Today I have started getting my (first) kit together for my holiday next year (to central Sweden). I'm going there with some friends for about 2-2,5 weeks to hike and camp out in the woods.
I want to use (and practice) some bushcraftskills such as firemaking and making a shelter from natural materials etc.
What I've got so far is:
A tinderbox and firesteel. The box contains:
The tinderbox contains mayasticks which have been cut and scraped into smaller pieces (although from my first firemaking practice this afternoon I've learned that these pieces are probably still too large). It also contains charcloth which I use to ignite the maya"dust" with (Firesteel -> cloth -> mayascraps).
My first experience also taught me that I shouldn't be too squeamish about blowing too hard, I was afraid blowing too hard would kill the embers in the cloth. But when I blew harder they lit up more and became a lot hotter and I got a flame (awesome feeling seeing that first flame
). I was practicing in my backyard and the wood was very moist so I couldn't get a big fire going. I have some wood out in the sun drying right now so that I can practice some more in the future with decent, dry firewood.
I also bought this, a Condor bolo machete:
A bit more versatile than an axe in my eyes, it got good reviews and (for a student very important) it didn't cost too much. I'm still new to Carbon-steel blades but I read you need to oil them to keep them rustfree. I went to the pharmacy and supermarket looking for mineral oil but I found none. So I've looked on ebay a bit and found this , would that work?
I'm going to dig up my dads old fishingrods from the basement this week to see if they are usable and maybe even make a fishing kit out of the materials if they are not.
Questions and especially tips and comments are welcome
I want to use (and practice) some bushcraftskills such as firemaking and making a shelter from natural materials etc.
What I've got so far is:
A tinderbox and firesteel. The box contains:
The tinderbox contains mayasticks which have been cut and scraped into smaller pieces (although from my first firemaking practice this afternoon I've learned that these pieces are probably still too large). It also contains charcloth which I use to ignite the maya"dust" with (Firesteel -> cloth -> mayascraps).
My first experience also taught me that I shouldn't be too squeamish about blowing too hard, I was afraid blowing too hard would kill the embers in the cloth. But when I blew harder they lit up more and became a lot hotter and I got a flame (awesome feeling seeing that first flame
). I was practicing in my backyard and the wood was very moist so I couldn't get a big fire going. I have some wood out in the sun drying right now so that I can practice some more in the future with decent, dry firewood.I also bought this, a Condor bolo machete:
A bit more versatile than an axe in my eyes, it got good reviews and (for a student very important) it didn't cost too much. I'm still new to Carbon-steel blades but I read you need to oil them to keep them rustfree. I went to the pharmacy and supermarket looking for mineral oil but I found none. So I've looked on ebay a bit and found this , would that work?
I'm going to dig up my dads old fishingrods from the basement this week to see if they are usable and maybe even make a fishing kit out of the materials if they are not.
Questions and especially tips and comments are welcome
