What's Your "Medicine?"

RedMan chewing tobacco. I know i know, tobacco bad......but on occasion i really like the Redman molasses cured natural tobacco leaf.



long drives down old logging roads, o cannot get enough of this.

building a campfire and cooking dinner in the middle of nowhere

spending time with my little fat cat.
 
k-spar said:
I keep 1 bag each of earl grey and lady grey in my survival kit.

There is a great sticky on the BushcraftUK forums about survival and tea. Check it out:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/Forums.html

it's the second sticky down under the bushcraft and survival skills subforum.
Click to expand...

I spent a great deal of time in the local Legion bar with a WW1 bunch of Veterans (CDN Army), who regaled me with how they boiled black tea until it was bitter, and used it to ease their hunger pains on the front. Often they would only get a biscuit (hardtack) and a bit of bacon grease and lard as their only meal of the day. They would wash it down with bitter bitter tea/ apparently the Tannic acids in the tea eased their hunger pangs.
 
Jeff H said:
With the great number of "hot beverage" responses, it made me remember the "medicine," or "concoction" I relished when in the Infantry; c-rat cocoa packet, instant coffee packet, sugar and creamer packets, all in a canteen cup full of hot water.:D A lot of guys ditched this stuff, along with the ham-n-eggs and other gastronomical treasures, but I always enjoyed snuggling up under a Fir tree with a twig fire (or trioxane fire) between my legs and boiling a cup of water to pour all thes goodies into (not the ham-n-eggs) and warming myself from the inside on cold, wet nights. I loved those miserable days and nights, when everyone was using their excess energy to stay as warm and dry as possible, they didn't have enough extra energy to be a pain in the butt.

I was very fortunate in my assignment, more fortunate than any recruit had any hope to be, in that I was "farmed out" to a section of Headquarters, wherein I was often alone or with just one other body. Sometimes the body was one of the great mentors I had who enjoyed life in the rain and the snow as much as in the sunshine on a lawn chair back home. Sometimes I had to drag along a, well, "drag."

It's funny - there are a handful of ex-Soldiers and "former" Marines at work, all previously unknown to one another, and the underlying cohesion is amazing, even among those who are very different or don't even like each other. Sometimes, the regular people at work catch a glimpse of that and the look on their face is priceless - absolute and utter confusion. I don't see that brotherhood among those who have served together in that company for twenty and thirty years. The familial bond is not there. Familiarity, maybe, but not the cohesion. They have been through some "tough times" together; "down-turns," "slow-downs," etc., but they never slept hunkered under ponchos together and never shared their "medicine" with their brothers who's mothers they never knew.

EDIT: I don't mean to exclude any here who have not been in the service either. The whole idea of sharing your "medicine," or sharing about it is what I am talking about and that is common among those here at WSS. The fact that there are so many out there who don't know what that's like is a bit sad to me and then, it also makes me appreciate the fact that I have the good fortune to "know" and have the means to associate with so many who do.

Man, I talk a lot, don't I?
Click to expand...

I hear ya Jeff. I didnt know you were an infantry man....... Good deal.:thumbup:


Man, I did the same thing. Trading candy for extra coffee, and the occasional Cappacino packet. I even boiled water for the iced tea packets and drank em hot. Good medicine for sure when its freezing and you are in an issue pup tent with another brother, talking about "the world". It truely is amazing when you can have that with people who are in the know. I had an MRE not long ago. Brought back memories for sure!!!

Its weird, I feel alot of the same things for the guys around here. Some I havent met yet, and some I never will.:thumbup:
 
When the Marine in the hole next to me woke me for my watch I was chest deep in water. It had been raining for 2 straight days with no sign of letting up. The Marine woke me and handed me a hot canteen cup of most bitter thick coffee I have ever had. I drank that mud like it was the finest Koan in Hawaii. At the end of my watch I did the same for the next guy on the line. 3 heat tabs and 5 packs of Uncle Sam special instant.
That was 30 years ago and I have vet to have a better cup.
 
I like to throw knives and tomahawks. There's just something about finding just the right tree and setting up to throw at it. Taking your stance, holding the knife, letting it go and hearing the "thunk" as it sticks into a tree. Walking up to the tree and pulling it out, seeing how deep it went in. Walking back and doing it again.

*shrug*
 
Either miners coffee or Earl grey tea. I relax by stropping a knife. I often camp w/o a fire even in winter aholdover from some of those old bad habits from the Corps.
 
I have always enjoyed a small bottle of whiskey..good whiskey to sip on.. also I like to bring a small sage bundle to burn.. it is smell is comforting and soothing.
 
My medicine is not material. Its all of the skills I have and what they do to my mood. They make me calm and help me deal with anything going on in my life. It can be anything from flintknapping, making a reed flute, weaving a basket, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top