“…but I’m not looking for anything hardcore, yet.” I’m often asked for advice about outdoor trips, and every once in a while, the person ends the question with the above statement. I find this interesting, especially the “yet” part. The inference is that there’s a hierarchy to the camping world; your first trips start with…
Making a classic bow-frame saw
I’m the first to admit that despite my love of the outdoors and the woods, I’m relatively unschooled in the fine art of woodworking compared to some. Natural wood has a life and character unlike any other material, and it’s hard to ignore those who make this craft their pursuit. I love to listen and…
Blacksmithing and leatherwork and bushcraft, oh my.
Like most people, I have a variety of interests. Sometimes, the popular pastimes that appeal to my colleagues and friends don’t hold that same draw — I don’t play golf, or follow sports. Some of my passions do fall closer to the mainstream — craft beer, pool, good food. The interests that titled this post,…
The evolution of the gear closet (part 1)
Gear: Fit is everything. Good gear selection comes from knowing what you want out of it, and a large part of finding that out is by knowing what it’s like to deal with an inferior product, or having to improvise to fill an unanticipated need along the way. I wrestled with myself for quite a…
Are survival kits the “good” silverware that gather dust?
I recently read a brace of posts from fellow outdoor blogs, The Oak and the Mountain, and Wood Trekker talking about survival kits. Now, the reason I came across these posts was because I was actively looking for survival kit ideas. I thought it was high time I re-visited my personal kit. Given that it’s…
Suzanne Dimma’s Cottage – a Walkthrough
Who says a secluded retreat needs to be rustic and run-down? House & Home‘s Suzanne Dimma and 3rd Uncle Design‘s Arriz Hassam walk viewers through their amazingly designed cottage in this six-minute-long video.
A Day with Pinock Smith
On January 15, 2011, I had the distinct pleasure of spending the day with Pinock Smith, a master builder, known for his traditional canoe-building methods. I first heard of Pinock in the second season of Ray Mears’ Bushcraft, where he and Ray built an authentic birchbark canoe in a week. They worked on screen again in…
Balance leave-no-trace extremes
Perhaps not something that everybody likes to hear, but I, for one, found myself nodding along with many of the points in Don Tryon’s Leave-A-Trace editorial page. He makes the point for a common-sense approach to camping, and takes issue with the extremes that some enthusiasts have gone through to erase our existence on the land….