I wish I knew this hitch when I was doing Search and Rescue and trying to save peoples roofs in the middle of thunder storms, tarping up holes in ceilings. A Voodoo Hitch without the Carabiners.
https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/the-voodoo-hitch-a-magic-tensioning-hitch
I signed up for a new course following through on bird language. Crows are one bird Ive had trouble understanding.
3 Ways That Studying Crows Can (And Will) Transform Your Connection With Nature And Your Life For The Better
8 Key Mindsets and Misconceptions About Crows That Make Or Break Your Ability To Know What They’re Saying
How Crow Language Is Different From Human Language… And Why That Actually Helps You Learn It Faster!
How To Think Like A Crow So You Can Hone Your Empathy & Instincts For Reading Their Communication
The Difference Between Being In Observation Mode VS Being In Analysis Mode (This Is Why Most People Get Confused About Crows)
The Essential List of Crow Conversations That Accounts For 90% Of Everything They Ever Talk About
Audio And Video Examples Of Crow Vocalizations In Action Plus How They Relate To Body Language & Behavior
How To Locate Crow Predators Like Hawks, Eagles, Owls & Cats By Following Alarm Vocalizations
3 Key Steps To Follow Whenever You See or Hear A Crow In Order To Successfully Interpret What That Crow Is Saying
3 Simple Practice Routines In Just A Few Minutes To Instantly Create More Opportunities For Watching Crows
A Simple Guide To Why Crows Communicate Differently In Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter (And How To Track The Shifting Patterns)
8 Questions To Ask Yourself In Order To Build Absolute Confidence About What Crows Are Communicating Outside
Action Packed Concepts, Techniques, Exercises & Action Steps From Start To Finish!
01 – Goals & Introduction Of This Course
02 – What I’ve Learned About Crows On My Journey
03 – Mindsets & Misconceptions For Crow Language Mastery
04 – What Do Crows Actually Talk About?
05 – Learning To Read The Sentences & Paragraphs
06 – Essential Crow Vocalizations
07 – A Year In The Life of Crows
08 – The Crow Observation Journal
09 – Observation Journal Walk through
10 – The Overall Process To Practice
11 – Closing Thoughts
A Work In progress
I decided to go through my gear and update a few items for the upcoming courses that are my goals to do this year. Several things in the past have worked but also haven’t worked. I learn something different every time I do a course. Also what I carry on a training course and what Id carry by myself are two totally different concepts.
Id would now carry something like a TT Essential Pack MKII 9L to 15 ltr Backpack when training. It’ll hold my water bottle, note pad and compass along with any other essentials for the day and have enough room to include cooking pots and eating utensils for of a night, when at either the main camp site or another’s meeting point. However when Im bush by myself I like to go traditional.
I found the water bottle holders with a pouch on the side become too heavy with cups and cooking accessories. So Ive gone to a Badger Claw Outfitters Water bottle holder which just holds the bottle and nothing else. If I require cooking gear I have enough room in my Frost River Haversack to include them. What you do on courses and what you do independently are completely different. If I’m hiking through the bush I don’t need cups, pots spork etc.
I like the system that Dave Ward from Ochoco Bushcraft has done in link below. Canteen on one shoulder, haversack on the other and a possibles belt kit to hold the fire kit. Everything becomes balanced over several body parts. However Im swapping around the haversack to the Frost River. I like the wider shoulder strap.
I must have also gone through every bushcraft haversack kit video on you-tube and it looks like they’ve just stuck as much gear as possible into one bag just to make a video. I like to one spread out the load and two have my fire kit always on my belt and not in a shoulder bag.
Doing courses is also the only time I carry the small silky folding saws. The Frost River can also hold my smaller Boreal collapsible saw. Saws are carried on courses and used all the time but Id only use them for firewood at my own campsite. Your’d be lucky to find any instructors in Australia that would let you carry an axe or a large knife while training.
I keep my ferro rod and Bic lighter always in my pocket along with a piece of paracord to use to tie up a firewood carrier. I base the remainder of the equipment around the 5C’s.
Compass
tinder pouch oilskin bag
bankline oilskin bag
gloves leather
note pad
poncho
canteen 32oz and nesting cup
multi tool backup blade
headlamp
first aid bleed out and snake kit
shemagh
https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/TT-Essential-Pack-MKII-9L-Backpack
(Ive since purchased a TAD Gear Fast pack secondhand to do the job. You need to collect much more tinder on courses to complete prerequisite tasks)
Ive been looking into getting a Sojourn pack and modifying it to a larger vertical style shoulder haversack. Unpicking the sewing on the sides and removing the straps and placing on a shoulder strap. To have a more traditional look and to sit under the arm better.
Frost River Sojourn
Ive almost completed Wildlife Tracks and Signs by Lee Burton at Naturalist Studies before starting Bird Language. Listed within the Curriculum was a video by Steve Leckman on animal gaits and trying to mimic them to learn more about how they are made. I had never seen this any where else and wanted to share.
https://www.naturaliststudies.com/
“When we track, we pick up a string. At the far end of that string a being is moving, existing, still connected to the track that we gaze upon. The animals movement is still contained within the track, along with the smallest of external and internal details”.
Tom Brown, Jr
Written by Frances Bodkin, illustrated by Lorraine Robertson
This book was recommended to me by Jake Cassar, one of my mentors and is a beautifully written and illustrated book explaining cultural practices and the cycles of the land. From times of the day, to annual seasons, to the Mudong, a 12 year cycle of the land.Based on observations over thousands of generations.
Gugagaradjanaba Pre-dawn
“The awakening, as the first rays of the sun-lighten the horizon and the mists blanket the earth, the kookaburra calls to all within earshot to announce the new day. It is the freshest part of the day,a new beginning, the time to gather dew before the sun’s rays evaporate it from the medicine plants.”
The yearly calendar does not rely upon dates in months and weeks, or even an understanding of the solstices, but on the key events that occur in the environment. These events involve specific plant flowerings and fruiting’s, and noticeable quirks in animal behavior that occur only at certain times of the year. it is the result of many thousands of years of living within, observing and understanding the land.
When the flowering stem of the Kia’mia (Doryanthes excelsa) or Gymea Lily reaches the top of the leaves and the spear-pointed buds turn pink, it is time to make the trip to the coast, because it is a sure sign that the whales will shortly be arriving on their journey north. However when the flower comes into bloom, it is an indicator that the whales will be returning to the southern waters and it is again time to travel to the coast.
I found this book fascinating. After doing so many bird language and tracking courses I’m finding I’m no longer a bushcrafter. I started this journey to learn bushcraft skills however I now see my self more as a budding naturalist.
I first came across bushcraft zip ties watching Felix Imler (Bottom) using a toggle system. I thought this was a great idea however wanted something that didn’t require a toggle so I could learn better knots.
It wasn’t much later I saw a clip using a larks head. It wasn’t Coalcracker (middle), it was another channel that I couldn’t find. The Larks-head a nice easy solution to using toggles.
Recently I started paying more attention to cinches. The same as used in forming the first lock in a Truckers Hitch through the loop. I was seeing this used in more and more places. Last night I couldn’t sleep and a clip from Kusk Bushcraft (top) popped up on my feed . Kusk used the same truckers Hitch lock but doubled over the paracord. I thought this was a great adaption. I’m now looking into where else this locking system could be used.
Cinch Knot
Larks Head
Toggle System
Truckers Hitch
(EDIT) Found the original source CBYS Paracord (posted 1 year ago)
“Never Cry Wolf” adapted from the book by Farley Mowat. I re-watched the movie today for the first time since 1983. It is still visually stunning. I realized that I had never read the book. I had also lost my copy of “People of the Deer”. Something Id like to remedy this week.
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