In this episode of the Squared Away series, I’m going to go over some awesome survival tools and techniques I’ve learned, and do a little review on the Cyalume Red chemlights.
The Try Stick
The Try Stick is a simple bushcrafters tool for practicing skills. Is free, effective, and great for learning how to do something before you actually need that skill. I used notches from Dave Canterbury’s book, Bushcraft 101. There are four basic notches featured in the book: The tent stake notch, the log cabin notch, the V notch, and the bail/pot hanger notch.
The Two Minute Shelter
The two minute shelter is this awesome trick I learned from the “Corporals Corner” YouTube channel, and I decided I HAD to implement it in my gear. It combines a pair of Prusik knots, a bowline, and some awesome rope magic. Theres two MASSIVE upsides to this shelter setup: it’s fast and easy to put up, and it’s fast and easy to take down. So if you’re caught in bad weather, you can throw up your shelter in seconds, and if you need to pack up the essentials quick, you just pull on quick releases and you’re good to go. I can’t explain the process very well in a text format, so I’m just going to link straight to the Corporal himself, and let him show you how it’s done:
Basket Weaving
This was a really cool project, another one out of Dave Canterbury’s books. I’m going to be completely honest, I think the basket I made is hideous, but it does get the job done. This is a quintessential bushcraft project in it’s own right, and I decided to learn how to do it. I chose to make mine out of Jute Twine, so it’s a soft basket that can fold up into my kit. This takes a lot of work and burns up a lot of cordage too, so be prepared for that. You can find some really good instructions in Dave Canterbury’s “Advanced Bushcraft”. I’ll definitely be coming back to this skillset down the road.
Chemlight Testing
So, I picked up the Cyalume series of Chemlights a while back for use in my various outdoor misadventures. The brand came pretty highly recommendend, and for some of the available colors, you’re getting some pretty good stuff. This time around, I wanted to use the red ones, as I’d heard they were the best for night time use. I’ve gotta say, I was pretty disappointed. The red chemlights are really, really, really dim. I’m talking, you’ve gotta be three or four inches away from what you’re using type dim. I was struggling to find my way through my own house efficiently, and I would absolutely never try and use the red ones out in the woods. I have previously used other colors to good effect.
Drying Mint (Update)
So, I’ve been working on drying out some cuttings from my mint plants, and I’ve learned some very important things. First, When I’m cutting, I need to leave at least two leaves on the stem that I’m cutting off of. Without two leaves, the stem will die, and leave a large foliage gap in my plant. Second, I need to leave the plants to dry twice as long as I thought. Turns out if there’s any moisture left in the plant, you’ll have a very green tasting tea.
So there’s this weeks update! I’ve got to give out a massive shoutout to Corporals Corner for his awesome videos, they’ve really been keeping me sane over the past week.
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