This is the mentality of what modern society has receded to.Needing warnings on everything. “Dont lick the hot surface”, I thought would be obvious. So to all the Crayon Eaters and Window lickers.
All statements made on my blog, or any other medium, represents only my personal opinion on the particular issue, unless I specify a different source. I assumed that this would be obvious considering that this is just my personal blog, but I guess in this day and age even the obvious has to be stated.
I am not an expert on any issue concerning bushcraft, survival, camping, or any other outdoor pursuit. This is a hobby for me. Again, I have assumed that would be obvious. Ive done a lot of training courses and wanted to share some of what I have learnt.
I do not make any income in any way from anything related to my blog, or anything else related to bushcraft or other outdoor activities. I sell off a few of my own blades Ive collected, or th odd item I make. survival Supplies Australia has given me a affiliate link which I have stated previously. I dont have a large enough reader base to make any money.
If you decide to do anything that I show you, do it at our own risk. Again, something that should be obvious.
This was my first course with Claire Dunn from Natures Apprentice and Jon Young. I didn’t actually read the description of the course correctly. I thought it was more about a physical tracking course.. Being stuck in a caravan for two months with a leg injury and heavy pain meds I really needed something to do. I was starting to go stir crazy. However I’m glad I participated.
I learned a lot about myself. What Ive been doing naturally for many years had been put into words. After doing a lot of mind-fullness training in martial arts and becoming aware of the environment around you from numerous security courses in situational awareness it all combined eventually into what Claire was describing as a wandering mind.. A wandering mind is being taught to have presence in the moment and to pay attention to the relationships that occur around you.
Although I’m not sure if I like that description as it sounds like your not paying attention but its exactly the opposite. If I understand correctly its applying the theory of mind-fullness from martial arts to being outside the dojo. In the moment and engaging with the landscape.
Jon said something interesting that Ill be working on for the next week until the second session.
“What senses am I using and what question am I working on” in other words am I using all of my senses to work on the question/problem im facing in front of me. Bringing in a wider awareness and expanded mindset and applying this to relationships in nature. Point A to pint B exercise. Instead of going directly from point A to point B. Go towards point B.
I spent 12 years of my life connected to a 9 meter oxygen hose. It took all my time and effort to make it outside onto a lounge to sit there with my cat on one side and dog on the other. Being in the moment. Absorbing everything around me, aware of every little movement. Almost like meditation. I have that same feeling every-time I’m in the bush taking photographs and looking at different angles and being aware of the lighting and shadows around me.
Ive been looking into the Tentipi range of tents. The Safir 7 would cost me about $3500 AUD shipped to Australia. This size spans 4.5 meters. The next size up the Safir 9 I believe spans 5.3 meters. The problem with the larger sizes would be finding a spot to pitch it in the bush where you wouldn’t have to clear trees.
My new van is almost ready to pick up which is being used for storage and traveling but when my old caravan sells Im intending to live full time in a tipi. This style I can have a small fire place inside for cooking and heating.
Id like to set up a platform system something like this
These have to be imported. Survival Supplies Australia have contacted the company to be a sales agent but they require a showroom .
I was watching Dan Becker on Youtube at the same time testing out my MSR Pocket Rocket when a friend arrived for a visit and asked about the MSR, So I decided to write down my thoughts on suggesting products for them.
Firstly what are you interested in. Fuel economy, weight, how fast a stove will boil water, cost of the stove, ignition system, pack-ability, reliability. Im not an ultra light hiker. Id like to have one of these stoves in the car for break downs or for cooking lunch on the side of the road when traveling. Im in the bush I dont care how long a stove takes to boil. If one stove takes 30 seconds longer than another brand I dont care I haven’t owned a watch in 40 years.Im looking for an emergency style stove for a quick meal.
msr pocket rocket and snow peak combo set
Ive never owned a jet boil (kit) I always wanted a pot I could cook a meal in not just boil water for dehydrated meals. I like that option. I also dont like titanium it heats up too quickly and burns food. Id only use titanium for ultra light hiking and for boiling water only for pre-prepared meals.
this ias the best I can do with pictures at the moment one more week in the leg brace
The pots I use are a Snow Peak combo set in alloy and Im trying out a Stanley stainless steel pot. At this time I only own the MSR pocket Rocket after many hours of researching on youtube (check out paleo hiker md) but Im looking for a second stove to keep in my car permanently. The Jet boil mighty Mo is the direct competitor to the MSR and sells at the same price. However for a car stove how can you beat $30 for a 360 degrees fumo. The fumo would be a good starting point for anyone not sure or has never used a butane stove. However Ill still end up with a jet boil mighty mo just to see if I like it more than a msr pocket rocket.
The stoves I would suggest
jet boil mighty mo $99
360 degrees fumo $30
msr pocket rocket 2 $99
Comparison Stoves
There is only one store Ive found that sells the Soto brand in Australia. I haven’t had much to do with them and are only here as an option. The Jet boil stash, Im not paying anything over $100 for a stove. The only time Id look at this stove is if I was into ultra hiking which Im not. Couldnt find a Snow Peak Giga Power any where. The Msr Reactor for over $500 I think id break it in a day.
Do I need a wool anorak in Australia ? Probably not but the temperatures lately Ive been reconsidering. Id really prefer one that opened at the front but no company were willing to modify their existing products. I have contacted the Wandering parson who was making a prototype many years ago but am still waiting on a reply.
The next best option is a Mackinaw by Stormy Kromer. However I ordered mine just as the USPS shut down deliveries to Australia and it traveled halfway around the US before being returned and the company who then refunded me the cost minus the I believe $160 AUD in postage. Which I thought was nice customer service. I would still prefer a hood. currently the cost of a Stormy Kromer from Amazon with shipping is around $750 AUD.
I am currently trying out a woolen poncho by Blues Bushcraft Boutique and am thinking about making it into a Mountain-man Capote design. Otherwise Im thinking of ordering a Lester River in a larger size and having it opened at the front.
Amendment 14/AUG i heard back from Wandering Parson and he can make the anorak for me with a zippered front and lowered pockets.
Looks like were being ruled by puppets, all owned by Klaus Schwab after seeing the same retoric by Prime Ministers in New Zealand the Nederlands, Canada Im waiting for the same to happen here with albo.
I had a conversation with someone that said they were no longer sheep because they have started paying attention.My response was. They were still sheep they just didnt have the glazed look in their eyes anymore.
People say that things have changed . Well no they havent its always been the same its just that people are paying attention now.
Freedom is slowly being replaced with something else. Many people will willingly give up their freedom for the feeling of safety, but that feeling is an illusion.
Try paying attention People.
Reporters without borders ranks the US press as being the 53rd freest press along with Botswanna and Crotia.
Terrorism is being used to break the economy.
“Governments – Create fear to remain docile”
Signs of a restrictive regime
Sealed Borders
Banned Press
Forbidding off shore accounts
Restrictions on gun laws
Restrictions on passports
Bank seizures of personal funds
Nothing has Changed its much easier to find laws in the US than whats going on in Australia but this shows that the same BS has been going on for three hundred years not many people pay attention.
Which allows the US Government to declare citizens as enemy combatants and imprison them without trial
John Warner Defense Authorization Act
Which declares the president with the power to declare a public emergency and station troops in any city within America without permission from local government
Swiss banks wont deal with US citizens
Banks have to designate the US government as a intermediary which which means they have to report information on US clients and withhold a percentage of interest, file tax forms with the IRS, register with secuties exchange commission.
California planning on taking DNA samples of everyone arrested within its borders
Customs have the authority to confiscate, copy, analyze any laptop or data storage device brought across the border
Ahead of Schedule collapse of society
Canada Travel Bans
Do they really think were not watching
World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab
Nederlands dictatorship
Noam Chomsky Crimes of US presidents
Social Engineering to remove vehicle ownership
Banks to seize funds in the event of a collapse
Who really made money in the Afghanistan War
Canadians Fleeing
Everything that has happened in the last three years and Id say much longer than that has been nothing more than an exercise in Social Engineering to gain control. This is whats going on around us. I like studying history and the more I look back on pivitel events in the last 30 years in Australian history the more Ive come to believe they have been false flag events leading up to what has happened and what will be happening in the near future. I have always wondered why the Jews didnt leave Nazi Germany when they had the chance. I now have the answer to that question. The big question is now even if you could leave where would you go. Every single western country that was once believed to be safe are now WHAT EXACTLY? Boil little frogs boil.
The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.
I developed an interest in lock picking when I worked in the security industry however i found there were much easier ways of breaking in than standing there picking a lock. I was going to start my own business at one stage helping people on a residential level to prevent break-ins many years ago.
However with lock sport starting up withn Australia the last few years and being on a walking frame for a time Ive been looking back into it as a hobby. Below is a list of equipment that I have started acquiring.
Sparrows Ranger set
6 x Picks with thermal handles
1 x Level 1 Wrenches
1 x Padlock shim set
1 x Wafer keys
1 x SHANK
1 x Mini Jim
Australian bump key set small
1 x Lockwood LW4
1 x Lockwood LW4R
1 x Gainsborough TE2
Sparrows traveller hooks
Southord auto jigglers
Sparrows coffin keys
Sparrows quick shims
Sparrow mantis
handcuff shims
Sparrows master switch
Sparrows shank
Sparrows 3 in 1 clear practice lock spool, standard and serrated
Brockhage practice padlock
Practice handcuff
Lishi LW5 2 in 1 6 pin and spacer
Youtube channels i like. the modern rouge, lock noob, lock picking lawyer, its tactical, deviant oliam, dark arts lock picking.
Keep an eye out at DALP for up coming training courses.
I just completed the Mushroom Growers Course By Chris Gilmore at Outdoorcore. The course covers such things as oyster mushroom growing, lifecycle and needs, preparing spawn, Inoculating on cardboard, growing in mason jars using coffee grounds, closed loop nutrient cycling, harvesting and second flushes, trouble shooting, growing in straw, mono tub fruiting chambers, pasteurizing and inoculation phases, log tower methods, growing shiitake on logs, when to harvest, processing and storing, ecology and identification.
I found it very interesting. I mainly took the course for the mushroom growing season here only lasts a few months what better way to have a crop all year round than to grow your own. Permaculture principles were discussed such as having three food sources from the one project such as coffee from the grounds, then mushrooms from being inoculated into the used grounds to then recycling into compost after the second flush or crop.
Something I hadnt known before was the mushrooms have their edges turned over they havent as yet released their spores. when the edges have gone out straight the spores have already been released. I feel confident in being able to grow mushrooms now.
(Beware of the introductory prices. This course was listed as 449USD and I was charged $79. I still have not heard back from Outdoorcore regarding this discrepancy).
Two great knot tutorials on zipper pulls. I was looking for a project to do indoors, then remembered I didnt have the bags with me i wanted to replace the zipper pulls on or any paracord for that matter.
A Panic Knot this will make number 31 of bushcraft knots worth knowing. Im not into complex knots. The easier the better. I thought this would be a great one for the tool box , very easy to remember.
