Photos from a course in Sweden

It looks very well set up! But you missed the most important part - did everyone have a lot of fun?
 
looks like a great time.

I checked out your knife page very well done and written.

did you bring your fallenkniven?

how did it work?
 
Hello folks, I'm new here. Looks like a good site.

Nice pictures, Chris.

"Wish I was there."
 
Originally posted by chrisaloia
looks like a great time.

I checked out your knife page very well done and written.

did you bring your fallenkniven?

how did it work?
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Yes, we had lots of fun, until some of us, including me, weren't able to go through with it all. In my case, it was definitely lack of carbohydrates + working too much and walking at the same pace as everyone else.

This time I wanted to try something different, so I brought a Randall 26 Pathfinder and a M.95 Sissipuuko. It was the latter I used most, and it was just under the limit of being called "too large" by the instructors (because one of them had an SRK which is practically the same size). Otherwise I think the most common knives among the participants were Fällkniven A1 and regular, inexpensive, "Mora" knives.

The instructors very much favoured carbon steel knives (some were strictly against guards) wool clothing and rubber boots.

It can be noted that we weren't allowed to use neither axes nor saws, for safety reasons. "In the 20 years we've been doing this, we've noticed how the skills have dropped in the general public."
 
I know guards get in the way when preparing food and game.

Are there any other reasons?

did your instructor prefer the srk over the fallkniven?



thanks
chris
 
Griffon laments:
"In the 20 years we've been doing this, we've noticed how the skills have dropped in the general public."
Click to expand...

But not only have the general level of skills dropped--but the skills that any of us have/had are semi-perishable!

Besides loving the outdoors, camping, hunting, etc. in years past--recent developments (like raising a family) have left me no time at all to keep up my field skills. :(

Last weekend at sunset, just for kicks, I decided to practice starting a fire with my magnesium bar. It was semi-windy. It was a bitch until I remembered you need to hold the knife perpendicular to the bar while making shavings and you need a alot of those shavings (enough to at least bury a quarter).

My point: even simple skills like this are perishable without occasional refreshers.
 
Originally posted by chrisaloia
I know guards get in the way when preparing food and game.

Are there any other reasons?
Click to expand...
Some woodworking as well. We didn't practice that much, but making traps and fishing aids were included.

did your instructor prefer the srk over the fallkniven?
Click to expand...
Well, he certainly knows about Fällkniven, so I'm sure it's a well founded choice. Actually he asked where one could get an M.95 Sissipuuko, so I guess this means he'd prefer that one to an F1 or S1 as well.

The rest of the instructors had simple (but good), traditional Scandinavian knives. Two of them hanging on a cord around their necks.

The M.95 worked well, but I managed to bend the blade a bit. And straighten it. (No, I didn't do like one should.) The coating held up better than I thought it would to hammering with a piece of wood on the spine, so it's actually in visually better condition than my F1 is, as that one's got spots.
I think this course changed my mind: The F1 certainly is best at what it tries to be and when I need that kind of knife, but from now on I think the Sissipuuko will be preferred compared to my S1. (More side-by-side testing will be done!) This in spite of certain drawbacks, so it shouldn't reflect badly on Fällkniven, it's rather got to do with what I think I'll use the knife for.
 
I would be very interested to hear your opinion of a side by side comparison of the sissipukku and the S1.


thanks for answering

chris
 
Very cool, thanks for the pics! It's always fun getting together for survival type outings, always a great group of people.
 
Awesome pics - especially the shelter in the last photo. Approached from behind it would appear nearly invisible.

I'm glad you captured details in the photos, like the structure of the backpacks, fire tripods, bathing facility, dish-washing facility, etc. Gives me some good ideas!

Were there any concerns about contaminating the nearby stream with the runoff from dishes & bathing? The US Forest Service would have a fit if they caught us so close to a body of water.

Regarding some people not completing the course, what were some other common obstacles that people ran into? You refer to lack of carbs & the pace of the group. Were you on a constant move?

I'd be interested to hear more.
 
Originally posted by coyotlviejo
Were there any concerns about contaminating the nearby stream with the runoff from dishes & bathing?
Click to expand...
Yes: Remaining food was to be put in one place to be composted and the water used for dishwashing was poured into a dug hole a little bit off. Same with water used for washing, but there will of course be soap in the water when you bathe.

We also broke up our shelters as much as possible when leaving, put the moss back and eradicated as much as we could of our fire places. (Otherwise the limitation was "don't fell any fully grown trees". I used two 3-4 m spruces to make something soft and isolating to sleep on otherwise we mostly used birches of the same size.)

Regarding some people not completing the course, what were some other common obstacles that people ran into?
Click to expand...

I really don't know in detail, but one injured her foot and I think two more felt about as I did. (But I'm sure I had the most ketons in my urine, which we tested at intervals.)

Saturday: Arrival, dinner, sleep in tent / What's "survival", the emergency situation, psycology.

Sunday: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, sleep in tent / Physiology (water, food, cold), fire, water purification, equipment (clothes, knives).

Monday: Breakfast, field lunch (roots), dinner, sleep in tent /
Plants (food, medicine), bivouacs, equipment (signalling).

Tuesday: Breakfast, field lunch (fish), 0.3l thornbush drink / Plants (practical cooking), navigation, start survival days (3 h walk, build shelter)
Wednesday: Movement (~1000-), survival, build another shelter
Thursday: survival, movement.
Friday: Return to base, shower, dinner.

Saturday: Breakfast, summing up, departure
 
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