another overnighter: blueberry camp of tears.

[JV3]

i've been laying low and out of the woods since the insane summer heat we had but now it's perfect overnighter weather for me again...sold off most of my ground setup during the summer and i'm very close to a 4-season hammock setup.

the latest addition towards that goal is this loco libre 30° f 850 fill wide top quilt. the forecast was a low of 35° f so i also brought along a loco libre 50° f top quilt to layer just in case i got too cold but i never needed it even though we hit a low of 27° f...this brand gets a two thumbs up from me! next is a 0° f top quilt and that should round out my sleep setup.

i came back from setting up my shelter and next thing i know someone was eating my blueberry pop-tart (cough...parker...cough)...the crime scene photo...the pain was almost unbearable to say the least but i managed to hold back the tears.

...and distracted myself by doing a saw-off! bob dustrude quick buck saw with a 21" blade vs. silky big boy with a 14.20" blade. their weight is practically the same with a ~$10 price difference.

it was a blowout! within the first 10 seconds i already knew the silky won...cuts much faster, much quieter, and less vibration in the hand...the only advantage the quick buck saw has is since it's a full frame it's bulletproof.

the 3 of us tried the silky and knowing full well it's a pull-only saw still managed to curve the blade ever so slightly on the push stroke once per person - it's that super sensitive. it was so minor there's definitely no blade damage but that's definitely a huge downside when you're not 100% focused. with that said, i think it'll replace my quick buck saw as my overnighter saw from now on though!

i was smiling the whole time i was sawing through this log with the silky - it was that effortless and fast.

it's easy to do an undercut too for when the blade binds when cutting on top.

with the frameless design i couldn't find an angle that was too awkward for it.

like dragging a dead body!

 

[JV3]

bearthedog's the hidden woodsmen camp chair.

baby potatoes directly on the coals.

...with cheese and bacon bits on top.

next morning.

i finally found out why my gear always smells funky after every overnighter with bearthedog!

i always see shugemery with this brand of coffee so i decided to try it.

breaking-in my new kuksa...thanks ruben! i'm not a coffee snob so for me it does taste good.

only fixed blade i brought which was used mainly for food prep.

five guys burgers to end the trip

 

[bearthedog]

Blueberry Tears Camp (27 F)-Hidden Woodsmen- Harriman State Park, New York

It’s good to be back camping with a group after a long time. This camp was in New York, full of cold weather, friends, food and some tears!

To start the trip off, I left my camera at home and was forced to use my cell phone camera, which was terrible at taking photos. Probably the worst photo quality I’ve ever seen from a phone. I thought it was in the bellows part of my pack, but it wasn’t. I had to make lemonade.

We met Keith and his two kids, Parker and Madison for a quick hike on the trail where we’d make a camp for the night. There was food, like always and one blueberry Pop Tart thief.





The woods were dry, but there was still enough water



I used a downed tree as my bedroom wall…I made a wooden nail to hang my pack.





Food Cache



There they are…Blueberry Pop Tarts

When Jay wasn’t aware, Parker helped himself to the Blueberry Pop Tarts Jay had longed for…and there were hurt feelings. Jay went to go “use his saw,” but legend says…he went to cry!






I made a quick suspension rig for boiling out of wire…



No real noticeable poplar bark or good birch to use as tinder, so I had to make my own tinder. Swiss Army Knives can slice thin curls that will take a spark easily.



Time to heat up the frying rock.



Fun with nails and wire

Quick down and dirty pot hanger out of scrap wood.



Nail pot hooks and wire suspension…







Quick snack









Hidden Woodsman Stool Project





Tools



Jay likes to open his mail around the camp fire…in many layers of clothing.



Steak for Keith and the kids…



Jay and I had baked potatoes with cheese and bacon…



The kid on the rock grill!





Coal baked taters…





Nighttime lows were about 25F-27F



Morning Spam



Cheese fried cracker









Celebratory Cider!

 

[schmittie]

You guys always look like you have fun

Thanks for sharing the great pics. Sorry about the 'tarts J. Lol

 

[TheMadIndian]

Geez no honorable mention for the 21" sven saw, I admitted defeat, even though its been used heavily since spring JK that silky bigboy was impressive, I'll be its dead body dragger any day

Here's my view of the trip ;-)

Showing off some fire craft skills and his tripwire I mean cooking wire

Making 1st snack and getting the coals ready for 1st dinner

Between the kids cooking spam and boiling potatoes and the guys having potatoes buried, boiling water and so on I with no available rock or grate improvised to get my steak cooking broke out the BOB and whittled me a steak stick and a Y brace

Turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself

Well at least the kids saved me a few mini potatoes

I just ate them, I didn't get as fancy as they did and mash them up and mix in bacon, shredded cheese and spam

I'm breaking a cardinal rule, "what happens at the creek at night stays at the creek" --- we really should've stocked up in the light

2nd dinner, got a new Y stick and wrapped it in tinfoil and cooked my perdue Italian chicken chunks to make chicken, cheese and bacon tortilla wraps (it was good)

The look of the camp when the temp hit 28F

Time for 2nd snack!! Baked potatoes, cheese and bacon

My too lazy to get out of the hammock are the kids awake check

Well one of them was... clearly bearthedog isn't ... anymore

Bearthedog's discovery while exploring

Things heard around camp... "This is the only fixed blade I brought" "My fixed blade is in my bag I haven't needed it" "I don't have a fixed blade and don't miss it" and I'm over here like I've got my knife for heavy wood work, my food knife, my two finer work knives and my edc. Hopefully my kids and the guys let me stay around even thought I'm toting all these fixed blades...

 

[cchu518]

Great photos JV as always. I was looking for the whistlepig photos though! [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[JV3]

Things heard around camp... "This is the only fixed blade I brought"

for a few secs i did regret not bringing something more substantial after i heard those early morning gunshots...something about bringing a knife to a gun fight, hehe.

You guys always look like you have fun

Thanks for sharing the great pics. Sorry about the 'tarts J. Lol

thanks! still recovering from that traumatic event but i'll recover!

Great photos JV as always. I was looking for the whistlepig photos though! [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

thanks!

 

[Woods Walker]

Nice gear!

 

[bearthedog]

Keith,
Good post buddy. I've been out of the loop and communication lately.
I liked your foil grill and that steak looked like a true "caveman" dinner.
Lets do it again soon buddy.

-RB

 

[TheMadIndian]

Keith,
Good post buddy. I've been out of the loop and communication lately.
I liked your foil grill and that steak looked like a true "caveman" dinner.
Lets do it again soon buddy.

-RB

Yea man got to get a December trip planned!! I was out last weekend with the local Venture crew as a supervisor and they wanted to learn orientation. So me and one of the other supervisors made a land nav course, taught the scouts pace count, orienting a map and yourself and taking bearings and distance on the map. We sent them out to collect 5 targets, they all came back. (we followed the teams to make they were ok) it was fun to see how hills messed with their pace counts and we could see them looking around for where they thought things should be. We were going to tape chem lights to trees at night and have them do another at night but with that bad storm that came in we erred on the side of caution and stayed in camp.

If you'll all indulge me a couple pics... My kid with her BK2 figuring out how to get to the first marker

One of the markers they had to find

 

[upnorth]

Too funny. I just realized that I may never have seen one of your threads without Spam in it, lol. Thanks for the Silky info, I appreciate it. Nice to see you out and having fun.
:thumbup:

 

[knoefz]

Great pics, looks like a fun trip!
Love the sleep setups you guys have.
Thanks for documenting and sharing.

 

[JV3]

Nice gear!

thanks!

Yea man got to get a December trip planned!!

let's go sooner rather than later...while there's water crazy amount of rain today and more to come tomorrow.

Too funny. I just realized that I may never have seen one of your threads without Spam in it, lol. Thanks for the Silky info, I appreciate it. Nice to see you out and having fun.
:thumbup:

thanks! spam has become my signature over the years

Great pics, looks like a fun trip!
Love the sleep setups you guys have.
Thanks for documenting and sharing.

thanks!