I think as we grow older, our views and opinions are very much shaped by those we learn from. Kids watch and learn from our elders, and sometimes our prejudices as well. I know that growing up, I was blessed by some very good mentors, and leaned from them things that hung on to color my views for life. My father was one, and there was some uncles tossed into the mix. But our scout master, Mr. Van, was a big one. I guess at the age that most boys join the boy scouts, we are an impressionable bunch, and take things to heart easy. Certainly Mr. Van had a very powerful influence on me.
The one big thing that stood out while looking back over my life, was how he reduced everything to a simple, easy to understand logic that he demonstrated in the field. Seeing these lessons put into action both by him and ourselves under real life conditions made a lasting impression to this day. I am well known for certain prejudices, like small peanut size pocket knives, little keychain size flashlights, and any other ultra light small gear. I can remember Mr. Van having us empty out our packs and going through stuff, making comments like "Too big," or "Too heavy." Since we well knew of Mr. Vans career in the Marines, we put great faith in what he told us. His basic theory was, if it didn't drop into a pocket with little notice, it was too big, and would eventually be left behind and not be there when you really needed it. Of course growing up with my old man, and watching him use his Case peanut and little Ever Ready chrome plated pocket flashlight, I was a believer. Many times growing up and in adult life I faced problems and dealt with them with what I had in my pockets. A small sharp pocket knife did the job so many times, and I kept remembering my dad saying "It doesn't have to be big, just sharp."
I remember a couple of times being caught a bit short because I'd left something behind that I didn't think was needed, and didn't want to carry because it was too big. Making a field litter for carrying out a friends wife that broke her leg, and not having a large knife because I had thought that since we were not out in the boonies it wasn't needed. The pocket knife of the day was used to notch and break off a couple of saplings, or making a debris hut because I got a bit 'confused' about the way home and night was falling. A small pocket knife and a small AAA little flashlight was what I had to work with, and they did the job okay. A small sharp knife was better because it was there. The small flashlight worked because it was also there.
Once, many years ago in my single days, a girl friend and I were out in the Shenandoah National Park for a quick day hike, and I had my usual pocket stuff. It was a short day hike of only a few hours, and my heavy duty stuff was left home. Heading back to the car the fall dusk came on quick, and in the thick woods light faded fast. That was the time I got confused about the trail junction. It was getting on to dusk, and we had missed the turn off trail, and we ended up making a camp rather than continue to blunder around trying to find the right rail in the dark. The small flashlight was handy in gathering the material to make a debris hut just big enough for the two of us, and a small hat full of fire warmed the hut well.
"Make camp?" she asked in a slightly shocked voice, "you mean here in the woods?"
Suzy was a born and bred New York city girl who thought a walk in the woods was like a walk in the park, but the idea of sleeping out was a scary idea.
"Yeah, it beats breaking a leg or getting more off out of our way. In the morning we'll pick up the right trail and be on our way." I told her.
"We're gonna die. There's nothing out here, what are we going to do"
"Just leave it to me, we're gonna be just fine." I told her, "Trust me."
I had already eyed a nice sapling to use as a ridgepole for the hut, and using the scout knife it was no problem to cut down the sapling. I set the pole in the crook of a forked tree, and using the little pen light, I gathered sticks for the frame, and bundles of leaves and other debris to pile on the framework for insulation. Suzy helped, and in a short time had a big hump of a shelter just big enough for the two of us. Sharpening up a stick, I dug a fire pit and had a small fire going in a few minutes. In those days I carried a Zippo lighter, but a modern Bic would do as well. The fire was just big enough to give off a nice warm glow, and the shelter was warm inside in spite of the nights chill. Suzy was impressed, but still very apprehensive, and laying on the poncho we settled in for the night. We actually dozed off and got some sleep, although I woke up now and then and few some more small twigs and sticks into the fire. I took off my coat and used it as a blanket to cover us the best I could. The bough bed was not bad, and I think any small pocket knife would have been good enough. The scout knife had all of a 2 1/2 inch blade, nice and flat ground with a thin edge that went right through the tree limbs from a pine tree. A barlow, or jack or trapper would have done the same job as well. I had worked by the light from the penlight, clipping it to my shirt pocket on the outside, it hung down and gave light while dangling outside my shirt. In those days, EverReady made these chrome plated two AAA cell penlights with a white plastic bulb guard, and I had seen dad use it like that. Hanging on the shirt, it made a decent personal work light. By todays standard, the old penlight was stone age, but one thing I found out was, in the dark, any light is good, and you don't need something that will sear the optic nerves out of a raccoon at 50 yards. Today, the E01 does the same job. Enough light to work by, and not over power your night vision.
We actually had a fairly comfortable night on a nice soft bough bed covered by a poncho, and the only problem was explaining to the girls father why we didn't come home until the next morning. I feel grateful he was a kind and understanding man, even though he told me to never ever in this life to do that again. Jack was not known for being a patient man when it came to his daughter. The young lady in question was very impressed with my woodsman-ship, but still needed some comforting in the situation. Mr. Van had impressed us with the fact that a gentleman always did his duty, and I did my best to rise to the occasion.
The boy scout knife has long been replaced with a small SAK or peanut, and the Ever Ready pen light of the 1960's has been replaced with a little Fenix E01 for keyring duty. I'll always remember dad using his little knife to bend tree branches and cutting into the wood with the grain and slicing through thumb thick branches with little trouble to gather material to get a car unstuck from the mud by building up the material under the tires. In this case in the woods, I gathered a pile of pine branches to pile up for a bed. Worked pretty good.
In the morning we back tracked and found the right trail turnoff, and got back to the car. There was a park service pickup truck with a ranger on the radio next the car, and ranger asked if we had spent the night in the woods. I told him we'd been lost, and explained what happened, and he cancelled the call for the search party. It galled me to have to admit we'd been lost, but the situation had a happy outcome. It's surprising how far you can go with a small sharp pocketknife, some kind of small flashlight, and a fire source. To this day, I still like small items that fit in a pocket with little or no notice. When I look at some piece of gear, I can still hear Mr. van saying "It's too big."
The one big thing that stood out while looking back over my life, was how he reduced everything to a simple, easy to understand logic that he demonstrated in the field. Seeing these lessons put into action both by him and ourselves under real life conditions made a lasting impression to this day. I am well known for certain prejudices, like small peanut size pocket knives, little keychain size flashlights, and any other ultra light small gear. I can remember Mr. Van having us empty out our packs and going through stuff, making comments like "Too big," or "Too heavy." Since we well knew of Mr. Vans career in the Marines, we put great faith in what he told us. His basic theory was, if it didn't drop into a pocket with little notice, it was too big, and would eventually be left behind and not be there when you really needed it. Of course growing up with my old man, and watching him use his Case peanut and little Ever Ready chrome plated pocket flashlight, I was a believer. Many times growing up and in adult life I faced problems and dealt with them with what I had in my pockets. A small sharp pocket knife did the job so many times, and I kept remembering my dad saying "It doesn't have to be big, just sharp."
I remember a couple of times being caught a bit short because I'd left something behind that I didn't think was needed, and didn't want to carry because it was too big. Making a field litter for carrying out a friends wife that broke her leg, and not having a large knife because I had thought that since we were not out in the boonies it wasn't needed. The pocket knife of the day was used to notch and break off a couple of saplings, or making a debris hut because I got a bit 'confused' about the way home and night was falling. A small pocket knife and a small AAA little flashlight was what I had to work with, and they did the job okay. A small sharp knife was better because it was there. The small flashlight worked because it was also there.
Once, many years ago in my single days, a girl friend and I were out in the Shenandoah National Park for a quick day hike, and I had my usual pocket stuff. It was a short day hike of only a few hours, and my heavy duty stuff was left home. Heading back to the car the fall dusk came on quick, and in the thick woods light faded fast. That was the time I got confused about the trail junction. It was getting on to dusk, and we had missed the turn off trail, and we ended up making a camp rather than continue to blunder around trying to find the right rail in the dark. The small flashlight was handy in gathering the material to make a debris hut just big enough for the two of us, and a small hat full of fire warmed the hut well.
"Make camp?" she asked in a slightly shocked voice, "you mean here in the woods?"
Suzy was a born and bred New York city girl who thought a walk in the woods was like a walk in the park, but the idea of sleeping out was a scary idea.
"Yeah, it beats breaking a leg or getting more off out of our way. In the morning we'll pick up the right trail and be on our way." I told her.
"We're gonna die. There's nothing out here, what are we going to do"
"Just leave it to me, we're gonna be just fine." I told her, "Trust me."
I had already eyed a nice sapling to use as a ridgepole for the hut, and using the scout knife it was no problem to cut down the sapling. I set the pole in the crook of a forked tree, and using the little pen light, I gathered sticks for the frame, and bundles of leaves and other debris to pile on the framework for insulation. Suzy helped, and in a short time had a big hump of a shelter just big enough for the two of us. Sharpening up a stick, I dug a fire pit and had a small fire going in a few minutes. In those days I carried a Zippo lighter, but a modern Bic would do as well. The fire was just big enough to give off a nice warm glow, and the shelter was warm inside in spite of the nights chill. Suzy was impressed, but still very apprehensive, and laying on the poncho we settled in for the night. We actually dozed off and got some sleep, although I woke up now and then and few some more small twigs and sticks into the fire. I took off my coat and used it as a blanket to cover us the best I could. The bough bed was not bad, and I think any small pocket knife would have been good enough. The scout knife had all of a 2 1/2 inch blade, nice and flat ground with a thin edge that went right through the tree limbs from a pine tree. A barlow, or jack or trapper would have done the same job as well. I had worked by the light from the penlight, clipping it to my shirt pocket on the outside, it hung down and gave light while dangling outside my shirt. In those days, EverReady made these chrome plated two AAA cell penlights with a white plastic bulb guard, and I had seen dad use it like that. Hanging on the shirt, it made a decent personal work light. By todays standard, the old penlight was stone age, but one thing I found out was, in the dark, any light is good, and you don't need something that will sear the optic nerves out of a raccoon at 50 yards. Today, the E01 does the same job. Enough light to work by, and not over power your night vision.
We actually had a fairly comfortable night on a nice soft bough bed covered by a poncho, and the only problem was explaining to the girls father why we didn't come home until the next morning. I feel grateful he was a kind and understanding man, even though he told me to never ever in this life to do that again. Jack was not known for being a patient man when it came to his daughter. The young lady in question was very impressed with my woodsman-ship, but still needed some comforting in the situation. Mr. Van had impressed us with the fact that a gentleman always did his duty, and I did my best to rise to the occasion.
The boy scout knife has long been replaced with a small SAK or peanut, and the Ever Ready pen light of the 1960's has been replaced with a little Fenix E01 for keyring duty. I'll always remember dad using his little knife to bend tree branches and cutting into the wood with the grain and slicing through thumb thick branches with little trouble to gather material to get a car unstuck from the mud by building up the material under the tires. In this case in the woods, I gathered a pile of pine branches to pile up for a bed. Worked pretty good.
In the morning we back tracked and found the right trail turnoff, and got back to the car. There was a park service pickup truck with a ranger on the radio next the car, and ranger asked if we had spent the night in the woods. I told him we'd been lost, and explained what happened, and he cancelled the call for the search party. It galled me to have to admit we'd been lost, but the situation had a happy outcome. It's surprising how far you can go with a small sharp pocketknife, some kind of small flashlight, and a fire source. To this day, I still like small items that fit in a pocket with little or no notice. When I look at some piece of gear, I can still hear Mr. van saying "It's too big."
