PSK outing challange

[mtwarden]

^ exactly, I'd say that most (most here anyways! ) of us carry some kit w/ them day hiking/exploring/fishing/hunting/fillintheblank, it should be comforting to know that said kit (and clothing choices!) will get you through a night (or two) relatively comfortably- it would also be good to know what works well, what doesn't and what could be left behind (or should have been brought that wasn't!)- a shakedown if you will

of course done prudently and safely, you don't want this exercise turning into a real survival situation

 

[mtwarden]

give this a little nudge towards the top

 

[j williams]

I just got back from the Hardwoodsmen meet....This is next on the list for me. I talked with a few guys this weekend that are gonna be gettin in on this too......

 

[Alan2442]

OK guys I finally got it done. After my first failed attempt I would say this was a great trip.
In case you didn't see the pics from the failed attempt you can check them out here (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/861167-PSK-challenge-turned-dayhike-in-the-rain-%28Pic-Heavy%29)

My fiancee is in Charleston for the weekend with my sister so I figured it would be a good time to do this. I jumped in the car with the cloths on my back and whatever I had in my pockets and headed out to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The way I decided to do the challenge was to limit my self to items that are always with me when I leave the house (This included my Maxpedition Bottle Holder Kit, and a green wool army blanket). There was allot more gear in the car, but it's not always there so it stayed behind.

On the way there I decided that I wanted to go to Graveyard Fields. It had been years since I had camped there so I figured it was a good a place as any. I got a little bit of a late start because the cows got out and I had to go round them up. Because of this it was getting dark, but it wasn't too bad. I was able to find a good place to set up camp and collect some fire wood before I had to switch over to using my small head lamp.

I snapped a few photos of the view on the way there:

Cold Mtn. at sunset (the picture doesn't do it justice)

So its a little bit of a hike to get down to where there are some good camping sites (not too bad though the farthest loop you can do is only about 3 miles).

This is a pic I snapped right as it was getting dark as I was walking along the trail.

As soon as I found my camp site I collected some fire wood...sorry no pics I was in a rush, and who wants to see me collect fire wood anyway. Once that was taken care of I started to set up my shelter. AS part of my bottle holder kit I carry an ENO single nest hammock with slap straps (I tie it on top, which can be seen in a later picture), and a Survival Solutions Swack Shack folded up and attached via a compression cord.

The shelter:

This shot was taken the next morning:

Now that I had shelter it was time to make a fire...I was inspired by the "Flint and Steel..." thread started by skab8541over in the gear forum, and made my own flint and steel kit out of an old file and a quartz like rock I found up by the barn. So since it was new and I had never started a fire with flint and steel I told myself that if I couldn't do it I would just have to forgo the fire for that nighteek: right?).

My Flint and steel kit:

The creation of fire:thumbup:
First I gathered some bark from a freshly downed birch to act as the base for my tinder

Then I collected the rest of my materials and got them all ready to go

Since it was pretty wet from all the rain we have had this summer I decided to use some fat wood shavings as the super fine tinder to catch the tinder bundle.

after several minutes of developing my striking technique I was finally able to get the char cloth to catch the spark.

Char cloth shot in the dark

It was smooth sailing from this point on...

just blow on the tinder a little

and boom...we have a fire

A couple of knife shots...since this is a knife forum after all
In my bottle holder kit I have two knives (all made by Mark Wohlwend). The smaller one is his Far North Bush Knife (FNBK) made with O1 steel and Jade green linen micarta scales, and the larger of the three is his Compact Bushcrafter made from 1095 steel with one of his custom micarta handles (not sure exactly what he calls the color). The FNBK lives in my EDC pouch attached to the kit, and the Bushcrafter is attached to the strap via two thick ranger bands. The other knife is a pukko knife he made for me with L6 steel and walnut scales. I have converted it to a neck kit (seen here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/858610-Necker-Kit...lets-see-those-rigs) that, while not a part of the bottle holder kit still lives next to it and is usually secured to the kit if I am not wearing it.

Anyway here are the photos...

So with my shelter all set up and a fire going I decided to make some tea and do some light reading before i turned in for the night.

I keep a couple tea bags in a small tin that goes in the front pocket of the kit along with a couple small baggies containing sugar, salt, pepper. There are also some water purification tabs in there and a piece of fine grained sand paper for sharpening and removing rust from my knives.The book was rolled up in my wool blanket. There is always a book of some sort in my car because I don't watch TV so I figured it would be ok to bring since I am never without reading material of some sort.

After tea and reading I turned in for the night and had a peaceful sleep in my hammock

So i am not sure how many pictures this thing will let me do at once so I am gonna stop and start a new response for the second half of my outing...more to follow

 

[Alan2442]

OK, so while I slept good during the night I was freezing when I woke up. I didn't have anything warm except for my blanket so I used the blanket trick I learned from Dave Canterbury on you tube to make my blanket into a cloak/ warm shirt thing

This actually worked really well. I think I am going to fashion some sort of blanket pin out of metal and throw it into my kit.

Next I had to create fire again. This time I decided I would try out my spark lite fire kit. MUCH EASIER than flint and steel. I had a new fire going in no time,

Next I needed some water for both drinking and cooking my breakfast. I made a short hike to a small stream I could hear bubbling not far from camp. I scooped up some water with my cup and strained it through my bandana into the stainless bottle.

Next I had to figure out how to boil it. First I stacked up some rocks and found a long stick. The stick i wedged in a fork in a near by tree and then propped up the other end on the stacked rocks. This gave me a place to suspend by bottle. Then I fashioned some pot hangers from sticks, using an off shoot branch to make the hanger part and carving a notch to hold a bail that would be attached to the bottle. Next I created a bail for the bottle using snare wire I had included in my necker kit.

This was the first time I made a set up like this for cooking, and I was very please with the outcome.

So once the water had been boiled I moved the pot away from the flame to cool down and poured some of the water into my cup. I moved around the coals so that some were between a larger stick and and a small rock I placed near the fire, making a platform to cook my oatmeal in. I like the steel cut oatmeal so I usuialy have a small bag of it tucked away in my kit along with another small baggy containing a few craisins, walnuts, and pecans to add to the oats after they are done. cooking.

It takes about 20 min of simmering to cook these king of oats, but its worth it.
Breakfast is served...

Next I decided I was going to take advantage of being out in Graveyard Fields. There are two waterfalls along the trails, so they were my next stop. But before I set out I had to pack up. After getting all packed I took some time to make the campsite better than I found it. I added a small ring of rocks around the fire and moved a stone I found comfortable to sit on near the fire place. I also left my kitchen set up for the next hikers to come through the site.

In this pic you can see all of my gear. to the left and behind the fire you can see my hiking stick propped up, and to the front right you can see my bottle holder kit and wool blanket/bedroll.

This pic was taken during my failed attempt of the challenge, but you can see how I carry the bedroll and bottle kit:

Now that I was all done packing up it was time to hit the waterfalls

Upper falls

after hiking up to the upper falls I set out to find the lower falls. Along the way I came across these rock piles hikers had created in the middle of the river

The lower falls:

Down stream of the lower falls:

The lower falls were actually right near the trail head so it was just a short hike back up to the car. This concluded my PSK challenge, but the adventure wasn't over yet...

While I was driving out I turned on my cell and I had a message about the payment for two custom knives I had ordered. I got on and checked my bank and sure enough the transaction had not gone through. Apparently you have to have the PayPal app if you want to send money using your cell...go figure, the internet isn't good enough any more. I tried to download the app and re-send the money, but I'm sure you all know how the signal is when your in the woods. As I was starting to get frustrated at the situation I spied a fire tower on top of a mountain I was heading toward. When I got near the mtn. I noticed a fire trail heading up. I put two and two together and pulled the car over. Once again I set out in the hopes of finding enough signal to get BA and KFU their money.

On the way up I noticed that there were allot of butterflies floating around. I tried my best to get a good pic for you guys, but every time I got close they took of. This was the best I could do...

After about a mile I made it to the Fire tower. I pulled out my phone and was rewarded with three bars of service and 3g internet to boot. But even better than the internet was the view.

drum roll please...

saw this fungi growing on a tree on the way back to the car. Thought it was cool looking so i took the pic and my camera died, but it was cool because i just went home.

well i know its allot, but thanks for reading and taking a look at my pics.

I hope to see more challenge entries completed.

Happy fourth of July weekend, yes...even to those of you in Canad


Best,

 

[Tyronethepro]

I'm game, I'm trying to talk 2 of my friends into putting together a PSK out of some stuff I have and spend 2 days in the mountains.
Alan, that's pretty cool, those are some nice views you got from the fire tower.

 

[Alan2442]

thanks Tyrone...it was a good time. I hope you guys get a chance to do it.

 

[j williams]

Dude....Awesome pics. You had a nice time out it looks like. Nice work on the pothook, and its cool that you used flint and steel. I just learned that a few months back and its awesome. I finally got natural tinder with it not too long ago with a milkweed ovum. Try charring some natural materials next time your out. I have a great time trying new materials to see if they work.

Great job man. Im glad you did this. Im still in of course, but its brutally hot here, and Im waiting till it cools off. I wanna use just my PSK/bottleholder kit and that means sleeping on the ground with a space blanket/survival tarp. The Ticks and Mosquitos had a meeting and sent me a memo stating this was probably not a good idea at this time.

 

[Alan2442]

Thanks JW. The pot hook was a big success. I am going to work on fashioning a more permanent bale today, as well as find a better rock for the kit. The one I had worked ok, but i chipped it smooth and its not the best any more...good thing about rocks is that they are free. After that I think I am going to try to figure out a way to make a blanket pin. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[sicily02]

Alan2442, Great post and pics. I really liked the landscape pics that you posted. I would love to hike in that area sometime.
Great Job.
Bryan

 

[mtwarden]

Alan- looks like a great trip, thanks for posting! It's nice when everthing comes together and works the way it supposd to That's the beauty of this challenge imo, gives the opportunity to try out the kit that you might be very dependent on at some later date, best to work out the bugs ahead of time.

Mike

 

[kgd]

Great job Alan, so what do you think were the most important differences in your approach from your first trip to the second?

 

[Alan2442]

Well on the first trip I had Ashley along with me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but she just isn't into the whole minimalist thing. We hiked around looking for a good place to set up camp, and never really found anything. Then when we got to the camp site it just started poring right as we went to set up shelter. Having her with me forced me to pay attention to her rather than what needed to be done to get through the night, and not being focused caused me to get caught in a downpour with no roof over my head. I knew it was going to rain, and I probably could have herd it coming if I had taken the time to listen. On this trip I was more focused on getting the essentials taken care of. I walked till i found a place that would work as a camp site, got fire wood as it we getting dark, and set up my shelter. After the important stuff was taken care of I had time to practice my woods skills, and think of ways to make my camp better (ie...the kitchen set up). So I would have to say my main differences would be determining priorities, and sticking to them.

Also, she really was limping around the campsite. If she hadn't been hurt I probably would have let her sleep in the car and I would have stayed out wet in order to really drive home the lesson I learned on the trip. It wasn't really cold so It would have mostly just been uncomfortable.

 

[One Legged Josh]

I finally did my PSK overnight. I'm not much of a storyteller, so I will let the pictures talk for me.
I got to my buddies farm and found a pile of trash from some campers a few weeks ago. I did find a usefull bait can in that pile. I lit my fire with my Turley PSK knife and a ferro rod, and I also used my USAF "bolt knife".

So I rooted around for some worms.

Here is my hobo fishing kit, and some left over freeze dried veggies (from a ramen noodle) In the ziplock is coffee fixins, bullion cubes, and a few candies.

So with all that, I got 12 small bluegill. Three of them went on a green stick to be roasted, and the tiny little ones got mixed with the veggies, and 2 bullion cubes for a stew.

The Stew was very good as the sun went down.

I went to bed (dirt) around midnight, and woke up at 430 I was pretty cold, So I re-kindled the fire and put some coffee on. It was a great sunrise...Thanks for looking!

 

[mtwarden]

^ looks like a meal fit for a king!

is your PSK a pouch kit? what is it carried in?

 

[One Legged Josh]

^ looks like a meal fit for a king!

is your PSK a pouch kit? what is it carried in?

I carry it in the front pouch of my 10x4 bottle holder. Last night I took the PSK items out and left the rest of the "kit" in the truck, so I wasnt tempted to use any of it.

 

[j williams]

Good stuff Josh! Thanks for posting!