Bamboo, Ray Mears and a knock to my pride

B

beef

Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
680
Hi All,
I've been watching an old Ray Mears series in which he visits the Spice Islands:
(this is part 2, but contains the best info)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us6thXjU4X4&NR=1

The locals build entire huts from bamboo, including roofing, framework and floor.
Rays also shows how to make fire from bamboo and its use as a cooking pot.

Just when I thought I had my skills together, these guys make me realise I'm still a beginner!

Hope you enjoy.
 
He sure was making short work of the bamboo with that blade. Know what he's using?

Thanks for sharing.
Jason
 
What a neat video. I love that bamboo fire-starting method. Thanks for posting!

It's too bad that I am unlikely to find an application for this knowledge in the wilds of Ontario ;)

All the best,

- Mike
 
Jason M D. said:
He sure was making short work of the bamboo with that blade. Know what he's using?

Thanks for sharing.
Jason
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a parang; Valiant Co.makes a very close copy (Sumatra, Parang Bandol)...

ParangBandol.jpg


It's actually a very well made blade...full convex grind and about a 1/4" thick. I seen that episode before and after handling the Valiant version, it's easy to see how that short, heavy blade makes short work of that bamboo!

ROCK6
 
Molucca Islands....oh how I dream of going there some day and coming back with my head.
270px-Karta_ID_Maluku_isl.PNG
 
I'm on dial-up now but I seem to recall seeing that particular episode some time back.
I could be mistaken, but from what I recall, it looks like one of those British MOD-issued parangs, the one with the rather unpopular rep as a "tree-banger". Knowing RM though, he takes good care of it well-enough for it to be manageable.

hardware_machete.jpg


milknives.jpg


Here in the Philippines, what is widely recognized as the "tree of life" is the coconut, but I really think it's a toss-up with bamboo. In the provinces and rural areas, especially in the olden days, you can not overstate what an important resource it was. Being a grass, it grows fast, was plentiful and renewable. It was a versatile material because of its hollow structure but was resilient yet soft enough to shape and build with. Villages and the materials necessary for communal living were built with it.

27_still-bahay-kubo.jpg


Lg_Kubo2.jpg

The traditional Filipino home called a "bahay kubo"

Structure, utensils, firewood, storage, decorations, etc. its uses were endless. I tend to think it's what the birch tree was in the Northern hemisphere/boreal environment.
 
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I like watching Ray make things, but he makes it look so effortless and is no mere mortal like the rest of us!
 
BTW, there are some "making fire with bamboo" vids also on youtube. Like I said, I'm on dial-up and takes forever to load so I can't post them now. The ones I recall were taken from the jungle survival (JEST) Camp tour. I also heard RM say he learned it from an American serviceman survival/SERE instructor. There is no doubt he learned it from our indigenous Aeta folk who were the GI's first instructors here stationed at the USN Subic Base.

The first time I did it, man, I got a work-out my arms never had from doing FMA or lifting weights ;) Rather than doing the task like a rabid baboon, the trick indeed lies in patience: start slooow to build friction and prepare your kindling and materials properly (one video shows the 5 - 6 basic parts of the "assembly"). I've only been successful half of the time. Practice, practice, practice. . .
 
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I absolutely love bamboo! It's such an amazing and easy to work with material. A machete is all you need, but when I lived in Japan I learned about bamboo saws and they make the work even easier, so I carried one with me when I was in areas with bamboo forests.

There's nothing you can't make with bamboo and it supplies everything you need to make a shelter, for tools and utensils, gets wicked sharp for spears and traps, provides a food source, a fire source and cooking pot and the list goes on and on. If I ever get stuck in a long term survival situation I hope it's in a place that has bamboo, so that my life is that much easier.

Untamed is dead on about coconut too. Shelter, food (meat and coconut cheese), liquid, alcohol, grubs, oil for cooking and oiling your high carbon blades (awfully high in fat though, for you, not your blades), and good tinder.

I also like bananna. Great water source, food, bugs love 'em so it's easy bug hunting, shelter, and on and on.

If I lived in an area with bamboo, coconut and bananna trees I'm set for life. I can make all of my tools and weapons, have readily available water and food, and easy to make shelters. A machete, barong or parang would be ideal as your main tool. Of course I would be stuck there with only my Vic key chain knife and my primitive tool making skills leave a lot to be desired. I guess I would learn quickly...sink or swim!
 
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kage said:
A machete is all you need, but when I lived in Japan I learned about bamboo saws and they make the work even easier, so I carried one with me when I was in areas with bamboo forests.
Click to expand...

Yep, doable with regular choppers but definitely better with saws, especially when employing carpentry for building houses or structures.

kage said:
If I lived in an area with bamboo, coconut and bananna trees I'm set for life.
Click to expand...

LOL, heh! Spot on as well! It is actually a triumvirate (bamboo, coconut and banana) but I didn't mention banana anymore (glad you did though :thumbup:)

Traditionally, nature designed banana leaves as the perfect "plates" and "lunch boxes" (clean, plentiful, biodegradable and comes with varying hues of cool green colors). Boodle fight!

4283723409_21ec371c79.jpg
 
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Untamed, that looks tasty! I've got a buddy in the Army who visits the PI every chance he gets. The food is a major reason why!
 
Didn't want to sidetrack the post, but it might be fun to ID the spread there:
(clockwise from tomatoes):
- salted egg (dyed red)
- boiled eggplant in tomatoes and onions and vinegar?
- sisig, based on the cast iron plate
- dunno the red stuff near the rice. Tocino, maybe
-boiled shrimp
- stumped by the plate. Maybe a guisado, chayote maybe?

Nice spread (how'd I do? :) )

Back to topic (actually to justify my little food ID post) : Banana plants make excellent cordage, too. Bothe the fruit and heart's good eatin', too.


Have you guys seen bamboo scaffolding? They still use them when even when building city highrises in asia!
 
Ultraman said:
- salted egg (dyed red)
- boiled eggplant in tomatoes and onions and vinegar?
- sisig, based on the cast iron plate
- dunno the red stuff near the rice. Tocino, maybe
-boiled shrimp
- stumped by the plate. Maybe a guisado, chayote maybe?

. . .

Have you guys seen bamboo scaffolding? They still use them when even when building city highrises in asia!
Click to expand...

What're you doing still up? Are you an aswang/zombie insomniac like me? LOL! Don't worry about sidetracking the discussion; I'm probably guilty of that too. You're not Filipino if you don't turn any discussion into something that's food-related :p (remember that Bicol Blades thread when you guys mentioned laing? I tried very hard to stop myself from adding to it :o) With the spread though, sorry, that was just a random image I googled but I do believe you're right about what's served :thumbup:.


John G. and Fishooter -

Friends/family, fun and fantastic scenery (look for Bearthedog's threads of his pics :thumbup:) and the FOOD! Makes life worth living despite being a poor country.


Back to the topic, here's a short but very nice RM vid of the same series showing the versatile bamboo and the parang in its native Indonesia -

[youtube]EVaW9glEOhQ[/youtube]



On bamboo firecraft. The following are rather poor vids but the idea and mechanics are there. The first two are the "upright, buttressed" method (sorry, not really creative with descriptions :o ) which was usually taught in jungle survival training tours here.

[youtube]LpSAxeym2wk[/youtube]

[youtube]UTmIwHqXj_I[/youtube]

This third one shows the "lay on the ground" method. The vid was taken in Malaysia, but I've seen it on a film what was set in Thailand I believe.

[youtube]jQQ3ONgnV7I[/youtube]
 
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untamed said:
What're you doing still up? Are you an aswang/zombie insomniac like me? LOL! Don't worry about sidetracking the discussion; I'm probably guilty of that too. You're not Filipino if you don't turn any discussion into something that's food-related :p (remember that Bicol Blades thread when you guys mentioned laing? I tried very hard to stop myself from adding to it :o) With the spread though, sorry, that was just a random image I googled but I do believe you're right about what's served :thumbup:.


Dude, it's daylight here in the US :D


Thanks to OP for posting the Ray Mears videos, I'm enjoying them a lot
Click to expand...
 
bamboo can be used for decoration too. here's a bunch of "parol" or lanterns i made for christmas decoration :D

parol_01.jpg


parol_02.jpg
 
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