FALLING LEAVES event in GA (like rabbit stick) Oct 6-11

[Tim the Slugman]

Gate price ,$65.00 for one day, is a bit much for me. sounds cool though !

 

[fuz.sanderson]

I'm new to this forum, and I'm planning to be at the Falling Leaves Rendezvous. I've been going to this one for 15 years and it's really how I got into bushcraft. There are some amazing skills people there, no matter what your interest, I'm sure there is someone teaching something that will intrigue you. The food is great, the people are great, and yes, there are some bonifide wood-hippies. They call it "re-wilding" and most don't sit by and watch while you are working, they dig in. Good people. Real people.
By the way, there is another Earthskills gathering in April, it's the 25 anniversary of this event. It is the longest continually running wilderness/bushcraft event of it's type in the US, and that's something.
I'm glad to have found this forum and look forward to learning from the good people here!
Fuz
"With learning a skill comes self-confidence, and with that self confidence we become a more fully alive human being"
- Darry Wood

 

[Joezilla]

re-wilding! muahahaha I want that as a license plate.

 

[EMT_Lee]

I'm new to this forum, and I'm planning to be at the Falling Leaves Rendezvous. I've been going to this one for 15 years and it's really how I got into bushcraft. There are some amazing skills people there, no matter what your interest, I'm sure there is someone teaching something that will intrigue you. The food is great, the people are great, and yes, there are some bonifide wood-hippies. They call it "re-wilding" and most don't sit by and watch while you are working, they dig in. Good people. Real people.
By the way, there is another Earthskills gathering in April, it's the 25 anniversary of this event. It is the longest continually running wilderness/bushcraft event of it's type in the US, and that's something.
I'm glad to have found this forum and look forward to learning from the good people here!
Fuz
"With learning a skill comes self-confidence, and with that self confidence we become a more fully alive human being"
- Darry Wood

Welcome aboard.

 

[Joezilla]

Bump!

 

[Joezilla]

Leaving for this tomorrow. PM me your cell if you are going.

 

[cssims]

Well the rendezvous was quite interesting. Lots of interesting people at this event. There definitely were some bonafide hippy like people there.

I arrived on Tuesday around 2:00pm'ish. Passed the road the first time and had to end up following the porta potty trucks in to find the site. There were several private drives in the area and nothing was clearly marked to say "This way to the Rendezvous" or anything. After getting registered and setting up my camp site on top of the hill I kept a watch out for Joezilla. After eating dinner I made my way down to the fire circle and watched listened to the show. Several folks brought out the drums and a flute or two. It was an interesting show.

Day 1: I woke up and hung around my camp site before opening circle. Was looking down the road to the other side of my camp when I thought I noticed a familiar form. Joezilla was I guess touring the site. Yelled out "What time did you get in?" To which he replied, "About 11:30pm." Now Tuesday night we had a pretty darn good thunderstorm and a good bit of rain. I'm not sure when it rolled in, but Joezilla being the brave soul he is, only setup a rainfly and foot print for his tent. All he did was get splashed a bit. We both set out for breakfast when we heard the bell. After breakfast and opening circle, we both went to the knife sharpening class. Nothing I hadn't already read about and tried doing on my own, but good for me to see first hand. After a late lunch I rested the rest of the day until the fire circle that night. They setup speakers and mikes this time around the fire. Once again there was a bunch of drums, flutes, didgeridoos, and a guitar or two. Fuz plays a mean didgeridoo.

Day 2: I took the "Make your own Fire Bow Set" class. We were given an hour and told to find a suitable bow, block, and tinder. I ended up finding none of it. However, when I got back I said that I did have a nice walk. Luckily another student found plenty. The instructor gave us a Yucca spindle, Cedar hearth and nylon cord. Unfortunately I failed miserably at using it. I'll have to post pictures of the set later. The 2nd class I took that day was spoon carving, which was also being done alongside bowl carving.

I carved out my first spoon in Maple.(I think it's Red Maple, but I could have misheard the guy who cut down the tree.) Most of the carving was done with a Fallkniven F1. The bowl was done with a gouge, partially by me, but finished off by the instructor. If you don't have a good whittling knife I would recommend a Frosts 120. Ended up buying one at the rendezvous, because my other knives were not fine enough for the detailed work.

I have a bit of fine work left to do, but here is what I have so far.

This time around they had storytelling with some music thrown in. Quite fun.

Day 3: I made a River Cane Flute in the morning and a Bamboo Cup in the afternoon. (Pics to follow tomorrow.) More music around the fire.

Day 4: River Cane Blow Gun and darts from Scottish Thistle & bamboo skewers. Due to shortage of material we had to make some pretty short blow gun's, but they work pretty darn well out to about 15-20 feet. In the afternoon I took flute lessons.(Boy do I have a loooong way to go in that.) That night was the last fire circle and music. I gave up around 11pm, but the music went until the wee hours. (I think I checked my watch at one point and there was drumming still happening around 3 am.)

All in all it was a good time. Not sure yet if I can make the spring rendezvous, but I'll have to see about next fall.

Edit: I'll add more pics tomorrow.

 

[kiddsgames]

I saw this earlier this year and was thinking about going but couldn't foot the bill. Also wasn't quite sure of the people/enviroment there. Glad to hear that someone tried it out though and sounds like you had a great time. Maybe i can hit up the next one!