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I get used to strange looks from passers by when I'm out on dog walks, I can see the puzzled faces struggling to make sense of what I must be so intrigued by a bit of dirt, smelling a stick or eating strange weeds. Sometimes they ask but often they wander by with a wry giggle or smile.
This morning was just such one of those occasions as Hobbes and I did our morning tour of Kipling Tor. I was filling a bag with what must have at first looked like blackberries but as the walkers got a little closer they just gawked as I grabbed a handfull of fireweed seed pods causing an explosion of downy seeds to blow over them.
The fireweed is starting to seed and I am making the most of the opportunity to gather the downy seeds for use in fire making for the rest of the year.
But its not just the seeds that have a use.
Whenever I am out in the woods I am always looking forward to my next brew, no more so at the break of dawn when Im just rising and thinking about the day ahead. Something that I cannot do without a good fresh coffee in hand. Coffee being so important I will some time dedicate a blog to my quest for the perfect camp brew.
of course after a long night its always a little disheartening to come back to the camp fire only to find a flat bed of white ash and a few blackened dog ends. But fear not as there is a simple and effortless way to bring life back to this heart of your bushcraft camp.
Some bow drill friction fire pointers.
Well although I have p[romised a few of you who have been on my courses that I would Blog a tutorial on Friction fire. So far every attempt to write it turns into a full blown hundred page manual. The final decision being that until I arrange to film it I will let people find the myriad other videos on you tube that already exist.
However for those that are trying themselves, as I have seen with my students often times there are a few very simple pointers that can make your friction firemaking so much easier.
Whatever your chosen method for fire lighting is the fundamentals of establishing, managing and maintaining a fire will always follow the same guidelines. First off what is the fire for? A few possible reasons are heat, light, signalling, cooking or most importantly boiling tea water.
Once you've decided on that then it makes it all a lot easier, but before I get carried away let us just go through some of the basics of fire. Most should know of the trinity of fire if not you will by the end of this paragraph. Fire needs three key components Oxygen, fuel and heat.
