Hey everyone! Just thought I'd post an update on my first outing.
If you read my introduction you know I'm a complete newbie in all areas related to outdoorsmen skills, but I've been blessed with a friend and mentor who is going to be helping me gain these skills. I'd been planning to assemble a kit and practice processing water, making fire, and constructing a shelter. Well, what started as a 15-mile hike turned into a 3-mile hike when his girlfriend showed up. Not to disparage her, but she's under the impression that any survival skills are "Man stuff", not human stuff. He's trying to convert her, but in the meantime she put a bit of a damper on our (my) plans for a crash course.
It wasn't a total waste, however, as he decided to just devote the entire time to making fire. We weren't necessarily in the wilderness, but we were in a park out in the country, with some nice trails to make my fat & nasty body sweat like a pig. It felt good to get out there, and even better to learn a bit while I was at it. Before we arrived at the place where we'd be building the fire he showed me plants altogether common to the Ohio valley, and which ones were more viable depending on the season. Good thing I'm a visual learner, as he wasn't exactly up to speed on the names of these plants. Next time, I'll take photos of those too for posterity.
Anyhow, he showed me how to split the stalks of certain thorny brush to expose an almost cottony center. This we grabbed handfuls of alongside dead branches and some tall (hollow) grass that had died with the first hard frost. We also located some trees (I believe birch?) that had bark that was easy to pry off by cutting a small outline. He was careful in instructing me to identify when the bark was older and easier to pry off without too much trouble. I was rather surprised how dry it was, as we had been seeing a lot of snow/sleet in the last week. We then found some tall, dry, and dead brown plants that we used our hands to grind them up into small fibers (and what almost looked like sawdust) to make the base of our tinder.
Once we arrived at our decidedly wet and muddy location, he showed me how to make a baseplate of dry bark to separate our drystuffs from the wet earth. On one side we erected a wind screen also made out of bark to help the fire get started. He then showed me how to make a little teepee out of dead branches and cram the super-try tinder we gathered at the base, making sure to leave room for airflow. He's a funny guy, so he let me try lighting the darned thing 20+ times before correcting my (newbie) technique. Instead of hovering the firesteel over the tinder and striking it like I was flint-napping (I know, silly) he had me place the tip of the ferro rod at the base of the tinder and firmly pull it back towards my body while holding the steel steady. I don't need to tell you folks that have this experience already, but I couldn't describe how it felt to make my first fire. It was awesome. That sucker went up quick and hot, making it easy to feed it with more dry branches until I could feel the heat radiating, then using some more damp logs to keep it going.
We didn't make Darth Vader's funeral pyre, but it was certainly very warm, and a tad easier than I had imagined. I'd never have been able to do it without training, so I am grateful for the experience.
fire.JPG
Our next few outings will be isolated to specific skills until I've got enough experience doing things without him correcting me, then we'll transition into (real) hikes and maybe some overnights. I'm super-excited to get going! I'll post the contents of my updated kit on my next outing, as right now it's pretty much in disarray. Until then, I'll be practicing as much as I can in-between hikes and providing some updates as I go. My end goal is to join OSAR, provided my fat body gets a little less fat and I can show competence in the basics.
Thanks for reading!
-Dave
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