My first goal for this year was to teach myself to make custom-handled firesteels.
Over the past two months I've slowly been getting better at it. My first ones don't look as nice. Here's a picture of one of the early ones. It's made from spalted maple burl to match the handle of my bushcraft knife. I wrote an article with instructions for how to make them (
here). I need to update it with pictures of recent (and better looking) firesteels I've made.
My second goal is to improve my Bird ID skills. I'm spending Saturday with an ornithologist learning to identify sparrow species. Heavy rain is predicted (of course).
My third goal is to backpack the Skyline to the Sea trail near my home in northern California. This is not a skill, but I hope to improve my backpacking (navigation, packing, cooking, shelter, etc.) skills. They've languished because I have not put effort into doing a lot of multi-day backpacks.
Later this summer, I intend to (learn how to) make a soaproot brush from Soaproot plants I've been growing the past two years. I think the bulbs are large enough for me to harvest for the glue and husk material I need to construct the brushes.
My last goal is to visit Alaska. This is not a skill, but something I've wanted to do for a long while. I need to get off my butt and figure out how to make it happen.
- Woodsorrel
