Testing Rope Techniques While Scouting For Fatwood 

I helped my grandfather drag the entire heart of some ancient forest pine out of the woods with a tractor one weekend when I was a kid. Fast forward about 35 years later my father my self and my uncle are still lighting our heaters with it! I remember my grandpa getting so excited when we were dragging it out and me not understanding why. Now I know! Grandpa knew exactly what he had! Enjoyed the video Dave!

Those that have never had their feet fly out from under them while navigating down a hill covered in pine straw will never understand…Thanks for another fun video. I always learn something new here.

I just want to say thank you for the wonderful videos. My uncle who recently passed away turned me on to your channel. When I watch your channel I can still hear him talking and laughing.

This reminds me of the video where you built a rope nest up a tree so you could sleep without fear of snakes or stray dogs. So many years later and I still learn something from every video.

Points camera towards forest: "There's a tree." Love you Dave, appreciate the videos - haven't had time to watch lately! Hope spring is treating you! :)

Heartwood comes from the species of many different trees, where as Fatwood being the Heartwood from pine trees. They both are extremely flammable, yet the Fatwood takes a spark MUCH easier than the Heartwood of other species. Great video! Love seeing more of your new climbing gear in use. Thank you, Dave. Enjoy your weeks end & stay lifted...!

I'm loving the new area. It's so darn pretty. I bet it'll be amazing during the summer. Your sense of humor is great. I cracked up when you said you wouldn't discuss how the camera got down the hill. Thank you for another grand adventure. Have a fab weekend. -Hollie

Attack of the giant termite's look out bigmonkey great video great new gadgets and was that your brother on the camera ha ha peace and love from 1 leg uk England

Great spot looking forward to seeing your harvest!

Nice find. You got all the toys. Always fun watching you.

Hi Dave! Looks like a real spot for fatwood harvesting. I am not well schooled on climbing equipment, so this was fresh territory for me. Interesting!

I'm thinking about leaving this country (the netherlands) bc we simply have NO forest to scout in, or do any form of bushcrafting. Every piece of this little country is owned or protected. I lived in Germany for 15 years, in the woods, wish I never left but I had to cause the kids needed to go to school. Now they are independent I seriously feel I have to go back to nature. Love you're video's Dave ♥

Watching your videos is always an adventure! 😉 Always learning something 😊 Thanks once again for sharing & filming your experiences ☺️

When you break out that rope reminds me of that movie " Where Eagles Dare" Wonderful kit. @ 9:25 in the video, is the point where if i came across someone in all that gear, i would of been like that Old Geezer in band of brothers riding his Bike when they doing exercise through the village and says to Winters ..."You've done it now Yanks, you've captured me! "....I think it is awesome how you teach people to be confident, and try it

I have a ton of stuff to do but just saw Dave posted another video so that stuff has to wait! Thanks for another one!

“Getting to where you want to be” metaphors for life by Dave. Brother. Great video. Nice Fatwood find. Love the climbing segments

Straight ninja on this one Dave 🐸🍺🔪🔥

Great Video, thanks for bringing US along!

Mmm...love me some climbing Dave. Great video my friend. I appreciate all you do.

Thanks for taking us long. I enjoy relaxing with one of your videos after dinner. Stay safe and watch out for wild kitties.

Fab video as always, compulsive viewing, and wow that accent just slays me!…. Your videos are an escape from a boring routine world….thanks and keep up the good work…

hi, with gas fuel and food shortages are in America so bushcraft is needed😎😎😎😎😎😎after twenty years as a military contractor after a stroke it's even harder but I do enjoy your time here you do a great job of describing things

Good morning, Dave

Great video as always Dave! Man, that's some sweet climbing gear that you have there too. And much safer for us "seasoned" folks on those steep hills as well ;) That Vaude pack that you have is definitely a great piece of gear... I have one that's almost identical and absolutely love it. Glad that you were able to score a bit of fatwood on your outing... best natural firestarter there is IMHO 👍 Until next time... take good care my Brother!

It's always a pleasure watching your videos, my regards to Nick 😊 Gunter

I grew up in GA and my friends and I 'loved' those steep red clay dirt & mud hillsides, great for playing on and sliding down; but, i'd be afraid of a journey like that now. 😂 Thanks Dave 😊

Excellent work, brother!

Good stuff brother! Fat wood it's gold!😊

I do love fatwood hunting! I go chopping into every Doug fir stump I can find! I probably look crazy jumping around our woods hacking into stumps with my Gransfors Brux small forest axe! Great info and demo of your great climbing gear! Love the 73 sticker on your helmet. Thanks for sharing with us Dave!

Tis my birthday tomorrow, i will be 21 Agin plus the other 33 years that flew by, so, gonna warm up, Big Love from the UK 😘

Thank you for a MOST EXCELLENT film. I now know an enormous amount more than I knew about climbing and climbing gear. Enough to know I should stay off steep hills in the forest. Someone commented about how slick pine straw can be. He should try some of our grass covered hills here in California in summer when it’s dry. That was some nice fatwood, well worth several hours of harvesting and hauling out. Beautiful! Thanks for another time well spent watching video.!

YIPEE!! A RBM1 video to.start my day!!

I don’t even like the idea of using a rope and other hardware to climb, I’d stay put, but seeing your enthusiasm and fun as you point out towards the end of your film is a great to watch. Very informative and you can appreciate the effort you have put in, literally you being out of breath. Great job David, I look forward to you and Nick visiting that place again in the future, harvesting the spoils and thwarting the giant termites, I can’t wait 👍

That was a great advemture Dave. Thanks for taking us along.i love the rappeling and rope work videos.

I love hunting for fat-wood. Your nose lets you know when you've struck gold. Found a 3 foot diameter white pine trunk on an island in the UP (Michigan) that had gone down at least a century ago and the roots were pure gold.

You never cease to amaze me with your content!

Really Enjoyed Your Shared Tips Davey ! Loads Of That Gold ! Had A Coffee For Ya's ! Hay Nick ! ATB T God Bless

I can tell you are genX. Every time you do anything slightly dangerous, where you realize you shouldn't be by yourself while trying it out just in case something goes wrong, you do it anyway with the "I'm here anyway, I might as well do it, what's the worst that could happen". Attitude.

Excellent work Dave and congratulations for finding a life supply of fat wood ❤cheers mate from sunny England

Man, I really enjoyed this! Always better to be safe. Now that I’m older with some physical limitations I am very cautious when it comes to hills cause I am usually alone. Nature is a wonder and also mysterious. Their have been many encounters. But I really enjoy being out in the bush, I’ll be going out very soon and I will be scouting for fat wood. Putting my kit together today. Thanks again Dave for a great video!

Very cool video Dave! Thanks for sharing with us the gear and process of how you propel. It's very interesting. Not sure I could do that, but a great skill to learn and know, especially for emergency and rescue. I know what it's like having to move the camera numerous times and the extra walking back and forth while making videos, I can't imagine how much more it is when you're propelling up-and-down LOL. And I did learn! I am always learning and will never stop. Nice fatwood too! I would be nervous with a big cat nearby too. I love the outdoors but I'm afraid of everything! Those ascenders are so cool and I think would be a must for climbing. Again great video! Take care Dave and see you on the next one!🙂

We always called it lightered wood or light wood pine. Thanks for another great video.

What a cool find, all those downed trees untouched! That's gonna be a heavy load out when you go back. Mountain lions scare me more than black bears tho. Great video good gear showcase!

Looks like a great place to find fat wood. Nice new equipment Dave. Just one safety tip, don’t touch the safety locks with the teeth that grip the rope. They will slide up if used correctly. Check out a frog system rope climbing setup. Have a nice weekend!

Dave one of the days I want to here a little bit about how you came to know about bushcraft and learned the skill. Kind of a biography about yourself. I think that would be a really cool video.

That is pretty awesome. All of that gear has always fascinated me. I can see where it would be easier with the foot loops, which you did not need there. With the foot loops the line would be taut and you, I guess, could then use the ascenders without having to fiddle with the release. I assume the hand holds would just slide on up the line. But, what do I know, I have never seen one in person and don't know squat about climbing. In the Marines we did repelling but all of that was pre-rigged. They just strapped you in and kicked you over the side....repell or stay there. Good stuff as usual Dave. Take care my friend.

👍👍 Thanks Dave and God bless 🙏✌️

Love watching you have fun!

Great job on the video Dave

Thanks for The Extra efforts in filming that...Very Intresting, Im 60. Thanks 😎

The whole entire core of those trees is also probably full of fatwood, on trees that are laying downhill the resin also runs downhill so it could be at the top of the tree if its laying downhill. Gotta love that fatwood! Thanks for showing!

Might have been difficult to film Dave but we really enjoyed it. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I don’t think you should ever say we might not learn anything from a certain video because you always teach us something! I was wondering if you could get into a rhythm of unlocking one side and moving one foot, then locking it then do the other side, back and forth somewhat like the motion of cross country skiing. Thanks for a great video and I can imagine the logistics of filming it!

You did well filming that on your own Dave, need Nick on the camera next time you go back.

Cool climbing rig🔥

I don't know beans about rappelling, so this video was a good primer. Thanks for taking us along with you to the Fat Wood Mine. There's so much fat wood down there that you can make fire starting sticks to give for Christmas gifts. Just a thought. Who wouldn't want a bundle of fat wood to get a wood stove or fire place started, right?

Fun in the wood's lol. 👊💀

Morning Dave how r u doing .. thank u for this info. Climbing has always interested me . N I probably should take some courses this year. Cause u never know when u may need to use this. Dave ur just full of knowledge I do learn something always. Thank u .. I would love to harvest my own fatwood I always buy boxes of it n the quality is ehhh ok some pieces are ok but most isn't. My buddy at work is gonna let me use his land this spring n summer to get out n have fun . The more this snow melts the happier I get. Thanks again Dave hope u have a great day..

Dave, you are simply the best.

Respect 🙏. Great video. Lots of effort put forth to demonstrate and teach useful techniques. Very relatable and much appreciated..Thanks!!

Wow, Dave! I forgot you have climbing skills too! I appreciate the effort it took to film this. I’m sure it was a beast! I hope you get a rich harvest of fat wood for all that work.

That's a nice set up. Reminds me of a climber that fell into a crevasse in Alaska. He badly messed up a shoulder so, had to jumar out with one hand. Once out he prayed not to fall in another crevasse as he tried to make it back home.

Great fun video, Dave! You can really crack me up sometimes with your sense of humor. I have a lot of pines around here and a woods with lots of down ones so I know what to look for now. I hope you slept good after doing all of that and after work on top of it! I woke up thinking only one more day until Happy Dave Day and here you were on today! Stay safe. Stay healthy. God bless. :)

Dave, sorry it took so long to get to your video. I like the new rappelling gear! Looks like you got a nice bit of fatwood there! Find ya a spot where that waterway meets up with another one....look for gametrails, set up that bigfoot blind ya made and watch the wildlife! Even better, on the side of a mountain where a freshwater spring comes out with a game trail by it.

Excellent Video, Thanks Brother😁

Where I camp it's handy to have some rope just in case, particularly in winter when there's snow and ice. Some years ago we were scouting an area, I laid my walking stick down and it flew over a cliff. I was pissed as I had just made it and stupidly hadn't put a lanyard on it yet. I marked the spot with my GPS and came back the next weekend with rope. I rappelled down about 50 feet, landed nearly on top of the stick! I used prusiks to climb back up, it's actually easier to do since the rope is taut but it's still a workout. Love your videos!

As a lifelong woodsbum trapper, I have built many many unplanned get warm and dry out fires. I would have froze to death if I couldn't start a fire without "fatwood"

Great video, Dave. Keep on being safe and don't worry about what the KIA's have to say. KIA stands for Know It All's.

Awesome information super Dave!

I spent 30 years as a firefighter we did rescue from highs we all set up our a little different i use to put both my ascenders on the same line and used the lower one as a way of holding the line and as a safety the way your doing it is plenty safe and fits your needs so i say go for it and as far as steepness of the hill if it slippery you are better off roped up then sliding down the hill and spraining you ankle or worse another outstanding video

Great video! Filled with good information. It looks like you found fatwood heaven. You will probably get back there and collect more fatwood that you can use in your lifetime. Nick will be set for a long time. Looking forward to the next video at this site.

It's actually very cool that you have some climbing equipment to show us. Coincidentally the new property I moved onto has a real steep section of hill behind the house. I made it up there once unassisted but I'm almost not sure how I made it back down! I'd be better off getting a few pieces of gear to help me out next time I go exploring. Great to see you still out doing your thing, always fun!

Awesome video Dave thank you

Some folks say there are two things certain in life; death and taxes. I am of the opinion that there is a third; gravity. A thick layer of dead pine needles will definitely aid in your descent if you are not careful. You have a lighter knot (fat wood) rich environment there. Very cool. Enjoyed as usual. Thanks, Dave.

Good skill to have. I've gotten myself in some sticky situ's in my travels. If i hadn't known how to repel etc we would've been in real trouble. Certain places in the world don't have highways or roads at all really. Lol

Great work ...very informative!!!!

Nice vlogging Dave! Stay safe.

Great video thank you for your time and great information see you on the next one 🇺🇲🇺🇲

Great video as usual! Thanks!

You've found a real treasure there, but it's difficult to reach (in a video it usually looks less steep than it actually is). It might be easier to get there if you bring an old ladder and put it on the slope. And as for the giant black cat, be careful

You've just strike gold mate.! We will be looking forward to your next expedition to the gold site. Hopefully Nick will be there too. Make it a find fatwood & coffee vid. Our girls are climbing expert, they say you're doing it the hard way, as they found quite amusing. Cheers from Australia.

Good video and nice find Dave , thanks for sharing YAH bless brother !

Good Evening Dave ! Very informative. Thank You. TAKE CARE..

Well done Dave. 😁👍🏼

Great video !!

Excellent explanation of how to.. Love your videos

Hi Save i have so much fatwood its unbelievable how much ihave a 25 litre drum full of it my local woods is a pinewood in the middle is a ring of stones probably a few thousand years old ill be in my hammock up there this w/end camping i love the outdoors...

Excellent video, more rope climbing and decending videos!!!

Awesome job and thanks

Thanks for another outstanding video. I sure do look forward to and enjoy them. Good idea on using the rope to go up and down the slope. Hadn't dawned on me to do that, but I am from now on

Dave, was definitely a awesome Video unfortunately don't know lots about climbing! But learning. Enjoy your weekend.

Great video dave keep um coming brother!!

I used similar equipment when I was on our county search & rescue team to do pretty much what you just did, safely get up and down a steep hill. Our ascenders did not require us to release them each time we push up though. I would try that out with yours. Just hold the rope and try sliding the ascender up. It may be that yours have some extra safety feature that prevents that, but its worth a try. Makes for a faster climb. Anyway, another great video. I wish we had fatwood in abundance like that up here!

Great spot for shoppin and choppin, Dave. If ya'll can't get a decent pile of fatwood out of there, might as well give up looking. I've never had a chance to use climbing gear like that, just wrap the rope around your backside and strong grip. And yes, I've had many unscheduled impromptu sit downs, and even a couple of slips and loose everything. That fets you to the bottom of a hill quicker. Not as much fun !!! Be looking forward to ya'lls return trip. God bless ya'll brother. Ya'll stay safe out there on your adventures..

No, let’s discuss how the camera got to the bottom….😘 There’s fat wood in them thar hills! Yes, collect as much as you can, and perhaps offer some of it to your subscribers. Have a great weekend.✌️🇺🇸 PS: I don’t think you have to unlock the clip every time you push it up the rope, I think you can push it up the rope, then it locks as you pull yourself up……. I think.

Ropework is more fun in the woods than I ever wanted to have. This takes plenty of equipment and time to get into and out of.

Very cool!!

Awesome video Dave. Tennessee

Hey Dave, nice climbing gear. I'm afraid I would be dangling off the side of the hill, tied up in knots!😆 Looks like you found a great gold mine of fatwood there. That would be fun to try the gear on steep hills. Cool stuff!

I Have gone slipping and Sliding down the Hill before Was Not All that Fun . Buddy's at the Time Cracked up. That was about When I was 20 years old. Back then we just used a Rope Tied to The waist Around the tree and down the hill we would Go . You're doing it The Best Ways for the needs you have!