snow day with "missed"

skinz0021 · Feb 2, 2011

went out this afternoon to make a fire in the snow. found this to be useful as a shelter out of the wind.

started by collecting some stuff for birds nest and put it between my bibs and jacket to dry

took some trying but after 15 mins or so i decided to cheat a bit and use some dryer lint and couple drops of hand sanitizer.

once i got it going i started adding more wood so it would dry out some before it was burned

took a minute for a photo op. used most of the blades and my cold steel hawk i picked up this weekend.

as i am sure most have seen this weather front move across the states. we got some ice, then around 8" of snow. i decided to go out today after they shut our shop down at noon. i figured it would be a good time to try some skills and test some blades. we hung out for a few hours and had a blast. i wish i would have had someone to take more action shots but he was busy gathering wood and building a bow drill. i consider this a dangerous situation for the fact we were out of power for 5 days a few years back in a big ice storm. i was not able to get home from monday-saturday. i walked to the house every few days to get clothes and feed the dog. stayed in town with friends or family. all the limbs falling made it too dangerous to clear 2/10 of a mile driveway with shit falling down. so we waited until it warmed up. i have family that live much farther out than i do and a grandmother that lives out by herself. i called to check on her a few times today and made sure she didnt need anything. also reminded her to leave her phone on the charger just incase power went out she could hopefully use her cell phone. her land line is dsl type provided by her cable company. overall with the weather there were mad rushes to the stores, i had plenty on hand to make it a week if needed. i was more interested in seeing how hard it would be to get a fire going had it been a need in this type of situation. i take my lighter and torch for granted. this was done with firesteel/striker and until i cheated it seemed almost impossible. most of the wood we gathered was cedar. it burned quick and made me realize how much would be needed for a night let alone a few in these conditions. we also melted snow in a pot and stainless bottle. that made us both realize why it is important to carry water storage and even a pump/filter if there is moving water or a pond around. all in all we had fun and learned some things from a less than ideal situation. im just glad i have some of the gear i do and kinda know how to use it. if we did not have to work tomorrow i think it would have been great to stay the night just to do it.

hope you might enjoy this read as much as i did going out in it. we were lucky to find the "shelter" and get a fire going as easy as we did...

JUST1MOR · Feb 2, 2011

skinz0021, great winter shots. We have about 4" of snow now, freezing rain & sleet has been coming down since 2:00pm this afternoon and not stop until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Places are closing around us like crazy. Nice to get out in inclement weather once in awhile and try your "stuff" out.
Nice way of stack drying all the handles on the ESEE's . . .

Thanks for the post.
Be safe.

skinz0021 · Feb 2, 2011

on a free day when my co-workers were going home to play xbox and sled with their kids or ride 4wheelers i thought this would be the best time to challenge myself. it was a challenge and enjoyed every minute of it. i could see how it would suck when the fun wears off but it could be done.

JUST1MOR · Feb 2, 2011

Yes, it's always better to make it fun, but it's also great to know you could make it a day or two IF something ever did happen & you found yourself having to spend a night or two out in the elements. You would be surprised just how good only a fire feels if you ever find yourself a "might bewildered" one of these days . . . :thumbup:
Be safe.

Flexxx · Feb 2, 2011

Looks like a cool place to hang out

banana-clip · Feb 2, 2011

Great pics, looks like a great day to practice your skills.

skinz0021 · Feb 2, 2011

i am really thinking about going a cutting some wood to keep at this place for future overnight stays. its on dads land, until he sells it i can go whenever i want. there is a pond and creek for food/water if i decide to hang out for the weekend.

NaturalMystic · Feb 2, 2011

We`re getting our turn later today when the sun comes up. They`re telling us we should have about 15cm by morning and up to 20-30cm before it`s all done tomorrow evening. I`d love to go out and play in the snow but unfortunately I have to log on to an all-day Live Meeting conference call. At least the storm has allowed us to stay home since I was originally supposed to go downtown to my office to sit in on the meeting in person. I`m allergic to meetings, they make me drowsy and I fall asleep!