Using what nature provides today !

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
12,294
Lousy thread title eh, I run out of ideas !!!

Anyway I set out today and within minutes had a huge insect bite on the back of my leg. As soon as I got chance I grabbed up some Vanilla leaf, mashed it up with a little saliva and rubbed it all over my legs. It turns ya legs a funky green colour but I didn't get any more bites all hike !

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Found myself some tasty trail snacks~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Check out that blue sky !

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

If while out and about your knife gets some rust spots or sap marks, grab up some Horsetail and get rubbing, your knife will soon be nice and shiny again !

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Lots of Oregon Grape about, this plant contains the alkaloid berberine, known as an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial used in the treatment of infection !

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Anyone know what these berries are.....Saskatoon maybe ?

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Stopping to do a little bushcraft~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Check out this insect Gall~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Took my SRKW M6 today~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

Every so often I work a little on the edge, slowly getting it nicely convexed~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

It still doesn't cut like I'd like but is a vast improvement on the factory edge ~

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04

The girls had a blast and even had a race at one point, I think Maisy won...she'll probably be all stiff tonight !!!!

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-08-04
 
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Great pics! Looks like fun; certainly doesn't look anything like Yuma, Arizona. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the pics. The pic of Maisy and the TT is pretty cool :thumbup:
 
G'day Pit

For what it's worth (especially when you consider that you and everyone else who reads this have paid exactly $0.00 for my opinion, then this is exactly the value that should be put on it :D ).



pitdog said:
Lousy thread title eh, I run out of ideas !!!
Click to expand...
IMO your tiltle shows you are understanding what an Aussie like me would call "Bushcraft", rather than what "Nth Hemisphere TV personalities" think it is. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Personally "I shake my head in disbelief" when I see "Bushcraft" on the internet being reduced to nothing more than battoning, shaving fuzz sticks and the notching required to make figure of four traps.

Just goes to show you how many rely on what they have seen & read, rather than what they have experienced for themselves from first hand experience. :thumbdn:

Can I ask you a simple question?

How has your increasing knowledge of edible & medicinal plants in your local areas, affected your genuine confidence in "surviving" an unexpected extended stay outdoors?

BTW, unless you have really fine gauge hooks (so you can use the insect larvae as bait), that insect gall will make a fine ground bait to berley up fish with :D




Kind regards
Mick :cool:
 
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Hey Pit you got more info on the vanilla leaf? I'd much rather use something natural then deet. And as I write this I scratch my arm and kill a mosquito.:rolleyes:
 
Shotgun said:
Hey Pit you got more info on the vanilla leaf? I'd much rather use something natural then deet. And as I write this I scratch my arm and kill a mosquito.:rolleyes:
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From Wikipedia~
When dried properly, the plants are strongly aromatic and smell of vanilla. Besides serving as an excellent tent air freshener, Achlys was used by native tribes of at least southern British Columbia as an insect repellent. The dried leaves were hung in bunches in doorways to ward off flies and mosquitoes, and it's not unheard of for naturalists to rub the dried or even fresh leaves on exposed skin when hiking the Olympics or Cascades during the summer mosquito season.
 
SouthernCross said:
G'day Pit

Can I ask you a simple question?

How has your increasing knowledge of edible & medicinal plants in your local areas, affected your genuine confidence in "surviving" an unexpected extended stay outdoors?


Kind regards
Mick :cool:
Click to expand...

Hey Mick,

Learning what I have so far about what is edible~where/when it is found, what can be used medicinally and what can be used for other bushcraft purposes has increased my confidence at least 50%.

Just as importantly it has greatly increased my interest/pleasure in getting out as I always have stuff to look for and learn from.

Hope you and the family are all doing well buddy !:):thumbup:
 
As always a fun and informative post. I have never heard of most of the stuff you talk about. But I sure like to learn about it.
 
pitdog said:
From Wikipedia~
When dried properly, the plants are strongly aromatic and smell of vanilla. Besides serving as an excellent tent air freshener, Achlys was used by native tribes of at least southern British Columbia as an insect repellent. The dried leaves were hung in bunches in doorways to ward off flies and mosquitoes, and it's not unheard of for naturalists to rub the dried or even fresh leaves on exposed skin when hiking the Olympics or Cascades during the summer mosquito season.
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I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for it next time I'm hiking. Thanks.
 
pitdog said:
Learning what I have so far about what is edible~where/when it is found, what can be used medicinally and what can be used for other bushcraft purposes has increased my confidence at least 50%.

Just as importantly it has greatly increased my interest/pleasure in getting out as I always have stuff to look for and learn from.
Click to expand...

Nice answer Pit! I think you are spot on about how much entertainment and value-added you get out of your outdoor experience just by learning to name things and have some feeling for their functionality with the odd practice in skills. I did not realize how important this was until I plunked myself in Florida on vacation and found how disorientating it could be staring at a bunch of plants and trees that I did not fully recognize. I didn't suddenly lose confidence in myself because of this and over the course I began to learn as I started to use the local guide books I bought. However, I profoundly missed that local familiarity in that situation. Its a pile of fun watching the plants go through their seasonal shifts in your local haunt, even knowing specific trees and watching them live their lives over time roots you to the earth in a way that is very satisfying.
 
Hey Ptidog,

I enjoy reading your posts, love the pic of the dogs. What are the berries in pic #2?

Andrew
 
Awesome photos as always Pit, i wonder if we have that Vanilla leaf or something similar down this way. All of my natural bug repellents involve smoldering something...
 
Calebklyne said:
Looks like a huckleberry to me, tons of those and saskatoons out here in Alberta.
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Nah the Huckleberries over here are much smaller (see pic), they were definitely a small type of plum, there was a large pit in the middle so you didn't actually get much fruit. There were lots of them though so that made up for their tiny size !

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By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-19
 
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