I also made these.

While we're on the subject of things we made, here are my best creations:

Using one of these...
 

Which in turn created not one of these...

But another one...

My life would be..

Without these...

    My life however is as beautiful as one of these...

Or this..

 

(If that's the way you roll) :)

Thankyou from the bottom of my heart and all the way to Mars xxoooxx

I Made This

This weeks 'The Gallery' theme is: I made this.
 

This is the third item I carved since starting my newest hobby which is woodcraft. The first was a walking stick for fathers day, followed by a nice little spoon (that the dog has now eaten).

I acquired a nice branch of Hazel which had a nice kink in it where I imagined the scoop to be. 

Here's how it looked.

The process is very enjoyable and can take you however long you want it to as long as you don't rush (and damn near slice off a digit), however, it took me around three hours to amble along and get it perfected :).

    

I am really looking forward to see what other people have made and read what they blog about on the 'I made this' theme..

Ok now, bye bye then..

Compact survival kit.

When looking for kit to take with you for a trek or a weekend in the woods, I think the main things to consider are the size, weight and efficiency of the kit you are using. I have been looking around for a small survival kit for some time and have purchased one which was very cost effective, lightweight, doesn't take up much room at all and has a good deal of items contained including;

 

1. Adhesive bandages
 

2. Button compass
 

3. Candle
 

4. Cotton wool
 

5. Dressing
 

6. Salt Sachet
 

7. Snare wire
 

8. Vinyl tape
 

9. Sewing kit
 

10. Zip lock water bag carrier
 

11. Fishing hook
 

12. Flint and steel fire lighter
 

13. Whistle ( containing emergency details)
 

14. Mirror
 

15. Small multi tool
 

16. Pencil
 

17. Razor blade
 

18. Safety pins
 

19. Wire saw
 

All contained in a vacuum sealed aluminium tin.

 I may not need to use all the items, i.e the sewing kit, but you never know. There are some very useful items contained within, some of which I will demonstrate the use of.

 

This kit obviously doesn't contain everything you will need, i.e hand sanitizer, bug spray, sun cream etc. It will however go a long way in helping you to have all of the right kit which will fit into the side pocket of your bag.

Basic Shelter.

When finding a nice spot to take/ make a shelter you have to take into consideration a number of thought processes. At it's most basic, you can erect a tarpaulin (if you have one) between two trees and sleep/rest underneath to keep dry and warm enough perhaps only in the space of April to September in this country. 

The first thing to consider when choosing two trees to tie the tarp to is to look up, to make sure no branches can fall and impale you while you're sleeping. Then you look at the ground to see if it's flat and there are no game trails or ants nests where your head is going to be :). In our country, our weather systems and wind come from a south westerly direction. So your tarp wants to be at least within a 45 degree angle with the back facing toward the wind. Erect the tarp at a nice angle and the wind should flow right over it and the rain slide down it. 
 

I think that if you have a tarp then it can be used as a quick fix resting spot in the right conditions. I will be using, investigating and making alternative types of shelter and writing on blog about the processes used for each one.
 

     Here's one I made earlier.. :)
 

 

Flat ground and good canopy above made this possible.
 

 

I utilised this axe bench as a bit of protection which also doubled up as a hanger :)

Back to Basics

Now, I have been going off on a tangent writing about spoons and sticks so we are going to go back to basics.

In principal, survival will consist of finding or making shelter, making fire, finding and purifying water and getting food. Clothing, tools, any equipment and any sort of training will help you in most situations. Obviously the location, weather conditions and state of health will all come into play in varied situations, i.e, if you find yourself in a desert, finding water will not help if you have no shelter to retain bodily fluids.
 

I was told to remember 'The Rule Of Threes'.
 

• In the first three hours, you need shelter.
• In the first three days, you need water.
• In the first three weeks, you need food.

Fire will come to play in and around these  principles. Fire keeps you warm, keeps insects at bay, heats your water and cooks your food. Not to mention, be a signal from the smoke it creates if you find yourself to be stranded on a desert island ( laughs uncontrollably ).

At it's most basic, Survival means;
 

To satisfy the human body's requirements for life.

If you are in a survival predicament, conserving your energy is most important. There is no point in taking on a strenuous task of building a shelter when there is a nice warm cave nearby.( providing there are no bears around). :)
 

In the coming weeks, I will be taking time to take on some of these tasks, implementing my existing knowledge and learning new tricks along the way :).
 

Enjoy, I know I will ..

Hazel Ladle.

Here is a ladle I have managed to make with my Mora Companion.

I really enjoyed making it and found the bowl easier to whittle/ carve out as it is rather large and almost canoe shaped. It is a very good size for use in deep pans while making stews/ broths for example.

My son Louis helped me to sand down and watched the process throughout. 

I can see this becoming a little habit/ addiction now. Better than recreational drugs though eh?? :)
 

 

 Branch ready to split.

 

 



Handle carved out.

 

 

Rear view of 'canoe' shape.

 

 

Pre sanded version.

 

 

  The one in the middle, nicely sanded and drying out. :)

My first spoon.

     Here is my first ever spoon carved from a section of a Sycamore branch. I wanted to take on a couple of spoon types by using only my trusty Mora. I will purchase a crook knife eventually but with a bit of informal advice I received from Jay at Woodland Ways regarding carving techniques, I have decided to give it a try. I am in fact very proud of the result. 

     The spoon can only be used for stirring as the bowl doesn't go that deep at all. With it being quite a small spoon with a shallow bowl shape I slightly struggled to make it perfect as it does have some minor dints in the middle where the front of the Mora has dug in. 
 

     However, overall i will be looking forward to using the spoon when it has dried out and had a soak in olive oil. By the way, it's great if you happen to be left-handed.
 

     So here it is :)
 

     

 

 

Father's day walking stick.

 

      I decided that for father's day, I would make something for my Dad to use instead of buy something that he probably wouldn't. This would also be my first project with my Mora Companion.

      I happened to find a nice branch from a local wood that had fallen not so long before. It had a knot near where the handle was going to be so that made a natural rest.

 I found it to be really enjoyable and realise that even if it was absolutely rubbish at the end result, my dad would know I'd put time and effort into making it for him. 
 

      For the final sanding process, I used wet and dry sandpaper and I purchased some teak oil to treat it. I ended up treating it, leaving it to dry and sanding it three times. There was a problem then because the stick was sticky. I then proceeded to sand the stick down again to take away the stickiness. As I am an amateur, teak oil might have been the wrong thing to use but I will research more and obviously practice different techniques. 
 

      Regardless of my struggles, my Dad was really very grateful for his present and the smile on his face said to me that I had achieved something. ( I'm not so sure what that is though). 
 

      So here it is :) ..