There aren't nearly enough sunny days out here to only go out when it's nice. All that rain sure does make you appreciate the sunshine when it does show up though.
Those days at Fort Lewis kinda freaked me out . Freezing rain mixed with snow in late August ... and then the temps would rise 15 degrees in one hour . North east of Tenino and reminded me of Laos 1972 ... only way colder . Totally unpredictable weather .
This environment will definitely keep you on your toes. I like to practice doing more with less, but I always have a full kit with me in the woods with all the shelter, rain gear, insulation, and fire making gear it would take to stay out for a few days if the unexpected happened. This place will kill you if you're not prepared.
I've heard other people describe these forests as spooky before too. I grew up playing in them so it's very normal to me, but I can see why it would be striking to people that didn't. There's nothing better than fresh caught seafood! I guess I'm in the minority as I'm definitely familiar with squid jigs and getting ink all over yourself pulling them up. 😀 Unfortunately, I haven't had fresh mussels in years. I spend a fair amount of time camping on the northern Washington coast every year and there are so many mussels, but we've been under a perpetual red tide warning for at least the last five years. I'm starting to wonder if they're actually testing them, or if they're trying to close the harvest without pissing too many people off.
Phenomenal, just phenomenal.... this is so incredible! Why don’t you quit working with wood, just use a block of frozen water - I’m pretty sure you will get an amber out of it. LOL 👍👍👍
That was genius. I have done the end fiber bow drill hearth board before after seeing David West share that method. However I had never thought to do the end grain hearth while it is still on the stump. That is genius. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Lonnie! My buddy Ken put out a video last year that was the inspiration for this. He used an old pre-cut stump. I made a few tweaks, but I got the basic idea from him. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iu3f8TZnQ1k.html
this is insanely crazy, no one else would have thought of doing this, LOL, even after the piece broke off drops of rain can be seen hitting the catch piece and still got a coal and flame , loved it :)
Outstanding brother Your skills are second to none,will have to try this when opportunity presents itself. That dry inner wood of dead standing timber saves the day in many cases. Bill
Thanks Bill! 🙂 I'm not sure if you're familiar with Lonnie from Far North Bushcraft and Survival here on RU-vid, but he noticed that this had potential as a solution for very deep snow, and would probably work even better in that role because the snow pack would let you get up higher and drier on the trunk. I hope you do get a chance to play with this and will watch for a video from you. Let me know how it goes if you don't end up posting about it. 👍
NW Primate Yes I'm familiar with Lonnie,very nice guy and excellent skill set as well. If I do a video on this I'll give you credit and post a link to your video. Thanks again brother
Wow! That was really fantastic work! What was the elapsed time that it took? I held my breath from the moment the hearth began to split out... I thought you were through but you made it happen. In the rain to boot...impressive!
Thanks mrmalinois! I checked the timestamps on the photos I took for a post about this on BCUSA, and it was about 45 minutes from picking the tree to getting flames. Dealing with the camera definitely slows things down, so I imagine it would be a bit quicker if I weren't filming.
I can hear it raining, your soaking wet, and you start a fire on a stump! Incredible. This maybe a stupid question, but is that sapling green or dead? Thanks for the instruction.
Thanks Gary! That's not a stupid question at all, and is something that a friend of mine brought up after seeing the video too. This tree was broken by snowfall last winter, and was dead, but it is hard to tell for how long. It definitely had some green wood properties to it and quite a bit of moisture content, so I could have probably found a better candidate. However, after this I'm now curious if I can get these firs to produce an ember from a live tree. It's a long shot, but it sounds like a fun afternoon.
NW Primate that would be a great video. An embar from a live tree. I've always wondered is it possible. Do you have any spruce out there? I made a spindle from an old spruce fence rail from an abandoned farm from the 60's. I haven't tried it yet but I was wondering you thought about spruce as a material.
I believe that it is possible. I have managed to get an ember from a live tree during the summer by drying the set in the sun for a few hours. I wasn't filming the whole process back then, but here's a video of the ember forming. You can see the green leaves still on the hearth. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yeWm6rwhDhc.html Pulling that off this time of year without the benefit of drying will be a lot more difficult, but at least worth a shot. As for the spruce, I have used it on the coast and it seemed to work well. I would say your fence material is probably worth trying.
NW Primate, I looked at the fense material as something of a resource in an given area if it was survival situation. Maybe it's cheating in a way but it certainly there, and if one as in that position I certainly would try to use that first. Thanks for the link. Looking forward to more time getting my first ember with a bow drill. I'm close!!!!!
This is wonderful, the wet boots and the raindrop hitting the slat was the clincher. I think a codicil may be in order however, as I think this takes so long that it wouldn't work for someone who had fallen in a cold river. The only reason I say that is there were several sections using the speed up techniques. So how long did all this actually take? I just subscribed but I'm already a fan.
Thanks Thomas! You bring up a great point. I sure wouldn't want to rely on this after falling into a cold river. I play with these techniques almost every day, and have gotten pretty reliable with friction fire, but I still always carry lighters, ferro rods, and plenty of petroleum jelly cottonballs for emergencies. This took almost an hour from cutting the tree to getting flames, and I didn't even prep beyond the tinder bundle stage. Filming slows things down a bit, but I always plan for friction fire from scratch to take at least an hour, and can't imagine how difficult it would be to do in the beginning stages of hypothermia. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
Ok, guess I'll have to make an attempt with this method of fire Edit: the friction fire, not the green wood in the rain method. I'll save that for later filed under incase of extreme emergency
Thanks WAGONJON ... this tree was a small fir. There are two firs in my area that I have trouble distinguishing when they are young, so this was either Pacific Silver Fir or Grand Fir. The bearing block was fatwood and the cordage was a split western red cedar root.
