed largley because of the way the wind acted on the lake that day.  With a larger body of water where the winds are steadier, and less erratic we could have gone much faster than if we had paddled.  I look forward to trying it again soon.

Anyone else ever improvised a sailboat?  I'd love to hear about it!

My Guide to Field Guides and Journals

I did this post a while back on a now defunct blog.  I was pretty happy with it so I’d thought I resurrect it here. The post is about my choices in field guides for identifying flora and fauna while out in the field.  In it I explore print media, free on-line sources, and also show some of the ways that I use to help me ID plants and animals that are new to me.  

Print Media

There are a wealth of books out there that cover plant and wildlife identification in very broad terms covering entire continents such as the Sibley Guide to Birds to highly specialized books that focus on one family, or species like Stokes Field Guide to Warblers. Selection of a good field guide depends entirely on what you...(wait for it!).... want to identify in the field!  If you are interested in birds alone, pick out a book that covers birds in your region (i.e., Western U.S., or Eastern U.S., etc...).  A little later I will give my recommendations for the series of books that I use.  At this point I would like to give a disclaimer; this is an opinion piece.  These are the books that I prefer to use.  I strongly dislike some books that people better at identification swear by (I am thinking of the Audubon and Peterson guides send hate mail here(include link for email address, do research and find what works for you.  I suggest going to your local library and to check out book layouts.  If they don’t have the ones you are looking for try getting them through a inter-library loan.

OK, so now to the subject.

Birds

For birds I have a couple of recommendations.  For a true field guide I carry the Kaufman Guide to Birds of North America.  I like the Kaufman Guide because of the artwork.  Rather than artists renditions, they are digital photographs, which I find a little more useful in the field.  There are other books in the Kaufman Guides series now covering insects and mammals and that are of the same high quality as the bird guide.  I’ve looked at them but have not purchased them yet.

You’ll notice above I mention Kaufman being a “true field guide”.  By that I mean it’s reasonably sized to be comfortably carried in the field either in a day-pack, shoulder bag, or if you’re built like me, a cargo pocket.  For my “desk guide”  I use the The Sibley Guide to Birds.  The Sibley guides are excellent and go above and beyond simple bird ID by including text on bird behaviors that you may observe.  The wealth of information included in the Sibley books make them a touch prohibitive for use in the field, but they make a great reference to cross check your findings once you are home.

Plants

For plants the books I prefer are a bit specialized and focus on the tallgrass prairies because of my location.  I don’t use an ID book for trees because I was taught those by my Grandpa and Dad growing up.  The prairie book I use is the Falcon guide Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers.  It is broken up by the colors of the flowers rather than my families which makes it nice for beginners.

When it comes to wild edibles I have to go with Sam Thayer’s Foragers Harvest.  I have been lucky enough to meet Mr. Thayer on a couple of occasions through work and the man knows his stuff backwards and forwards.  Mr. Thayer’s books are focused on the Upper Midwest, but a lot of the plants he covers can be found throughout North America.  The layout of the book, the text, and the art work are the best and most concise I’ve ever seen in a book on wild edibles.

Budget Buys

I, like many others in the survival/bushcraft world, tend to be a touch on the frugal side.  So I thought I might take a moment here to endorse some books you can get on a budget.  For a great source of field guides that can easily fit in your back pocket I recommend the small Golden Guide.  There is a Golden Guide for just about every thing you could come across on a hike, day or night such as; insects, birds, trees, flowers, stars, weather, geology, weather, and the list goes on.

One of my favorite desk references, and one of the most important books in my life, is the Reader’s Digest North American Wildlife.  I can remember a copy of this sitting on a shelf in my Grandma’s living room.  I always loved to sit on the floor in front of the kerosene heater on winter evenings after a night of coon hunting and just pouring over the pages.  I think I can safely credit this book with a good portion of my interest in the natural world.

By searching around you can get these guides at very reasonable rates.  If you are a patient lot and as thrifty as I am I recommend setting up an account over at PaperBackSwap.com.  When you set up your account you will get two credits to order books for free; after that you have to mail books out to receive credits (one credit per book).  All you have to do is pay the media mail postage.  You can pay your postage in advance on the site and then print your mailing label with postage right at home.  It isn’t as always as convenient as ordering from an on-line book seller, or going to a local bookstore, but it is low cost and sort of adventurous.  When you set up the wish lists of books you are looking for you receive an e-mail notifying you if one of them has been posted then you just request it and it will be mailed out to you.  You never know when that book you’ve been trying to find will suddenly be within your grasp.

On-line Resources

If you are R-E-A-L-L-Y cheap and aren’t looking to shell out money there are a wealth of websites out there that are very useful for plant and animal ID.  This is all the better you you are tech savvy and have an internet capable phone.  Below you will find a list of my preferred websites and a terse description of what you can find there.

Animal Diversity Web is a excellent source put together from reaserch done by students at the University of Michigan.  Lots of in-depth information no all aspects of the ecological niche’s that animals hold.

eNature is a loss scholarly website geared more towards the layperson interested in animals in there area.  At eNature you can search plants and animals that can appear in your zipcode.  

All About Birds is one of my favorite websites, largely because I love to identify birds.  All About Birds is run by the prestigious Cornell Lab of Ornithology so you can count on the validity of the information you will glean from there site.

American Mushrooms is a site maintained by mycologist an author, David Fischer.   The site has ton of rich photography an text on every fungi imaginable.  Mr. Fischer has also been very good about IDing photos of fungi that I have sent him via e-mail, which is listed on the site.

Kansas Wildflowers is a great place to ID a lot of grasses, flowers and trees, even if you are not from Kansas.  Most of the plants listed on the site occur in my native state of Iowa, and there for can be found across a wide expanse of the Midwest. The site is affiliated with Kansas State University.

Insect Identification is a site I just stumbled across in writing this post.  I had been using a different site for a few years, but i always found it a bit cumbersome to navigate.  In the brief while that I have been looking over Insect Identification it seems that a lot of the problems with my old standby have been worked out.  I am happy about this...

The Importance of Field Notes

When I go hiking I don’t like to carry a ton of ID books with me because of the added weight.  If I carry any ID books at all it will usually be my bird book, or maybe my wild edibles book if I’m on a foraging expedition for new food stuffs.  Instead of carrying a book to ID each new thing I may come across I have taken to carrying a couple of small notebooks that I use for sketching and note taking.  I have found that this technique has greatly improved my powers of observation when traversing the wilds.  

I carry a small Moleskin notebook and pen in my shirt pocket where ever I go.  All day, every day.  Lot’s of important people have done so,  just look here. Then in my satchel (It’s a satchel, not a purse.  Indiana Jones carries a satchel.) I carry and unlined hardcover notebook that I picked up at a local art supply store.  It has a small elastic strap you hold it shut, and a loop on the side where I keep my pencil.

In addition to my satchel notebook I carry an inexpensive set of water colors.  I started out with a set marketed towards children and I had really good luck with it, like this Belted kingfisher.  I purchased my first set of water colors at the lowest possible price for fear I would royally suck at it.   I have since purchased a nicer, yet still modestly priced set of water colors from a company called Reeves.  This kit was appealing to be because of the nice mix of colors it has and it had white, which I have found to be useful for blending and muting colors, etc.

To demonstrate some of the different ways I use field sketches and notes I have included a few of the things I have done over the last few years.  Each sketch was selected to highlight different mediums and different attributes to look for when sketching.

Sketch 1:Pencil Sketch of Bird

I was leading a hike in western Iowa for a group of grade schoolers focusing on Lewis & Clark and the journals they kept when an unidentified bird lit into the top of a nearby tree.  TEACHABLE MOMENT!!!  I deftly reached into my ever present satchel and grabbed my trusty notebook an whipped up this sketch.  I made notes as to field marks that i knew would probably appear in my bird book back home. I promised the kids I would e-mail their teacher when i knew what it was and we continued on our hike.  Upon returning home I was able to easily identify the bird I saw as a Harris Sparrow.

Harris Sparrow

Sketch 2: Pen Sketch of Hawk Tail

One day while my assistant and I were scouting some areas for potential prescribed fires she spotted an unidentified hawk circling above us. As I stared at the distant hawk through my binoculars (don’t scrimp on your optics, cut cost elsewhere) I looked for an distinguishing markings like the shape and length of the wings and tail, and markings on the birds chest.  What stood out most of all was the hawks tail.  So I sketched it in my Moleskin notebook/planner and sketched it.  I also jotted a note next to the picture that the hawk in question was a “Buteo”.  Buteo’s are soaring hawks that have relatively long wings, and short tails that specialize in hunting over open ground.  The “opposite” of a buteo is an accipiter, which generally have short wings and long tails and specialize in hunting in forest environments.

I bring this up because while the hawk in question had the body type of a buteo, and was soaring high above a grassland the tail was marked with distinctive bands, a trait common among accipiters.  Needless to say I was intrigued.  When I was able to look the bird up I learned it was a buteo that has adapted to forest hunting.  Hence the crossover markings on a buteo body of the Broad Winged Hawk.

Broad Winged Hawk Tail Detail

Sketches 3-4: Pencil and Watercolor Plants

Here, side by side, you can see how adding water colors to a sketch can really make a difference when IDing a plant.  Both drawings were done with a No. 2 pencil with notes pointing to where certain colors appear on the plant.  The drawing on the left is a Prairie Larkspur and the one on the right is Toothed Evening Primrose.

Left:Prairie Larkspur Right:Toothed Evening Primrose

Sketch 5: Pencil and Watercolor Bird

Finally I have included an example of a practice painting I did in my kitchen.  I sat down with my bird book and my paints and chose to do a Black-Throated Blue Warbler.  As with any skill it is important to practice to keep yourself sharp.  It’s not always easy to go birdwatching (i.e. the birds are out when the 11 month old is napping, etc.),  so I cross train.  When I can’t make it out I spend time looking over field guides memorizing characteristics and range maps.

Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Conclusion

I hope that this post will be helpful to beginners and experts by showing just some of the resources out there.  I believe that survival is all about observation, and awareness of your surroundings, and that it is arguably the most important skill to have.  Get guide books you are comfortable with, get a note book and a pencil, start taking notes, and sketching.  Paint a picture of a flower.  You will notice intricacies you never before noticed and I believe it will open your eyes and your heart to a world around you that you may have missed.   I hope that you will share your ideas about field guides that I have missed and that it will open a dialog about perception and awareness as it pertains to bushcraft and survival.

The Other Side of Lost...

Situation Report-Tuesday, Dec. 28th 2010 4:45 PM
Temperature: 22 Deg. F
Substrate:snow/light powder, approximately 2'
Physical description: Female, average build, 5'4", blonde, wearing light blue jacket


Became separated from group of 6 cross country skiers while visiting 300+ acre woodland reserve in urban area...


A while back I was looking for inspiration for a blog topic, so I asked some friends what they'd like to see. Brian  suggested I write about what I do in a normal day in my job.  I got to thinking about how in my job as a naturalist there are no normal days. Which brings to to this post about my Tuesday.

Most of my day was pretty mundane, some program planning, some research, answering phone calls about injured Kestrels, renting out snowshoes, roof raking the nature center in preparation of some freezing rain in the forecast, helped a young couple get over their fear of snakes, the usual 9-to-5 type stuff.

I was wrapping everything up, and stowing away some of the last snowshoes returned at the end of the day when I looked up to see a coworker talking to two other women on the trail that leads to the parking lot.  Sound travels fairly well when it is cold, and the ground is covered with snow so I picked up bits and pieces of the conversation even at close to 100 yards distance.  Something about "She's wearing a blue jacket... on skis... was right in front of me... separated somehow..."

My co-worker came a ways back down the hill and related to me that a family had been out skiing on our trails when one of their daughters became separated from the group and the family, with help of some other hikers were out looking for her.  While my coworker came to tell me this the women she was speaking to turned and went back up the hill towards the parking lot.  I hoped in my truck and headed up the access road that leads from the nature center to the main parking lot and there I saw the two women I had seen before and another woman in a light blue jacket on cross-country skis.

Since I was officially done for the day, and the woman in the blue coat was found, I thought about just continuing on home, but I didn't.  I stopped my truck and walked down and asked "Everybody found now" to which a very worried looking woman replied "No, my daughter is still lost".  Turns out the women in the blue coat was the lost womans sister.  The mother explained that the family, six in all, had been out skiing.  Being of different skiing abilities the group had become spread out on the trail.  The woman who was lost had been somewhere in the middle of the group and it was assumed that she had taken a wrong turn that led her away from the rest of the group.

After a few questions and some clarifications of directions I had a fairly good mental picture of where the group had bee skiing, and a plausible mental scenario as to where the missing women might be. I followed a set of protocol I have developed through personal experience an some training, grabed snowshoes, and took off to where I thought I might find the missing woman. Which brings me to my inspiration for this post...

Coordinating Initial Search & Rescue (S&R Triage)
Am I an expert at S&R?  By no means, no.  I have however done a few, and I learned a lot about what needs to be done initially to get things rolling and hopefully find the person(s) fast because time can be of the essence.

Remain calm and appear confident:
When you find yourself in a situation where you are assisting someone else in searching for a missing person you must at least appear clam and confident.  Whomever you are assisting will likely be on the verge of panic (even if they don't show it).  Your relaxed demeanor will help to calm the people you are assisting.

Establish lines of communication:
It is important to exchange cell numbers (and to find out if the person you are looking for has a phone).  You'd be surprised how many people don't even think to call the persons phone.  Maybe they don't realize they are lost yet and are just having an enjoyable time outdoors.  Don't bother getting everyone numbers, exchange yours with one or two member of the party.  Now you can relay communications with developments as you go along.

While you are exchanging numbers find out what the missing persons name and what they are wearing (ask in the present tense i.e. "What are they wearing?" not "What were they wearing?").  Find out there approximate height, weight, and footwear.  Why foot wear?  If there is a good substrate, and you have tracking skills you can get a pretty good idea of what tracks to look for which can help with your search.

Establish last point of contact:
Find out where the person was last seen if they were part of a group.  You may be able to find their specific tracks and follow them.  DON'T WALK ON THEIR TRACKS!!!  Walk to the side so if you lose the trail you can go back and pick it up.  If they were not part of a group find out if there was a trail they used a lot, or a circuit they liked to follow.  People are creatures of habit.

Start looking:
Spread out, watch for signs, call out the persons name (then stop and listen).  Before you call out give three loud whistles to attract attention.  If the person is just lost and not hurt they should answer back, if they are unable to answer you need to keep your eyes out for parts of a person, not a whole person.  I'm not saying that they are so hurt that the forest will be littered with their parts, I'm saying odds are some of their body will be obstructed from view by trees, shrubs, tops, etc...

With luck you will find someone that simply took a wrong turn, or lost track of time.  They may be in need of first aid of some sort so it is important that you are prepared and know what you are doing.  If you spend much time outdoors it's a good idea to get some formal training in CPR and First AID.  Also keep in mind others when putting together your kit, it may not be you that needs it in a survival situation, but rather someone less skilled or prepared than yourself.

What do you do if you find someone and indeed the worst has happened?  To be honest, I don't know.  Most of the limited training I have received when I was with the U.S.F.S. didn't cover it. We would just radio in our coordinates and wait a plane with a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) to arrive and take over.  In a situation where I was on my own (not part of an agency) I would call 911 before I even thought about contacting the friends or family that asked for my assistance.

Back to the woman I was looking for.  While I was out on the trail my phone rang and it was the womans mother.  The other members of her family returned, unable to find her and she asked if she should contact the police.  I told her that the more people we could get looking, the better.  It was getting colder and we were losing light fast.  If our skier was injured and or unconscious this could get dire fast.  I suggested that the more people we could get in the woods the better.  She decided she would wait a touch longer before contacting them.  She hung up and I continued scanning the floodplain timber and calling the womans name.  A few more minutes passed and my phone rang again.  The missing woman had just called, she was in a neighborhood to the south of the preserve and she had found a woman that was giving her a ride and letting her call her family with her phone.  Happy ending, yeah.

Most of the S&R's I've been involved in. scratch that, ALL the S&R's I have been involved in came about because people were not prepared, well informed or stupid (yes I said stupid).  Needless to say sometimes people get lost, or hurt on accident just no one I have ever had the pleasure of looking for.  So here are a few simple guidelines for staying found so I can go home to my family at a decent hour, and you don't return to yours "bagged and tagged".

1) Whenever possible travel in a group.
2) If you travel alone let someone know where you will be going, and when you will be back. I'm talking specifics, not generalities.  Highlighted trail maps, etc...
3) Learn to read a map.
4) Learn to use a compass.
5) Hope for the best; plan for the worst (make a simple light wait survival kit, learn to use it AND CARRY IT!)
6) When in a group the slowest member of the party always leads. ALWAYS!
7) If you have a cell phone, carry it, and turn it on.
8) If you have a GPS mark waypoints, especially where your car is parked. (Be sure you have extra batteries)
9) Learn CPR/Fist Aid
10) Again, make a simple light weight survival kit. Practice with it and carry it.  If it's too big you'll leave it behind.  The best survival kit you have is between your ears.  Be sure to use it.  Pay attention to your surroundings.  Don't just head to the woods to see how fast you can do the trails, that's what running tracks are for, my opinion I know, but still slow down, enjoy the woods, and pay attention.  If you are paying attention you won't get lost because you'll know where you are.

Any of my readers have experiences with S&R or (heaven forbid) getting lost they'd like to share?  I myself have never been lost, I have however been powerfully confused fro a couple of months (name the movie).

Guest Post from Wood Trekker: A Cheap Alternative to the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe

Today's guest post is from Ross over at Wood Trekker blog.  Ross' blog is currently in my top five favorite blogs to read and I was very excited when I asked him if he would be interested in a guest post and he came back with this.  This post is very timely because I hope to be doing a post about my own personal axe (which is not a Gransfors Bruks).  Enjoy! 


We are all familiar with the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe. It is arguably one of the most popular bushcraft tools, and is the axe of choice for many. One of the reasons why it has become so popular is that it is very compact and easy to carry. It has a head weight of 1.5lb and a handle length of about 20 inches. The big down side of the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe is the price tag. It costs well over $100.00. For many it is worth the price, but not everyone can afford it.


That is why I decided to try to find a lower cost alternative, which would provide a reasonable level of performance. After a lot of searching, I’ve reached the conclusion that there is no production axe other than the Wetterling ones, now also owned by Gransfurs Bruks which come close to the same specifications.


Recently I looked at the Collins Hunter’s Axe, but the quality was too low, and I found the 18 inch handle to be too short. For me, a small axe must have a handle of at least 20 inches. Snow and Nealley makes an axe with an 18 inch handle as well, but since I’ve found that length handle to be too short, I will not be testing it. Besides, the Snow and Nealley is not cheap at all.


Since I was not able to find a low cost production alternative to the Small Forest Axe, I decided to look at old axe heads and see if a particular type can be refurbished. Unfortunately, most old axes are of the full axe type variety, with a head of over 3.5lb. There certainly aren’t enough 1.5lb heads out there for people to start refurbishing them.


I did however luck out during one of my hatchet tests. I tested the Northern Tool 24oz Camp Axe as a hatchet, but noticed that the head was 1.5lb. That was too heavy for a hatchet, but the quality of the head seemed good. That is why I decided to try to do some work to one of them and see if I can easily make a Small Forest Axe substitute from it. I know that not everyone has access to a workshop, expensive tools or specialized skills, so I wanted to get it done with just basic tools.


After some work, the finished product was this:





Specifications:
Manufacturer: Head by Northern Tool + Equipment, Handle by Gransfors Bruks
Axe Head Weights: 1.5 lb
Axe Length: 20 inches
Axe Head Material: Unknown carbon steel
Handle Material: American hickory
Cost: $23.00





Here is how I made it:


I took a Northern Tool 24oz Camp Axe. It cost me $10.00. I used a drill and a chisel to remove the head from the handle. It was very well glued so it took me some time to remove. I then used some sandpaper to remove all of the paint from the head.


One of the things that I noted during my review of the Northern Tool 24oz Camp Axe is that I thought the convex of the cutting edge itself was a bit too thick for my liking. The cheeks of the axe were the right thickness and the head overall had the right proportions, but the last 3/16 of an inch before the cutting edge was a bit thick. I’m sure that for many that thickness would be fine because it makes the edge more durable, but for the high performance axe that I wanted, it was too thick.


I remedied the situation by filing it down a bit. I used a 200 grit 8 inch file to do the job. It took me about 15 minutes of work. I would strongly recommend getting a file if you will be doing any work with cheap axes. It makes the sharpening process much faster, and you can pick one up for about $3.00. I then used a set of sharpening stones to get it sharp enough to cut paper. The thickness with which I ended up was very similar to that of the Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Hatchet, and was noticeably thinner than the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe (right).





Now that the head was ready, it was time to find a handle. I looked high and low for a good 20 inch handle, but could not find one. I eventually decided to just buy a Gransfors Brucks Small Forest Axe handle. They are very hard to find in the US. I found only one store (Country Knives) that carried them, and they were selling them for about $45.00, way too much for the intended goal. In the end, I ended up buying it from a UK site for $13.00.


I bought my handle here. They seem to however be quickly running out of stock. Some other sites where you can find a Gransfors Bruks handle are here, here, and here. Keep in mind that the price will fluctuate depending on the exchange rate. When you are shipping it from over seas make sure to use airmail rather than UPS. If you use UPS, it will cost you over $30.00. It is a waste of money. You may be able to find 20 inch handles by other manufacturers which I am sure will work fine. One good source can be found here.


Now came the time consuming part. I spend about two hours sanding and filing the handle so it would fit well in the axe head. I didn’t use any epoxy on the head itself, but I did use some to secure the wedge into the handle.


When the epoxy was dry, I took the axe into the woods for some testing. My hope was that I had made an axe that would not fall too far behind the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe.

The result was shocking. The axe I made noticeably outperformed the Small Forest Axe. So much so, that I decided to go back to a location where I had done some testing with the Small Forest Axe on a piece of 3.5 inch hickory. The last time I tested it, it took me 60 seconds to chop through it with the Small Forest axe. It took me 45 seconds to go through it with the new axe.


I believe the added performance comes from the thinner grind of the new axe. It is still convexed, but comes very close to the grind of a competition axe. Of course, my worry was that because the edge was thinner, after being used in hard wood, it would dull very quickly. When I came home, I tested it on a piece of paper, and it had no problem cutting through it. That was after going through an 8 inch piece of oak.

The new axe is a bit more likely to stick to the wood than the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe because it has more of a wedge shape, but I did a lot of chopping with it, and it was not a noticeable problem.


The balance of the axe is as good or better than the Gransors Bruks Small Forest Axe.

Other than the drill and chisel I used to remove the head from the old handle, these are all the tools I used to put together this axe: Gorilla glue epoxy, sandpaper, a 200 grit unidirectional grind 8 inch file, a hammer, and a set of sharpening stones.

I made a cheap sheath for it from some canvas material I had around.

The total cost was $23.00 and took me probably about five hours of work time to put together. This is not something that I do all the time, so my skill level is not high, nor did I use any special tools and equipment. The result is a $23.00 axe that can outperform the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe. Try it for yourself and see.

Common Useful Plant Profiles: Common Yarrow

Common Yarrow ( Achillea millefolium L.)

The artwork for today's post is a pencil and watercolor original by JohnnyBurn.

Today's plat profile is Common Yarrow ( Achillea millefolium L.).  Yarrow is another common plant found in yards and in the field.  Yarrow is in the Aster family although the shape of the leaves and their scent I find reminiscent of carrots.  

The two most useful functions of Yarrow that I am familiar with is the use of the leaves as a coagulant, and the use of the flowers and leaves in teas as a diuretic. For staunching the flow of blood from a bad cut in the field, say from your surprisingly sharp hatchet going into your left knee (it happens when you get lazy) yarrow can be very useful.  Simply crush up the leaves and place them beneath your bandage and over the cut.  If you can't get somewhere to get stitches quickly this could be VERY handy.  

For you hunters out there that want to reduce your scent while out trying to put food on the table make a tea from the yarrow plant and drink it while eating organic foods to flush impurities out of your system thereby making your sweat a little less potent.  But be sure to be careful and don't allow yourself to become dehydrated.  DRINK LOTS OF WATER!

Be sure you have safely and confidently identified any plant that you are going to use as an edible or medicinal! Yarrow can be confused with some herbaceous hemlocks.

Now that that has been said grab your favorite guide book and head for the door!

Common Useful Plants Profiles: Common Plantain

Common plantain (Plantago major)

The artwork for today's post is a pencil and watercolor original by JohnnyBurn.

This will hopefully be the first in a series on wild edible and medicinal plants that are commonly found in your yard.  It is important in bushcraft to keep your skills sharp, after all skills are what it's all about.  We can't always make it to the "real" wilderness as much as we would like so it's a good idea to practice when and where you can.  Back yards, city parks, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera are great places to get out in the evening after work with your family and do a little exploring, and that is what this series will hopefully encourage you to do.


The first plant in the series is Common plantain  (Plantago major).  It grows in disturbed areas and is a super easy edible/medicinal to identify.  It is also a non-native and invasive plant so you you shouldn't feel bad about eating every one you see.  Plantain is best eaten when the leaves are small in the spring.  They are edible all year, but they are more palatable early on. As the growing season progresses the leaves of plantain become bitter and the conspicuous "veins" on the plants leaves become pretty stringy. I would liken the taste of plantain to spinach.  


For it's medicinal value plantain works wonders on cuts and scrapes when antibiotic ointments are not available.  I have had great luck preventing some pretty nasty cuts from getting infected by applying chewed up plantain leaves to them.  One cut in particular required 7 stitches.  I was smart enough to remove the plantain leaves BEFORE I got to the E.R. though.  I'm sure some questions would have been raised.  


On a separate occasion I received two equal sized scratches from a thorn on a Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) and decided to do a little experiment.  I applied a chewed up plantain leaf to one scratch and held it in place with a bandanna, the other scratch I simply covered with a bandanna.  The scratch that I applied the plantain to did not become infected, heeled days sooner, and left no scar.  If you've ever gotten into Prickly ash you can attest to the fact that the scratches ALWAYS get infected (not gangrene mind you, but pink and warm to the touch). I know it's not the most scientific experiment, but it's good enough for me.


So, to make a short story long.  Get a good ID book head out the door and find Common plantain before it's covered with snow.  Let me know how your explorations go, and if you turn up any thing you had missed before!

Deer Camp 2010

THis is a video of the deer I took this year during Iowa's early muzzleloader season in October. The shot was made at about 25 yards with a .50 caliber flintlock Blue Ridge rifle firing a round ball pushed by 90 grains of Fffg black powder. The shot was a complete pass through, from one end of the buck to the other. Until this deer I had only gotten one other buck, and that was 20 years ago. The spot I was standing when I took this buck was less than 20 yards from where I took the first one. This spot is one of the best producing spots on the family farm. So much so that has earned the moniker "The Pooching Rock" because standing here almost makes it too easy.