What tutorials/demonstrations do you want to see?

[Md 25v]

umm, well I'm not that well versed.. maybe its the braided as 3 strands are used.. twined would be two correct?

I was gonna do cordage for my fire bow.. would cedar work?? hmmm..

I'm really interested in how one would make a fire in a wiki or tipi and have the opening closed yet still be able to burn a virtually smoke-free fire..

rob

Alright, lets see if I can answer a few of your questions here.

Cedar makes good cordage but no beginner's natural cordage will last long on a firebow. The high pressure, heat, and friction on the spindle is hell on natural fiber cordages. Don't be discouraged when (not if) it breaks. Just make a thicker one and try again.........and again.

Twined is two strands "reverse wrap" twisted around each other

Braided cordage almost always has three or more strands, with a few exceptions where two strands are "braided" around an object.

Smoke free fire- has nothing to do with the fire being indoors or out. To make a smoke free fire the fire simply has to be efficient. A hot, fast burning fire will produce almost no smoke because it burns off all the material. Smoke is whats left of a material that does not burn away. The drier the fuel the less smoke. The less sugar in the fuel (like resin in wood) the less smoke.

Smoke free Tipi- Tipi's have a vent in the top. Not only can smoke go through the natural materials of a Wiki-up, but a traditional Tipi is wrapped so that there is a small opening in the center at the top. Assuming you have a hot and efficient fire (even small fires can be very efficient) and remembering that fire causes an updraft and smoke rises you will have little smoke in a Tipi/Wiki-up even with the door closed.

More smoke when the door is open??? I've been in many friend's and communal Tipi's at meets over the years and I can tell you that the cone shape of the Tipi is what funnels the updraft so perfectly away from you. Leave the door open on the Tipi and you now have random swirling air that pushes smoke everywhere. There is no such thing as a smoke free Tipi but those tips can reduce the smoke in the Tipi to a point that is is hardly noticeable after a little while.

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

More smoke when the door is open??? I've been in many friend's and communal Tipi's at meets over the years and I can tell you that the cone shape of the Tipi is what funnels the updraft so perfectly away from you. Leave the door open on the Tipi and you now have random swirling air that pushes smoke everywhere. There is no such thing as a smoke free Tipi but those tips can reduce the smoke in the Tipi to a point that is is hardly noticeable after a little while.

Okay this is what I'm talking about, the way I understand it if you leave the outer wrap lets say an inch off the gound then have a second wrap inside the (synthetic) tipi about 4' high from the ground it allows a draft from the outside that travels through the barrier and out the funnel, forcing the smoke out, even the swirling smoke..

I've been in a few of various types in my life but never with a fire, so I'm really curious.. when I get the chance I may apply the trial and error method and try it myself

 

[Md 25v]

Sorta, but you don't want any part above the ground when it's cold out. You need proper insulation. There is no way to make a Tipi airtight so there is no reason to give up cold weather insulation by leaving a gap at the bottom. The air will naturally find its way in just as the smoke will find its way up. It is always a good idea to increase cold weather insulation of a wrapped Tipi by adding extra layers to further reduce airflow since all the air that comes in is air that you have to heat.

 

[HotSwat]

Wow, I love those traps and I like seeing proof of their effectiveness. I have seen the figure 4 trap so much I figured it was best one, and the only one we need to know. I haven't ever made a trap, but I would to see more traps. They look both primitive and sophisticated. I learn a lot from seeing these pictures

 

[Md 25v]

Thats a third vote for traps....

Hotswat- the fig4 is by far the most common. It is also one of the easiest to learn because it requires no cordage and takes only a couple notches to make. I really don't think its best in many situations, just ofter the easiest. If I actually needed a large amount of small game there are other traps, like the Paiute and a few others, that I would use instead because they are faster to set once they are made and easier to tune for sensitivity. I actually prefer rabbit to all other food sources and snares are by far the best way to take rabbit, especially in the winter when their "runs" are more obvious. In reality, a person that makes a trap two or three times and files that knowledge away has almost no chance of taking game. The majority of trapping comes from knowing where the animals are, where they are going, when they will travel, what they are eating, and how to mask your presence when setting the traps. These things are all as, or even more, important to learn than the traps themselves.
Personally, I love trapping. It is one of my most intense outdoor obsessions. I have learned much more from missing animals or not even having a trap tripped than by a good day's catch. I hope to pass on my mistakes to people that don't have a lot of experience so that they can avoid them and hopefully have success that much faster. I can tell you that for all the people showing that they made a trap, there are very few that know how to set them and fewer that actually leave them set and use them. When I see someone catch a game animal in a primitive trap I am more impressed, and happy for them, than any other skill I see on the forum, even fire.

 

[Bladite]

great minds, over in ESEE:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9080539&postcount=26

 

[Md 25v]

Nice!, glad to see someone else posting an off the wall trap.
Props to GuardianA1

 

[Gaurdian_A1]

Thanks buddy! Same to you!

 

[PropThePolecat]

i like the demo squirrels

Me too! They must be well-trained to play dead that well

@ MD 25v Have you ever taken a boar in a spear trap? Id love nothing else than trying one out for real, but the areas where theyre abundant are also the areas where people hike. Theres no way id set a trap that lethal where people are found. But id like to hear from someone who has actually gotten game with it.

 

[Md 25v]

Nope, there are no boar/ferral pigs here.....Yet. The current population projection has then here around 2014. I would not leave a full power spear trap set anywhere. Its a VERY bad idea. They are usually not lethal and are often used for injuring game, which can be tracked (common in the Pacific islands). Not a humane trap to set, just a neat extra to know to keep the skill around.
I will build and post a full size Coyote back breaker trap on Wed, thats a much better med/large game trap for actual use.

 

[Md 25v]

Me too! They must be well-trained to play dead that well

They are very well trained. I even taight them to remove their skin and sit nekid in the stew pot for about an hour and a half. After that, they were nice enough to chop the carrots for me and help out with the rest of dinner.

 

[PropThePolecat]

I will build and post a full size Coyote back breaker trap on Wed,

Never heard of a back breaker trap, but if it functions like its name implies, then it should be interesting .

Looking forward to it :thumbup:

This is turning out to be a great thread!

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

I will build and post a full size Coyote back breaker trap on Wed, thats a much better med/large game trap for actual use.

sah-weet, we're getting over populated here, they've killed off most squirrels/rabbits you name it.. I should have thought of this one as its been on the back of mind for a while, I just shot one last week and would sure like to trap somemore......

now that I think of it, I'd like to see you start an Ice fire !!! LOL if you have the time..

Man, we'll end up working you to death on your day off if given the chance

 

[bush-haus]

Looks like a pet squirrel you have placed under a "fallen" trunk. I think the squirrel is sitting in your lap as you post these pictures and you are both laughing at the hysterics of making us believe your rabbit stick has "taken" him. Is that a little ketchup I see ?? Just kidding of course !!

I love AND hate being the only one of my friends who truly cares about minimalism in the woods. I hate it because I never get the chance to learn from them but I love it because I get to come to this online community and learn from guys and gals who have been with it for years. Thanks to all for your pics, vids, and instructions.

Beckerhead #32

 

[Md 25v]

Looks like a pet squirrel you have placed under a "fallen" trunk. I think the squirrel is sitting in your lap as you post these pictures and you are both laughing at the hysterics of making us believe your rabbit stick has "taken" him.

I love it because I get to come to this online community and learn from guys and gals who have been with it for years.

Beckerhead #32

Hell yeah, thats what its all about here. I have learned so much over the years and Bladeforums has been a huge part of it. Sometimes I just need to be reminded that others share my interests. I'm glad you guys like the pics/vids.

BushHaus- Shhhh that's supposed to be a secret! If people find out it's my pet squirrel they might realize I have defected, and am secretly working with the tree rats.

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

nah, its nothing like that... he either found this squirrel dead in the woods left by a totally stuffed coyote, or killed it with his favorite .22, of course he'll say it was a sling shot he made but...... well we'll give it to him anyway just for grins and giggles...

 

[Md 25v]

nah, its nothing like that... he killed it with his favorite .22,

Oh hell no!
There's an easy way to tell that I didn't kill him with my FAVORITE .22

He's alone!

P.S. that's 2 center heart shots from the two that stood up and looked at me (big mistake) and the rest are head shots!

 

[Bladite]

Oh hell no!
There's an easy way to tell that I didn't kill him with my FAVORITE .22

He's alone!

P.S. that's 2 center heart shots from the two that stood up and looked at me (big mistake) and the rest are head shots!

now i'm wondering what the rules and regs are in my area for killing tree rats...

i has some massive .22LR firepower myself my High Standard pistol is very much like the Ruger Model III, but i has no rails, but razor sharp iron sights are okay.

also, what distance for those rats?

 

[Md 25v]

Bladite- those squirrels are from 10-30 yards. I did miss one that day and the two longer shots were using a tree trunk for support. I love pistol hunting, preferred to anything else. The micro red dot is a nice add on for that pistol for popping tree rats. I used to have this Leupold VXIII on it but I find that I would prefer the wider field of view to the magnification, at least for the short ranges I'm shooting them.

Also, three more head shots! Out to 50 yards (shooting with a monopod) with this set up.

 

[Bladite]

Bladite- those squirrels are from 10-30 yards. I did miss one that day and the two longer shots were using a tree trunk for support. I love pistol hunting, preferred to anything else. The micro red dot is a nice add on for that pistol for popping tree rats. I used to have this Leupold VXIII on it but I find that I would prefer the wider field of view to the magnification, at least for the short ranges I'm shooting them.

Also, three more head shots! Out to 50 yards (shooting with a monopod) with this set up.

i wouldn't mind a micro-dot like a docter optic or something, however, to "fix" my current toys, would be as much as buying some newer ones perhaps, barring things like a Hammerli Xesse that's on my list

exciting for pistol hunters is the KelTec PMR-30 - .22WMR !!! nice