Lack of experience/skills shows on some youtube videos !

[Rick]

Sort of the modern day twist to you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a princess I guess.

[Lamewolf]

Here is the thing with all things. There are good and bad. I have books where the authors only qualification to write a book on wilderness skills was his ability to write. As was mentioned, sometimes you watch these shows on TV and your asking, "You'd do what?!!!"

Anyone who watched Dave Canterbury's videos on youtube before he was on saw he kinda learned a skill and then treid to do a video on the topic. He was no expert then. So, when you watch him on Dual Survivor and he kind of shows that someone just explained to him what he is showing. You know what is going on.

I would likely never have gotten friction fire without youtube videos. Even the decent youtube stars can be a monumental waste of time. Like Nut-N-Fancy and Hitchcock45. But, you can weed through fast forward and get some really good info from youtube.

More so than not youtube is a great resource. All bad videos aside.

I'm no survival expert myself, and I really don't think you ever quit learning survival, you just keep building on you survival skills each time you go out - its kind of like filling up a hard drive on your computer where your brain is the hard drive. But I learned friction fire back before there was an internet, youtube, and TV survival shows etc. My all time favorite book and I would urge everyone to add it to your library is Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. That one book and I know a lot of folks don't like Tom Brown, taught me a world of information about wilderness survival including friction fire and other facets of survival to boot. The first survival book I ever had was the one the US Army puts out, but Tom Brown's book if you really study it and practice what it teaches can teach you to survive with nothing but your knowledge and skills even if you don't have equipment with you which I highly advise that you do !

[Batch]

Sort of the modern day twist to you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a princess I guess.

Well, I look at youtube reviews for features before I buy most things. I'd say you don't really have to kiss the frog. You see a list of videos. Do you really want to watch a 20 minute review of a watch. The reveiw probably has 15 minutes of some kid strugling with packaging and saying uhmmmm, I think... yeah...

Then if you click on the video and the person doing the reveiw says he just got the knife and hasn't used it. Or I have had this gun and really love it. I hope one day to take it to a range and shoot it. Well, you might want to save your kisses. LOL

[Lamewolf]

Well, I look at youtube reviews for features before I buy most things. I'd say you don't really have to kiss the frog. You see a list of videos. Do you really want to watch a 20 minute review of a watch. The reveiw probably has 15 minutes of some kid strugling with packaging and saying uhmmmm, I think... yeah...

Then if you click on the video and the person doing the reveiw says he just got the knife and hasn't used it. Or I have had this gun and really love it. I hope one day to take it to a range and shoot it. Well, you might want to save your kisses. LOL

I do the same thing. If I'm interested in a product, I look for you tube reviews about it. But what really bothers me is a video listed as a review and all it shows is someone getting it out of a box, telling me its a "knife" for example and then continues with "its got a handle, an edge, black coating on the blade, and its got a sheath". That is not a review. Then you get one listed as a review and this guy is sitting there and rambles on for 15 minutes before he even mentions the product - what a waste of time ! My feeling is get to the meat of the matter. Show us how it performs. Show us how tough it is. Show the product in action being tested !

[hunter63]

I like the dog in the background, lifting his leg and peeing on some thing, while on camera out of view of the "reviewer".......
Or the baby crying, ...or Momma holler at the star........That what I look for.

[crashdive123]

I never quite did understand the "unboxing" videos. I guess they feel that we want to sit around like on Christmas and watch the kids open their presents.

[Batch]

That's what I am saying. You know when the reviewer sucks!

[buckfynn]

I don't care for the ridiculous unboxing videos.

Nor do I like the gauntlet pass around videos which in reality are nothing more than free advertising for a product. Notice the reviewers never ever mention any negative aspect of any of the items that they "review."

[MrFixIt]

No you can't ! Stupid cannot be fixed, but ignorance on the other hand can. Stupidity is the inability to learn, but ignorance just means you haven't learned yet. I know, its a fine line !

I beg to differ, somewhat...I agree that ignorance can be "fixed" through education and positive reinforcement.
Now stupid, that can be fixed by a positive strike (or strikes, depending on level of said stupidity) with a nice hickory axe handle.

*please, this is a joke. I do not advocate the use of violence.*

[hunter63]

I beg to differ, somewhat...I agree that ignorance can be "fixed" through education and positive reinforcement.
Now stupid, that can be fixed by a positive strike (or strikes, depending on level of said stupidity) with a nice hickory axe handle.

*please, this is a joke. I do not advocate the use of violence.*

Ahhhh,..... Noooo....That's not been my experience.
Makes' tougher........ but still stupid.

[buckfynn]

Ontario RTAK II - "Internet Bushcraft" <- His choice of wording not mine.



How not to baton!?

[crashdive123]

You have to make a conscious decision to upload a video to YouTube. So much for his decision making process.

[Rick]

Well there's one minute eleven seconds I'll never get back.

[Lamewolf]

Ontario RTAK II - "Internet Bushcraft" <- His choice of wording not mine.



How not to baton!?

I get a serious chuckle whenever I see folks batonning and they don't leave enough of the end of the blade sticking out to strike and the knife gets stuck requiring them to start over. DUH !

[MrFixIt]

Ahhhh,..... Noooo....That's not been my experience.
Makes' tougher........ but still stupid.

That is exactly what happened with my younger brother...

[Lamewolf]

I beg to differ, somewhat...I agree that ignorance can be "fixed" through education and positive reinforcement.
Now stupid, that can be fixed by a positive strike (or strikes, depending on level of said stupidity) with a nice hickory axe handle.

*please, this is a joke. I do not advocate the use of violence.*

So how does it work ? You whack them on the head with the axe handle and then say, "now that I got your attention, listen very close to what I'm about to tell you" ?

[TXyakr]

Sadly, all fero rods are made by the same company in China. They must make 20 or 30 varieties, perhaps more, but they are the sole manufacturer today.

That is interesting. I have seen an amazing range in prices and assumed it was mostly marketing but did not realize only one manufacturer. Ferrite rods and toroids from electronics do NOT throw a spark, evidently they lack the magnesium or whatever metal for that. Does anyone know a very cheap source of short thick rods with two holes drilled in for tying to shoe laces and apparel etc. as a backup. Fire Steel dot com is over priced as are most Amazon dot com and Alibaba is very high volume.

Cut and drill your own for under $1 each with rods from DX dot com I guess but that costs time and drill bits:
http://www.dx.com/p/outdoor-survival...0#.VaPiRnjgL0s

[buckfynn]

Cheap ferrocerium rods -> check fleabay. I bought some similar to the ones you described 8 per around $12.

[Rick]

I searched and searched for other suppliers and finally started importing them from China because they were the only manufacturer I could find. I know the Mora fire starters are produced by the China factory as well as some other name brands. Perhaps one or two more manufacturers have started making them in China but to my knowledge there is only one manufacturer that operates under two different names. The last factory outside of China was in Sweden and it stopped production 8-10 years ago.

[MrFixIt]

So how does it work ? You whack them on the head with the axe handle and then say, "now that I got your attention, listen very close to what I'm about to tell you" ?

You hit the nail on the head! *Pun fully intended*

And if that don't work, then the Darwin Effect comes into play...