I've been watching bushcraft videos for years. I watch
many different channels. Men and women alike. Every one
of them have a different style or technique when it comes to
surviving out in the environment. Some specialize in building
shelters some building fires some in cooking some in identifying
edible plants and on and on and on. I love all of it. I have made
my own knives, my own flint and steel kit, a homemade bow saw
carved utensils I know numerous fire lays and cooking methods.
One would think I was well prepared.
Well this weekend I was tested. Being bored I decided to set
out and give myself a test. It had rained for a day and a half. What
better way to prove my skills than to grab my pack and head out for
a day alone in the woods. I enjoy teaching kids that visit us at camp
how to find dry tinder on wet days, start fires with flint and steel,
cook over an open fire and such.. I've done it many many times. What
could go wrong? Well I found that It's a bit different when your out
of the comforts of camp. First off I explored a little too long and by
the time I made camp I was hungry. This leads to taking shortcuts on
tinder and firewood gathering so my supply of dry tinder was a bit
small and although I had plenty of firewood around not all was ideal.
But my belly said good enough so I started the fire anyway. It lit but
was no roaring fire by any means. Lucky for me I carry extra birch bark
and a dried cattail or two in my pack (for emergency use) I place my
homemade grill on a couple rocks and I'm ready to cook. Today's menu
is a steak and some Bannock. I retrieve my steak for my pack wrapped
with a frozen pack in foil and heavy canvas. Ahh perfect. still chilled and
ready. Sprinkle on a bit of seasoning and place it on the grill. Now for the
bannock. I mix mine up at home.. simple recipe.. flour, little baking powder
pinch of salt and whatever seasoning you prefer. I left it plain this time but
I did bring along a small container of sesame seeds to coat the outside before
baking. All one needs to do is add water, roll into a log and wind it around a
stick and place it over the fire like a hot dog and rotate it till golden brown.
Very tasty. Now the golden rule I preach when I do this for people at camp is
never use all of the flour mixture at first. Reason being if you add too much
water you'll end up with soup and have nothing to add to dry it out. Guess
what? I broke the rule. I've done it so often I thought I had the touch.. I was
wrong. Ended up with a bunch of something resembling pancake batter and
no pan to cook it in. Oh I had my bushpot but I was boiling coffee water in that
and you know what a necessity that is ! Now if I had a nice clean flat stone I
could have baked it on that but I decided to just let it dry out a bit and place
what I could on the grill. What little I had was darn good..lol But back to the
steak.. done to perfection except .. What? no plate? ahhhhhhh Let's see, what
to do? I know.. I had the foil, I'll wrap it around my wide bladed machete.
Wa Laaa a serviceable plate. The steak was delicious what little I had of the
bannock was great and the coffee (although instant) was like nectar.
So... All this blabbering just to say knowledge is a great thing, but don't be
fooled into thinking you don't need actual experience to preform some tasks
properly. I plan on doing this more often even though none of my friends seem to
want to come onboard lol They've been pampered campers too long. I enjoy
the solitude and each time is a learning experience. It amazed me just how tasks
that I do all the time become more difficult when the circumstances dictate you must
preform them. At any rate I survived and I'm a bit wiser (I hope) We'll see what
happens next time .. maybe I'll film it. (Well the good parts anyways) lol
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