Monday, October 26, 2009

EDC- Everyday Carry (Urban)



The idea behind the EDC is to have array tools that you carry with you at all times, so that in the event you need something, you simply have to turn to an item being carried on your body. Criteria for good EDC are that they are light, non-intrusive, can be carried with minimal effort, and (ideally) can be used in a multitude of emergency situations.

My current EDC shown above consists of items I carry around every day, and because I live in an urban environment, it is vastly different to what I carry around in the woods (which I will post about at a different date).

The kit includes
  1. Gerber mini paraframe knife
  2. Peanut lighter
  3. Swiss tech utili-key (contains:
    -
    flat screwdriver
    - phillips screwdriver
    - eyeglass screwdriver
    - serrated blade
    - bottle opener)
  4. LED key light
  5. 20' of parachute cord braided in a King Cobra bracelet
  6. Cellphone (not shown)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Pathfinder Challenge Day 4- Part 2

Challenge: Using natural materials only, made a whistle to use as an audable signal

Response:

Usually the simplest solution is the best, and this is the perfect example. I could spend my time and energy carving a very intricate whistle or I could simple tension a blade of glass between two thumbs with my hands put together and get a very effective audio signal.

you decide.


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Pathfinder Challenge Day 4- Part 1

So I obviously didn't make all of the challenges in order to win the contest...but that is irrelevant. Doing the challenges made me think and more importantly made me learn from a few mistakes, which I guess is really the spirit of why I should be doing them. In that vein I will pick up where I left off.

Part 1- Find and identify 5 edible plants, and 5 medicinal plants that grow in your area. For the 5 medicinal plants, list 3 things they can be used for.

Reponse:

Edibles
Pine

Dandelion

Wild Carrot

Clover

Sow Thistle

Burdock


Medicinals
Cat tails

Willow

Broad Leaf Plantain


Goldenrod

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Pathfinder Challenge Day 3

Challenge: Make a semi waterproof shelter, and prove it is waterproof by placing newspaper inside and pouring 2L of "rain" over top


My Response:

First thing I did was scout out a good place to set up the shelter. Not easy when it's already pitch black out. I found a place clear of trees and plant, with a single sapling I could use for support.

At this point I needed to work on the support structure for the shelter. In this case I chose an A-frame. I duct taped two supports together (duct tape = my 3rd item).
I then taped the two supports to a third log which would be my ridgeline.



After this, I taped the ridgeline to the sapling so that it would remain upright, and began laying sticks to form the frame.



I secured the frame sticks to the ridge line with more duct tape


At this point, I began piling as much green plant life onto the shelter as I could. This part took at least 90 mins alone.



I then cut some dry grasses and laid it on the floor to insulate from the ground, and piled debris from the ground on top the shelter.


I placed the newspaper inside and began the "rain"




The results:


Some of the newspaper is wet, but other parts are dry...which indicates to me areas of good waterproofing, and an area with a hole that should be patched.

I learned that the amount of debris needed on this shelter to ensure complete waterproofing was much much more than I anticipated, and alternatively I should have taken off my jacket and used it is a means to waterproof the shelter, since my sweater would have kept me warm even without the jacket on.

Hopefully the news paper is dry enough to move forward in the contest, but even if it's not I still be doing the challenges.

Pathfinder Challenge Day 2 - Results



Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Pathfinder Challenge Day 2

Start a fire with wet tinder, and soaking wet fire implement.

Boil 32oz of water to purify it.

Part 1
The first challenge (build a fire) was harder than I expected it to be. I've started fires in the rain all summer, but without petroleum jelly cotton balls, it was tough.

I soaked my ferro-rod in a bucket of water for 2 mins:




My first try was using cat tail heads, which i dosed with water. My thought was that the outer layer would get wet, but protect the soft fluffy inside.


This didn't work out, as the tinder would take a spark but not hold a flame since the moisture sucked out the heat.



With it too late to make another trek to find wood, I had to substitute and use a piece of pine lumber which I soaked in water (I hope this is acceptable Dave). This was to simulate finding dead pine trees, which are common in my area (Ontario, Canada). I combined it with some pine resin that I had originally collected to use with the cat tails.


I made shavings for tinder which i mixed with the resin and laid thin pieces of kindling on top.


SUCCESS!


Part 2
Boiling water was going to be more tricky since I didn't have a metal container. As it got dark, I went into the house to continue the challenge, since I already proved I could start a fire.

I made a watertight "basket" out of high visibility Duct Tape and added cold rocks to the bottom to insult it from the heat of the hot stones I was going to put in.



I filled it with cold water and began adding my hot rocks. I couldn't catch a picture of it while it was on the boil, but hopefully you can see some small bubbles coming off the rocks on the right.

Pathfinder Challenge Day 1

Yesterday was the start of the Pathfinder contest to on Facebook. Since the deadline has passed for the first challenge, I will post my response to it here.

Challenge: Choose 3 peices of kit to take into the wilderness to cover all 6 of the basic needs.

My Answer:
1) Multi-tool
2) Ferro-rod
3) large roll high-visibility duct tape


1) Shelter
Multi-tool
- saw can be used to harvest saplings to make a lean-to, A-frame or debris hut
- knife can be used to strip cedar bows from the saplings to make bedding to insulate the ground and cover the shelter
Duct tape
- can be used to bind the structure together

2) Fire
Ferro-Rod + multi-tool
- used to strike sparks into dry tinder
Duct tape
- can be torn into long strips to make cord for a bow drill to make friction fire

3) Water
Multitool + ferro rod
- Container can be burned out using the fire created above in conjunction with the multitool, and purified using rock boiling techniques
Duct Tape
- water carrying vessel can be made from duct tape once it has been purified

4) Food
Duct Tape
- cord can be made from duct tape by ripping long strips and twisting it on itself -> used to make snares, paiute deadfall
- bundle bow can be made from duct taping smaller sticks together, and strung using duct-tape cordage (see above)
- basket container can be made from duct tape to collect nuts, berries, wild edibles
Multi-tool
- figure 4 deadfall can be made using the saw and knife
- can be lashed to a stick with duct tape to make a spear for fishing or hunting
- knife on multitool can be used to skin and process game animals

5) Signal/navigation
Ferro rod + multi-tool
- Smoke signal fire can be made
High Vis Duct tape
- High visibility markers can be made around camp in case rescuers arrive
- Strips of duct tape can be joined together to create a large orange signal to be spotted from the air

- navigation during the day using general direction given by sun compass
- navigation at night using north star, though travel would most likely be halted until day break

6) Self aid
Duct Tape
- can be used in conjunction with cotton t-shirt to stop bleed
- can be used to slow blood flow above and below a snake bite
- can be used in conjunction with a green stick to be used as a splint in case of broken bones or sprains
Multi-tool
- knife can be used to remove splinters

Monday, October 5, 2009

Practice multiple skill sets!

Just got back from another weekend in the woods. The last time I went with this group, I was splitting wood using my large 'chopper' RD-9 knife to baton with and a folding saw to cut smaller diameter trees. This time I took a small knife and an axe, and was posed an odd question- I was asked if I had given up on the other method.

The truth is, I prefer batoning and I feel it is safer and more effective in certain situations than using an axe, but I chose to practice a different methods of performing the same task for a reason. Using one skill over and over makes you really really good at getting results with that one skill, but in the event that you can't use it, it also means you have not built up your other skills with which to replace it with.

In this case I felt it was important to practice my technique splitting logs with an axe, and making feather sticks rather than batoning through thick logs.

This concept carries over to all other skills as well, for instance- starting one fire with fatwood, one with birch bark tinder, or one with feather sticks.

Practicing different skills each means that you're more adaptable when the situation in not favourable to one particular condition giving you more tools to use in an emergency if needed.