Winter camping (pic heavy)

Mentor said:
It's not every day that one sees so many knives stuck in a tree (at least, in my experience)...
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not every day one sees that many knives in one camp, period :)

I'm sure the tarp over the tent helped, it's one of those "dang, why didn't I think of that?"
 
GibsonFan said:
not every day one sees that many knives in one camp, period :)
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Yes and most of them are form Matt and Brad, lol, i only had 3 of the 20 some knives, lol.

as for the learning experiance i agree, and im sorry for seming harsh but its a cedar tree with 4 trunks, we put the knives in the one trunk took the pics and took them out. This summer i was up there 6 times and the tree is still alive and healthy. Please remember its a cattle pasture, the cattle have already done the worst, we cant hurt he trees much more unless we cut them down, lol

Chris out

ps. was fun, but lets talk about somthing other than the amount of knives in a tree, let talk about the kinds of knives we had and what we did with them
 
BTW, in case you're interested, and you should be since this is a survival forum, Eastern/Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is an excellent source of tinder (bark) for friction fires, the bark makes excellent (though somewhat fragile) berry gathering baskets, and cordage. The wood is a fairly good wood for friction fires, both as hearths and drills.

Cedarberrybasket2.jpg

Berry gathering basket. Lacing on near side is Cedar bark, cordage is Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannibinum)



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Top of a Cedar quiver. Lacing is Spruce (Picea - don't know the species) root.



(Please excuse poor quality pictures - a photographer, I'm not.)

I've heard about people using the small, snappy branches as a 2-piece, light weight quickee bow - never tried it, and, the bark was used as a medicinal drink. Some people use it as a beverage, but there are warnings about its usage.

See, not just another pretty face (tree). :)

Doc
 
ashtxsniper said:
damn somebody is a tree hugger. I couldnt even begin to recall the thousands of trees I have stabbed with knives and the tens of thousands I have shot with guns. I guess I am a tree murder.
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+1, you gotta throw the tomahawk at a tree
 
Doc, excellent handywork on that quiver and basket.

You say somewhat fragile, but, as with both items, if you gave it a couple more wraps around it's girth, as you did at the tops, wouldn't that add to it's strength/ They don't appear to be too fragile?

Anyway, nice work using natural materials.

How do you acquire the spruce lacing? Does it need to green/dry (one or the other) in order to be worked?
 
DOC those are some sweet pictures. I really like them. If you have any more could you pleace email ( matt.krissak@gmail.com ) them to me, or post them. And if not thanks for sharing them.

Nothing makes better natural cordage here in ontario then Black spruce roots, next in line cedar, if you know how.
 
SkunkWerX said:
Doc, excellent handywork on that quiver and basket. Thank you very much.

You say somewhat fragile, but, as with both items, if you gave it a couple more wraps around it's girth, as you did at the tops, wouldn't that add to it's strength/ They don't appear to be too fragile? The berry basket is fine but if you were wearing the quiver and backed into something, the quiver would crack. You could repair it with more spruce root, cedar bark, whatever (one of the joys of using natural materials), but it would still be fairly fragile. You are right, though, if you added bands every once in a while along its length, it definitely would strengthen it, but, I like the look of it hanging on the wall, so I probably won't change it. I also have a Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) quiver, that although quite a bit heavier, is much tougher. Besides, my next one will be a Birch bark quiver and that's the one I'm going to use - actually my next two, one with the outer bark out and one with it in.

Anyway, nice work using natural materials.

How do you acquire the spruce lacing? Does it need to green/dry (one or the other) in order to be worked?
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You dig the Spruce root, preferably in the Spring, when the ground is soft, and the root is at its strongest. I debark it, then I coil it and let it dry, although sometimes I split it first, depending on the use and the size. When I want to use it, I boil it, and split it, if necessary, and then use it. It is very supple in this state. When it dries, it's like wood.

Doc
 
matthew krissak said:
DOC those are some sweet pictures. I really like them. If you have any more could you pleace email ( matt.krissak@gmail.com ) them to me, or post them. And if not thanks for sharing them.

Nothing makes better natural cordage here in ontario then Black spruce roots, next in line cedar, if you know how.
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Thanks for the kind words, Matthew. You don't want me to start posting pictures of baskets - they'll ban me for sure. :) Is there anything specific you're looking for?

Doc
 
Doc, do you have any links on making stuff from natural materials such as that quiver or baskets?
 
sweet, i didnt know you could do so much with 3 trees. thats cool, although it seems very time consuming.

how long would it take to make a quiver?

chris
 
Thanks for the links Doc! I haven't read through them yet but I bookmarked them for reference. (currently, I have more irons in the fire than I can keep up with )

mewolf1, I'm smack dab in the middle of WI, where 51 meets 29. Contact me via email, my info is available here. Always good to have a contact in the region :)
 
yeah, the tree would make it. There should be no problems with it surviving. Sap is like an antibiotic, ans bandaid. Plus when it does eventuaaly die, you can chop it untill its just a big pile of campfire wood just stay upwind. the carbon from the sap can get ya a little bit.
 
DarkLenz said:
sweet, i didnt know you could do so much with 3 trees. thats cool, although it seems very time consuming.
chris
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That and so much more - weapons, cordage, food, medicine, clothing, and the list goes on.

how long would it take to make a quiver?
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Depends on the material, type and size of quiver, how fast you are. Besides, what does it matter? It takes what it takes. We all have a common final destination. What's the hurry?

2dogs - Thank you.

Doc
 
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