Knowledge Weighs Nothing - Life Hacks, Bushcraft etc

[Easy 6]

Its camping season, so I figured its time for a repository for all of the cool tips and tricks to be found out there that can make your experience easier and more enjoyable... don't wanna pack a tent so you can really rough it? theres a lot of different shelter designs out there, need to start a fire but forgot the lighter? there are tricks out there for that as well.

It can also branch out into cool knowledge that's useful around the home and in life in general, which is why I threw "life hacks" in there... this thread is for outdoorsmen and everyman.

Tell us your trick for saving money around the house, building a fire, catching food, making a field expedient water filter etc.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by mac459

Look up TA Outdoors on YouTube..he has tons of awesome videos

On your recommendation that will be tomorrows search, no question about it

I've watched at least two dozen people build the same basic design, just to get an idea of how to streamline the process... but I look forward to incorporating the ideas from TAO

(minutes later) aaand yeah, this guy is no joke... he has the almost full wall around it, tons of work

My only nitpick would be having a raised bed, but I'll be looking further into his style on your recommendation

[Easy 6]

Town life has just got me down, the last several summers have seen my favorite out of the way fishing/camping spots either

a) overrun by people looking to get away themselves, without the same respect for the land

Or

b) being destroyed by natural calamity, like the tremendous tree that was at least 200 years old falling directly along the bank of my favorite hole due to bank erosion

I need a spot away from the madding crowd

If any of you feel the same, the shelters are plenty easy enough for one man to build... the biggest problem is finding a spot where you wont be discovered by a bunch of dicks looking to set your shit on fire in a drunken stupor

[Perineum Ripper]

You will need to watch that whole series of that camp. It gets really impressive.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by mac459

You will need to watch that whole series of that camp. It gets really impressive.

Consider it done, been soaking this stuff up for hours lately

I need a place to get away from this shithole town asap

[Easy 6]

I'm SO making this very soon, not even gonna wait for camping weather, coconut milk chili lime fish... video cuts out at the worst possible time, but you know it rocked



Tree root shelter, no tools needed

[Easy 6]

Mac, you really werent lying about TA Outdoors, watched this all the way through night before last, simply incredible and I'm sooo damn jealous... a completely free cabin in the woods built from nothing but old pallets

Man, him and his dad dick this thing OUT... wood burning stove, shelving, fold down dinner table, locking door, and window... all for nothing, just some old pallets, nails and a few screws

Its fantastic and I just cant rave enough about it... want something like this, just like Bill Murray in What About Bob

I want I want I want
I need I need I need



Then in a later episode, this guy and his dad show up in a blizzard to show you just how awesome it works in bad weather... you cant see anyones breath... all perfectly heated by that tiny wood stove you see in the original

And check out that stove man... you've got what looks like a two gallon water heater add on, as well as a legit baking oven, just unreal I'm so green with envy

Skip around the first half or so of the build if you want, but be sure to finish strong by seeing just how awesome this little place is

[srvy]

Been off since xmas till after new year and bored to death with cabin fever. Wife has had me doing bs honey do's so every now I slip into the workshop with the Ipad and watch youtube videos and thumb through my collection of old Bowhunter and Traditional Bowhunter bowhunter magazines. I came on to one of my favorite's the legendary Jay Massey and his exploits hunting his beloved Moose John River, not its real name. He never told its true name so as to keep it remote and pristine. Saying that you quickly deduce its real name in his writing and landmarks in his books. I learned how to make osage orange selfbows and bowstrings by reading his books. He died in 1997 of cancer but lives on in his writing and love of hunting the hard way but never was a prick about technology.

So I searched and watched youtube vids and found this dude who pretty much follows Jay's ways but not all and it was refreshing and thought I'd share.

So I was

[Easy 6]

Good stuff, srvy... hell I almost forgot about this thread

Building a bow actually capable of taking real game is an amazing skill, with skill like that you could survive just about any circumstance

---

And Mac, I rewatched that pallet cabin build just last week on youtube... absolutely amazing, with that nice wood stove a guy could live there indefinitely

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Sully

If you are making dinner for the whole family at home, make sure to let everyone else serve themselves, first. That way you have a good idea of how much to put on your plate without having to go back for seconds. In other words, "You had your chance and decided to skimp. I get the rest!!!"

where did you go, Sully?

[srvy]

I use waxed dacron b-50 to make 2 bunch 14 to 18 strand flemish strings and serve with nylon serving string. The serving is the 6 to 8-inch portion wear you nock the arrow. The video is a good guide.



I don't go this far but Jay Massey made reed arrows fletched with sinew and flint knapped arrowheads.
I buy bundles of port Orford blanks or alder straighten stain and crest the ends. Purchase turkey feathers already cut from the right-wing glue to shaft with a jig. I use plastic nocks and Zwickey Black Diamond steel resharpenable broadheads you glue on.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Good stuff, srvy... hell I almost forgot about this thread

Building a bow actually capable of taking real game is an amazing skill, with skill like that you could survive just about any circumstance

---

And Mac, I rewatched that pallet cabin build just last week on youtube... absolutely amazing, with that nice wood stove a guy could live there indefinitely

Yeah, I enjoyed this thread when you posted it. I did a search that didn't turn up anything so I searched through your thread starts in your profile and found.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by srvy

Yeah, I enjoyed this thread when you posted it. I did a search that didn't turn up anything so I searched through your thread starts in your profile and found.

So you're crafting your own bows now?

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

So you're crafting your own bows now?

Yes I have been for awhile I first started with Bingham Archery laminated recurve bow kit then did one of there laminated longbows. Then did some of my own designs and take to 3d archery shoots. I started seeing guys crafting osage longbows and hickory bows and started reading every book I could get from the library. It all made sense when I read this mans adventures.


Then it all came together finding and reading these books.





Its not hard really to rough out a bow but making one that doesn't break is another story lol. But that's the fun of it you can do everything right but your stave has a flaw or wormhole you didn't notice or just nicing into another growth ring of the back. You always shave the wood to a single consistent growth ring on the back of the bow the one that faces away from you. The belly of the bow that faces you is where you shave down and tiller the bow to reach the poundage you desire at a draw length.

[srvy]

The beauty of Osage Orange (hedge) is it's the perfect bow wood. Its tensile strength when put under stress is incredible. Many bow wood needs to be backed with snakeskin leather or some kind of laminate so they don't split at the fibers Osage is unique this way. The Native Americans had big ass wars with other Indian tribes traveling to steal the osage orange in its growing areas in the midwest. The French explorers called it Bois de arc which translates to the wood of the bow. They considered it superior to Yew that was common to European longbows.

[Easy 6]

Crafting a bow seems a super difficult and tricky art, where just like the metalworkers on Forged In Fire... even the good ones can be prone to many mistakes and minor flaws that compromise the whole thing

Pics of your work would be sweet...