Category: Other (Page 20 of 24)

“Intuitive Tracking: Awakening the Wild Within”.

Im getting a lot from the presentations at the GBS Global Bushcraft Symposium. Raven mentions a book I believe to be the one below on Apache significance of naming places. However several sources seem to be pushing me more and more towards the teachings of Jon Young. Ive found two mentoring businesses in Australia based around Holistic Tracking. Will be looking more into these during the week.

This presentation is an introduction to the core practices of intuitive tracking, which is complementary to technical tracking, but focuses more on the development of sensory awareness, curiosity, and deep nature connection. Intuitive tracking is a path to becoming more alive and in tune with the natural world. These practices will not only greatly enhance your tracking ability in the field, they will also improve your mental health and wellbeing.

Raven Gray

Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache

by Keith H. Basso

This remarkable book introduces us to four unforgettable Apache people, each of whom offers a different take on the significance of places in their culture. Apache conceptions of wisdom, manners and morals, and of their own history are inextricably intertwined with place, and by allowing us to overhear his conversations with Apaches on these subjects Basso expands our awareness of what place can mean to people.

Most of us use the term “sense of place” often and rather carelessly when we think of nature or home or literature. Our senses of place, however, come not only from our individual experiences but also from our cultures. “Wisdom Sits in Places,” the first sustained study of places and place-names by an anthropologist, explores place, places, and what they mean to a particular group of people, the Western Apache in Arizona. For more than thirty years, Keith Basso has been doing fieldwork among the Western Apache, and now he shares with us what he has learned of Apache place-names–where they come from and what they mean to Apaches.

“This is indeed a brilliant exposition of landscape and language in the world of the Western Apache. But it is more than that. Keith Basso gives us to understand something about the sacred and indivisible nature of words and place. And this is a universal equation, a balance in the universe. Place may be the first of all concepts; it may be the oldest of all words.”–N. Scott Momaday

“In “Wisdom Sits in Places” Keith Basso lifts a veil on the most elemental poetry of human experience, which is the naming of the world. In so doing he invests his scholarship with that rarest of scholarly qualities: a sense of spiritual exploration. Through his clear eyes we glimpse the spirit of a remarkable people and their land, and when we look away, we see our own world afresh.”–William deBuys

“A very exciting book–authoritative, fully informed, extremely thoughtful, and also engagingly written and a joy to read. Guiding us vividly among the landscapes and related story-tellings of the Western Apache, Basso explores in a highly readable way the role of language in the complex but compelling theme of a people’s attachment to place. An important book by an eminent scholar.”–Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.

https://www.bluegumbushcraft.com.au/coyote-mentoring.html

Holistic Tracking

A question by Mason in Woodcraft (1939) to Seton regarding the teachings of a bowdrill compared to using matches.

Mason “Why in a world of matches would you teach bowdrill”? Seton “Youre thinking of the fire that is lighted down there. I am thinking of the flame that is kindled in here pointing to his heart”!

Listening to a speech by Paul Moseley “Situated Knowledges and Poetics of Dwelling”. Mentions the above quote by Seton.

“Bushcraft is often thought of as enabling travel to be further and lighter. This talk will explore how bushcraft might, rather than being thought of in the context of adventuring into another people`s land, be used to create a meaningful kinship with our own?

Paul will explore the potential role of contemporary bushcraft, weaving together themes of place, identity, community and culture”.

Paul Moseley

Ive purposely haven’t taken notes through the speeches at the GBS to take everything in and enjoy the experience. This is the first speech where Ill be replaying it several times and going back to take notes throughout the talk.

Many of the talks have put me on a path to researching areas that I would not have considered before listening to them. Im now adding Seton to my reading list. With the above quote how couldn’t I.

Basic Biography

Ernest Evan Thompson (AKA Ernest Thompson Seton, 1860-1946), born in South Shields, England, immigrated with his parents to a small farming community in Ontario, Canada before his sixth birthday. The ninth of eleven siblings, his middle name came from an ancestor, Evan Cameron, a 17th century Scottish wolf hunter and important clan leader. (Also spelled “Ewen.”)

He fell in love with wild nature from the time of his earliest memory and discovered a remarkable talent for art in his middle teen years. Combining the two, Seton briefly attended the Royal Academy of Arts in London, but achieved mastery of depicting animal forms from endless hours of life study. He became one of the most successful and highly regarded wildlife illustrators of his generation creating drawings, prints and paintings for his own books as well as for many other authors of his time. Roger Tory Peterson credited Seton’s bird illustrations for providing inspiration for his field guides: “It was on this idea that my Field Guide to the Birds, was based.

https://ernestthompsonseton.com/ernest-thompson-seton/

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/535

Another for the reading list.

First published in 1939 under the title Woodcraft, Mason’s book includes instructions on how to make an Indian tepee, and Indian willow bed, a Chippewa kitchen or Dakota moccasins. Apart from Indian crafts, Mason provides instructions on making knives, striking camp, caching, fire and ax safety—virtually everything you need to know about camping. Also contains instruction on birch basketry, wooden dishes, log benches, wooden furniture, peace pipes, feather headdresses, gourd dippers and much more. In short, a wealth of lost traditional knowledges is preserved for future readers.

Im listening to Dr Lisa Fenton Bashing Heads Bushcraft Skills & Contexts speech from the 2019 GBS where she is talking about the history and starting points of the woodcraft movement. Here she mentioned the Legion of Frontiersmen. From looking into the name I found an Australian branch with a handbook with over 500 pages of information. Another piece of Australian Bushcraft History.

A History of the Legion of Frontiersmen in Australia

Bу С.A. Brоwn

The Beginning of the Legion in Australia

ln Australia the first stirrings оf the Legiоn оf Frоntiersmen began in Іate August оf 1905 when the Sundaу Times newspaper n Sуdneу published a press release from London HQ. An AustraІian corps оf the Legiоn оf Frоntiersmen, the artiсІe сІaimed, wоuІd be headquartered in, Lоndоn, but “raised in Australia as an Australian Association, under Australian Control, for Australian defence under the sanction of the State and Federal governтents or not at all”. “Іt is proposed in each State with the countenance of its government to organise a wing of the Legion, so that the colonу would still be identified with the deeds of its veterans in the field.”

The article соntinued, “Тo the Governтent of each State will come to the coтfortable knowledge that without the slightest trouble or expense to itself, it has, outside of its normal military forces, a bodу of so many armed men – fit to go anуwhere and do anуthing – alreadу organised and onlу waiting their call.”

These tуpes оf artiсІes, which were bІasted оut tо newspapers aсrоss the British Empire bу the Legion’s HQ in London, did the job and served to plant the seed of the Legion in the minds of many patriotic Australians.

A further newspaper article in March 1906 informed Australian readers that Mr RB Haldane, the Secretary of War in London, had “approved the formation of a legion of frontiersmen to assist in the defence of the Empire in case of emergency, and to provide small bodies of capable and daring pioneers, and carefully trained intelligence agents, local guides and scouts.”

http://www.frontiersmen.org.au/history/

565 Page Handbook

https://ia801600.us.archive.org/18/items/cihm_78396/cihm_78396.pdf

This speech was made at the 2019 GBS and was mentioned at the 2022 Global Bushcraft Symposium during the opening Keynote speech by David Delafield. I made a point of looking it up after he mentioned Lisa received a standing ovation.

Lisa’s excellent keynote speech from the2019 Global Bushcraft Symposium, provides us with an insightful look into the history of Bushcraft, and how place it into a modern context.

From listening to a speech by David Wescott at the GBS, which led me to an article from Woodcraft to LNT by James Morton Turner. This in turn led me to the following two books that predate George Washington Sears AKA Nessmuk.

I never thought Id become a history buff. Adding these two books to my list to read.

Edward Breck’s The Way of the Woods (1908)

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7239952M/The_way_of_the_woods

This is Edward Breck’s 1908 outdoor sports handbook, ‘The Way of the Woods’. Originally intended for sportsmen in North-eastern Unites States and Canada, it has chapters on hunting cougars, grizzly bears, and other fauna native to that part of the world. It also deals with many other aspects of hunting from photography to trapping, making it ideal for anyone with an interest in the sport. Contents include: ‘Cookery-Cooking-kits’, ‘Making Camp’, ‘Woodcraft’, ‘Nature Protection’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Sporting Firearms’, ‘Deer-hunting’, ‘Caribou-hunting’, ‘The Game of the North-west-Elk, Antelope, Mountain Sheep, Mountain Goat, Grizzle Bear, Cougar’, ‘Game Birds’, ‘Trapping’, ‘Photography’, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition complete with the original text and images.

Elmer Krep’s Camp and Trail Methods (1910)

Camp and Trail Methods: Interesting Information for All Lovers of Nature. What To Take and What To Do

Elmer Harry Kreps – “At a young age Elmer became an avid outdoors-man. He authored three books on outdoor subjects and illustrated each with his own sketches. He worked as an illustrator and commercial artist, with his works appearing in many magazines of the period.

His three books on the outdoors are still very much sought after and read. They are “Science of Trapping” published in 1909, “Camp & Trail Methods” published in 1910, and the book he is most known for, “Woodcraft” published in 1919.

I was listening to speech by David Wescott at the Global Bushcraft Symposium on Ethics and Style. He mentioned the following article called From Woodcraft to Leave No Trace by James Morton Turner. A very interesting study into environmental history.

https://faculty.washington.edu/timbillo/Readings%20and%20documents/Wilderness/Turner%20%20Woodcraft%20to%20LNT.pdf

(Firstly get the training. Practice, experience and skills are more important than gear)

I keep pushing tourniquets for remote wilderness use, that’s because we are so far behind in this country when it comes to training. Always carry a tourniquet, pressure bandages and S rolled gauze for junction packing in order to stop serious bleeds..

I have worked around situations where crush injuries from heavy vehicles , car accidents and chainsaw accidents were common occurrences ,when people thought they were adequately trained and the right equipment and training was never prevalent at the time.

8 tips on applying a tourniquet

1. Tourniquets are placed at least 5cm above the wound

2. Never place a tourniquet on a joint

3. Ideally, the tourniquet should be placed directly on the skin if the situation/environment allows it.

4. You can place tourniquets on lower limbs (ie two bones)

5. If one tourniquet isn’t effective, place a second tourniquet flush against the first tourniquet, but with the windless offset, so you are able to tighten

6. Tourniquets should be horizontal to the limb

7. When applying a tourniquet to a male casualty’s upper thigh, ensure the genitals don’t get caught

8. Re-check effectiveness regularly and after every casualty move

by Tacmed Australia

Stop the Bleed full course

Junctional Wound Packing

Tourniquet Application

Staging a Tourniquet

Pressure Bandages

RATS Tourniquet

SWAT T

CAT and SOF T

(RTACC) Rescue Trauma and Casualty Care course by Tacmed Australia

https://training.tacmed.com.au/shop/product-details/productid/509?_kx=kwnFsuphIrvI9IrGKiJchA9IQpXO9OU0g0mNqyqdsg4%3D.NQmVX4

TacMed Training (RTACC)

Course Content:

Safety

Scene Management

Enhanced kinematics and mechanism of injury

Catastrophic bleed management using stepwise approach – Wound Packing, Hemostatics, Tourniquets and Junctional Bleed Management

Airway assessment with enhanced management – adjuncts & supraglottic devices

Spinal assessment, management and immobilisation

Safe and effective Oxygen usage

Respiratory assessment and management

Recognition of Thorax trauma and complications

Abdominal assessment

Circulatory assessment, management, shock

Head injury & disability assessment

Effects of environment and exposure

Cardiac arrest – pit crew resuscitation

Paediatric BLS

Paediatric Anatomy, normal physiology & common medical emergencies

Care of common medical conditions i.e. stroke, diabetes

Care or medical emergencies

Thermal injury with ability to assess severity

Musculoskeletal injury with use of analgesia & fracture reduction

Drowning and immersion

Excitation delirium and overdose

Mass casualty management

Triage

Major civilian disasters

Bombs, blasts, blades and ballistics

CBRNE

Transfer of the critically ill patient

The hammock arrived a few weeks ago, but I placed it on the back-burner for a while. It would take me half a day trying to make it to two trees where I could set it up. Then there’s no way I could climb in with a walker and brace at the moment.

The Torrid is manufactured from 70D Zeta material and comes with two 3m lengths of 7/64D AMSTEEL rope. I own a ENO Double Nest Hammock that I suspend using an atlas system but its taken me three weeks of research to catch up on the current hanging methods, trying to figure out how to use Amsteel rope. Its been a long time since I went hammock camping.

There are essentially 5 ways of hanging hammocks and probably many more – daisy chain webbing, descender rings and tree straps, becket hitch and J knots, lash knot, cinch buckles and webbing, ucrs and whoopie slings, marlin spike and toggles.

In the video below reviewing the Torrid they use a cinch buckle, continuous loop and whoppie sling set up. If I planed on using this hammock full time I would use tree straps and a cinch buckle however Im trying to keep it minimalistic and try to use the components it came with and no hardware.

Therefore ill be testing it out using a no hardware and a knots only hanging system with timber hitch and Siberian hitches.. It was purchased primarily for a lightweight sleep option for in my GHB.

Whoppie Sling Explained

Hammock Knots – Timber Hitch and Siberian Hitch

Whoopie Slings

https://www.wildearth.com.au/buy/dd-whoopie-slings/DD-5996

Atlas Strap Suspension System

http://www.enonation.com.au/hammocks

Cinch Buckles

https://dutchwaregear.com/product/cinch-buckle/

Sord Torrid Hammock

https://www.sordaustralia.com/torrid-jungle-hammock-multicam

“I really wanted to share this article by Mike Douglas, it really struck a cord with me.”

What does “Nature Literacy” really mean? Understanding biology, ecology, botany, ornithology, silvaculture; is that what Nature Literacy is? Is it something you get when you check off all the birds on your life list? Is it when you get Survival Merit Badge, or your first deer?

I’ve met folks who are more “Nature Literate” than me. When they walk through an area the birds don’t get alarmed. You can’t hear their foot steps and they aren’t even trying to be quiet. The “Nature Literate” usually know what plant to use, but they take their time. They might wander the landscape- following some intuitive sense until they find just the right place to harvest from, and choose just the right part of that individual plant. Sleeping outside is preferred, but a window open at night keeps peace with the “Nature Literates” loved ones. The landscape seems to benefit from the “Nature Literate” person. The majority of these people seem to enjoy a long and enriching life outdoors as a result.

Can you imagine if we were all “Nature Literate”? We would have communities whose health would be reflected in the health and diversity of their landscape. Self-actualization would be the norm. To know yourself and be at peace with who you are would be easy. The constant immersion and interaction with a healthy and diverse landscape would nourish your body, mind, and spirit. For countless generations, wherever we hunted and foraged, humanity would be considered, like many apex species, an indicator of the health of that landscape.

If a biome is rich enough it could support an assortment of apex species. The carrying capacity of the landscape would limit the numbers of all but one of those species. Uniquely, we have the ability to encourge, diversify, and increase the carrying capacity of the land. This ability, once removed from a mulitgenerational interdependent ecological view, expresses itself in a variety of ways. Many are marvels to behold, but they tend to be unstable, sharpening the peaks and troughs of populations within our affected area.

Health and diversity are driving natural forces. They create an interdependence among organisms and literally shape the individual life forms to better interact with each other. Birds and flowers evolve a symbiosis that insects take advantage of. The movement of mites from flower to foul encourages the evolution of predatory insects and their form and behaviors. The tapestry is at once complex and profoundly simple. Imagining the reasons the landscape expressed us is to examine human interactions with everything from the soil to the sky, and to do so in a natural setting, tracking the trends as far back as we are able. In short, “Nature Literacy” is nothing less than getting connected to the landscape until it becomes part of your identity and than making the agreement to grow from there exponentially.

by Mike Douglas

https://www.primitiveskills.com/blog-2/

Nature Literacy