- Joined
- Nov 27, 2004
- Messages
- 3,124
Hi All,
I have just returned from a weekend of hiking and knifemaking in Collingwood, and thought I would share a few pictures and some thoughts. I went for decent hikes on both Friday and Saturday, on the Bruce Trail, on and around Blue Mountain. These weren't overnight excursions. They could have been, but the prospect of shelter, food, beer, and my workshop nearby was enough to convince me to keep my tent packed.
This was one of those classic Canadian weekends, where it seems like Fall one day, and deep Winter the next. It would have made for quite the challenging survival scenario.
Anyway, here are a few pictures.
First, from Friday's hike on the Bruce:
My favourite trail companion. She's getting on in years, but you wouldn't know it to see her on the trail.
The obligatory knife shot, of my Delta 5.
On Saturday, the temperature started to drop, and the light drizzle from the day before turned into a wet sleet. It was the worst of both worlds, really - the cold one usually associates with snowfall, and the thorough soaking that comes with driving rain.
Naturally, I set out to test some fire-making skills.
The goal was to see what worked best in the inclement weather (not to start a workable camp fire). For a location, I selected the only dry(ish) spot to be found, which was beneath a fallen tree. I began by making a few fuzz sticks with my Delta 5. Once I had a small bunch, I added a PJCB from my PSK, and went at it with my firesteel. It took a few minutes, but eventually the sparks managed to ignite the PJCB, and the fuzz sticks caught without trouble. If I had wanted to, I could have made a decent fire this way.
Pics:
There was a lesson learned during this exercise: The placement of objects within a PSK (particularly one meant to be accessed from a belt or pack) is very important. It was cold out, and I was trying to fiddle around with my gear and camera without gloves. After a while, my hands became just a little bit numb. When I reached into my PSK, I accidentally cut my thumb on the section of hacksaw that I use as a striker and scraper with my firesteel / mag block. It was a small cut, but because I was numb, I didn't notice it until the blood began to drip on my camera sight. The whole issue was easily taken care of with a band-aid from my PSK. But it got me thinking about the organization of my PSK contents. When I returned to my workshop, I made a little pouch for my mag block and striker, using cardboard and duct tape. I also reorganized my PSK so that the items most often needed (or likely to be needed) are also the easiest to access. The end result is that my band-aids, bandages, matches, PJCBs, and fire steel are close to the top, with other items such as cord, tape, and my backup SAK, near the bottom. In retrospect it's a no-brainer, but I had recently re-vamped my PSK in response to a W&SS thread, and it had been packed up so as to maximize space, rather than ease-of-access. Anyway, I learned that it can make a difference in the field.
Not long after my fire-starting experiments, the temperature dropped further, and the sleet turned into heavy snow.
Here's a shot from Saturday night. Same location as the earlier pics, mind you.
And here's a few shots from Sunday. Total snowfall was around 8-9", and it was the heavy packing type.
Thanks for looking, and all the best,
- Mike
I have just returned from a weekend of hiking and knifemaking in Collingwood, and thought I would share a few pictures and some thoughts. I went for decent hikes on both Friday and Saturday, on the Bruce Trail, on and around Blue Mountain. These weren't overnight excursions. They could have been, but the prospect of shelter, food, beer, and my workshop nearby was enough to convince me to keep my tent packed.
This was one of those classic Canadian weekends, where it seems like Fall one day, and deep Winter the next. It would have made for quite the challenging survival scenario.
Anyway, here are a few pictures.
First, from Friday's hike on the Bruce:
My favourite trail companion. She's getting on in years, but you wouldn't know it to see her on the trail.
The obligatory knife shot, of my Delta 5.
On Saturday, the temperature started to drop, and the light drizzle from the day before turned into a wet sleet. It was the worst of both worlds, really - the cold one usually associates with snowfall, and the thorough soaking that comes with driving rain.
Naturally, I set out to test some fire-making skills.
The goal was to see what worked best in the inclement weather (not to start a workable camp fire). For a location, I selected the only dry(ish) spot to be found, which was beneath a fallen tree. I began by making a few fuzz sticks with my Delta 5. Once I had a small bunch, I added a PJCB from my PSK, and went at it with my firesteel. It took a few minutes, but eventually the sparks managed to ignite the PJCB, and the fuzz sticks caught without trouble. If I had wanted to, I could have made a decent fire this way.
Pics:
There was a lesson learned during this exercise: The placement of objects within a PSK (particularly one meant to be accessed from a belt or pack) is very important. It was cold out, and I was trying to fiddle around with my gear and camera without gloves. After a while, my hands became just a little bit numb. When I reached into my PSK, I accidentally cut my thumb on the section of hacksaw that I use as a striker and scraper with my firesteel / mag block. It was a small cut, but because I was numb, I didn't notice it until the blood began to drip on my camera sight. The whole issue was easily taken care of with a band-aid from my PSK. But it got me thinking about the organization of my PSK contents. When I returned to my workshop, I made a little pouch for my mag block and striker, using cardboard and duct tape. I also reorganized my PSK so that the items most often needed (or likely to be needed) are also the easiest to access. The end result is that my band-aids, bandages, matches, PJCBs, and fire steel are close to the top, with other items such as cord, tape, and my backup SAK, near the bottom. In retrospect it's a no-brainer, but I had recently re-vamped my PSK in response to a W&SS thread, and it had been packed up so as to maximize space, rather than ease-of-access. Anyway, I learned that it can make a difference in the field.
Not long after my fire-starting experiments, the temperature dropped further, and the sleet turned into heavy snow.
Here's a shot from Saturday night. Same location as the earlier pics, mind you.
And here's a few shots from Sunday. Total snowfall was around 8-9", and it was the heavy packing type.
Thanks for looking, and all the best,
- Mike
