More gear!

So, I am working on completely kitting out a rucksack designed specifically for bushcraft overnights. I have worked out the gear so far, and have either ordered it, own it, or am awaiting financial resources to aquire it. In no particular order, here is the list of what I have, will have, or want:
Karrimor 45L rucksack, with external pockets. Everywhere I've read, this has been suggested for a decent weekend pack. I had to order one from the UK, and it cost quite a bit of money. So, as I await its arrival, I'll collect everything else. Review will follow.
Military Sleep System- This is essentially a winter bag, a summer bag, and a goretex bivvy bag, that can all be snapped together. Very rugged, I've had mine for years.
DD Hammock-another piece of gear that comes highly recommended. I only once spent a weekend in a hammock, when I was 14, and it was a miserable experience, to say the least. But, I have acquired a wealth of knowledge since then, and am willing to give it a try again. Besides, I once fell asleep walking, in the Army...so, how bag can a night in a hammock REALLY be? ;)
Swedish Army Stove- one word-GREAT! This stove, although heavy, is idiot proof, and works in any weather. And, its cheap!
1L canteen-NATO issue, with aluminum cup. Ah, holds water.
Mora Knife-with a nice leather bushcraft sheath.
Swedish firesteel-ferro rod & striker. Nice & simple for starting fires.
Poncho-military, for shelter.
First Aid Kit-I have an AMK ultralight .7-I havent added anything to it other than hand sanitizer.
Survival Kit-I'll go over this in detail in another post.
AMK heatsheet-an emergency blanket, just in case.
cordage-I could tie up a battalion of boy scouts!
Food-whatever I feel like putting in there. currently, I have a mac & cheese dinner, two packets of oatmeal, 5 packets of cocoa, and 4 instant coffee packets.
Clothing-appropriate for the season.
Sleeping mat-a Z-rest 3/4 length.
Wet weather bag-Army issue, turned inside out.
Flashlight-if I remember to pack something other than the one on my keychain, I use a princeton tec micro whatever its called. Its tiny!
Shovel-Army issue tri-fold. The blade part is sharp, and can double as a light duty axe.
Axe-cheapo one I picked up at a hardware store. I dont normally chop trees down, and it sits mostly in the back of my jeep. It goes in if I remember to put it in, but, not normally carried.
Saw-I have a Gerber hand saw, with a retractable blade. I havent tried it out yet, but, it looks like it will do the job. Next time I go out for a day, I am going to try it out building a lean-to. TRhe blade retracts right into the handle for nice, easy packing.
Thats it in a nutshell. It will be interesting to see if I can get all this into the rucksack when it arrives. you may notice that quite a bit of stuff in there is military issue. Being an ex-grunt, I've come to appreciate the functionality and ruggedness of army issue gear. I normally am a light hiker, and have a LOT of gear designed specifically for that. An ultralight pack, stove, sleeping bag, all that. But, for general bushcraft, where I am going to be less than nice (read: abusive) to my gear, nothing beats military issue. As most of my bushcraft stuff is done within 2 miles of my jeep, I dont really hump it very far. Besides, the gear total may weigh around 30 lbs or so, which isnt all that bad. Now that I think about it, I may weigh both my hiking setup and my bushcraft setup, item for item, and compare weights. That sounds like an excellent project! Stay tuned!

Out for a day of instruction

Well, my nephew has the week off, so I decided we were going to spend a morning teaching him how to set up a poncho shelter. So, he came over last night, and I went over a couple of knots with him, to help set the shelter up today. This morning we got up & headed right out. It is about 20°F today, with gusty winds. We had a fresh coating of snow, about 3" or so. Pretty good conditions for what I had planned. I also wanted to try out my new swedish army stove in the woods, in the cold. It worked quite well, and took about 15 mins to boil a full pot of water.
So, I had my nephew set up his poncho as I was setting mine up. He had some trouble with the knots. I think its because he is unsure of himself. I went over it with him quite a few times. He finally got it, after a LOT of trial & error. So, we got the ponchos set up, then cut a few limbs to sit on. I then started the stove to get some cocoa going. He wants to get out alot this spring & summer, which is what I want to do as well. I told him that, come spring, I am going out regardless of the weather. So, I told him, we gotta keep working on the basics before moving on. the pics on the side are, in order:
Me drinking a cup of cocoa, after everything was all set up.
A picture of our little setup. those branches are what we sat on.
My stove chufgging away. As cold as it was, it only took 15 mins to get to a full boil. A lot quicker than I expected.
Another shot of our area, with my nephew holding a bag of cocoa in his mouth.

Winter camping

Well, I just spent last night out on a local pond. Actually, next to it. But, I went out to try several different things; a 0* bag, my stove, to see how cold it could get before it didnt work, and a set of Bivvy Wear tops & bottoms. Also, I wanted to try lighting a fire using flint & steel. I did tape alot of the afternoon, until my camera actually froze, and no longer worked. So, on to my story.
It got a record low of -10* with the wind last night. Pretty damned cold! My first experiment was to light a fire using the flint & steel. I grabbed a bunch of dried grass along the edge of the pond, and attempted to light it. With the constant wind, I soon gave up without a fire. There really wasnt a convenient place to hide from the wind, and, as it was bitter cold, I gave up fairly quick. however, I went into my survival kit, and took out a vaseline soaked cotton ball, to give that a whirl. With just to strike of the flint, I got flame. So, needless to say, I will NOT be going out without this!
Next, my stove. I have an MSR pocketrocket. This, unfortunately, did not work at all in the bitter cold. I ended up putting it into my jacket, and laying in my sleeping bag, to get it warm enough to work. I boiled a cup of water, for cocoa, inside my tent. Not the best idea, but I needed something warm inside me. So, in extreme cold, the much vaunted isopro mix, good for sub freezing temps, didnt work. Good thing to know!
Next, I tried out my bivvy wear. Now, THIS stuff is amazing. With both the tops & bottoms on, I was fine, even with the wind. Good stuff. Packs small, is VERY warm, definitely a worthy purchase.
Inside my tent, I was alot warmer, without the wind. I had a candle lantern burning, and it was a relatively warm 20*. So, I thought I'd be fine with my sleeping bag. But, I found MANY cold spots throughout the night. I ended up putting on my military issue heavyweight longjohns. A little better. Ultimately, as the temps dropped considerably, I put the bivvy wear on too. This was relatively comfortable. I slept fitfully, mostly woke up when I rolled over. My toes were cold throughout the night. Had my stove worked, I wouldve heated water & put the bottle down near my feet. Ah well, again, lesson learned.
The final temp reading recorded on my digi thermometer was 9*, inside the tent. Then, it too died. I taped alot of the day, but, unfortunately, electronics & exteme cold weather dont mix. So, I got nothing of this morning. But, I made it out, toes & all!
The coolest thing was listening to the ice settle all noght. Huge BOOMs were heard all night long. The tent wall was constanlty compressed onto my face, due to the constant wind. But, I made it through fine. I actually got alot more sleep than expected. Thats all for now. As soon as I get my video loaded, I'll post that.

new knife!

I just wanted to post that I picked up a new knife. I picked up a Mora Model #731. A you can view their collection of knives here. My blade looks discolored, but, I intended it that way. To protect the knife, I used a neat little trick I learned. As it is a mix of carbon & stainless steel (I wont get into the technical aspects of knifemaking, but, a mixed metal blade will provide excellent cutting edges, retain the edge, and not stain/rust as readily), it requires some protection from elements, particularly staining. So, to do that, you stain the metal first (doesnt hurt it at all). To do this, I wrapped the blade in a paper towel soaked in white vinegar for about an hour (went & washed my jeep). The result is what you see on the blade. It faded it, and you can see the mix of the two steels quite well (of course, not with MY camera...).Anyway, I wanted to share this with you.
ON a geocaching note, I went out yesterday, and actually came across a white hare. First wild rabbit I've seen in quite some time. Had I a rabbit stick, I may have had rabbit stew last night! He was a big, fat one too. Came across an interesting cache container as well at this cache. It was actually a piece of a log a beaver had cut down, and it was hollowed out, with a hinged lid. Pretty clever.
I also picked up a new vehicle GPS. I picked up a quest 2, and was using it quite extensively yesterday. Overall, not a bad little machine. It does take some time to re-calculate routes, and this can become quite annoying. It does acquire satellites very quickly though. I have an external GPS antenna, and that may help in the acquisition/lock department though. It is definitely easy to read. The suction cup thingy kept slipping off my windshield, so I mounted it where my old one was, using a slightly different method of mounting than suggested. But, it never slipped off, so, all is good thus far!
I will probably be going out caching tomorrow as well. I am going to start taking my nephew out, & teaching him some wilderness skills. We will (hopefully) get lots of pics using just our kits. The idea is to go out for 2-3 days this spring & live just off the land, with only our little kits. We shall see! anyway, the pic of my new knife: