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- Jan 1, 2009
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Well you never know what any day will bring you. So it pays to be both prepared and flexible. We had a prison break in Dannemora, not far from here on Saturday morning. So our grocery shopping trip was way more exciting than it needed to be.
Suffice it to say I decided to hang close to home on Sunday. So my mind turned to what I could do. Instead of what I could not. My Nessmuk tools came to mind.
I have never believed Nessmuk to be the woodsman he is credited as being. But I never discount his contributions either. His writings introduced countless people to the woods. So for that I admire him. And truthfully, he may have been way better than we have been led to believe.
I have my Nessmuk like tools. Not so much to emulate him. Rather to try and understand him. While he may or may not have been a woodsman of superior quality. There is no denying his choice of tools were both redundant and versatile.
Two qualities, that a poor woodsman like myself sees as beneficial.
What exactly Mr.Sears did or didn't do remains somewhat of a mystery. Shrouded in myth and legend. With both supporters and detractors.
Rather than explore exactly what he did. I thought it would be interesting to look at what he could have done if he chose to. Using his trio of woods tools.
For my little experiment, I left out his pocket knife. And focused on a "Nessmuk Style Fixed Blade and Hatchet". I am almost certain the quality of my tools exceeds that of Mr. Sears' original equipment. They consist of a Bark River Nessmuk Knife and a Reeves Nessmuk Hatchet. I carry my hatchet Baldric style in a Sharpshooter Sheaths System
The two actual tools themselves are stunning pieces. I consider myself very luck to own them.
Disclaimer #1,
For those of you who take this stuff more serious than I. This is a relaxed day at the edge of the woods. I seek to prove nothing to myself or others. It is more of a "what if" scenario. All the while looking over my should for escaped murderers to come sneaking out of the woods. I could use the $100,000,00 reward.
Many things have changed since Nessmuk tramped around in these Adirondack woods. Some for the better, some not so much. Two staples of Adirondack living, camping, or surviving remain constant. They are fire and cooking. So I thought I would spend an afternoon doing a little of both.
Are these things cool or what?
In today's world, everything has become specialized. You need a separate tool for everything. Personally, I feel it is getting a little out of hand. Many folks are becoming too reliant on the tools and not focusing enough on the skills.
The linchpin of today's modern woodsman seems to be the ability to baton. It has become the focal point of many videos, articles, and stories. It is a lightning rod of sorts. With many swearing by it, and others discounting it as unnecessary.
Rather than debate the worth of it. I asked myself the Big Question??
Did Nessmuk Baton? Or more accurately, could he have batoned if he wanted to?
I am almost certain even his knife which was surely thinner and of unknown steel. Would have allowed him the ability to baton smaller pieces of wood to access that sought after dry center. So I took my knife and gave it a shot.
Seemed easy enough. My knife made quick work of that piece of wood as I'm sure his would have.
Well on to the next task today's modern woodsman must learn and apply. The One Stick Fire. I guess this is to save sticks. Probably some E.P.A. thing. I don't really know. I mean, they are everywhere right?
In any case, it was easily accomplished with just this stick and my Nessmuk Knife.
Pencil lead, pencil, thumb, check. Yada, Yada, Yada,
But wait we're not done yet!
Feather sticks, without them you will be laughed out of camp. People will mock you and call you a Duffer. Much like they would have done in Nessmuk's camp if you had tried to make one.
Yeah, we got that covered too. And all this with just his knife.
OK, not bad so far. But let's be realistic. How much did those old guys really know about surviving. I mean they didn't even have cell phones or GPS units. How far could they have really gotten wearing their leather boots, wool shirts and carrying Ash Pack Baskets.
I mean seriously, you need Gore-Tex, night vision, and at least seven knives in your Molle clad pack to really thrive in the wilderness.
Suppose for a minute Nessmuk was transported to today. 2015, Sunday, June 7th, somewhere up here in his old stomping grounds. Why he'd be laughed at by all us guys with big choppers. I mean knives, not Harleys.
I can hear it now. "Hey buddy, why don't you get a real knife" "How are you going to baton with that thing?" In response, he might hold up his hatchet. And say, "I'll use this"
Again he would be mocked. "That thing is sharp on both ends, it is going to eat batons" they will say. But the "Mukster" that is probably what we would call him in today's woods. Does have some woods savvy. He may actually know more than some give him credit for.
He takes his hatchet, and sticks in a block of wood. Something like this,
Then he grabs a more manly sized hunk of wood. Suddenly, the modern folks that were mocking him get a little curious. He sets the block of wood on top of his hatchet blade. Takes his baton and pounds the wood down onto the hatchet. Which is way tougher than his knife and considerably wider too.
After about three or four whacks, everyone hears that tell tale pop. He takes it off the hatchet. Sure enough he split that piece of wood right up the middle.
He repeats this process as many times as needed to get to the size wood he wants.
One of the modern woodsmen points out that just because he can baton, with that stupid hatchet. Doesn't me he can make feather sticks with it. So he needs more tools.
But the "Mukster" points out the his hatchet is actually two tools. With one end sharpened for splitting, and the other sharpened to fine edge for cutting tasks.
He says it and his knife work great for processing game too.
He promptly demonstrates how to make a few feather sticks with his hatchet.
Upon close examination, they appear to be quite good. Especially if you consider they were made by a hundred-fifty year old dead guy.
He then laughed at all us modern woodsmen. Saying wait here. Off he went about fifty feet further into the woods. Returning minutes later. He says, you guys can do all that fancy stuff. Or you could just use this. He spread out some dry hemlock twigs and some birch bark. He looked right at me, and said. "This just seems so much easier"
Sadly just as fast as he appeared, he was gone. Back to where he belongs. I am left a little lonelier. Because I wish I could travel back with him, to his time. And spend some time camping with Nessmuk and his friends. I bet I would have had a rip snorting good time with him and his friends. Plus I saw a bottle of hootch in his pack basket that looked like it needed tasting.
In honor of what I learned today, I built my fire with a combination of old and new.
Feather sticks, hemlock twigs, and some birch bark. It caught immediately and off it went from there,
What a day! All this fire crafting, murderers on the loose, and the whole time travel thing has worked up my appetite. Stay tuned. I'll be back soon with dinner soon.
Suffice it to say I decided to hang close to home on Sunday. So my mind turned to what I could do. Instead of what I could not. My Nessmuk tools came to mind.
I have never believed Nessmuk to be the woodsman he is credited as being. But I never discount his contributions either. His writings introduced countless people to the woods. So for that I admire him. And truthfully, he may have been way better than we have been led to believe.
I have my Nessmuk like tools. Not so much to emulate him. Rather to try and understand him. While he may or may not have been a woodsman of superior quality. There is no denying his choice of tools were both redundant and versatile.
Two qualities, that a poor woodsman like myself sees as beneficial.
What exactly Mr.Sears did or didn't do remains somewhat of a mystery. Shrouded in myth and legend. With both supporters and detractors.
Rather than explore exactly what he did. I thought it would be interesting to look at what he could have done if he chose to. Using his trio of woods tools.
For my little experiment, I left out his pocket knife. And focused on a "Nessmuk Style Fixed Blade and Hatchet". I am almost certain the quality of my tools exceeds that of Mr. Sears' original equipment. They consist of a Bark River Nessmuk Knife and a Reeves Nessmuk Hatchet. I carry my hatchet Baldric style in a Sharpshooter Sheaths System
The two actual tools themselves are stunning pieces. I consider myself very luck to own them.
Disclaimer #1,
For those of you who take this stuff more serious than I. This is a relaxed day at the edge of the woods. I seek to prove nothing to myself or others. It is more of a "what if" scenario. All the while looking over my should for escaped murderers to come sneaking out of the woods. I could use the $100,000,00 reward.
Many things have changed since Nessmuk tramped around in these Adirondack woods. Some for the better, some not so much. Two staples of Adirondack living, camping, or surviving remain constant. They are fire and cooking. So I thought I would spend an afternoon doing a little of both.
Are these things cool or what?
In today's world, everything has become specialized. You need a separate tool for everything. Personally, I feel it is getting a little out of hand. Many folks are becoming too reliant on the tools and not focusing enough on the skills.
The linchpin of today's modern woodsman seems to be the ability to baton. It has become the focal point of many videos, articles, and stories. It is a lightning rod of sorts. With many swearing by it, and others discounting it as unnecessary.
Rather than debate the worth of it. I asked myself the Big Question??
Did Nessmuk Baton? Or more accurately, could he have batoned if he wanted to?
I am almost certain even his knife which was surely thinner and of unknown steel. Would have allowed him the ability to baton smaller pieces of wood to access that sought after dry center. So I took my knife and gave it a shot.
Seemed easy enough. My knife made quick work of that piece of wood as I'm sure his would have.
Well on to the next task today's modern woodsman must learn and apply. The One Stick Fire. I guess this is to save sticks. Probably some E.P.A. thing. I don't really know. I mean, they are everywhere right?
In any case, it was easily accomplished with just this stick and my Nessmuk Knife.
Pencil lead, pencil, thumb, check. Yada, Yada, Yada,
But wait we're not done yet!
Feather sticks, without them you will be laughed out of camp. People will mock you and call you a Duffer. Much like they would have done in Nessmuk's camp if you had tried to make one.
Yeah, we got that covered too. And all this with just his knife.
OK, not bad so far. But let's be realistic. How much did those old guys really know about surviving. I mean they didn't even have cell phones or GPS units. How far could they have really gotten wearing their leather boots, wool shirts and carrying Ash Pack Baskets.
I mean seriously, you need Gore-Tex, night vision, and at least seven knives in your Molle clad pack to really thrive in the wilderness.
Suppose for a minute Nessmuk was transported to today. 2015, Sunday, June 7th, somewhere up here in his old stomping grounds. Why he'd be laughed at by all us guys with big choppers. I mean knives, not Harleys.
I can hear it now. "Hey buddy, why don't you get a real knife" "How are you going to baton with that thing?" In response, he might hold up his hatchet. And say, "I'll use this"
Again he would be mocked. "That thing is sharp on both ends, it is going to eat batons" they will say. But the "Mukster" that is probably what we would call him in today's woods. Does have some woods savvy. He may actually know more than some give him credit for.
He takes his hatchet, and sticks in a block of wood. Something like this,
Then he grabs a more manly sized hunk of wood. Suddenly, the modern folks that were mocking him get a little curious. He sets the block of wood on top of his hatchet blade. Takes his baton and pounds the wood down onto the hatchet. Which is way tougher than his knife and considerably wider too.
After about three or four whacks, everyone hears that tell tale pop. He takes it off the hatchet. Sure enough he split that piece of wood right up the middle.
He repeats this process as many times as needed to get to the size wood he wants.
One of the modern woodsmen points out that just because he can baton, with that stupid hatchet. Doesn't me he can make feather sticks with it. So he needs more tools.
But the "Mukster" points out the his hatchet is actually two tools. With one end sharpened for splitting, and the other sharpened to fine edge for cutting tasks.
He says it and his knife work great for processing game too.
He promptly demonstrates how to make a few feather sticks with his hatchet.
Upon close examination, they appear to be quite good. Especially if you consider they were made by a hundred-fifty year old dead guy.
He then laughed at all us modern woodsmen. Saying wait here. Off he went about fifty feet further into the woods. Returning minutes later. He says, you guys can do all that fancy stuff. Or you could just use this. He spread out some dry hemlock twigs and some birch bark. He looked right at me, and said. "This just seems so much easier"
Sadly just as fast as he appeared, he was gone. Back to where he belongs. I am left a little lonelier. Because I wish I could travel back with him, to his time. And spend some time camping with Nessmuk and his friends. I bet I would have had a rip snorting good time with him and his friends. Plus I saw a bottle of hootch in his pack basket that looked like it needed tasting.
In honor of what I learned today, I built my fire with a combination of old and new.
Feather sticks, hemlock twigs, and some birch bark. It caught immediately and off it went from there,
What a day! All this fire crafting, murderers on the loose, and the whole time travel thing has worked up my appetite. Stay tuned. I'll be back soon with dinner soon.
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Thanks a bunch for sharing this.