Burned off a quick night hike, in the pissing rain downpour here in Vancouver BC. Juiced up on a 20 oz dark roast coffee, layered up in UnderArmour Heat shirt, CDN Forces fleece, 5.11 nylon pants and a SAS smock, topped off with a polyester toque and CDN Forces wool mittens.
Onboard the SOD carry system (tactical tailor 3 day pack) was the following: my new Gransfors Bruk small forest axe (birthday present from the parental units & grandma!), Tan SOD, firekit, MSR Reactor stove, Fenix TK11, Surefire L2 digital Lumamax, surefire 8AX Commander , red lens, Pelican LAPD 7060, Becker/Kabar BK2 and BK9. Plus my camera and tripod.
Hit the hwy to the North shore mountains. Wet road, poor visibility. Idiot drivers abound. These people breed - spawning more idiots on the road. The gene pool needs a good bowel evacuation. These idiots need to be culled.
rant over about the morons on the hwy, i drive up the service road and park the truck and load up the ruck. Put on the new Petzl headlamp and hurry into the wet misty woods. God this feels good, free of the city ratrace and idiots , even if for just a few hours.
The Petzl headlamps lights the way. Its a bit dim....but hey it was on sale for $25 bucks (demo model) i'm not going to whine about $50 bucks off. It fits me noggin well i dont even notice it. I trot thru the woods, the rain pelting down, that wet forest smell filling my nose. The trail is under an 1" of water and its a muddy trot thru the woods.
Cant wait any longer, break out the Gransfors Bruk small forest axe and make a few notches in a fallen douglas fir. God that ax is sharp. WICKED sharp!
Continue on, down into a small ravine, thru a little stream and up onto a little ridge. Carry on into the woods.
stop and effortlessly chop a fallen fir in two with the small forest axe. The chops in the wood are smooth, almost polished. I could do this all day (oops, NIGHT!) The chopping echoes in the night, its melodic, musical, soothing, TOCK TOCK TOCK TOCK!.
video here, a bit dark hey its night!
I shave a piece of wood with the ax, making shavings for a fire. Split some wood and break out my firekit. I have thick bundles of jute cord, soaked in wax. I mash one apart and place it in the center of the pile of shavings. grab the firesteel and within three strikes its alight, and flames are licking the shavings.
making shavings with the Gransfor Bruk small forest axe:
I feed the little indian fire, breathing in the rich cedar, pine and fir smoke. It burns for almost half an hour. In truth i dont need a fire, i'm toasty warm and dry, but I figured it was a good idea since it was pissing rain, to practice starting a fire. here in the WET Coast, one only needs to find a cedar stump, and pry off a chunk. It is guaranteed to be DRY wood inside. It lights very fast with tinder.
indian fire, GB ax, Surefire 8AX-Commander and me tan Scrapyard SOD!
GB ax silhouetted in the little fire:
I let the fire burn down to coals, then (despite the heavy rains) piss on the little fire to fully douse it. I head out back to the stream.
Once at the stream I break out the MSR Reactor stove and light it. Fill the pot with water, pine and fir needles, to make Spruce Tea. Very high in Vit C and tasty. The MSR roars once the water starts boiling. Steam is billowing into the night, the scent of pine/spruce heavy in the wet night air. The steam blocks all view of the surrounding area and fogs up the camera lens. Shut off the Thermonuclear reactor and enjoy a bloody hot cup of woods tea.
the MSR Reactor stove, GB ax, SOD, MSR ti cup:
billowing steam fromt he MSR Reactor....this is NOT a Black/White phot, believe it or not, there was just a ton of steam!
Pack up and head out. drive back thru the idiots into the city. Stop off at the cold beer store and pick up an 8 pack of Pilsner to enjoy.
that was my night. I'm still loading more videos and pictures, so bear with me. they will be up soon!
:FOOTINMOUTH:
*** also posted over at Scrapyard forums, for my feller DAWGS!
Onboard the SOD carry system (tactical tailor 3 day pack) was the following: my new Gransfors Bruk small forest axe (birthday present from the parental units & grandma!), Tan SOD, firekit, MSR Reactor stove, Fenix TK11, Surefire L2 digital Lumamax, surefire 8AX Commander , red lens, Pelican LAPD 7060, Becker/Kabar BK2 and BK9. Plus my camera and tripod.
Hit the hwy to the North shore mountains. Wet road, poor visibility. Idiot drivers abound. These people breed - spawning more idiots on the road. The gene pool needs a good bowel evacuation. These idiots need to be culled.
rant over about the morons on the hwy, i drive up the service road and park the truck and load up the ruck. Put on the new Petzl headlamp and hurry into the wet misty woods. God this feels good, free of the city ratrace and idiots , even if for just a few hours.
The Petzl headlamps lights the way. Its a bit dim....but hey it was on sale for $25 bucks (demo model) i'm not going to whine about $50 bucks off. It fits me noggin well i dont even notice it. I trot thru the woods, the rain pelting down, that wet forest smell filling my nose. The trail is under an 1" of water and its a muddy trot thru the woods.
Cant wait any longer, break out the Gransfors Bruk small forest axe and make a few notches in a fallen douglas fir. God that ax is sharp. WICKED sharp!
Continue on, down into a small ravine, thru a little stream and up onto a little ridge. Carry on into the woods.
stop and effortlessly chop a fallen fir in two with the small forest axe. The chops in the wood are smooth, almost polished. I could do this all day (oops, NIGHT!) The chopping echoes in the night, its melodic, musical, soothing, TOCK TOCK TOCK TOCK!.
video here, a bit dark hey its night!
I shave a piece of wood with the ax, making shavings for a fire. Split some wood and break out my firekit. I have thick bundles of jute cord, soaked in wax. I mash one apart and place it in the center of the pile of shavings. grab the firesteel and within three strikes its alight, and flames are licking the shavings.
making shavings with the Gransfor Bruk small forest axe:
I feed the little indian fire, breathing in the rich cedar, pine and fir smoke. It burns for almost half an hour. In truth i dont need a fire, i'm toasty warm and dry, but I figured it was a good idea since it was pissing rain, to practice starting a fire. here in the WET Coast, one only needs to find a cedar stump, and pry off a chunk. It is guaranteed to be DRY wood inside. It lights very fast with tinder.
indian fire, GB ax, Surefire 8AX-Commander and me tan Scrapyard SOD!
GB ax silhouetted in the little fire:
I let the fire burn down to coals, then (despite the heavy rains) piss on the little fire to fully douse it. I head out back to the stream.
Once at the stream I break out the MSR Reactor stove and light it. Fill the pot with water, pine and fir needles, to make Spruce Tea. Very high in Vit C and tasty. The MSR roars once the water starts boiling. Steam is billowing into the night, the scent of pine/spruce heavy in the wet night air. The steam blocks all view of the surrounding area and fogs up the camera lens. Shut off the Thermonuclear reactor and enjoy a bloody hot cup of woods tea.
the MSR Reactor stove, GB ax, SOD, MSR ti cup:
billowing steam fromt he MSR Reactor....this is NOT a Black/White phot, believe it or not, there was just a ton of steam!
Pack up and head out. drive back thru the idiots into the city. Stop off at the cold beer store and pick up an 8 pack of Pilsner to enjoy.
that was my night. I'm still loading more videos and pictures, so bear with me. they will be up soon!
:FOOTINMOUTH:
*** also posted over at Scrapyard forums, for my feller DAWGS!
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