Well its less then a week away here in PA I'm more excited then ever. I am hoping for a good season and hopefully end up with some back straps in the freezer, when all is said and done. Spending the week getting my gear together and in order. Checking that my trusty rifle is in good working condition and ready to rock and roll. To all the blood brothers (as Uncle Ted would say) best of luck if your hitting the woods this coming Monday. Also have a happy and safe Thanksgiving enjoy the day with your family as for me I have to work :( so my day is going to suck. But, thats a discussion for another day and another time.
Till next time remember in life you can follow the blazed trail or blaze your own the choice is yours.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Project Pathfiner
For those who read here regularly will notice I am an avid fan of Dave Canterbury and his Pathfinder School. I been doing some thinking about it, I am going to start putting the skills I been learning to use cause applying them makes you learn them more. The big problem I have to over come is finding a personal space where I can go practice and maybe to test shelters by staying a night or two and it not be a problem. Currently working on that and seeing what I can work out. Maybe after a few months of getting into this I may sign up for one of the Pathfinder Home courses. I'm hoping to make the best of this see what I learn and get from it, and maybe in the end it will also make me a better more confident teacher when I teach my Troop Wilderness Survival. The best way to test what you have learned is to teach it to someone else. Any and all progress of course will find a home here on my blog and who knows maybe even You Tube one day time will tell. Well wish me luck and see how this goes.
Until next time remember in life you can follow the blazed trail or blaze your own the choice is yours.
Until next time remember in life you can follow the blazed trail or blaze your own the choice is yours.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Veterans Day
Just a short quick post, Please take time out of your day today and give a thought and a prayer to all the men and women who serve this great country. Put all the political crap aside and drama that goes on everyday, these men and women are willing to lay down there lives and pay the ultimate sacrifice for you to enjoy this great country we live in. Amen and god speed to all of you serving currently in Turkmenistan and Iraq.
Remember in life don't just follow the trail in front of you but do not be afraid to blaze your own.
Remember in life don't just follow the trail in front of you but do not be afraid to blaze your own.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Survival Skills and Youth
Well its a been a while but here we go, A few weeks ago my troop went on a wilderness survival weekend where I taught them the wilderness survival merit badge. The kids built a neat little lean too with some logs and tarps and some para cord. The requirement states that they have to stay in it one night but they enjoyed it so much the next morning they worked on it some more and stayed in it another night. Witch I thought was pretty cool we all figured after one night they would want to go back to there tent cause they would feel safer and more comfortable in there. Spent that day going over and practicing various skills and hypothetical situations that could arise. I hope everyone took away something from that weekend and retains it cause whether they realize it or not they can and probably will use those skills some point in life again.
Now I tell everyone that cause I think in the age of the video game ( and no im not poking fun cause heck i play the occasional video game myself lol) but kids today I think would benefit a lot from being taught some wilderness skills and how to sustain oneself in a wilderness situation. It gives them huge boosts in confidence to see what they can do when they open up their minds and just think about things other then how to get to level 7 on some game. When you build your own shelter build a fire after cutting and gathering your own wood all that work to make yourself comfortable. You end up appreciating things you have more, cause you realize how hard life can be. In our culture we see guys like Les Stroud, Dave Canturbury, and Cody Lundin and call them survival experts, but they would be the first to tell you they are not experts they are students but not experts. When they film a show in a certain remote area they spend a few days with the natives and learn what they do everyday. For the natives its not survival its just living cause fro them there isn't a Wal-Mart down the street. Even its for a weekend or a week or so seeing how a primitive person lives without modern convinces is never a bad thing you will end up coming away appreciating what you have more then you did before.
As usual thanks for reading, and whatever you do make sure in life you blaze your own path and never follow someone elses path only you need to know where your trial is going to head.
Now I tell everyone that cause I think in the age of the video game ( and no im not poking fun cause heck i play the occasional video game myself lol) but kids today I think would benefit a lot from being taught some wilderness skills and how to sustain oneself in a wilderness situation. It gives them huge boosts in confidence to see what they can do when they open up their minds and just think about things other then how to get to level 7 on some game. When you build your own shelter build a fire after cutting and gathering your own wood all that work to make yourself comfortable. You end up appreciating things you have more, cause you realize how hard life can be. In our culture we see guys like Les Stroud, Dave Canturbury, and Cody Lundin and call them survival experts, but they would be the first to tell you they are not experts they are students but not experts. When they film a show in a certain remote area they spend a few days with the natives and learn what they do everyday. For the natives its not survival its just living cause fro them there isn't a Wal-Mart down the street. Even its for a weekend or a week or so seeing how a primitive person lives without modern convinces is never a bad thing you will end up coming away appreciating what you have more then you did before.
As usual thanks for reading, and whatever you do make sure in life you blaze your own path and never follow someone elses path only you need to know where your trial is going to head.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Hey all sorry for the long absence
Hey,
To any of my regular readers out there I know I haven't posted in awhile, life got a bit hectic for awhile. In late April I had a small car accident heading home for an emergency nothing to bad walked away with no injuries but managed to total my truck and take out 12 feet of guard rail. That being said I am now a proud owner and the newest member of the Jeep community =). I been out playing with that and trying to get back to normal yet. I took a few short hikes this summer nothing too drastic just some short ones to get my better half used to hiking and introduce her to the sport. Other then that its been to dang hot to do anything outside right now but atleast in the last few days we got some needed rain.
In the scouting front the boys have been working on Wilderness Survival skills the last few months and this weekend we will see how well they learned and what they remembered. If it goes well they should all end up earning the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. Hope it ends up being a nice weekend seems like it supposed to be but we all know how well the weather men are these days they call for rain you get a sunny day and vice versa. Well I'll be sure to hopefully post an update sooner then later thanks again for reading and as always.
In a world that keeps on changing, Its nice to know some never have to.
To any of my regular readers out there I know I haven't posted in awhile, life got a bit hectic for awhile. In late April I had a small car accident heading home for an emergency nothing to bad walked away with no injuries but managed to total my truck and take out 12 feet of guard rail. That being said I am now a proud owner and the newest member of the Jeep community =). I been out playing with that and trying to get back to normal yet. I took a few short hikes this summer nothing too drastic just some short ones to get my better half used to hiking and introduce her to the sport. Other then that its been to dang hot to do anything outside right now but atleast in the last few days we got some needed rain.
In the scouting front the boys have been working on Wilderness Survival skills the last few months and this weekend we will see how well they learned and what they remembered. If it goes well they should all end up earning the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. Hope it ends up being a nice weekend seems like it supposed to be but we all know how well the weather men are these days they call for rain you get a sunny day and vice versa. Well I'll be sure to hopefully post an update sooner then later thanks again for reading and as always.
In a world that keeps on changing, Its nice to know some never have to.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Winter Camping
Well this past weekend was a fun one got some time in the woods with my scout troop. We camped out one of my assistants family farm. Weather was ok wasn't terribly cold just my old sleeping bag wasn't as warm as it used to be. The nights were a little chilly but nothing unbearable perhaps its time to update the sleeping bag, but not sure to what seeing how I eventually want move into hammock camping but time will tell what I end up doing. It was a fun weekend a lot of the guys got a ton of advancements done and had fun and thats whats important. When I get some time ill add a couple of the photos I had time to take.
As always thanks for reading and dropping by.
Mike
As always thanks for reading and dropping by.
Mike
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
A weekend of winter camping--Introduction
This should prove to be a very interesting weekend its been a while since I have camped in snow and cold. Hoping to not freeze my butt off, but we shall see how that all goes. This weekend my scout troop is going to be doing a bit of tent camping in the cold. I was hoping to maybe have some sort of winter hammock rig put together but time and money not falling into place right thats just not going to happen so I am going to try using a little solo shelter my brother had given me a few years ago. We spent the last month teach the kids a lot of how to stay warm and safe in the cold and how to also enjoy it. After all there are a few pluses to camping in the winter. With the snow pack on the ground theres a whole new meaning to peace and quiet cause of how well the snow absorbs sound and what not. I guess we will see how well the guys all listened and see who starts complaining about the cold first. Im hoping its a fun and educational weekend and as always will report back and let all who read this know how well it went. Oh and the mini pack review I had mentioned from my short day hike its probably not going to happen as I am pretty much going to start getting stuff together for leaving Friday afternoon no biggie was nothing special anyway just threw some stuff together in a hurry.
All Secure in this sector over and out*
Mike
*Im playing around with differant closings if anyone has cared to notice
All Secure in this sector over and out*
Mike
*Im playing around with differant closings if anyone has cared to notice
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A few hours in the woods before the Snow Storm
Well on Monday I went out for a bit of time in the woods took just a short little walk to streach the legs and test out a new bag I got for Christmas. It was a fun day little breezy but kinda warm considering it was about 26* outside. I had originally planned to go out earlier in the day and spend a day out and make a little trail lunch and just get out for a day. Well....it being winter I sorta slept in a a few hours later then I wanted too; oh well some time was better then no time. As far as the pack goes that I tried out it was good I may or may not do a write up on it not sure at this time. Still figuring out some ways of tweaking it.
I snapped a few photos and even took a quick little video of a neat waterfall slightly off the trail. Hope to have more posts like this up soon. Perhaps when it gets a bit warmer out LOL.
Thats all for now take care and remember take sometime and get outdoors and enjoy a bit of nature now and then.
I snapped a few photos and even took a quick little video of a neat waterfall slightly off the trail. Hope to have more posts like this up soon. Perhaps when it gets a bit warmer out LOL.
Thats all for now take care and remember take sometime and get outdoors and enjoy a bit of nature now and then.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thinking minimal on gear.....
Hey again and welcome to the first blog of the new year hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years and that Santa brought all the cool gear you were hoping for. To get the year rolling I am going to share some thoughts on a recent article in The Backwoodsman Magazine Jan/Feb 2010 issue. There is an article in there by a Mr Charlie Fox, a neat little article on packing and hiking like a minimalist. Its a very informative article I am gonna share a few highlights and add my two cents on what I think. If you haven't seen or read it yourself the find the nearest place to get an issue of Backwoodsman Magazine. For more info on the magazine you can find them here at www.backwoodsmanmag.com.
Fist of what is Minimalism defined as well as far a definition I could settle on to best explain it is hiking or backpacking with under about 10 lbs of gear. Now there is no real right or wrong way of doing minimalist type packing it all depends on what you feel comfortable packing and how much gear you would specifically feel necessary. 10 lbs may be minimal for one while 15 or 20 maybe minimal for another. If anything it makes you think about what you pack and carry on any trek or adventure, for example do I really need to carry a full backpacking cook set and such, or could you say get by with a simple canteen cup and a canteen or some similar configuration.
Another way to save weight and trim down on gear is multi purpose items, if one item can perform one or more tasks then that means thats on less thing you got to carry. Like say a metal cup like a canteen cup, or a GSI Snow peak cup. One can drink from it, cook in it, cook on it, and obviously boil and sanitize water in. The biggest item that i personally own and would use is a Guyot Designs Bottle. Its a nice stainless steel bottle you can carry water in it lid seals nice and tight; but unlike a standard Nalgene bottle you can boil your water in it. If you have the proper knowledge you can save weight by foraging and gathering food. Saves weight when you don't have to carry a ton of food.
The best way to try minimalist packing is to think of it as your emergency backup to your main pack. If you can survive a few days using at an emergency kit then adding a few odds and ends could make it reasonably possible to make due with that for a longer period of time. The biggest thing to carrying minimal gear is knowledge there is a quote in Mr. Fox's article is
Finally a few pros and cons based on my personal opinions.
Pros
Less weight makes it easier on your body.
Travel faster with a lighter load.
Easier to keep balance on an awkward trail.
Cons
Less gear means little or no redundancy should something be lost or damaged.
If you find yourself in an emergency you may not have certain items that could make it easier to get out of it.
A few final thoughts think of it as a challenge where can I shave a few pounds or ounces here and there do you need this or that. Just remember have fun with it and see what you can come up with, if you already have a light weight rig you want to share feel free to post it as a comment below the blog. Take care and get out and enjoy some time out in the great outdoors.
Fist of what is Minimalism defined as well as far a definition I could settle on to best explain it is hiking or backpacking with under about 10 lbs of gear. Now there is no real right or wrong way of doing minimalist type packing it all depends on what you feel comfortable packing and how much gear you would specifically feel necessary. 10 lbs may be minimal for one while 15 or 20 maybe minimal for another. If anything it makes you think about what you pack and carry on any trek or adventure, for example do I really need to carry a full backpacking cook set and such, or could you say get by with a simple canteen cup and a canteen or some similar configuration.
Another way to save weight and trim down on gear is multi purpose items, if one item can perform one or more tasks then that means thats on less thing you got to carry. Like say a metal cup like a canteen cup, or a GSI Snow peak cup. One can drink from it, cook in it, cook on it, and obviously boil and sanitize water in. The biggest item that i personally own and would use is a Guyot Designs Bottle. Its a nice stainless steel bottle you can carry water in it lid seals nice and tight; but unlike a standard Nalgene bottle you can boil your water in it. If you have the proper knowledge you can save weight by foraging and gathering food. Saves weight when you don't have to carry a ton of food.
The best way to try minimalist packing is to think of it as your emergency backup to your main pack. If you can survive a few days using at an emergency kit then adding a few odds and ends could make it reasonably possible to make due with that for a longer period of time. The biggest thing to carrying minimal gear is knowledge there is a quote in Mr. Fox's article is
"The more you know, the less you carry". The more you know how to make due with what you have and how to attain stuff from nature the less you will need to bring with you. Now again nothing is perfect there is no wrong answers here its all depends on how much you feel comfortable going into the woods with and what the requirements of your adventure require.
Finally a few pros and cons based on my personal opinions.
Pros
Less weight makes it easier on your body.
Travel faster with a lighter load.
Easier to keep balance on an awkward trail.
Cons
Less gear means little or no redundancy should something be lost or damaged.
If you find yourself in an emergency you may not have certain items that could make it easier to get out of it.
A few final thoughts think of it as a challenge where can I shave a few pounds or ounces here and there do you need this or that. Just remember have fun with it and see what you can come up with, if you already have a light weight rig you want to share feel free to post it as a comment below the blog. Take care and get out and enjoy some time out in the great outdoors.
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