The Sage of Survival Speaks

[conanjaguar]

Greetings all!

From my vast book learning (and some personal, I have indeed once started a fire in a tin can with a firestriker and cooked meat over an open flame) in the world of bushcraft and survival, I have side died to start this thread, “The Sage of Survival Speaks”. 

If anyone has any questions or tips for real-world camping/bushcraft, please share them here, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

[conanjaguar]

For my first bit of survival advice: Dryer lint makes excellent tinder. Every time you empty your dryer’s lint trap, reserve it, and pack it in empty cardboard toilet paper rolls for easy transport. Going through the steps one by one:1. Prepare your fire starting kit. Mine consists of a can, a tinder plug made of dryer lint and a toilet paper roll, and a firestriker.2. Using the serrated edge of the small blade that comes with the firestriker, or a knife’s edge, carefully shave some of the magnesium coating off the firestriker. Then, strike it hard and fast with the back of a knife or the smooth side of the accompanying blade. Be sure that the sparks land on the lint; augmented by the magnesium shavings, it should combust quickly.

3. Boil some water while you’re at it.

The Sage of Survival has spoken.

[conanjaguar]

4 hours ago, conanjaguar said:

I have side died

What?? That was supposed to say: 

Quote

I have decided

My clumsy fingers again.

[conanjaguar]

For today’s bit of survival advice:

A 9-volt battery with both contact points on one end can be used to start a fire. Simply rub both contacts against a scrap of steel wool, and it should begin to glow red/orange, and eventually combust.

(No pictures because I don’t have any steel wool around the house.)

[conanjaguar]

For my next sage project, I found a piece of scrap metal in a parking lot today. I will try to make it into another improvised knife.

[conanjaguar]

UPDATE: The piece of scrap metal apparently once was a car brake. I am literally hacking chunks out of the whetstone with it, soooo... I turn to my diamond sharpener.

[conanjaguar]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:45 PM, conanjaguar said:

UPDATE: The piece of scrap metal apparently once was a car brake. I am literally hacking chunks out of the whetstone with it, soooo... I turn to my diamond sharpener.

UPDATE: Project canceled. Instead, for today’s bit of survival advice, I present a recipe for Campfire (or not) Beans.

1. Using a can opener, open the beans. I used House of Garden Giant Beans in Tomato Sauce, but other kinds will work as well.

2. As per my first bit of survival advice, light a fire using a lint and toilet paper roll tinder plug and firestriker.

Sustain the fire by adding small sticks, getting progressively larger in size as you go. When it has begun to die down, place the beans atop the fire and warm for 10-15 minutes. Add a dash each of parsley and nutmeg, and serve it hot, with small pieces of chopped meat.

Is it food or...

[Leeanda]

Just now, conanjaguar said:

UPDATE: Project canceled. Instead, for today’s bit of survival advice, I present a recipe for Campfire (or not) Beans.

1. Using a can opener, open the beans. I used House of Garden Giant Beans in Tomato Sauce, but other kinds will work as well.

2. As per my first bit of survival advice, light a fire using a lint and toilet paper roll tinder plug and firestriker.

Sustain the fire by adding small sticks, getting progressively larger in size as you go. When it has begun to die down, place the beans atop the fire and warm for 10-15 minutes. Add a dash each of parsley and nutmeg, and serve it hot, with small pieces of chopped meat.

Is it food or...

Question is ... Did you eat it?  

[conanjaguar]

5 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Question is ... Did you eat it?  

Yep. Beans are among one of my favorite foods. Baked beans, boiled beans, retried beans, beans over an open fire, you name it, I’ll eat it.

[Leeanda]

Just now, conanjaguar said:

Yep. Beans are among one of my favorite foods. Baked beans, boiled beans, retried beans, beans over an open fire, you name it, I’ll eat it.

Jumping beans???😁

[conanjaguar]

1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

Jumping beans???😁

Hmmm... I would have to consider that.
.

.

.

Probably?

[Leeanda]

Yuck😁

[Humblewoodsman]

Encouraging seeing the youth  dabble in this kind of stuff

[conanjaguar]

@Humblewoodsman

Thank you for reminding me about my sage activities! I suppose I shall have to get back into it sooner rather than later.

Next project: making a bow.

[conanjaguar]

I promised...  now here you go.

Making a simple bow was rather difficult, in its own way. First, I had to find a suitable sapling to use. As we had an infestation of mimosa bushes/trees/weeds in our yard, I figured that I might as well pull double duty and kill two rabbits with one stone.

So, I set out into the humid heat with my trusty hatchet, and spent a while trying to decide which branch would be best. In the end, I decided to cut down the one that most readily resembled a bow. Due to clumsy hatchetmanship, I ended up cutting the branch in half, but I wasn’t aiming to make a longbow anyway. 

After cutting a notch in either end, I was ready to add the string. By bending the branch slightly, I was able to get it to at least look like a bow while I tied the twine on either end for the bowstring. Cured guts, rolled plant fibers, or vines would work as well, but I’m a slave to the modern lifestyle, so twine it was.

Making an arrow will be more difficult, as we have nothing suitable to use around the yard.

I have an idea for the arrowhead; we don’t have a forge, but a section hacked out of the bottom or top of a can could work.

The sage of survival has spoken.

[conanjaguar]

I almost forgot about this stuff .

I’ve made a stone hatchet, should have a sage update fairly soon.