Some of you may have encountered me on some other similar forums. I have an interest in all forms of bushcraft, survival and traditional skills. I am especially interested in traditional fire-lighting techniques, wood carving and knife sharpening.
Probably the easiest way to give you a taste of my interests is to describe to you the contents of my "dangerous drawer" which I keep locked for the sake of my kids:
- A Numyth Fire Piston
- A tobacco tin containing traditional flint and steel
- A Swedish firesteel
- A plastic baggy of Amadou (bought online not homemade sadly)
- Another baggy of Chaga (ditto)
- A small pillbox full of charcloth (homemade)
- A altoids tin with a hole in the lid for making charcloth
- A Frosts Mora spoon knife
- A 12 inch folding saw
- An Opinel #8 Carbon
- An Opinel #7 Safety (my daughters for use under supervision only)
- A 6 inch Solingen bowie knife made during the heady days of the cold war
- A 2.5 inch fixed blade scout knife (very, very sharp!)
- A tobacco tin containing a homemade survival kit.
- A Silva compass
- A Fallkniven DC4 ceramic sharpening stone
- A burning glass
- A SwissChamp SAK
- A wee tub of Vaseline (lubricates fire-pistons and makes cotton wool extremely flammable)
High up on my to-do list is to see if I can find a local source of Chaga or King Alfred's Cake. The Chaga I bought online isn't exactly easy to light (except with the burning glass), but once it is alight it burns like a charcoal briquette and cannot be put out.
I am currently working in academia which truthfully I do not enjoy - spending my time lighting fires, carving wood and wondering around forests is my way of staying sane.
Probably the easiest way to give you a taste of my interests is to describe to you the contents of my "dangerous drawer" which I keep locked for the sake of my kids:
- A Numyth Fire Piston
- A tobacco tin containing traditional flint and steel
- A Swedish firesteel
- A plastic baggy of Amadou (bought online not homemade sadly)
- Another baggy of Chaga (ditto)
- A small pillbox full of charcloth (homemade)
- A altoids tin with a hole in the lid for making charcloth
- A Frosts Mora spoon knife
- A 12 inch folding saw
- An Opinel #8 Carbon
- An Opinel #7 Safety (my daughters for use under supervision only)
- A 6 inch Solingen bowie knife made during the heady days of the cold war
- A 2.5 inch fixed blade scout knife (very, very sharp!)
- A tobacco tin containing a homemade survival kit.
- A Silva compass
- A Fallkniven DC4 ceramic sharpening stone
- A burning glass
- A SwissChamp SAK
- A wee tub of Vaseline (lubricates fire-pistons and makes cotton wool extremely flammable)
High up on my to-do list is to see if I can find a local source of Chaga or King Alfred's Cake. The Chaga I bought online isn't exactly easy to light (except with the burning glass), but once it is alight it burns like a charcoal briquette and cannot be put out.
I am currently working in academia which truthfully I do not enjoy - spending my time lighting fires, carving wood and wondering around forests is my way of staying sane.
